It’s really bright, very clear, and has nice vibrant colours. The screen is just in a different class to the original. Overall though, I’m very happy with the outcome! Screen++ I had to file down some parts of it, and I ended up removing one piece altogether as it was pressing into the back of the screen and causing a light area to appear. The 3D printed bracket wasn’t super precise.I did a decent job, but I can see one tiny speck under there. Installing both the screen and the glass lens without getting any dust in between them.Now that it’s complete, I can’t help noticing that it’s a fraction of a millimetre down on one side. Correctly aligning the screen when installing it.RetroSix’s own instructions were fairly barebones, but I found a couple of different tutorials online that helped to guide me through it. Installation involved opening up the Game Boy, disconnecting the screen and discarding the old shell, connecting the new screen, mounting it with adhesive and a 3D printed bracket (to get the correct positioning), screwing it all back together, and installing a new glass lens over the top. If you’re in the US, I’ve heard that Retro Modding are a good parts supplier. RetroSix manufacture their own GBA shells ready for the new LCD (they said most aftermarket shells aren’t very high quality), along with optional modifications to fit a USB-C battery pack. I didn’t fancy trying to do that, so I ordered a special pre-trimmed shell from RetroSix, along with the screen kit. The larger LCD requires some areas of the inner case to be cut out to make space for it.
More recently, a better alternative has emerged: a large, even brighter IPS LCD panel.
For a long time, the best improvement was to switch the screen out for the backlit screen that’s used in the Game Boy Advance SP.
GAMEBOY ADVANCE SP BRIGHTER SCREEN MOD MODS
There have been a number of screen mods available for the GBA over the years. I still love playing retro games from time to time, so I recently kitted out my Advance with an upgrade.