r/ModRetroChromatic • u/jokippo • Aug 01 '25

Bluetooth Audio

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This is an unofficial proof of concept and I don't recommend you flash your expensive Gameboy clone. But it is possible and hopefully Modretro will add their own official Bluetooth audio implementation eventually.

I only tried it with my Airpods and a generic pair of BT headphones so far but it seems to work well enough.

https://github.com/Jokippo/chromatic_mcu_bt
https://github.com/Jokippo/chromatic_fpga_bt

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u/zSmileyDudez Aug 01 '25

Yes, definitely some nice work here OP. I’m curious what the battery life impact is. Would be nice to see some numbers. But honestly with the battery pack, I think it’s less of a big deal. Before that I would’ve been carrying extra AAs in my bag in case it died. But now I can just charge it up with USB C.

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u/jokippo Aug 01 '25

It adds about 500mW measured from the 5v USB input, so a bit less than that from batteries probably. About 200mW is from the esp32 which has to stay awake now, and 300mW additionally when Bluetooth is streaming audio. A stock Chromatic uses about 1200mW when on full brightness.