Laminated AMOLED Screen Kit from HISPEEDIDO
And so began my journey into modding. I have to say, for a first mod, this was one of the softest landings into the modding world—and one of the highest-value returns. It was the first kit I ever purchased, and it required an extremely minimal amount of soldering. Literally one ball of solder to attach a single pre-attached wire from the pre-mounted PCB on the pre-laminated AMOLED screen. After watching a couple of YouTube videos, I decided it was now or never. Watching those videos encouraged me to look into soldering and purchasing equipment. After some practice, I picked up a soldering iron and committed to getting the job done for this gorgeous screen.
The GBC I used was a well loved original Atomic Purple one I found in a storage bin at home. It had no corrosion, but it wouldn’t power on. After some quick research, I discovered the most common issue: a dirty power switch. A bit of isopropyl alcohol and some careful scrubbing with a Q-tip around the switch and the Game Boy powered on with the screen working but it had no sound. I also immediately found myself wondering… how did we ever play for so many hours on such a dim screen?
After receiving the mod kit, soldering tools, and a few practice kits, I took some time to get familiar with soldering even though it was just a few points for the speakers and the screen. It took a little while to get the feel for positioning the tip correctly, understanding how to heat both surfaces evenly, and learning how to feed the solder, and hold the iron long enough to avoid a cold joint. Once I completed the mod, the results were jaw-dropping for my first mod.
Unfortunately, the transparent shell quality from HISPEEDIDO is not great and like many others mine began to crack. I will have to at some point remove the screen and place it into a new shell. It has been recommended to use other pre-laminated shells that are opaque or translucent and IPS ready such as FunnyPlaying. Some other caveats for purchasing this AMOLED kit would be to avoid any resellers that have this kit for ridiculously low prices. I noticed a lot of fake “local/US” resellers listing these for around $30 while the normal kit sells closer to $50 and ships from China.
The Build Materials
Other Shells that I’ve seen recommended (I have not used):
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