After cracking my D2G's screen, im in the market for a new phone. This time, i want one that has much more modding potential than the D2G. My upgrade doesnt come for a couple of months, so until then, i want to get a used phone from ebay. What verizon phone has been the best for modding in the past? When i say modding, i mean rooting, Custom ROMs, and modding community. I assume the Galaxy nexus is the best one right now, but what about older phones?
Thanks
Related
hi guys,
I know this has been asked already, but all I see are very old threads and a lot has changed since.
Since the Galaxy SII and sensation are available now, so my question is should I buy an Atrix or should i look for other options. I am asking this question here as most of the people are using Atrix and can better tell how the phone is. If given a second chance will you buy Atrix again ?
It really depends on the money you want to spend. I got the Atrix for $99 on contract, so it was attractive to me. The higher res display was also a plus for me. When the GB update comes it'll be nice to have the 1080p recording. Also the lapdock function works fantastically for me. I travel a lot and it's nice to be able to use my phone as a laptop and charge it at the same time.
But the Galaxy S2 has a slightly faster CPU, same RAM and the display is leagues ahead in color reproduction. Seriously, looking at them is sort of unnerving because of the ridiculously bright colors.
Otherwise I'm sure they're fairly comparable.
Decide for yourself, then you can't come back here and complain to us when you're not happy.
well i have had most of the latest android phones out there at the moment and currently have the Atrix.
Things i like about it are...
1. The size, i find that the 4" screen and overall size of the phone are perfect for me, fits great in the hand and i can select most things with one hand.
2. Screen quality is great..more 'natural' than the galaxy s2, just a shame they didnt coat the screen in the same way to resist fingerprints
3. Call quality is excellent, audio quality through headphones i find to be really good (i use Klipsch x10) and it sounds great.
4. External speaker is one of the best ive known on a phone, better than the iphone 4 and galaxy s2...yes ive owned both.
5. notification led....many of the current android phones seem to leave this out but im glad the Atrix has one as its really useful.
Things i dont like....
1. 2.2 Froyo....really, along with moto-blur nearly ruin a great phone. The phone really dosent perform like a 2 core phone. However, this can be improved by using an alternative launcher like ADW ex....thats what i am using and makes scrolling between screens much smoother and less laggy.
2. The wait for gingerbread.....Motorola could be onto a big fail like sony ericcson did when they brought out the xperia x10 with android 1.6...it had everything going for it then they slaughterd it with 1.6! crazy!
Other than the fact that it is let down by having froyo i like everything else about the phone..infact i probably find it worse than others might because i have owned the galaxy s2 quite recently (sold because it was too big for me to hold in one hand) and that phone is fantastic. Very smooth and very quick...this really is where the Atrix should be
Just my view of course...
will i stick with the Atrix?.......well if gingerbread comes out in the next couple of weeks then there is every chance...if not....well i like the look of the xperia neo
these are the facts
this phone is awesome
it sucks in the same respect bc nobody, wants to dev for it, i have not seen a single anything in the last 6 months, and finally we get a leaked buggy build from hongkong and an unlocked bl
id say 90% of atrix script kiddies on here suck
, all they do is ***** about release dates, and when is cyanogen coming, and when someone finally releases something, they troll the boards just ripping the guy a new a**hole
this phone is great but if you like modding your phone and flashing custom roms
this phone will never be there in my opinion,
and it doesnt even need an xda portal bc nothing is being developed, just gingerbread skins
and questions being asked over and over and over.
so in conclusion buy the gs2 if you like roms go to that thread , theres a ton
and if you like a great phone thats small and has a high resolution, and will probably never see a custom rom, but is stable, buy the atrix
seanzscreams said:
these are the facts
this phone is awesome
it sucks in the same respect bc nobody, wants to dev for it, i have not seen a single anything in the last 6 months, and finally we get a leaked buggy build from hongkong and an unlocked bl
id say 90% of atrix script kiddies on here suck
, all they do is ***** about release dates, and when is cyanogen coming, and when someone finally releases something, they troll the boards just ripping the guy a new a**hole
this phone is great but if you like modding your phone and flashing custom roms
this phone will never be there in my opinion,
and it doesnt even need an xda portal bc nothing is being developed, just gingerbread skins
and questions being asked over and over and over.
so in conclusion buy the gs2 if you like roms go to that thread , theres a ton
and if you like a great phone thats small and has a high resolution, and will probably never see a custom rom, but is stable, buy the atrix
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wohooo..that is like too much of hatred.
Let me put in some facts regarding the development in this one:-
The BL has just been unlocked and custom roms are being worked on, you need to follow the devs on twitter and check out the Atrix dev section on Rootzwiki, just go the irc chat and find out more.
Official GB should be released soon, if it is not then an Atrix has already been donated to the CM team and CM should come out for the Atrix.
The leaked 2.3.4 build has nearly been perfected and AFAIK it is fit for daily use.
thanks for all the suggestions. I am quite fond of flashing ROMs. I bought a HD2 just because of its ability for modifications. since there isn't much work being done on moding Atrix, I guess I'll have to opt for Galaxy SII (btw I didn't like it due to its size)
There is a ton of development going on now for the Atrix. The last couple of weeks has been insane as far as that goes. Official Gingerbread 2.3.4 is rumored to come out this month. There is a leaked version that is pretty stable out now. The boot-loader is now FINALLY unlock-able so DEVs are going to and have already started new Kernels and ROMs. Choice is yours though.
Nah..don't bother with the stupid 2.3.4 Chinese leak. Its buggy and some limited functionality. Don't really see the point of flashing to the leak 2.3.4 update then reflashing it with the official 2.3.4 update. Flash much!?
Buy the Atrix when the official 2.3.4 comes out and check back XDA after a couple of months when fully functional roms and themes comes out. No need to frustrate urself and end up like the other idiots who can't read and flashed 2.3.4 and screwed up. Alot of that been happening lately.
--=[ Sent from my Bell Motorola At®ix ]=-
So, over the past month, my brother had gone from complaining about his (self-inflicted) broken phone of two-years, to getting a new one on a contract renewal, to getting it stolen. He's currently without a phone, and I happen to have my spare HTC Aria, which I'm being gracious enough to give him. It's currently running the Unofficial CyanogenMod 10 ROM, and despite being reliable for most things, it still runs a bit slow at parts. It's piqued my interest what ROMs might be best to install on the phone, as he's not one to explore rooting and flashing new firmwares.
Thanks in advance!
-DeusJZ
DeusJZ said:
So, over the past month, my brother had gone from complaining about his (self-inflicted) broken phone of two-years, to getting a new one on a contract renewal, to getting it stolen. He's currently without a phone, and I happen to have my spare HTC Aria, which I'm being gracious enough to give him. It's currently running the Unofficial CyanogenMod 10 ROM, and despite being reliable for most things, it still runs a bit slow at parts. It's piqued my interest what ROMs might be best to install on the phone, as he's not one to explore rooting and flashing new firmwares.
Thanks in advance!
-DeusJZ
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Click to collapse
Either Liberated FR008, CM7 or Stock
Sent from my One X
I normally close these types of threads so devs and their supporters don't get offended, so...
Hey, I am about to upgrade and I will likely hold out for the new Motorola phone, but if it is a disappointment then the G3 is a very interesting option.
Curious what to look for as far as custom ROMs are concerned. I am addicted to running custom ROMs however I have had a Nexus phone lately so the whole unlocking/rooting/hackability has never been an issue. I see the the G3 has root, but I presume something else must be done before a custom recovery can be installed...thus no custom ROMs.
I love the G3s hardware, but I will never love OEM software. I want stock Android and I am hoping that will be possible with the Moto X+1 and/or the G3.
Thanks guys and gals
I'm pretty sure once someone can find an exploit to unlock the boot loader, we'll see a custom recovery as well as a few roms shortly after. I don't think there will be stock android until CM adds G3 support
I have faith in the devs that they'll eventually unlock this phone. It's been said in a few places that the security isn't as tough as say in the S4 for example.
That said though... This phones stock experience really isn't bad IMO. Best stock I've ever had. Being rooted and with xposed it's quite tolerable.
I'm a crack flasher though so believe me the itch is there!
- Sent From My G3
Mistertac said:
I have faith in the devs that they'll eventually unlock this phone. It's been said in a few places that the security isn't as tough as say in the S4 for example.
That said though... This phones stock experience really isn't bad IMO. Best stock I've ever had. Being rooted and with xposed it's quite tolerable.
I'm a crack flasher though so believe me the itch is there!
- Sent From My G3
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Agree totally
If you want a flagship phone that will definitely run custom roms, I believe the htc one m8 is it for now. I agree with the other posters that the G3 will likely get a bootloader unlock at some point, but there are no guarantees. That said, the stock rom has a similar look and feel to the cm 11 rom I was running on my galaxy s3. While not AOSP, it doesn't annoy me the way touchwiz did and I won't have buyer's remorse if the bootloader stays locked.
Robshr said:
Agree totally
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+2
better be soon or mine is gone.
oneandroidnut said:
better be soon or mine is gone.
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You know as soon as you get rid of yours like the following day or week they'll unlock it lol
... So get rid of it quick!
- Sent From My G3
Mistertac said:
You know as soon as you get rid of yours like the following day or week they'll unlock it lol
... So get rid of it quick!
- Sent From My G3
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Click to collapse
haha ok i will throw in my desk drawer then and hope it gets unlocked!!!
This thread is pointless! Asking will there ever be custom ROMs? Of course there will be. But what you and many others fail to remember is that these phones are harder and harder to crack each time. Only reason the M8 had root and S-Off so quickly is jcase had a 3yr old vuln that wasnt patched yet. They patched it and then he had to spend more time and money cracking it again and he made a new version, which he charged for since it was such a PITA. Look how long it took the S5 to get it. Just be happy we have root.
If you are so worried about not having an unlocked bootloader, you should get rid of Verizon and get AT&T or Tmo that supports devices that are unlocked right from the manufacture. They will always have Nexus devices and other cool ones Verizon will never see since they dont allow none Verizon devices on their network.
droidkevlar said:
This thread is pointless! Asking will there ever be custom ROMs? Of course there will be. But what you and many others fail to remember is that these phones are harder and harder to crack each time. Only reason the M8 had root and S-Off so quickly is jcase had a 3yr old vuln that wasnt patched yet. They patched it and then he had to spend more time and money cracking it again and he made a new version, which he charged for since it was such a PITA. Look how long it took the S5 to get it. Just be happy we have root.
If you are so worried about not having an unlocked bootloader, you should get rid of Verizon and get AT&T or Tmo that supports devices that are unlocked right from the manufacture. They will always have Nexus devices and other cool ones Verizon will never see since they dont allow none Verizon devices on their network.
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I don't believe it is a "pointless" thread or question. GS5 doesn't have an unlocked bootloader and who knows if they ever will. They have an exploit to run essentially stripped down versions of the stock ROM but that is it. I have not intentions on switching carriers I was simply asking what the status of the G3 was as far as unlocking was concerned.
Thank you to everyone else that responded, I think the G3 is still a viable option for me. I am going to wait to see what Motorola puts out there, but if I don't like it I'll pull the trigger on the G3.
I think it is pointless because you're asking people to predict the future. Nobody can answer the question. Therefore, the question is pointless.
This thread has outlived it's usefulness.
The progress of this device's development can be followed by reading the threads in it's forum.
When progress is made it will be reported in either the general or development sections.
If there are any questions please PM me.
Thread closed
On MetroPCS, when strongly recommended to upgrade to a GSM capable phone, traded it in for a Galaxy Light. I have since switched to T-Mobile and borrowed a friend's old phone until my ebay bought S5 comes in later this week. Meaning, i now have a locked Galaxy Light useful as a toy or wifi phone (which i don't care much about). Right now, i'm just using it as an alarm clock.
I want to get rid of all the MetroPCS stuff, have a toy to play stuff on, and use for Android development (learning java right now). I also want to get more comfortable with rooting and custom roms before i attempt anything so drastic on my S5. A little searching found LightWave. Is there a list of (custom) ROMs available for the Galaxy Light, and what each one is (purportedly) best for? I apologize. I am a little confused about the forum structure here on xda. Though, this definitely seems like the place to be.
I'm on Sprint so if I go Galaxy I have no chance of getting root based on what I'm hearing right now. So a big selling point here is the ability to actually do some decent, cool root stuff on the G5. However, in the past I've mainly used root for wireless tether, but I now have hotspot so that won't be a huge deal either. I never had the V10 or G4—was the development decent there? Do you think it'll be decent on the G5?
Put differently, what are some of the main things you'd need to see in development for G5 in order to think it's worth getting over the Galaxy S7 or S7E, *and* do you think we'll see those things?
Thanks!!
The biggest thing for me is that I enjoy using a stock rom over the different softwares that phones come preinstalled with. From what I have seen many different developers already plan on porting Cyanogenmod for the G5 if you enjoy using a custom rom. The biggest reason I chose the G5 over any Galaxy is the fact that I really don't like Touchwiz at all and if there is a chance of not being able to root it and get away from that terrible software I wouldn't want to take the risk.
CorruptProfile said:
The biggest thing for me is that I enjoy using a stock rom over the different softwares that phones come preinstalled with. From what I have seen many different developers already plan on porting Cyanogenmod for the G5 if you enjoy using a custom rom. The biggest reason I chose the G5 over any Galaxy is the fact that I really don't like Touchwiz at all and if there is a chance of not being able to root it and get away from that terrible software I wouldn't want to take the risk.
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Yeah, I'm not big into custom roms, actually. Too much work! When you say stock roms here, are you including stock but rooted?
So basically you chose it because of your dislike for Touchwiz, not because of development potential? And when's the last time you interacted much with Touchwiz (I've never owned a Samsung but I hear people saying it's gotten a lot better, and accusing Touchwiz haters of not having tried recent versions...not saying that's the case with you but just trying to get a feel here.) I've got to two stores to demo the Galaxies but they are in retail mode so I can't really tell if I'll like it or not (which is super frustrating!!).
Being on Sprint you can count on there being less development for it's version than the others. But there should surely be some and able to take some advantage of things from other versions. Check the G4 and G3 too see how different the amount of stuff for Sprint is. Darn CDMA lol
panamaniac said:
Yeah, I'm not big into custom roms, actually. Too much work! When you say stock roms here, are you including stock but rooted?
So basically you chose it because of your dislike for Touchwiz, not because of development potential? And when's the last time you interacted much with Touchwiz (I've never owned a Samsung but I hear people saying it's gotten a lot better, and accusing Touchwiz haters of not having tried recent versions...not saying that's the case with you but just trying to get a feel here.) I've got to two stores to demo the Galaxies but they are in retail mode so I can't really tell if I'll like it or not (which is super frustrating!!).
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This is very true I haven't personally owned a Galaxy phone since the S2 Epic 4G Touch and I know Touchwiz has gotten better since then since I have many friends who run Touchwiz. However, I still don't like Touchwiz even with the improvements they have made to their software. Also, when I say stock I do mean stock rooted roms and these do come out for most variants of phones.
The only probelm is that atleast Tmo's version has a locked bootloader just like the S7, so how are you going to install custom roms ??