Game Boy Advance SP Replacement Shell

I purchased 3 different colored SP shells and when I received them the quality and even the material they were made varied dramatically. Two of the three were of such poor quality that they are unusable. Handheldlegend really needs better quality control to prevent such inconsistencies.

These shells are some of the worst I have ever used. Not only are the buttons the wrong font but both of the different shells I ordered were bent and warped, not fitting the screen or the original PCB/Motherboard. They are also incredibly grainy feeling as well as thin. I could probably crack it easily if it was dropped by mistake where with the original shells they felt sturdy (as they were designed for kids). I understand that these are third party, but I hoped for better quality when I ordered from here. And to top it all off, the Nintendo Badge was also very poor quality.

I've attached images of all the things I am talking about. The red and blue shells were the ones I purchased, the black one is my original OEM Gameboy Advance SP shell for reference as to how it should look.

TLDR - :(

I ordered a red shell to replace my original SP’s shell. The color of the actual product isn’t QUITE true to the image on the website - it’s a little darker, more of a maroon than the original SP’s crimson. The shell I received had a few scratches on it out of the box. I ended up only using some of the included buttons and spare parts to spruce up my original SP.

All of that said, the build quality of the product itself is excellent, and for the price it can’t be beat. I trust that the scratches on my shell were a fluke. If you’re not picky about replicating the original color of your device, I highly recommend it.

Photo 1 shows color comparison with my original SP. Since my system is from 2003 and has been scratched up significantly, it’s entirely possible that HHL’s color choice is accurate to a brand-new SP. So I chalk this up to personal preference. Photos 2 and 3 show the (tiny) scratches visible on the top and bottom of the shell. The bottom scratches will be covered by the included sticker, but the ones on top will remain visible.

Again, overall an excellent product for the price. I’ll probably be installing this new shell despite the color discrepancy. Just be aware that the actual product may differ from the one shown.

The plastic of this shell feels low quality and seems easy to damage. Two of the screws broke off in their post, and it was a headache to remove them. I won’t bother reaching out to HHL because each time I have, they haven’t been helpful. Switching to Retro Game Repair Shop after this.

My experience with this shell went downhill very quick. First, while I was inspecting the shell after opening the package, I noticed a rather obvious scuff on the lid, but I decided to move on with the repair as it didn't bug me much. Next, I noticed that some of the fonts on the shell in the buttons was slightly off, so I used the original buttons. Lastly, while I was trying to thread one of the included screws into a screw post, the screw head snapped off leaving the rest of the screw in a screw post. Overall, I would not buy one of these again.

The SP shell replacement gets the job done, but the material doesn't feel nearly as bulletproof as the OEM stuff Nintendo put out with the console.