My second foray into modding vintage electronics: modding a Game Boy Advance SP! I've always preferred the SP to the standard GBA. It's got the perfect form factor and A+ clicky buttons. My own personal SP is still in great condition and I couldn't bring myself to chop it up, so I found a donor SP from Facebook Marketplace to sacrifice. The plan here is essentially the same as the GBA: add in a modern display and a new shell, while keeping as many original components as possible.

Yeah yeah, I spent a lot of words waxing poetic about the *pixel authenticity* of the ITA mod I performed on my old GBA, but I decided to go with a modern IPS display here for a few reasons. First, at time of writing, there's only one ITA kit currently available for the SP, and the screen assembly requires a specific modified shell to fit properly. And unfortunately, I kind of hate how these shells look - they're glossy, not matte, and reports indicate the plastic isn't great quality.

Second, the number and quality of IPS kits has increased dramatically since I modded my GBA three years ago. Most of the popular screen mod kits these days are prelaminated to the external display lens, meaning you can just drop the entire screen assembly into the shell without worrying about taping or alignment or getting dust trapped between the screen and the lens.

Instead, I opted for an "ITA" kit, which repurposes the bottom screen of a Nintendo DSi. It's backlit and has the exact same pixel density of the stock GBA screen, 240x160. It's essentially the same as the backlit GBA SP screen, and is as close to a 1:1 upgrade as you can do in the original hardware.

It also consumes much less power than an IPS screen, meaning battery life remains pretty solid.

Teardown is a little more complicated and fiddly than a standard GBA. There are quite a few more screws to keep track of.

FunnyPlaying's ITA kit comes with the screen, a ribbon cable to attach to the motherboard, and three optional wires for brightness control. Technically this could have been a solderless "drop-in" mod, but I wanted an excuse to teach myself to solder.

Hold down Select and press R for brightness up, L for brightness down.

The front half of the shell, with the screen glued in place, gets attached to the motherboard via the ribbon cable.

Flip the motherboard down on top of the screen, replace the shoulder buttons, screw the motherboard into the front shell, and attach the back shell.

Along with the screen and new shell, there are two other major upgrades: an Everdrive GBA and a USB-C rechargeable battery that slots right into the battery compartment.

It works!

(Not pictured: me forgetting to replace the power switch and needing to disassemble it fully and put it back together. Oops.)

A comparison with the stock GBA and a frontlit SP. The pixel definition! The colors! Wild how much of an improvement it is.

Overall I'm super happy with how it turned out. It's still a Game Boy Advance, just with some upgrades that eliminate a lot of headaches (literal and metaphorical), while keeping it authentic to the original experience.

The whole process was surpisingly easy, and it's really empowering to have the tools and knowledge to execute a project like this. More to come.