Since 1.06 kernel:
Still the same as below. Lag fix was marginal (games still lag), with "majority" of fixes going to literal bricking issues.
Since 1.05 kernel:
Same as original below with the added bonus that the console can now sleep instead of strobe.
Original TL;DR since 1.04 kernel:
The EZ-Flash Parallel is not worth 30€$. Get something else cheaper like a Bootleg Gold R4i Pro, or save up 70-100 for a DSTWO or DSTWO PLUS. The EZP has major slowdown issues, especially games with cutscenes. Even bootleg carts are faster than this.
Still the same as below. Lag fix was marginal (games still lag), with "majority" of fixes going to literal bricking issues.
Since 1.05 kernel:
Same as original below with the added bonus that the console can now sleep instead of strobe.
Original TL;DR since 1.04 kernel:
The EZ-Flash Parallel is not worth 30€$. Get something else cheaper like a Bootleg Gold R4i Pro, or save up 70-100 for a DSTWO or DSTWO PLUS. The EZP has major slowdown issues, especially games with cutscenes. Even bootleg carts are faster than this.
EZ-Flash Parallel: https://www.ezflash.cn/product/ez-flash-parallel/
Official EZ-Flash firmware download page: https://www.ezflash.cn/download/
Vendor I purchased from: https://www.aliexpress.com/store/1933705?spm=a2g0o.detail.0.0.2259wPolwPolru
Official EZ-Flash firmware download page: https://www.ezflash.cn/download/
Vendor I purchased from: https://www.aliexpress.com/store/1933705?spm=a2g0o.detail.0.0.2259wPolwPolru
Update 2024-04-27: I haven't updated this post with the new info from comments yet, but EZ-Flash has already uploaded two more versions, the newest one having an interesting comment (but with nothing more added):
Update part 2: Now EZ-Flash themselves have written a few messages on this post and have given light to what the updates are about. Apparently some ROMs, when opened, will brick the Parallel cart. Their message.
Update part 3: I bought the Parallel cart at around 30 USD a few weeks ago. I just noticed that it is now cheaper on AliExpress, but at the same time marked up (discount). Either there is some shenanigans going on with EZ-Flash's MSRP or the market is growing greedy:
Update 2024-04-09: this post was created/written as of the 1.04 kernel update
Update part 2: Now EZ-Flash themselves have written a few messages on this post and have given light to what the updates are about. Apparently some ROMs, when opened, will brick the Parallel cart. Their message.
Update part 3: I bought the Parallel cart at around 30 USD a few weeks ago. I just noticed that it is now cheaper on AliExpress, but at the same time marked up (discount). Either there is some shenanigans going on with EZ-Flash's MSRP or the market is growing greedy:
Update 2024-04-09: this post was created/written as of the 1.04 kernel update
Greetings!
I'd like to start off with a question: what has your guys' experience been with the EZ-Flash Parallel?
Since it's still relatively new flash cart and I struggle to find information on it with many opinions at all, I decided that I'd start collecting some data on my own, likewise from other users. Also, corrective information will be very much appreciated if I get anything wrong!
For starters, I'll boil down key points that I've already gathered:
PROS
Pro | Notes |
Is from a reputable brand (EZ-Flash) | |
Fancy chassis / attractive-looking product | |
Longer-lasting system battery | |
Supports Micro SD and SDHC | |
Supports all/most menu skins for Wood kernel carts by default | |
NTRBOOT support for soft-modding 3DSs (yes, "3DSs" is grammatically correct) | |
No time-bomb | |
Supports soft-resetting (e.g. in Pokemon games you can press L + R + START + SELECT to reboot the game) | |
Pre-installed cheats | Cheats can be expanded by installing more to the SD card |
Pre-installed anti-piracy patches | They aren't activated by default from my experience. You have to manually activate them for each game in the cheats menus. |
Can change device brightness in-cart | but only NDS, not DSi |
Allows basic file management on the SD card itself |
CONS
Con | Notes |
EZP Kernel is based off of the oldest Wood kernel version from R4 | |
Costs 2-4x more than a bootleg flash cart (I paid $29 on AliExpress, launch MSRP was $13 just like a bootleg R4) | |
Is more "buggy" (slow, render issues) than a bootleg flash cart using YSMenu | |
No IR sensor for Pokemon games / other | would also make price skyrocket immediately, likewise no flash cart has drivers for IR sensor integration |
Doesn't support SDXC natively | It's still possible to use SDXC cards if you format them to fat32 and a particular cluster size (usually 32kb) using 3rd party software |
Slow micro SD read speed (1 MB, according to a Reddit user) | This is slower than any cheapest, fake/bootleg cart |
Update: since 1.05, they have introduced a pseudo-sleep mode when closing the lid. The screens and audio turn off, but the device LEDs still glow as if it was active and not sleeping. |
PERFORMANCE & COMPARISON
With product details out of the way, this is my experience so far. Before I digress, I must give a brief legend of my scoring system:
- Broken = Game is completely unplayable (e.g. will not boot at all)
- Unplayable = Game has too many issues to make playing worthwhile
- Partially = Game has significant issues that can hamper an enjoyable experience
- Playable = Game is playable with minor issues/inconveniences
- Native = Game feels like it's running natively on a dedicated, OEM cart
Note: I will also be drawing comparisons to my Bootleg Gold Pro R4i 2019 Cart.
EZ-Flash Parallel
Scoring | Game | Notes |
Playable | Animal Crossing: Wild World | Significant lag in the main menu, input lag in main menu, render bugs, main game plays okay, long transitions |
Broken | Casper's Scare School Spooky Sports Day | Last check: 1.06 kernel. THIS GAME WILL BRICK YOUR CART. |
Partially | Bionicle Heroes | This game lags with more than 3 enemies on screen, input lag, movement lag, general lag, etc. Not fun. |
Playable | Call of Duty: MW3 Defiance | Plays very cleanly with occasional brief render issues (black stripes) and stutter |
Playable | Mario Kart DS | Feels native |
Playable | Pokemon Black 2 | Occasional lag, most lag is noticeable at title screen. Cutscenes lag massively. |
Playable | Pokemon Platinum | Occasional lag with lots of entities on screen, bag-menu slows down, input lag in menu, long transitions |
Native | New Super Mario Bros. | Feels good besides the long transitions. |
Playable | Super Princess Peach | Stutters often (albeit negligible), long transitions |
Bootleg R4i Gold Pro 2019
Scoring | Game | Notes |
Native | Animal Crossing: Wild World | Accounting for the game lagging on an OEM cart as well, feels native. Main-menu lag is no where near as bad as the Parallel's. |
N/A | Casper's Scare School Spooky Sports Day | I haven't played this game yet, only added due to the note in the EZP table. |
Native | Bionicle Heroes | Feels good. One minor thing I noticed is that it lags an extra second when swapping heroes. That's it. |
Native | Call of Duty: MW3 Defiance | Feels good |
Native | Mario Kart DS | Feels good |
Native | Pokemon Black 2 | Feels good |
Native | Pokemon Platinum | Feels good besides the bag-menu being a tad slow. Not as bad as the Parallel |
Native | New Super Mario Bros. | Feels good |
Native | Super Princess Peach | Feels good |
SETTINGS
Because EZ-Flash's documentation about the settings is broken English as well as partially complete, I have taken the liberty to write my own descriptions for the settings for anyone that is in the same boat as I was on being confused on what they do.
Settings Menu | Setting | Description |
System Settings | user interface style | change skin of the GUI |
System Settings | Language | Currently only English / Chinese |
System Settings | Set file list type | Should the GUI display only .NDS extended files, .NDS and .SAV, or all files? |
System Settings | Safe mode | "Yes" will lock the user out of settings, file management, and disables the ability to modify configurations/cheats for games (I couldn't figure out how to remove this besides reinstalling the kernel) |
Interface settings | Scrolling speed | how fast you scroll through games holding the DPAD |
Interface settings | Filelist style | "Old school" --> text and file names only; "Modern" file names and icon; "Internal" ROM title and publisher |
Interface settings | Animations | "on" enables icon animations (useless if "filelist style" is set to "Old school") |
Interface settings | 12-hour clock | "on" sets it to military time, "off" to AM/PM |
File system settings | show hidden files | "On" shows files that Windows marked as hidden |
File system settings | Trim rom when copy | reduces file size of the NDS ROM before running it (removes "empty bytes" that are used to fill space) |
File system settings | Save extension | what extension the flash cart saves saves as. By default uses ".nds.sav" (recommended: ".sav") |
Patches | Cheat in game (AR) | "AR" is short for "Action Replay". "on" allows cheats to work when booting games |
Patches | Reset in game | Allows soft-resetting to work in games when set to "on" |
Patches | Reset in homebrew | |
GBA Settings | Universal sleep | enforce sleep when closing the lid if set to "on" |
GBA Settings | Backup save at startup | When set to "on", it uses the save method that EZ-Flash Omega / DE uses (saves the .sav upon next boot) |
GBA Settings | Slot-2 mode |
Some settings I have left blank, as I haven't gotten around to using them or understand what they do.
SYNOPSIS
If you're going to buy this device regardless of it currently being inferior to a bootleg cart, I would recommend to buy it soon before another price increase and hope EZ-Flash releases bug fixes. Otherwise, just play on your bootleg cart if you already have one. I, myself, am disappointed by this device. If they don't release updates in the future to fix bugs and lag, I'd consider this a big waste of money and will not recommend this product until they do.
Last edited by Jemtao,