Framework laptops are well known for being customizable and repairable. Just looking at the Framework 12’s iFixit guide page, you can pretty much swap out everything in it, making it more like a desktop PC in that sense rather than a full-fledged laptop.

With that great sense of repairability and customization, one modder has taken full advantage of it to turn the smallest laptop from the company into a handheld instead. Sskki has a blog post on their Framework 12 Joy-Con Rail expansion cards, providing free files for download and printing.

It utilizes the deep expansion ports to fit the rails to hold the Nintendo Switch 2 controllers. They chose the Joy-Cons due to the fact that they are perfect for the use case, as they can be split and sit on either side of the screen. Along with the ergonomics, they also have the right buttons, rumble motors, and even gyro controls to use.

They are also fully supported by Steam, so you won’t have an issue using them on PC. The creator also goes over the circuit port for charging the controllers when they’re plugged in. But with the expense of the custom circuitry out of their budget, the holders are just there to keep them in place and won’t get charged or directly connect to the laptop. Instead, they will slowly discharge and use Bluetooth to connect.

How it came about and the future of the project

Sskki, in their blog post, talks about the fact that as soon as they saw the 12″ Framework mini laptop, they wanted to create the expansion cards and turn it into a Steam Deck-style machine. With the fact that the machines are so customizable with open-source expansion cards, it’s very easy to design your own additions.

They also looked at some custom controllers already out there. But they do require custom PCBs, and that was once again too expensive, so using an existing controller like the Joy-Cons made sense. Sskki said they want to come back to the project at some point in the future with some improvements. First is moving it around to stop blocking the ports next to the current expansion card, which also blocks the power switch and audio jack.

Another improvement would be raising the rails so the device can lie down flat, and hopefully making it easier to hold at the same time. Along with adding light channels, like the Switch controllers do to see the pairing status, and then as mentioned, the charging circuitry to provide some greater usability.

About the Author

Sebastian Kozlowski

With a fascination for technology and games, Seb is a tech writer with a focus on hardware, news, and deals. He is also a tester and reviewer for the site. Contact him @ [email protected]