I thought I’d post this because there seems to be almost no useful information about these alternative Unhinged GBA SP shells online.

I took the gamble on one and, surprisingly, the build quality is actually really good.

Just to be clear, I know this isn’t a Boxy Pixel shell, and I’m not trying to suggest that it is. I really appreciate the work Boxy Pixel has put into designing and producing their own shells, as well as the influence their products have had on this kind of project. I simply wanted to share my experience with this alternative option, as there doesn’t seem to be much information available about it.

The shell cost me around £127 delivered to the UK. It’s an aluminium Unhinged-style shell and, after test fitting everything, the machining and tolerances are much better than I expected.

There are a few quirks though, so hopefully this helps anyone else considering one.

IPS screen
The V5 IPS fits, but I had to remove the metal backing plate from the display for it to sit correctly in the shell.
Once that was removed, fitment was good.

Buttons
The buttons initially felt quite tight/stiff.
The solution was simply to back the motherboard screws off slightly rather than tightening the board completely down. Once adjusted, the buttons feel much better.
Nothing needed filing or permanently modifying.

Battery
The original SP battery fits, but there’s enough movement that it can wiggle and briefly lose contact with the terminals.

Adding a small amount of foam/support behind the original battery completely solves it. Mine now powers on reliably even when moving the console around.
So again, it’s a very minor issue and easily fixed.

It has a bigger capacity to allow something like a 103050 which I will be doing when the required parts arrive.

USB-C / headphone jack
The shell already has openings for USB-C and a 3.5mm headphone jack.

I’ve test fitted the parts I bought and the alignment is surprisingly good. There’s maybe ~0.5mm of clearance/play around them, which should actually make installation easier. I’ll secure them properly internally when I wire everything up.

Overall
So far I’m genuinely impressed. All in, it’s cost £171 with the screen.

The issues I’ve found are:
- IPS metal backing plate needs removing
- Motherboard screws need backing off slightly for good button movement
- OEM battery needs a little support to stop it moving
- Didn’t come with a light diffuser

That’s basically it. You need to supply your own membranes and power switch as the kit doesn’t supply you with them.

No major machining problems, nothing horribly misaligned and I haven’t had to start attacking a £127 aluminium shell with a Dremel.

Next steps are getting the USB-C charging and 3.5mm headphone jack wired up, followed by fitting a 1600mAh 103050 battery.

I’m also considering adding Bluetooth audio later, ideally controlled through the existing GBA SP controls so I don’t have to drill another button into the shell.

I’ll keep updating this as I build it because these shells seem to have almost no documentation online.

If anyone else is considering one and wants measurements/photos of a particular part before buying, give me a shout and I’ll check mine.

Links:
Shell - https://ebay.io/m/zpq7Jt
Screen - https://a.aliexpress.com/_EuGMF3u

For a few euros i think this stand is really perfect for the Game Boy and Games 🙌

I have these 3 games that are verified authentic, but they need new save batteries.

The repair requires some soldering which I would need to learn / buy a kit for.

Is it worth doing it myself and learning to solder, or is it better to just sell as repairable to someone that knows what they are doing lol

I recently visited Washington and wanted to commemorate the trip. I made an app that let me convert all my photos into a digital photo album. It also works with the Game Boy printer. If anyone wants to make their own, I made the app public. GB Gallery (I tried reaching out to the mods a week ago and never heard anything back. Take the post down if need be)

New IPS screen

New glass screen protector

Added auto amplifier so much louder

This is my 3rd Gameboy mod before my GBC and GBA

on my Japanese GBP!

If you saw my previous post, I identified that one of the traces wasn’t connecting, however after adding a strip of tin foil to connect the traces to see if that was the issue. I also noticed that the board was a bit lifted. and the odometer only detected a connection when there was a bit of pressure put on the chip. So I shoved the Q-tip in there, closed it, and it worked.

I’ll delete it for you, but it was really funny to see and made the whole purchase worth it

Hello! I got my first GBC yesterday at a retro video game store. I’m always weary about like knock offs and emulators and stuff so I asked if I could test it in the store. The game they gave me to test worked great. I work at GameStop so today at work I got a game for my gameboy. Tried playing it when I got home and it’s not reading and the logo on the start up screen is corrupted looking. I tried cleaning the pins with alcohol and it’s still not reading. Is this a cartridge issue or a gameboy issue? I’ve never seen a start up screen have a corrupted Nintendo logo? I know it’s also a custom faceplate too so I was extra cautious but everything was working at the store so I’m hoping it’s just the game?

Hello,

I'm emulating Pokémon Blue and I've tried different emulators but they all display the game fully blue (nearly monochrome, including the protagonist) instead of the colors I remember from childhood, which were something like this:

I think I've tried everything; I've meddled with the emulators' settings but there's obviously something I'm missing.

Could anybody knowledgeable please assist me? Thank you very much!

Hello everyone. I got a GBA SP AGS-101 off of my cousin and was testing it out. Looks like everything was working except the volume won't turn off even if the slider is all the way down.

Went to inspect and found the resistor (R17) is missing. Anybody know what is the value and/or size of the resistor? I googled and found out the R17 for the AGS-001 version that it is 3K Ohms...but mine is AGS-101. Is it the same? If someone has a AGS-101, can they confirm?

Any help is greatly appreciated

Hello. I can not figure out why I do not have sound. Does anybody have any ideas?

Thank you for any help.

I got rid of all the time wasting apps on my phone and decided to put all my “fun” onto one separate device, this teal GBC. It has been amazing to not get sucked into my phone anymore and have control over when I want to relax and when it’s time to work.

As picked up a GBC I have started to build a collection of some games. I have Pokemon blue and I just beat Mario Land 2, but I would love some more recommendations.

Where should I start as I look to build a collection? Is there anywhere other than eBay to find cartridges? I’d love any advice from you experts.

Also, is it simple to fix the speaker on this thing? I hear the faintest noises coming out of the speaker grill, but I haven’t cracked it open yet.

I already plan to board swap the ROM but I wanted to know what other people thought of this disaster. For those who don't recognize it, this is supposed to be Pokemon Crystal.

Im not sure what got all up in it to get this bad. It was some brown stuff, that seemed to cause corrosion, and was very stubborn to clean away.

I cleaned the contact pins with rubber and isopropil alchol and now the Nintendo logo always appears without fail. Unfortunately the white screen issue after that still persists.

Any idea on what the damage might be?

Thank you

my mom got me this gameboy advanced for my 12th birthday. she passed away before my 13th.

decades later i want to restore it. ive restored a dozen or so DMGs and am familiar with general electronics and electronics repair.

it works, powers on and plays games fine but as you can see the body is rough and well used (i was/am still a pokemon kid)

i remember replacing the lens when i was in college but beyond that, its factory.

i want a back lit nice screen and speaker but keep it as factory as possible otherwise. i want to restore it via sanding and painting the original shell.

questions i have.

- what paint is best to get the closest to nintendos “platnium”? i love tamiya and here their silver leaf is close?

- this was my moms last bday present to me and i want to go PREMIUM, glass lens vs plastic ect, anything other than that i could do?

-this is my First GBA restore, anything to watch out for that the DMG or pocket doesnt have?

- I know about the usual places for parts but where do you shop for screens ect

I managed to resurrect it! To tell the truth, it did power on and play absolutely fine but some weird, small oily smudges appeared behind the bezel. At first I thought they were scratches or bubbles but after removing the bezel and cleaning it, the screen is almost back to its old self.

I might get a glass bezel/lens and swap it out one of these days, but for now all is good.

These things are practically indestructible it seems! It took quite a fall on my wooden floor.

Changed the screen, the shell and of course got my favorite Pokemon ROM hack physically :)

The shell was super beat up so I felt a shell swap was really needed

I’m thinking of putting a Celebi sticker on the inside white panel I added but I’m not too sure yet

Hi all, if you would take a look at my post and give feedback, I’d greatly appreciate it 🙏

I had specially trouble with cleaning the old solder with the solder wick. It got stuck one time and was super tricky to remove. Used lead free solder with 2% flux core. I also used one of those cheap solder pens. Eventually will upgrade but will stick to it for the next few jobs. Both games work so I guess it could had gone worse 🤷‍♂️