I Painted an iPhone With the World's Darkest Black
If you have been following the channel, you know I love Phone mods. A while back, I did a transparent mod on this exact iPhone 17 Pro Max by stripping the coating from the inside of the back glass. It looks technical and pretty wild, but honestly, I never really loved it.
I have always wanted a clean black and orange iPhone. That color combo just hits different. So instead of living with a mod I was not fully happy with, I decided to go bigger and go better.
Enter the World’s Darkest Paint
For this project, I used Musou Black. This is one of the darkest commercially available paints in the world. It is designed to absorb up to 99.4 percent of visible light, which means your eyes struggle to read depth or texture when looking at it.
In person, Musou Black almost feels like a hole rather than a surface. Edges blur, shadows disappear, and objects can look oddly flat. It is the kind of material that feels more like a science experiment than regular paint, which makes it perfect for the mod.
Removing the Back Glass
Before painting anything, I had to get the back glass off the phone. Since this device was already modified, the process was a bit easier than a stock iPhone, but it still required heat, patience, and a steady hand.
Once the glass was free, I carefully cleaned the inside surface. Any dust or fingerprints would show up later, especially under such an extreme black coating.
Painting the Inside of the Glass
Here is where things got fun. Instead of painting the outside of the phone, I painted Musou Black onto the inside of the glass. This way, the glossy exterior remains smooth and protected, while the inside gets that ultra black finish.
The first coat went on surprisingly light. At this stage, it did not look that impressive. It was more of a dark gray than true black. Still, I almost wanted to keep it like this because the subtle, smoky look actually felt pretty cool.
Watching It Get Darker
The magic of Musou Black happens as it dries. As the solvent evaporates, the paint becomes significantly darker. By the time the first coat set, the difference was noticeable.
I applied a second layer, which brought it much closer to that deep, light swallowing black I was aiming for. The iPhone already looked dramatically different compared to the transparent version.
The Final Coat and the Matte Reality
For good measure, I added a final coat to make sure everything was fully covered and even. At this point, the inside of the glass looked incredibly dark.
However, it was not quite as pitch black as I had hoped. The original back glass still has a matte texture from the transparent mod, and that texture slightly softens the effect of Musou Black. Instead of looking like a void, it has more of a super dark matte finish.
Final Thoughts
Even with that limitation, I actually really like how this turned out. The black and orange contrast looks clean, bold, and totally unique. It feels way more my style than the transparent mod ever did.
Would it be even darker with perfectly clear glass? Probably. But as a custom build, this thing looks seriously cool, and that is what matters.
See you in the next article!
