On a side note, did you notice any issues with removing the metal shield? That's one of the main reasons that I didn't like the transparent shells, couldn't really see any of the internals.
EDIT: I've also seen mild success with getting the uncolored transparent shells and dying them, if you're willing to try that to get your desired color scheme
I had to cut a square out of the metal plate where the SD card PCB sits. If I didn't it would still work, but there would be height height issues where you insert the memory card. Photo attached.
As you can see making the cut doesn't really deform the heat shield. I can still screw the full heat shield in and you don see the cuts as they are covered by the SD card PCB.
As for thermals:
-I saw lower temperatures with the shield removed. I know it sounds weird but if you think about it, it makes sense.
-With the shield in place air moves above the shield in a well defined channel from the lower vent and is exhausted through heat-sink fins at the top of the switch.
-With the heat-shield removed air still pulls from the bottom vents but also travels over the copper heat pipe directly and around the heat pipe.
-Keep in mind I also changed out the thermal paste with a brand I trust, since I have no idea what Nintendo used.
-I tested with Zelda while docked and pulled the unit from the dock for thermal imaging with my SEEK.
-The battery remained the same temperature either way around 90 degrees F after 30 mins of docked play.
-The largest change I saw was with the heat pipe and USB C connector.
-With the heat shield, the heat pipe at the hottest area towards the exhaust fins was 108F, Memory card 101F, and USB C port 98F
-Without the heat shield the exhaust fins were 103F, Memory card 100F, and USB C port 92F
I didn't even know that the USB C port got so hot and saw the most improvement due to the air freely traveling over it where the intake is.
The heat shield is way too thin to really spread heat effectively.
EDIT: I have a a few trinket M0's laying around and plan on installing one when I have the time. Hence why I went through the trouble of removing the heat shield and testing heat for longevity. I also like the looks though.
Just for reference, if you look at photo 2, that is one of my old graphic card mining racks. Some of the graphics cards ran 24/7 at 150F for months on end with out a reboot. Even my current gamin rig has a 1080ti water cooled with max overclock on GPU & ram. The 1080ti sees 140F as a a temperature peak (See photo 3). the Switch runs super cool in comparison.
Photo 1
Photo 2
Photo 3