YouTube - MiniDisc Repair - Sony MZ-E95 - Modern Replacements for Sony's First Li-ion Polymer-powered Portable Player
Disclaimer: Working with Li-po battery packs can be dangerous - compressing or bending them can break the internal layers resulting in fire risk. Currently, I do not recommend these batteries since the fit is too tight.
Sony's MZ-E95 was the world's first portable MiniDisc player with a Li-ion polymer battery that allowed for flat, compact shapes. The body is very much like the gumstick-using MZ-E75.
It came with a nice drop-in charging dock and a cool LED strip on the top lid that showed charging status.
As you can imagine, these original batteries are long dead, but there are some replacements listed on AliExpress.
A friend sent me three MZ-E95s and three sets of batteries to see if they could be replaced like they claimed.
Spoiler alert: they work, but not without some minor squeezing and modifications.
As always, be super careful working with Lithium batteries! It wasn't too long ago that Samsung's Galaxy Note 7 phones were infamous for catching fire due to a battery terminal defect, resulting in a global recall.
