This comparison will be a fast one because this time around I’m just comparing the least expensive flash carts for GB/GBC that are not just AliExpress specials. These will be put head to head so that you can see which is the best of the two entry level flash carts!
Disclaimer: a free product was provided by the manufacturer for this review
Description for EZ Flash Jr.:
EZ-Flash is back with a flash cart for DMG and CGB. Enjoy your favorite Game Boy and Game Boy Color games on your console with this convenient flash cart.
Description Everdrive GB X3:
Ever dream of having your whole library of Game Boy games in a single cartridge? The EverDrive GB X3 allows you to load your personally backed-up games from a microSD card, put the SD card into the EverDrive GB X3, put the EverDrive GB X3 into a Game Boy or Game Boy Color compatible device and have your list of games at your finger tips.
EZ Flash Jr. Unboxing:
Everdrive GB X3 Unboxing (starts at 4m35s):
EZ Flash Jr. Features:
- GB/GBC game copy and play
- Instant load the game
- Real time clock
- Fast reset to menu
- Maximum game: 64Mbits
- Maximum save: 1Mbits, LSDJ support
- Mapper supports:MBC1,MBC2,MBC3,MBC5,MBC30
- Support Gameboy, Gameboy Pocket, Gameboy Color, Gameboy Advance/SP, even with backlit mods and rechargeable batteries.
- System on chip level recovery mode, prevent upgrade dead
- Support FAT32 4-32GB SD card
- Firmware and kernel both are upgradable
- Replaceable battery design
Everdrive GB X3 Features:
- Max ROM size: 8MByte
- Max SAVE RAM size: 128KByte
- Instant loading
- Low power consumption
- High quality 4-layers PCB
- Hard gold plating for cartridge contacts
- GameGenie cheat codes
- Soft reset to menu
- Supported mappers: MBC1, MBC2, MBC3, MBC5
- Micro SD card support
- Compatible with all systems which supports GB and GBC cartridges, including Super Game Boy*
- OS supports up to 1000 files per folder
- PCB Rev.B (Fixed compatibility problems with Game Boy pocket)
Comparing Feature Sets Head-to-Head:
- Color Options. The X3 has two (clear and solid black) and comes with a matching clamshell. The EZ Flash Jr. only comes in one color, clear, and has no protective clamshell–only a cardboard box. And let’s be honest, they both will have a cardboard box that they come in.
- Loading. In all fairness, this one is hard to judge. I tested the same three games, of varying sizes, on both of the flashcarts. They seemed to load in roughly the same amount of time. First I tried just loading a game and running a stop watch for each of the games and then getting the average time. After that I tried running both Game Boy’s at the same time and seeing which one finished first. The results are pretty inconclusive here. They both load games fast, within three seconds. However, I do think it also depends on how much battery life you have left in your Game Boy when loading the game. The less power you have, the longer it will take. This is true of playing a game too, the graphics and sounds start to poo at lower battery life.
- In Game Menu. Now we can discuss how these devices access their in game menus. If you’re already using an older version of the Everdrive GB, it’s going to sound familiar to you when I describe how the EZ Flash Jr brings up the menu. So let’s say you’re playing a game and want to bring up the in game menu. You’ll reach to the back of your Game Boy and you’ll press in on the big bump on the back. Usually where the word “Game Boy” is embossed in the plastic on a standard Game Boy Color game. Once you click it in, up pops the extra options.
Now, with the newer Everdrive GB X3 that I got for review, there is now a physical button on the top right corner, opposite of the microSD card slot. Pressing this small button on top is much easier midgame than reaching to the backside and pushing the button towards yourself. It’s so awkward to do and I’m glad that Everdrive GB’s ditched this method. This, admittedly, doesn’t bring up an in game menu. But what it does do is allow you to return back to the Everdrive’s OS. Enabling you to choose another game or add cheats real fast and hop back into your current game. I recommend using the game’s in built save function before pressing the button and leaving the game. Don’t save your game and simply turn it off, it won’t be able to move the save from SRAM to the microSD card if you do.
- Price. Discuss how the more complete Everdrive GB X3 is only $44 and the EZ Flash Jr. is on Amazon at $57 with a microSD card added in. So it’s not apples to apples, but if you already have a microSD that is 4GB or smaller kicking around, then you can just get the Everdrive GB X3 and save money. The entire romset for GB and GBC combined is less than 1GB.
- Build Quality. Admittedly, the EZ Flash Jr. is better built than that of cheap Chinese Aliexpress clones. Those are closer to a saltine cracker and definitely are not built to last you for years to come. The EZ Flash Jr. is built well, but the Everdrive GB X3 is built better. The EZ Flash Jr. feels like it will last you five to ten years. But the Everdrive GB X3 feels like it will last you a lifetime. It has a four layer PCB and it has gold plated contacts. They both do have quality of life improvements over Nintendo’s official carts such as the ability to easily swap in a new button cell battery if the current one dies. Just open the cartridge and the old one slides out, then you slide the new one in. There is no soldering required on either of these.
- Setup/Updating. The setup of both of these devices is relatively simple overall. I think that the Everdrive is a bit easier though. You simply download this firmware file and then extract it to the root of your microSD card. Then make a folder for your games and put the ROMs into it. Now when you start your Everdrive GB it will update and then be done. You can start playing games at that point! You can do the same to update in the future. If there’s a new OS, just download and extract it to the microSD and the Everdrive will auto install it upon startup.
The EZ Flash Jr. is not so automatic though. The downloading of a firmware aka kernel is the same. So download the bits from them and put it onto your microSD card root. Once you put it in and start the EZ Flash Jr. you have another step. Locate the file on the root called “Update_X.gb” where the X would be the current kernel number. Start it and that will run the updating process. If it goes will, it should tell you to reboot. Once you reboot then you can play games as normal. But you’ll want to delete the file you just ran off of the microSD card. So insert it into your PC and do so first. Updating each time is the same process as what we just discussed.
Finally, if you want the extra abilities such as saving save states, you have several more steps in order to enable it. The Everdrive GB X3 just works out of the box. It’s enough that I’m going to link this reddit article here where they lay out everything for you if you do buy an EZ Flash Jr.
- Hardware Compatibility. These devices are both going to work in all official Nintendo hardware that supports a Game Boy or Game Boy Color cartridge. So that means that you can use either in the Game Boy, Game Boy Pocket, Game Boy Color, Game Boy Advance, Super Game Boy (either version), and the Game Boy Player for Gamecube. As to whether or not they work in your clone handheld device is something I can’t tell you. Do research about your specific item and both of these and see which one works or works best for you.
- Software Compatibility. Both of these cartridges are identical in terms of the ROMs that they can run. One interesting side note is that in the marketing of the X3 it mentions the mappers it uses. It has one less mapper than the EZ Flash Jr. and according to internet results, the game that mapper plays is Pokemon Crystal. I tested it on my X3 and it does indeed work. So I’m not sure if it got fixed in a firmware update. But long story short, both cartridges could play every game that I threw at them. If you find a game that doesn’t work on the X3 and want everyone to know, add it in the comments and I can update this article with it.
Final Thoughts:
The EZ Flash Jr. is definitely a good contender against the Everdrive GB X3. However, the X3 eeks out a win in my book, but barely. Not having save states like the EZ Flash Jr. (albeit very janky) may be a deal breaker for some. So, if you want to know more about the EZ Flash Jr. or to find a purchase link, click here.
I’ll post the purchase link for the X3 down below, for those of you who are interested in giving your GB/GBC a set of new abilities! If you want something more than the X3 or the EZ Flash Jr. my next article will be comparing the Everdrive GB X5 and the X7.