denast
Speaking of GBA, I’ve recently picked up this little guy in the same color! It can emulate anything up to PS1 including, well, GBA.
P.S. It’s called Miyoo Mini Plus but there is also a whole bunch of competitors in similar price range so picking one of them is a matter of personal choice
If surface feeling is your only concern, you may look into getting some trackpad stickers from aftermarket. I’ve had dbrand skin before this mod and it felt fine. There should be a bunch of variants with different textures on places like etsy. I mean redoing the trackpad covers seems like a huge pain in the ass.
It requires full disassembly, and by full I mean full. Every component has to be unmounted and then remounted again because the front plate is the carrier of all other components. Official video guide I followed (with cuts and perfect execution) is 1.3 hours long.
People usually say it takes them 3+ hours, I took my time and was very careful, took little breaks, double checked everything and landed at around 5.2 hours. No regrets though!
I’ve considered getting joystick replacements too but decided against. They are not super hard to replace as they are immediately exposed after taking the back cover off, and while less durable can still last years upon years, none of controllers I used in my entire life ever developed stick drift.
Buttons meanwhile require to take out a lot of stuff, so be prepared and leave enough space on your desk for components. Good luck with mods!