Bringing modern USB charging to older devices that never supported it has been popular lately. This fantastic little board adds USB-C charging and audio to your Game Boy Advance SP. The design is exceedingly clever — the castellated pads have been lined up perfectly to connect to the pads from the existing proprietary connector, making installation very easy. Of course, you also need the tools to remove the existing connector before installing the new replacement. Still, with solder wick or a vacuum desoldering station this shouldn’t be too difficult — just remember to be gentle as there are many fine traces that can be dislodged if you’re too rough.
Having a modern USB connector on older devices like this is very handy. You no longer have to keep track of a unique, proprietary USB cable, and you can just use whichever chargers you already have for charging your phone and/or modern consoles! The added bonus of having audio out on this connector means you can use straight-through USB-C to Audio cables (the ones without DACs inside) to listen to music. With a USB-C splitter, you could even charge the device while using headphones at the same time!
While you’re in there, you could also take the time to replace the existing (likely tired) battery with a brand-new replacement. If you’re a Game Boy Advance fan, we have many other cool products to check out that will bring some flair to your GBA!
