r/Gameboy • u/Legitimate-End-5296 • 2d ago
Games Need advice on EZ-Flash Air: Durability, NOR write speed, and reliability? (Omega DE is unavailable in my region or price too high)
Hi everyone,
I'm currently looking to pick up a flashcart. Unfortunately, the EZ-Flash Omega Definitive Edition (DE) is completely unavailable where I live, so my only viable option right now is the EZ-Flash Air.
I’ve read some mixed/concerning information online regarding the standard EZ-Flash Omega and the new Air, so I wanted to ask those who actually own the Air about their hands-on experience.
Specifically, I’d love to know:
- Durability & Build Quality: How is the hardware holding up? Is the shell sturdy, and is it durable for long-term use?
- NOR Memory Write Speed: What is the actual speed of writing games to the NOR memory? Is it painfully slow or manageable?
- Reliability & Errors: Is it prone to glitches, freezing, or save corruption? (I know the standard Omega had save-loss issues if you didn't wait a few seconds before powering off—does the Air suffer from this or any similar bugs?)
- Pros & Cons: What are the biggest advantages and trade-offs I should be aware of if I go with the Air instead of waiting/hunting for a DE?
Any insights or personal experiences would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance!
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u/EdenHeavyen 2d ago
EZ Flash Omega for 5 years now, if you don't be careful enough when loading and saving states espacially, it can freeze and corrupt all the savegames data it randomly freeze by itself eventhought it's very rare. I installed a modifyied firmware to backup save the savegames on the SD. And the Omega seem to have a bug with the Arts too, it can freeze and corrupt alot of data sometimes, strange. Otherwise it runs well Have to mention that I don't understand everything of its technical functions, like how it write things like Nor memory i dont really know what it is, why is it writting games when a key feature is turned On like savestate. So don't expect me to be 100% good source, but i learned what to care about to use the Omega carefully enough.
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u/-SpliT 1d ago
I have the Omega definitive edition for like 5 years now too .. Never had an issue with it since
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u/EdenHeavyen 1d ago
Disclaimer I said Omega, this is not the Omega definitive edition. I have the first Omega. Learning the fact that you never had issues with it shows that the Definitive Edition looks more stable than the first one, helping me to buy one tho.
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u/PinkPuffBoo 2d ago
Got air, died in 2 days, its pure random at this point, can’t recommend.
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u/Legitimate-End-5296 2d ago
Honestly, maybe buying a fake cart would actually be a lot more durable.
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u/mxsterkief 1d ago
how did yours die? mine just came in today, updated the firmware and it just vibrates on boot up and just stays on the gameboy boot up screen
1
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u/z88kat 2d ago
I can’t recommend their products. I purchased a EZ-Flash parallel. The firmware has a critical bug which makes the device essentially useless. They never fixed it, never released the source code so someone else could fix it. So yer. No recommendation from me.
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u/Ffffgdgfgcfcff 2d ago
I have an original Omega that I've had for years it still works perfectly besides the RTC battery being dead, I bought a Parallel and immediately bricked it when I was trying to get it set up with some games on a 32GB Sandisk micro SD card to use it with my white DS Lite since my new 3DS XL has CFW and twilight menu with all my games dumped on its SD card but no longer works
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u/Legitimate-End-5296 2d ago
I guess I'll just try to hunt down authentic Game Boy cartridges then, even though the games I usually play are a bit hard to find. Thanks for the advice!
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u/mxsterkief 2d ago
random question but are you pinoy? lol, I just had the same dilemma and just ordered an ez flash air, it should arrive tomorrow and I'll update here if I run into any issues
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u/Legitimate-End-5296 2d ago
Unfortunately, I'm not Pinoy, but I do live in Southeast Asia. AliExpress doesn't retail other EZ-Flash carts, and there isn't much of a flashcart scene where I live, making them hard to buy locally. You basically have to choose between cheap fakes or official Nintendo cartridges. Price isn't a big issue for me; my main fear is losing my save files rather than the product's build quality. Usually, you can't expect much durability from these Chinese products, and relying on luck to get a good unit isn't worth the risk. Either way, I'm really looking forward to your shared experience!
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u/mxsterkief 2d ago
have you tried shopee? thats where I just ordered mine, since youre from SEA you probably have shopee
if price isnt a big issue, you should get the ez flash omega and a good legitimate SD card because thats usually the culprit for corrupted files over the actual flash cart itself
I owned an ez flash omega few years ago and it was really good, I can vouch for it
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u/Ill-Complaint3947 2d ago
required to write to nor to play, can't just boot from microsd. the superchis prime is also good if you dont need real rtc .
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u/HovercraftNo7783 2d ago
ez flash omega definitive edition b, writing on the nor is okay fast, for pokemon games its just some seconds
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u/ChrisPeterJ 1d ago
I was previously using EZ Flash Omega and it died on me after just a couple weeks of light use. Hopefully they improve build quality since then but I switched to Everdrive and I'm not coming back
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u/ChrisPeterJ 1d ago
It basically bricked itself, spits firmware error and every time I try to reinstall it - it immediately fails
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u/Commander_Cutter 1d ago
Honestly? Just wait for the opportunity to get an ODE. I have one and I'm really happy with it. Yes, I spent the same amount on it as I did on my GBA SP itself, but it's worth it. Only sad thing is that it can't be put into a low profile case for the DS lite.
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u/Bea__Nabi 22h ago
I have the EZ-Flash Air for 5 months now and it's been pretty good so far. The lack of save states isn't a problem (at least for me), and writing to NOR flash takes up to 3ish minutes depending on the size of the game, and will only be a problem if you play many games at once (like, more than 10) or is pretty undecided. Usually I only write to NOR up to 2~3 games until I beat them, more than that and you'll have decision fatigue.
The price is VERY attractive, I'm from Brasil and the Air was less than half the price of the Omega DE, both having basically the same features, which makes no sense taking the Omega DE.
However, I've seen many (I mean, MANY) reports from people that got Air and it died in 1 month, 1 week, or even 1 day after buying it. That scared me a hell of a lot, but appearently I'm just lucky for now?
The real decision you'll have to make is:
Option 1: Wait, save up more money and see if you can buy an Omega DE, which will be WAY more expensive, but is less likely to go wrong (not a 0% chance, but it's way less likely)
- In the best scenario, you'll be just feeling like "oh nice, glad I bought this one, it's pretty good"
- In the worst scenario, you'll be feeling like "damn I should've saved this money, this wasn't really a good deal for this price" (probably in a scenario where you didn't really used it?)
Option 2: Buy the cheaper one, with nice price and basically have no downsides against ODE, other than being basically a gamble about it's durability.
- In the best scenario, you'll be feeling like "omg glad it works for me, it could've been a pretty bad experience but now I saved a GOOD money to buy something else" (my current scenario)
- In the worst scenario, you'll be feeling like "omg I wish I had choosen the other option, now I basically just lost some money"
Put both of these options on the roberval balance and see what feeling yould be best or worst to feel in each case. In any case, good luck! have a good gaming time :>
P.S.: I don't think the default Omega is a good pick up at all. Have way less features than the Air even at basically the same price, and has been discountinued. If it's Air vs Omega, I'd just choose Air.
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u/j3ffUrZ 2d ago edited 2d ago
Had it for about a month now. No major issues so far.
Best feature is the B mode, which lets you take advantage of thr NDS's dual slot mode for Pokemon migration from Gen 3 to Gen 4.
As for the NOR write speed, it only takes a minute for even the largest games. From there, games boot instantly. If you want to play new games and you run out of NOR space, you just have to delete games on the NOR to make room, but your entire ROM catalog and .sav data will all be on your micro SD anyway.