How can I get better battery life out of my game boy micro?

[actualkoifish]

I've been using my game boy micro a lot recently, and have noticed the battery life is not very good. I have a new mahko 750mah battery and I mostly play NES games on the pocketnes emulator, running off the SZ Flash 4 mini SD card version. I have noticed that I only get maybe 5 hours in this way. I recall getting better life back when it was new, though admittedly that's almost 15 years ago now and so I don't really remember. Just feels like I should be getting more, especially now that I have the new, extended battery.
What are some things that can improve my battery life? Would a new flash cart be more efficient? Or maybe I could burn a permanent cart with NES games and it would run more efficiently that way? I already play with lowest brightness and sound off, so not sure I can do much more there.

 

[FAST6191]

Most third party batteries are lies and unpleasantness. Some flash carts gobble a bit more than some commercial games but the EZ4 miniSD should not be too bad.

The battery being old might not help (they don't tend to make new ones so it too likely sat on the shelf for a while at this point).

Anyway not much I can say for this -- other than things like lower screen brightness (not really an option), volume I guess (fractional difference and probably lost in the noise), attach a battery bank, get another battery and do a swap or parallel battery, maybe consider one of the truly low power flash carts... those at the easy steps. After that we get silly and start contemplating hardware changes. The "sensible" ones are also going to be trick for a GBM form factor as well -- fine for an original GBA and even probably SP but for a tiny Micro... I am seeing some problems with that approach.

 

[x2brute]

flash carts use a dramatic amount of extra battery, usually at least 100ma and older carts tend to be worse (some can double power use) I'd personally suggest the EZ Flash Omega Definitive Edition for low power use flash carts

 

[hippy dave]

flash carts use a dramatic amount of extra battery, usually at least 100ma and older carts tend to be worse (some can double power use) I'd personally suggest the EZ Flash Omega for low power use flash carts

You probably mean the Omega DE? The original Omega is a bit of a greedy gobbler.

 

[x2brute]

You probably mean the Omega DE? The original Omega is a bit of a greedy gobbler.

yep, forgot to write the DE, sorry

 

[RAHelllord]

Most third party batteries are lies and unpleasantness. Some flash carts gobble a bit more than some commercial games but the EZ4 miniSD should not be too bad.

The battery being old might not help (they don't tend to make new ones so it too likely sat on the shelf for a while at this point).

"Makho battery" should just mean it's a new LiPo with a salvaged connector attached to it, very similar to the Makho battery for SP which is also just a new LiPo with the wires soldered to a small PCB that's wedged into the contacts.
Which is to say, if this battery got bought from a reputable seller like retromodding, retrogamerepairshop, or similar it should be a proper new 750mAh LiPo from a reputable manufacturer.
I've made my own for GBM and SP and they work splendid, because again new stock with only the connector being old.

I've been using my game boy micro a lot recently, and have noticed the battery life is not very good. I have a new mahko 750mah battery and I mostly play NES games on the pocketnes emulator, running off the SZ Flash 4 mini SD card version. I have noticed that I only get maybe 5 hours in this way. I recall getting better life back when it was new, though admittedly that's almost 15 years ago now and so I don't really remember. Just feels like I should be getting more, especially now that I have the new, extended battery.
What are some things that can improve my battery life? Would a new flash cart be more efficient? Or maybe I could burn a permanent cart with NES games and it would run more efficiently that way? I already play with lowest brightness and sound off, so not sure I can do much more there.

If you're certain you got the battery from a reputable source then I would suspect the power switch is dirty and needs a good clean. If you're comfortable with digging around in electronics I'd suggest careful taking your GBM apart, opening the switch with the help of a soldering iron, and then cleaning the contacts inside (and on the moving part) with a whole bunch of highly concentrated Isopropyl Alcohol until they're shiny again.

However with the GBM being as small as it is a bunch of those parts are pretty fragile and convoluted to take apart and put back together, so it might be worth it giving it to someone you trust to do that instead. There's a few people that offer refurbishing old consoles and while not cheap it'll be cheaper than having to replace it with a new one.

 

[Jayro]

I use a Lipo that Makho suggested. It's not double the life, but it's far better than the OG battery. I just had to cut the wires off and solder it to the new cell.