Small detail, but one I always love, is the buttons still having the letters A and B on them. A lot of button replacements or mods tend to not have the letters on them, and while it's not a major feature. I feel like that small detail goes a long way in making the final product look less like a mod and more like a professional or official product. I enjoy details like that, and I do prefer to keep most of my devices looking as stock as possible. I'll modify screens, replace parts, but in the end, I still want someone to look at it and say oh cool you have this? And I can show them all the neat stuff I modded into it just by letting them use it. The slate project and the Unhinged SP from boxy pixel both have a professional sleek design that is enticing to look at, having small details like stickers or labels just adds that official product or professional look to it.

16:43 BTW I loved the "NOENTIENDO" name on the Slate label, it's funny because in spanish means "I don't understand" and in some countries they called Nintendo like that

I really like that the slate is compatible with regular bottons, it helps give you more options for customization

L.E.D diffuser is really nice, boxy pixels shell I believe allowed you to put your original one into the shell. However I couldn't get mine to stay in place, so I ended up using your technique from the Gameboy macro mod, put kapton tape onto the light holes on the outside, and filling the inside with a little hot glue. I did end up trying to put the light tube in on top, which worked well overall. I love how detailed and advanced people are capable of making older technology these days.

We need a version of this for the original GBA (horizontal), making it a bit more compact. Looks superb. Great video as always.

what a time to be alive! all these great kits for gameboy advance gaming.i have been watching Makho for a while and i enjoy his videos as much as yours.great video as always Tito

I would love to see a plastic option for any of these shells in the future. The aluminum is certainly fancy, but I still prefer the look and feel of plastic.

Ah man I'm so excited! I've been waiting for this one specifically for quite some time now

Makho is a freaking legend. I'm super happy to see that he's providing these kits. I do wish that there was a little more finish to the product - meaning, the BP has a matte looks/feel vs seeing the machining details. But other than that, as always this is a really well thought out product. It's nice having options and competition in the market. Nice job Makho!

My only gripe with this mod is the lack of lens options for the display. Otherwise, this is THE mod I've been hoping for. Love the more compact design over the Boxy Pixel offerings, and the plastic button option is genuinely useful for designing the right pairing. Thanks for bringing it to my attention, I'll be designing a setup for it soon and preordering soon after.

Yet ANOTHER fantastic video, Tito! This is awesoem I am for sure getting this!

I always liked the Unhinged Boxy Pixel shell but the Slate just looks even better.

Been following Makho's progress with this and I think he's done a great job designing it, gotta find a way to get one to the UK!

Once again a great video Tito. I’ll say this- putting together my Boxy pixel unhinged kit sucked. It didn’t fit together right with my IPS screen. I told BP about this and they blamed MY ips screen! They tried saying my kit wasn’t from funny playing, even though I definitely had the funny playing package they come in. In the end I had to purchase another screen- from China- and then file down the back screen cover to make it fit. Quite pissed I spent 95$ for a kit that didn’t work. So the Slate already looks like a better alternative.

Played one of these at MGC. Very sexy! Also very heavy :)

6:48 I'd solder the wires to the driver board while it's disconnected to avoid having a soldering iron anywhere near the LCD - it very easy to overheat it and cause discoloration

Gorgeous! Slow clap for everyone involved, You've earned it!

"Who is Makho?" is gonna be a thing of the past. Great design!

It would be nice to be able to have a matching housing for the back, like the og boxy pixel. Hopefully, mahko considers that after the initial run on these units.

I find this kind of funny, not in a bad way, just with how much many people dissed the original 2DS for being a non clamshell design, but now today this and the GameBoy Macro are really popular mods.

Been waitin for this video! Such a cool gba mod

First, I very like the Gold and Red color, it have a old school Famicom feeling that Iike it 👍. I very like this Slate SP, it don't feel so much complicated to install and his smaller form factor is great imo. The GBA line of console can still have something to suprise us and that's cool. Now with got so many option to customise, upgrade, revive our handheld system that, like pokémons, I want to catch'em all ... but my wallet don't want 😅. Great video 👍

Glad you're doing the full intro again for Retro Renew 🥰

Me seeing this video and checking my wallet: ah shit, here we go again.

Maybe you should be a little more forthcoming and tell everyone the cost of the model shown: Brass shell is $204.99! Brass buttons are $59.99 ... add in the screen and this whole thing is is $329.97! (Not including taxes, S&H or discounts). That's ridiculous. Brass is one of the cheapest metals out there at $2.25 a lb!

Just a few notes: I missed it if it was mentioned but the Nintendo logo comes from your donor console. My light pipe for the LEDS was not put into the shell so I put it in myself with a tiny dab of super glue. My kid just came in a normal cardboard box with bubble wrap. No plastic case.

I love the look, but like with the BoxyPixel versions, it comes down to affordability, and aesthetics. The metal shells are awesome looking, great for presentation, but I want the vibe of tossing my Gameboy in my bag when I go out for the day, and playing it during my downtimes. Having a console that's more premium looking, can draw attention from people, and honestly.. I wouldn't want to touch it after I'm done, considering how much I'd end up spending on it. I'd love to see one of these companies, or Makho come up with a design that utilizes similar plastics to the Gameboy Color, DMG, Pocket, etc. That could be sold at a lower price point.

This is the mod i'm looking for. The hinges gradually gives in from opening and closing so i want the clam close feature removed and just a solid perma open GBA SP. Problem is it's sold out fast.

Absolutely no-one: Tito: *The LED light diffusers and light pipes just so neat!!*

The brass slate with the clear red back gives it a bit of a Famicom color scheme. Looks good.👌

That's tempting... And technically it's a no solder mod if you're not worried about the brightness. You could set and forget so for those that are crap at soldering (ie, ME!) that's not a bad option.

Great video again. This kit is beautiful. I was thinking of modding my original GBA but now I may have to go with this one.

god i love your channel, its one of my new favorites. you're up there with Ahoy, GVMERS, Retro Future and others with this sort of editing and content. i am so glad to say that i was here before 100k. and i am suprised that you havent made it past 100k..... *YET*

Holy...I was going to preorder the brass, but that one is over $200! All others are $94. Might go for a gold/silver theme instead.

Gerat video, and the production detail is top notch as usual. Under "cons", I would definitely have listed the incompatibility to mod a headphone jack in this one. While not important to some people, a lot of folks like the ability to plug in their headphones, especially while using on a noisy bus or airplane. Still, this is a beautiful mod.

Best thing to me is the color options via buttons and the rear shell. I like my modded stuff to have some personality and not look like everyone elses.

Excellent video. Beautiful mod. By the way, any chance you could start including latency tests/comparisons for aftermarket screen mods and consolizers in future vids? Thanks!

I can’t wait to build mine. I’m planning on making it based on Bass.EXE from MegaMan Battle Network. It’s a Black Slate that’s going to have a Translucent Purple back and the Extremerate Gold Buttons.

Never knew I needed this until now!

Note for everyone: I just did this mod with the metal cnc buttons and I had to add the A and B membrane because there was too much clearance. I also had to snip the center circles in the A and B membrane. Also the R button was very tight I had to trim some of the plastic to allow enough clearance

Man, this channel and MVG is the reason why i paid internet

Really torn on this vs boxy, i love this form factor and really excited to see more GBA mods doing this either way! Kinda wish they made a plastic shell like this, with that simple slim form factor being more pocketable would be nice, id be afraid to pocket and carry around such a nice metal or brass shell without using the carrying case which kinda defeats the smaller form factor.

What do you recommend for a good quality aftermarket shell? I like the translucent red you used. Thanks bud!

I was very close to getting a SP Unhinged recently as I also ordered an Analogue Pocket but wanted to use a dedicated GBA machine for GBA games and keep the Analogue Pocket for GB/GBC games, due to the fact that GBA games on the Analogue Pocket put the annoying Black border around, lowering the usable Display area when playing GBA games. I just wish the Slate had a USB C Port, that would have really changed things for me. Your review has decided to make me wait. I can live without the USB C port with the improved portability being more preferred anyway. I'm going to wait it out and see how these Gameboy Slate's are viewed by owners and will most likely head in that direction. As always, top notch work Tito.

I ordered my kit as soon as I saw this video 2 months ago. It just arrived today. The entire packaging is top notch! It even came with an awesome Pokémon sticker. I love the included case!!

That Slate mod is slick! Cant wait to give it a go to have one of my own. Thanks for the time and effort you put into your videos, much appreciated Tito! 👍

the price is ridiculous

Great video as always Tito. Got a slate preordered myself - the red one with a black back and black plastic buttons.

While my personal preferences won't pull me away from the Boxy Pixel Unhinged, the Slate is one gorgeous looking product. And more options in such a niche market is always a good thing! Thanks for another phenomenal video!

Nice video as always, keep it up Tito! One question: How do the shoulder buttons feel compared to the models from Boxypixel?

That intro makes me want to buy a soldering kit 😎

my boy with the clear base, homage to the king who gave it to us

I honestly like the look of this one a lot more than the SP Unhinged. I definitely love the fact that the screen is laminated. One thing I hate about the unhinged is it has that screen gap where stuff can get trapped and it's super easy to tighten the back piece too much leaving that yellow screen bleeding.

Man I just recently discovered your channel and I gotta say your vids are rad. Excellent demonstration of the mods themselves, and I absolutely love that you say "this is what it should look like." Deffo subscribed here. :)

While I'm personally not interested in this mod it's still really cool and obviously it's always nice to have more options. The brass looks beautiful.

when that brass gets all the oils from your hands on it and tarnishes it too, will be nice

This looks super sleek. Love the shorter height and the extra rounded corner on the screen. I'm not a huge fan of the slant though, would prefer a totally flat front. I do wish a metal back was available as well

I've bought a slate kit, screen and shell, have a donor console fully functioning ready to go, eagerly awaiting shipping. I went for a dark black and silver with a transparent blue shell. When I get the soldering done, I feel like I will use it every day. I don't mind the brightness feature being mapped to the select and triggers at all. In fact, I think it completes the mod. I'm excited to build one

I hope that someday someone will make an SP slate with the cartridge slot on top, like every other GB before it. Give it a GB pocket form factor and it would be the best GB ever

a variant on this with a headphone jack and usb-c charging would be just PERFECT 😍 this already looks amazing though 💛

I don’t know how I feel about this. I think this looks absolutely gorgeous, but I love the original SP’s shell. I think if I had to do this, I’d have to get a second SP.

I never understood why A+B buttons have to be slanted that way. They should be slanted the opposite direction as that's naturally where your thumb aligns. No fault of this case though it's just how the GB was designed. Very cool shell replacement!

I got the unhinged full mod in aluminum red and I have to say it’s one chunky boy, but I love the weight and thickness of the body, plus the usb type c charger and aluminum buttons feel so premium.

I have a question. Do the metal buttons have any chance of damaging the button contacts on the motherboard? I like the way they look but I'm worried about possible damage.

I'd like to see a headphone Jack mod done to this. The size is perfect.

Just received and built mine, it's beautiful. I ordered the machined buttons however and installing them without the membrane made them loose and the whole system kind of rattles when you move it. They functioned fine but I just really didn't like the feel / sound of it so I went back to the standard with the membrane.

This is really cool, but why isn't there any plastic versions? I've been seeing alot of aluminum shells, which is cool, but they're all way over my budget for modding.

I was super excited to try this aaaand then it requires soldering. Unfortunately outside my skillset. Still incredibly cool!

Ordered. Can’t wait to put it all together.

This looks compatible with the GameCube GameBoy cable! My main criticism of the other metal shell was that it wasn’t compatible with it. I know it technically is if you remove the plastic bits shell of the connector, but I don’t want to remove it. I’ll probably buy this just for having this tbh.

This looks good! I've recently bought the GameBoy Advance SP Unhinged along with the EZ-Flash Omega: Definitive Edition and I'm having a blast!

Aesthetically, I like it better than the boxy pixel one, but one con you forgot to mention is it doesn't have room for USB c charging or headphone jack mods like BP, I think? If I was gonna make something like this, I'd probably wanna do those too. Go all out with the mods

Awesome ❤ but i still can't deside wich i should take of the three 😅. Great Video as always Tito 😉👍.

love the videos man, do you think you will ever do a video on how these types of mods are possible? i think it would make a great video diving into how modders managed to convert retro tech to work on modern lcds and how using the existing test pads and components on the board can actually be used to adapt additional features

If you can still use the membrane with the metal buttons I would suggest that. Wouldn’t want to damage the motherboard. I also imagine the buttons would rattle and lose most of their “spring-back” without the membrane

Time for the thick Boi slate Mashup! It would be a cool Frankenstein expirement haha

I would love to see one of these for the PSP. The metal and tight tolerances would look and feel perfect.....

I hope the next revision has the cartridge slot on top, to make it even more closely resemble an original Gameboy.

That looks pretty slick! In regards to the lack of a bigger battery, you can try to find that old datel 'extended' battery pack (ripoff) and mod it with a 2000 may pack instead. But as a downside, it does add more bulk... If I hadn't already gotten the unhinged V2, I would look at this one for sure!

I wouldn't trust myself to mod my beloved SP this way, but this is awesome. Gosh I love the GBA.

I'll be honest, if you have a 3d printer at home, the unhinged original looks very appealing, since you can skip the proprietary buttons by printing them and it allows for bigger batteries. Though I haven't had a GBA in over 10 years ever since I got a DS. And right now I got my hands on a GPD XD, which to my surprise, fits perfectly into the grip for my 3DS XL, it only blocks the L2 and R2 buttons but other than that it's what I'll be using for GBA on the go really.

The slate is nice and all but what I'm waiting on is the Thiccboy SP from you and Brinkerhoff Systems!

I look forward to when my kit arrives in Q2 and will be using this video to help me as well as the USB-C port conversion mod as well

Did you take apart an AGS 101 or an AGS 001 Gameboy Advance Sp? Someone told me that the systems have slightly different boards and wondered if that is of any significant impact on this mod

I love the look of this mod, but I don't really understand why they wouldn't offer a back plate. I'm not an engineer, but it seems simple enough. This is already a premium priced product, you are going to spend about $150 for the shell and screen (not including your discount code, ofc).

I have an unhinged and im kinda getting FOMO now. That thing looks so much sleeker.

A TRUE masterpiece! Thank you for demonstrating it and congratulations to it's maker!😀

Great review and well done Makho on the product, I think it came together very nicely. I have an unhinged v2 and I love it but am considering building one of these as well, the only thing holding me back is no usb-c option, it's really a game changer on the unhinged, and I'm surprised Makho didn't feature it on this since he is pretty obsessed with making everything usb-c compatible, but I understand that would be a much larger effort and trying to keep this a fairly approachable mod. Well done all round.

Have you ever tested the lag of the screen mods against the original screens and rate the button feel? I believe that is something to consider when looking at these rebuild kits. What’s the use when you are getting 7 to 10 frames of lag on a beautiful screen?

Makho is elite

Never owned a Gameboy, but this is pretty cool. I would painstakingly remove all visible machining marks before I even considered putting it together. Not a dealbreaker but that would bother me too much to leave as it is. I don't begrudge them for skipping it, since it'd just drive up costs more and most people probably don't care.

I wish we could use an AGS 101 screen in this.

The Slate, barring true personal preferences, looks pretty cool overall. The best part of it is that it can use the original plastic buttons the SP came with or pretty much any other aftermarket option of maximum customizability. That's something the Unhinged versions are lacking and makes this version of a "hinge-less" SP mod more appealing. When it comes to my personal preferences, it's a too thin and small for my liking since I have bigger hands but, again, that's a personal preference so I won't use that as a knock against it. However, what I WILL knock it for is the removal of the brightness button. Making it a bit shorter is no excuse for removing a feature that came from factory to begin with. Why resort to using buttons that are needed in-game to control brightness when there was already a fully dedicated button ready to go from the start? It also makes installation (assuming you want brightness control) more complicated and an unnecessary extra step. All in the name of making it shorter. To me, that's just pointless.

Could you show us a video on how to get oem sp screens in the unhinged sp I’ve tried and it looks too big

The plastic red back looks funny.

Not a fan of the original DMG design for the GBA because of the triggers. I know I'm in the minority but the AGB-001 form factor is my favorite. I agree with your choice of brass, it looks stunning and in time it will form a gorgeous patina!.

What was the reason to go with the plastic back? Did I miss it? Boxy offers a full aluminum housing for the same cost. I thought you were going to tell us wireless charge included by default but it's just using the old battery with no mods. Aren't most people going to be sourcing a custom color back shell for extra money too? Most of these GBA SPs out there are full of scratches. Sorry if I sound petty but I wouldn't want to spend cash to only do half the job of the competition.

That's a thing of Beauty

Now that is a very stylish, classy looking GBA!

Defeats the whole clam shape design. However, that being said since it's a GBA SP, it kicks ass.