EverDrive-GBA X5 Mini (Base - Smoke)

PCB Version: Model 19, Rev. B (X5 Mini)

CA$162.87

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SKU:

SAG032099

This is the Base version of the EverDrive-GBA X5 Mini, nothing fancy. This cartridge comes assembled in a transparent gray shell with the basic label.

Ever dream of having your whole library of Game Boy Advance games in a single cartridge? The EverDrive-GBA X5 Mini allows you to load your personally backed-up games from a microSD card, put the SD card into the EverDrive-GBA, put the EverDrive-GBA into a Game Boy Advance compatible device and have your list of games at your finger tips. Please read the FLASH CART DISCLAIMER below before purchasing.

Basic Edition vs. Deluxe Edition

The Basic Edition comes with just the EverDrive-GBA X5 Mini cartridge in the selected style or configuration covered by a 1-year Warranty. Whereas the Deluxe Edition includes the cartridge, a case, printed manual, an EverDrive-GBA sticker, Stone Age Gamer sticker, and is covered by a 2-year Warranty.

Features

Small design! Will fit flush in all your GBA handhelds.
High compatibility. Almost 100% compatibility with GBA game library.
All save types supported, no game back-up patching required.
Fast Loading (most games load within 1 - 2 seconds).
256Mbit PSRAM (32MByte) game memory.
1Mbit SRAM (128KByte) save memory.
Real-time clock support.
Low power consumption.
SD, SDHC and SDXC cards are supported. Tested with micro-SD cards up to 64GB.
FAT32 support.
Supported with GameCube GBA Player, Super Retro Advance adapter and other GBA accessories.
NES, GB and GBC games support.

FLASH CART / ODE DISCLAIMER

A) PIRACY – Stone Age Gamer Retroworks, Inc. ("Stone Age Gamer") does not support or condone piracy. Flash carts, ODEs, and similar devices Stone Age Gamer sells and supports are intended to be used only for the following purposes: development, playing games licensed by Stone Age Gamer for use with the product, and/or playing currently owned personally backed-up games and media where it is legal to do so. Stone Age Gamer does not offer support for any other use of this product.

B) PERSONAL BACK-UPS – In many territories it is legal to make back-ups for personal use and/or archival purposes, however it may not be legal in all territories. Please learn the national and local laws regarding this subject before making back-ups for personal use. Please note, in most territories "Personal Back-up" means exactly that; back-ups you made yourself of games you currently own. This often does not include back-ups obtained via other methods (i.e. downloading), even if it is a game you physically own.

C) DAMAGE – Neither Stone Age Gamer or the manufacturer is responsible for any damage of property this product may cause. This is a new product intended to be used on electronic hardware that exceeds two decades in age and Stone Age Gamer can’t guarantee the condition of such hardware. USE AT YOUR OWN RISK.

D) ALTERATION & USE – Any unauthorized alteration and/or non-intended use of this or any other flash cart product sold by Stone Age Gamer shall void both manufacturer and retailer warranties of that product.

E) CLONE / UPGRADED CONSOLES – Flash carts / ODEs were developed and intended to be used on unchanged original hardware using original hardware accessories. Stone Age Gamer does not guarantee flash cart / ODE operation on clone consoles or altered consoles. Flash carts / ODEs may operate on some clone consoles or altered consoles. However, due to power consumption changes, random hardware changes and/or firmware updates of those consoles we cannot offer a guarantee of flash cart compatibility. Any returns due to incompatibility with clone consoles or altered consoles will result in no refund of any shipping costs and a 10% restocking fee if no defect is found during testing.

Everdrive GBA X5 Mini: A Must Own Product

Posted by Walter on Nov 5th 2021

To begin, my initial X5 Mini was faulty to no fault of SAG or Krikzz. There is a possibility that your cartridge could be faulty per Krikzz, but SAG return and exchange policy is excellent. I was able to recieve a replacement with 5 days of shipping back my item. SAG provided excellent service that ensured I would get the X5 Mini I wanted. With all that out of the way let's discuss the actual product.

The Everdrive GBA X5 Mini is a vast improvement over it's predecessor, Everdrive X5, in size only. The cartridge now sits flushed with the GBA/SP/Micro consoles as any other retail GBA game would. The plastics and PCB used in production of this item are too notch as it feels 99% close to a retail GBA cartridge. The front sticker for the cartridge is also high quality with no noticible defects in the art. Removing the micro SD card is a bit of a pain, but any electronic with a spring loaded SD slot at this size tends to have difficulty removing SD cards due to needing a small object or nail to push the tough spring. This is not too big of an issue as I see most users only removing the SD card sparingly after initial setup of the OS and backup file files.

The OS and use of the X5 Mini is simple as it can get. Simply place the unzipped files provides by SAG tutorial page in the root of the the Micro SD you put into the X5 Mini. There are options to quickly play the last file booted, hide the OS files, and run a debug test for possible faults in the cart. You can have your files straight in the root of the SD or organized into folders in any way you want. Unfortunately there is no save state function for GBA files at this time, but maybe it could be added in the future. For GB/C games converted to GBA files there is the ability to use save states and change the color palette, but that is the result of the program that creates those files and not the X5 Mini. One final note, battery usage of the GBA seems average with retail GBA cartridges, so I would not be too worried about the X5Mini being a power sapper.

Be sure that when using the X5 Mini that you use an appropriate micro SD card sold by SAG or one that has compatible read and write speeds. The slower the SD card the better, because newer cards like the Samsung Evo and SanDisk cards commonly found are too fast for this device. When you receive the cart be sure to test it with many different file files and on different devices if possible to ensure your cartridge is not faulty. If you encounter a red screen upon booting your cartridge might be faulty, so continue attempting to boot and get into the OS and run the debug program. Afterwards if you come across errors in your test get in contact with SAG as soon as possible.

With all that said, the X5 Mini is an excellent device for those looking to get the best out of their GBA cartridge and is worth the asking price of ~$100 USD. I give it a 4/5 for function, ease of use, and build quality.

32 Reviews

4
Everdrive GBA X5 Mini: A Must Own Product

Posted by Walter on Nov 5th 2021

To begin, my initial X5 Mini was faulty to no fault of SAG or Krikzz. There is a possibility that your cartridge could be faulty per Krikzz, but SAG return and exchange policy is excellent. I was able to recieve a replacement with 5 days of shipping back my item. SAG provided excellent service that ensured I would get the X5 Mini I wanted. With all that out of the way let's discuss the actual product.

The Everdrive GBA X5 Mini is a vast improvement over it's predecessor, Everdrive X5, in size only. The cartridge now sits flushed with the GBA/SP/Micro consoles as any other retail GBA game would. The plastics and PCB used in production of this item are too notch as it feels 99% close to a retail GBA cartridge. The front sticker for the cartridge is also high quality with no noticible defects in the art. Removing the micro SD card is a bit of a pain, but any electronic with a spring loaded SD slot at this size tends to have difficulty removing SD cards due to needing a small object or nail to push the tough spring. This is not too big of an issue as I see most users only removing the SD card sparingly after initial setup of the OS and backup file files.

The OS and use of the X5 Mini is simple as it can get. Simply place the unzipped files provides by SAG tutorial page in the root of the the Micro SD you put into the X5 Mini. There are options to quickly play the last file booted, hide the OS files, and run a debug test for possible faults in the cart. You can have your files straight in the root of the SD or organized into folders in any way you want. Unfortunately there is no save state function for GBA files at this time, but maybe it could be added in the future. For GB/C games converted to GBA files there is the ability to use save states and change the color palette, but that is the result of the program that creates those files and not the X5 Mini. One final note, battery usage of the GBA seems average with retail GBA cartridges, so I would not be too worried about the X5Mini being a power sapper.

Be sure that when using the X5 Mini that you use an appropriate micro SD card sold by SAG or one that has compatible read and write speeds. The slower the SD card the better, because newer cards like the Samsung Evo and SanDisk cards commonly found are too fast for this device. When you receive the cart be sure to test it with many different file files and on different devices if possible to ensure your cartridge is not faulty. If you encounter a red screen upon booting your cartridge might be faulty, so continue attempting to boot and get into the OS and run the debug program. Afterwards if you come across errors in your test get in contact with SAG as soon as possible.

With all that said, the X5 Mini is an excellent device for those looking to get the best out of their GBA cartridge and is worth the asking price of ~$100 USD. I give it a 4/5 for function, ease of use, and build quality.
5
Bang for your buck

Posted by Matthew Kitz on Oct 26th 2021

If you are on the go and have a GBA, then you can't go wrong with this puppy. All those games at your finger tips all in a nice little package. I have never had any problems loading or running my games. Highly recommended!
5
Excellent Cartridge, though only a nominal improvement over the original X5

Posted by [email protected] on Oct 10th 2021

If you already have the X5, this is just a smaller version of it; the only other notable change is that it also doesn't have that bright red LED that flashes every time your game saves. (Very interesting in games that auto-save)

But if you don't have the X5, this game cartridge is a great way to play (nearly) all of the GBA library. I particularly love using it to play fan translations on original hardware. Krikzz hardware support is also excellent, especially with the new-ish integration with GBA replicators like Goomba (for GameBoy and GameBoy Color). Overall, very highly recommended for fans of the GameBoy Advance.
5
gamechanger

Posted by Ryan Quinlan on Sep 6th 2021

Love mine! Revitalized my childhood GBA and this was the perfect addition - super convenient and fun to have tons of games on one cart. If you're more casual/not a collector, this is a must have. If you don't mind not having a 100% accurate experience due to no RTC, then this is the one to get

The GB/GBC emulation through Goomba isn't 100% perfect (still excellent though!) but this is to be expected - still a super nice bonus. This + a GBA (with a backlit screen) is more than enough for anyone interested in gameboys, but not diehard enough for the most authentic experience. highly recommended!
5
GBA Everdrive

Posted by Jimmy Morris on Aug 5th 2021

Bought two of these awhile back for two customers I had built two aluminum GBAs out of parts bought from boxy pixel, it really completed the product! My customers were thrilled to get these GBAs with their favorite Pokémon games on one cartridge! Can also play gameboy, gameboy color, NES, SMS, and game gear! Very happy with this cart! Def a must buy
5
Fantastic way to breathe new life into your GBA!

Posted by Nick on Aug 5th 2021

Like the rest of Krikzz's flashcart offerings, the Everdrive-GBA is a brilliant piece of engineering. The X5 Mini handles everything I've tried to throw at it, with very few exceptions. It works wonderfully in both my DS Lite and Game Boy Player. It also handles original GB and GBC games no problem once you've installed the required replicators (replicators are required due to the physical requirements of the GBA and physical GBA carts). If you're thinking about dusting off your old GBA and are looking for a flashcart, this is the one!
5
Amazing for Homebrew 5/5 starts!!!

Posted by James on May 1st 2021

I love using this cart for loading homebrew without having to mess around with any soldering!
5
Everdrive GBA X5 Mini

Posted by Mike B on Apr 11th 2021

This flash cart works great and is extremely easy to use. I'm sometimes frustrated when supposedly simple items like this are actually more complicated to use than advertised, but this is the real deal. There are few steps to follow but are all laid out online and easy to complete. The built-in menus are simple and speedy. Easy to set up the replicators needed to play GBA and GBC games. Emulating NES and other consoles doesn't produce the most accurate results but gets the job done.

Overall well worth the purchase to pair with a custom/modded GBA.
5
It just works!

Posted by Michael Frank on Apr 8th 2021

This works amazingly in both the GBA SP and the Gamecube's Game Boy Player. The games load instantly and the menu is simple and to the point. Awesome!