GBA SP 3.0" Laminated IPS Backlight Kit - Cloud Game Store
Channel: makho
Date: 24/08/2021

This is the laminated version of Cloud Game Store's GBA SP IPS kit. Soldering is not required but you can solder to enable button brightness controls. This kit no longer comes with a brightness sensor for toggling brightness. Trimming of the top shell not required but probably a good idea, depending on the tolerances of your specific shell. 

Previous iterations of this kit will did not include a lens and you were required to purchase one separately or salvage your old lens. Unfortunately, the display area of the new LCD is slightly larger than OEM (but not quite as big as the 9380 LCD based Funnyplaying kits) so you do lose a column or two of pixels on the left or right, depending on your alignment. The laminated kit does NOT have that problem as all the lenses are made custom for this kit (and one is included). 

This kit was provided to me by RGRS and you can grab one here: https://retrogamerepairshop.com/collections/cloud-game-store/products/gba-sp-game-boy-advance-sp-backlight-kit-with-colored-lens-options

Not an affiliate link but you can use code "makho" for 10% off your purchase (affiliate code).

Here is my video on the previous iteration of this kit: https://youtu.be/DQT_303eAa0
Here is my video on the GBA version: https://youtu.be/wiyKvD5j7ws

The green SP I used for comparison later in the video uses the Funnyplaying 9380 LCD based IPS kit: https://youtu.be/amRFG-DqP2w
(that kit also uses a fully laminated LCD)

mattcurrie's ROM pack of useful test ROMs (that I used in the video): https://mattcurrie.com/gb-lcd-tests.zip

240p-test-mini -- test ROMs for GB and GBA: https://github.com/pinobatch/240p-test-mini

Want to just see the raw numbers for power usage and screen brightness? Check out my spreadsheet linked here (it is continuously updated): https://www.reddit.com/r/Gameboy/comments/ehru1w/relative_power_usage_of_backlight_mods/

Confused/intimidated by the sheer number of backlight kits now? I don’t blame you. I had to create an image based guide just to keep everything straight myself. There’s a new section of the wiki that has a more subjective look at all the different kits: https://gameboy.github.io/wiki/backlightmods

I have recently enabled monetization, however, to help offset my costs for this channel. I highly recommend using adblock if you think the ads are too intrusive. If you'd like to support me directly, I've created a ko-fi: https://ko-fi.com/makho

Please do not feel obligated to contribute, what funds I make there will almost entirely be put towards junk food or cat treats or other non-youtube related bullshit I don't need.