09/05/2025

Preface

I’m working on an LED Matrix Phone Case, which is inspired by the AniMe Matrix from my ROG Zephyrus G14 Laptop.

Example gif of the original ROG Zephyrus G14 AniMe Matrix

I basically want to put a very similar type of animated LED display on a phone case because I think it looks cool, and I got a ton of comments about it when I used this laptop for several years.

As of right now, it’s designed to fit the iPhone 17 Pro, although the main display board could fit on most iphones - the only thing that needs to be redesigned to fit every individual phone would be the flexible USB adapter board.

November 7 - Update

The PCB boards arrived - pictures are of the main board. I still need to solder the flex USB board before showing how they connect.

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I made a mistake with these pads though - I drew them as copper rectangles instead of actual SMD pads, and so I can’t solder anything to them without scratching off the top layer. I hope that this doesn’t ruin anything…

December 31 - Update, 1.0 PCB order

The electronics for this project are split into two parts: a flexible PCB, which is used to mount the male and female USB receptacles, and the main display board, which is a rigid PCB used to house the main components and the LEDs.

I put in the order on JLCPCB for everything today - now just waiting for it to ship!

Main display board

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Flex display board

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System schematic