Made some adjustments. Better charging, Brightness wheel, and 2500Mah Battery #72
Description
The project’s still solid in 2025, and I made a few tweaks to my Pi Zero 2W build that I thought were worth sharing.
Charger Upgrade-
I have issues with the TP4056 charger, so I swapped it for a PowerBoost 1000C. This lets me safely charge and play games at the same time without risking damage to the battery which the TP4056 can't do. It is more expensive but worth it in my opinion. I soldered it to the SPW PCB for stability and ran custom power lines. I did have to trim more of the shell to fit the larger board and added Kapton tape underneath to prevent shorts.
Screen Brightness Control-
The screen brightness was way too intense for me, so I added a way to adjust it. I ran a 3.3V wire to a 5-pin potentiometer, routed it through the hinge alongside the ribbon cable, and connected it to the RES 3.9Ω screen resistor. To make it work, I soldered the resistor at a 90-degree angle instead of bridging the usual solder pads.
Battery Upgrade-
Battery life with the standard GBA SP sized battery was pretty terrible—especially when playing PS1 games. I had a 2500mAh lipo battery I laying around, so I modeled an expansion to mount it on the back. Before switching to the PowerBoost, I was using a simple JST connector soldered into the pad's you would connect the 3 pin battery connector to. It could definitely be adjusted to fit other battery sizes pretty easily, mine was 7.5mm,50mm,60mm.
It’s a little bulkier now, but the upgrades made it so much more functional!
Here's my battery expansion if anyone wants to try it.
https://makerworld.com/en/models/1043386#profileId-1028669
Build Gallery with pics of all the stuff
https://photos.app.goo.gl/ApU66M8uM8Tntj6r8
I used these screws
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07YFN634C?ref_=ppx_hzsearch_conn_dt_b_fed_asin_title_1&th=1
Cheers
-Matt