DISCLAIMER: This thread contains NOOB questions!
Hi all,
First of all I guess most of you really dislike these kind of threads. But I am reading xda for 2 months now, searching all over the place for some answers. Probably read almost every guide etc. but I really can't get my head around this amount of information. So here I am with the age old question: Which rom should I install?
I ask this question here because of all the fora I visited xda seems the most knowledgeable.
So here is the situation. I was running Samsung 2.3.4 with launcher pro. But this was all a bit buggy and didn't feel right. So I was really glad to see the 2.3.5 update. I was still thinking this would contain gtalk video chat and ad hoc connection detection. But I was mistaken.
First I thought maybe install the most recent stock version. But as far as I can see this is also still 2.3.5 and doesn't include the previous mentioned features (correct me if I am wrong).
Currently I am this far as I probably "need" a custom wrong but the list seems endless and the one seems better than the other. And I feel a bit lost.
I looked at the following so far: Lite'ning; Oxygenrom; Cyanogen and Villainrom.
Lite'ning rom looks nice and fast but this much blue isn't good for the screen and I hear development is halted so probably not.
Villainrom, I can't find really good video's and I can't find that much info. So no for now.
Oxygenrom looks fast but I also not sure yet.
The best candidate seems to be Cyanogen right now.
So what am I looking for. Besides the two mentioned features above (gtalk video, ad hoc) I am not really sure if I am ready to unlock yet (but if it is necessary). Futhermore I am not really a fan of bugs either (duh) and I don't want to miss any features (FM radio for example). Oh and I am bit of a minimalist when it comes to looks. So that is secondary .
Hopefully I didn't bug you all to much and I am really looking forward to your opinions and experiences (good and bad). And I am still open for suggestions.
Carnelain
PS I haven't really found a "which sellers of jigs are safe" thread. Does anybody know or is it an idea to start one?
Wait for II1 firmware .
jje
If you have to ask these questions, Cyanogen isnt for you (experienced users only)
have a look in the android development forums (original & derivative) for a bigger choice, theres plenty out there.
Futhermore I am not really a fan of bugs either
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
who is?
Sorry what exactly do you mean?
If you have to ask these questions, Cyanogen isnt for you (experienced users only
He means not for users who know little about flashing and roms ,Its the most difficult rom of them all .
You have read the posts but not understood them otherwise you would not be asking your question what rom .
You could go to one of the Rom Kitchens and build your own .
But in your shoes i would read the details on the latest custom roms what they have and whats missing .
Minimal look is stock or MIU .
PS I haven't really found a "which sellers of jigs are safe" thread. Does anybody know or is it an idea to start one?
Safe as in what ??? i dont see reports of unsafe jigs .
jje
I think OP's question is great, there's a lot of info on XDA but I can't find ONE stable/popular/regular thread discussing ROM vs ROM. The which ROM is best thread always pop up but then die after a couple of posts.
I think it would be great if users posted when they switch ROM commenting the switch, and if other users who tried more than 1 ROM posted their experience.
I'm a long time XDA user (Nexus One->Captivate->Nexus S->SGSII), have run a bunch of ROMs and read XDA EVERYDAY (multiple times lol) and read every post in LeoROM, Cognition, JKay and Siyah Threads but still I have the same question as the OP (was about to make a thread about it).
On my SGSII I've only run Cognition (since v1.0 to latest 1.5.1, gone through 2.3.3 and 2.3.4), also gone through all modems till latest KI4 and kernels (ninph, speedmod) till latest Siyah 1.8.
I've been thinking about switching ROM for some weeks now (want 2.3.5!) but couldn't decide, was about to convert to Leomar's ROM but then encountered other ROMs that look good and have a bunch of followers: Cristelko, DlevROM, TouchX Power, and now even more options!: Cyanogen stable out now and Cognition 2.3.5 announced coming soon. I hate being undecided!!! Was really decided on LeoROM, just about to switch, but now found all these other seemingly very good ROMs!
I'm a flash addict, love updating ROM, Modem & Kernel, but I HATE wiping! And I don't like to switch ROMs or update from 2.3.4 to 2.3.5 without wiping. So I want to decide what to flash!!! I'm not going to try all of them (I don't have the time and I hate wiping) so I have to rely on other's opinions, reading a lot (following the changelogs) and then make a definite decision!
So please guys, anybody who has tried more than 1 ROM, can you share your experiences?
To check out the most popuar roms, look at how big the discussion thread is (reply, views).
Also a suggestion can be the one to check "veterans" signature, usually this ppl use the most stable/bugless firmware.
For my personal choice im on Cyanogen but yes, thats not for beginners.
My 2nd choice is the "nandroidbackup" of my Black S2 (check my signature) a lot easier to install and beginners ready
Also Miui is a good choice (and dosnt look like the stock tw rom) but got BT/TV Out bug for now, so if you need a stable bt it's not the choice.
To end my 5 cents, i think it's better for you, try out 3-4 roms and pick the one you feel better with.
I think the choice is pretty individual, some ppl loves a rom that some other really hate and so.
Its very simple their is no best rom its users choice . Your preferred rom may be a themed rom i hate themes .
jje
batista is realy fast and stable and has a pretty fresh look. but i have some batt issues with one of my three SII it should be something else
leomar75's revolution is pretty good and highly themeable
---------- Post added at 10:31 PM ---------- Previous post was at 10:28 PM ----------
insanity ii has pretty good batt live but is too simple for my likes
I don't recommend you flashing CM7 since it's harder than flashing samsung firmware based ROMS. Unless you really want it and then well, it's not that hard anyway.
Anyway, if you have root installing gtalk with video is easy, you just need a root explorer app, I use FIle Expert becasue it's free. Just follow this guide step by step and you're done http://samsunggalaxys2blog.com/sams...1-3-with-video-calling-for-samsung-galaxy-s2/
If you want a custom ROM, maybe you could try checkROM www.checkrom.com since it has good support for themes and stuff. And it is updating and will update with each relevant firmware release. And flashing it is just simple. Well hope it helps.
For last, if you really want to go with CM7, I can say that it's the best ROM I've flashed. I just started with it a couple of days ago and you can feel the smoothness inmediatly which I never had in samsung firmware. Anyway there are some bugs, you loose samsung apps like polaris office which I used a lot, FM radio I think doesn't work for now, and the camera app is worse than the samsung one that comes with the phone. But for me at least it's worth it, the main funcionality is there, bluetooth, wifi, etc.... Well, if you decide to flash it please don't use ROM manager becasue it won't work. I can help you with the steps i did if you want, so pm me if you need it because I probably won't be looking at this thread again.
Good luck!
I have used CM6 for Sony Xperia X10i. But really what I want is something that is lightweight and good battery life. I usually always install Nemus Launcher and a horde of my fav. apps. I am not concern about the themes as I never use the default themes. What I want is the built in SIP for GB over 3G. Can someone recommend a ROM for me to use? I have already rooted my phone.
I'd suggest VillainRom. Its stock, fast, and has the best battery of all KI3 roms in my opinion. It all really depends on what kind of rom what you want!
Sent from my GT-I9100 using xda premium
Just trying out the X-Power ROM ... so far so good...
Thanks spradling for backing up my thread. I must admit I was a bit scared of by the previous replies. Nevertheless been ploughing through more threads and finally gave up on finding an answer. I guess everybody tries at one point and hopes they don't have to start a %*(^& I think I bricked my phone thread.
So which one to try. Well the heck with it cyanogen has the best looking website if they build there rom the same way what could go wrong.
Well a lot let me tell ya. It was a very feverish night and I had to flash my phone for like 20 times before I got it right (see this thread).
Nevertheless it works and it works great. I can seed there are some bugs. For example I had a slow response when waking up the phone but after going back and forth between the minimum cpu (200 to 500 MHz) that was gone.
Gtalk + video works (yay!) but still no ad hoc connection. I did some customization and my phone looks and feels slick now. I haven't tried the fm radio but it probably will not work. And I am missing the touch to focus in the camera app but that can be replaced (stil looking any suggestions).
The only thing that really worries me is the battery life. It shortened drastically but it could be me mishandling the battery.
Nevertheless I a pretty pleased with myself and my phone.
Hopefully this helps somebody
Carnelain
PS thanks for the offer tomascunill but I figured it out
Carnelain said:
Thanks spradling for backing up my thread. I must admit I was a bit scared of by the previous replies. Nevertheless been ploughing through more threads and finally gave up on finding an answer. I guess everybody tries at one point and hopes they don't have to start a %*(^& I think I bricked my phone thread.
So which one to try. Well the heck with it cyanogen has the best looking website if they build there rom the same way what could go wrong.
Well a lot let me tell ya. It was a very feverish night and I had to flash my phone for like 20 times before I got it right (see this thread).
Nevertheless it works and it works great. I can seed there are some bugs. For example I had a slow response when waking up the phone but after going back and forth between the minimum cpu (200 to 500 MHz) that was gone.
Gtalk + video works (yay!) but still no ad hoc connection. I did some customization and my phone looks and feels slick now. I haven't tried the fm radio but it probably will not work. And I am missing the touch to focus in the camera app but that can be replaced (stil looking any suggestions).
The only thing that really worries me is the battery life. It shortened drastically but it could be me mishandling the battery.
Nevertheless I a pretty pleased with myself and my phone.
Hopefully this helps somebody
Carnelain
PS thanks for the offer tomascunill but I figured it out
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Click to collapse
There's an lgCamera app in the market which I found better than the one that comes in CM7, you could try it and see if it works best for you. As for battery life, it seems to be better in the latest nightlies (the latest beeing 87). IF you're in stable version I HIGHLY suggest you to move to the latest nightly since there are lots of thing fixed that in "stable" version are not working right.
Thanks for the advice tomascunill. I tried the camera app and although it has the touch to focus feature I am not really blown away by it. Probably because of the lack of image stabilisation. But I'll find something that suits.
Futhermore I updated to the latest nightly. I wonder what issues are resolved. Does anybody know where to find the change logs? And I was wondering about another thing I installed the stable version because I expected it to be, well..., stable. But a better question might be how unstable are nightly's?
Must say I still like my phone but now the galaxy nexus (I liked nexus prime better) is out I feel like I jumped the gun. Well lets wait and see what cyanogen will do with ICS or what ICS stock looks like.
The best ROM is the one you choose. U need to test many rom to have your own opinion.
My favorite is LeoMar 2.7.1
I prefer stock ROM i mean without too much modifications.
LeoMar is a "stock" ROM that you can easily personnalised.
I use :
SpeedMod [Kernel]
Fly in [Animation]
And some mods.
This rom provides me the best battery life.
you could always flash a odex 2.3.5 ROM - would be mostly stock, have all the sammy apps/widgets etc etc. flash a kernel like siyah2.0 or latest speedmod - you can tweak a little bit, not stray too far from stock, and get better battery life with a custom kernel.
Everyone else here is right - CM7 is nothing like touchwiz and would be a big "leap" away from sammy/TW style interface
- x-power with siyah2.0 is a good combo!
aussois said:
you could always flash a odex 2.3.5 ROM - would be mostly stock, have all the sammy apps/widgets etc etc. flash a kernel like siyah2.0 or latest speedmod - you can tweak a little bit, not stray too far from stock, and get better battery life with a custom kernel.
Everyone else here is right - CM7 is nothing like touchwiz and would be a big "leap" away from sammy/TW style interface
- x-power with siyah2.0 is a good combo!
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Click to collapse
Don't get me wrong but I want to get as far away from touchwiz as possible. I probably have the term stock confused. I always thought it meant just android.
Best ROM threads are subjective.....
Best thing to do is take your time to read ROM threads and make a backup of ROM using then flash away find what ROM/Radio suits you best.
On that note thread closed.
Yes, I've read a bit of the different ROMs and Kernels out there but I still don't know the kinks of them all and I'm new to the S2 from a G2X.
On my G2X I had CM7 7.1 running and it did fairly well but I'm actually liking the smoothness of TouchWhiz so I'm looking for a ROM that's just simple and clean with decent battery life and smooth performance, anything from a simple unbloated stock will work, any recomendations on that? I'll do the kernel homework once I decide on the ROM though. I'm currently on full stock 2.6.35.7-I9100UHKG7-CL417954
So best is to read the posts in each rom .Start from the last posts and you soon work out what is missing .
Best rom posts usually get closed as their are billions of them .
jje
Just rooted my SGS2 with this forums help after got fed up with Samsungs decision to delay even further ICS release for sim free owners. Flashed Pure 7.2 rom and am kinda happy with it. But would like to give a try other roms too. Pure seems to be so much better battery wise then stock. Google experience and most important no bloatware.
Am looking for a smooth and battery friendly rom. Am looking forward for a stable CyanogenMod 9 release but till now exploring the option.
Many thanks in advance ...
There si no such thing as the best rom. The best rom is the one that you prefer, take a look around the SII page and try a few. When you have gone through a few choose which you like and stick with that one
If you want a solid rom then go for checkrom which is gb and based on tw but there is no fully stable ics rom...wait for cm9 to get stable.
Sent from my GT-I9100 using XDA
actually there are a few roms that are quite stable... omega, litening as well as wanam are the ones i ve used so far.... although there is still a lot of improvement for these roms, if you wanna check out ics I think they are good enough to give them a try...
Posts like this are usually closed as best does not exist and the same question will be posted thousands of times in a year .
Try them all .
jje
thanks for your input
JJEgan said:
Posts like this are usually closed as best does not exist and the same question will be posted thousands of times in a year .
Try them all .
jje
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Click to collapse
Thank you everyone who took their time to post here for me and maybe other interested. Firstly I do really understand that there is no such thing as best. And I really never meant to ask for a best rom. I just wanted advise on what would be at least worth to start to try. Which ones are better out there. I just started rooting as really got fed up with Samsungs delays and some really unnecessary for my liking apps included (like bbc iplayer etc)... There are so many roms that I would not really want trying all. Therefore seeking for advise for some better roms out there. And not in their experimental or so stage.
Thanks @frankimm but as you mentioned its not fully stable yet I will skip it on this occasion.
Thanks @pokkas88 I was actually considering lite'ning rom myself. Will check on omega.
My first flash was and is Pure ICS v7.2. It is nice and stable. yesterday with my regular usage got more then 24 out my regular usage. Where on stock 2.3.4 would last only half a day... But something is not right with contacts there. Was lagging when trying to organised and join contacts (google, facebook, skype...) and phone app seems laging a bit too. therefore a bit annoying. otherwise solid and stable rom....
Still hope to hear more opinions...
forgot
forgot to mentioned. Roms with better support from other developers would be probably priority. What I mean the roms that get dedicated addons as I undestadand addons are compatible only with certain roms. And would not really want to get creative in trying to force addons whilst am still learning here...
I highly recommend Hydrog3n rom - I've upgraded to this from Check ROM, prior to finding this I tried several other ICS AOKP to find stability issues, I have to say this is a fantastic rom and cannot recommend you try it enough.
Failing this, Check ROM was great; I had issues with it rebooting or not reconnecting to my mobile network if I lost signal, and ultimately I wanted to do away with Stock so I went for an AOKP rom.
Omega is my fav especially black blue theme
Sent from my GT-I9100 using xda premium
My hones opinion and just in the process of deleting ICS rom number twelve . Non are up to scratch and ICS is not as good as 2.3.6 .
jje
I recommend "Resurrection ics remix" by westcrip. it is really stable. And soon he will publish 4.0.4 AOKP. just give him a try
Just try them all until you like one, there is no other way
Closed
My question is plain and simple. I mean, I do know the benefits of rooting like backing up apps, removing bloatware, over/underclocking and so on. But in my own experience rooting the device and putting a custom rom in it automatically made the device less stable and more battery hungry (for some weird reason) plus added many many bugs which made me question why did I do it in the first place. So I'm asking do you feel any improvement whatsoever while using any custom rom? Or do you use custom rom just because you can?
It has thousans of reasons.. For simple example while every unrooted users rumor "when will come jely bean? I'm tired of waiting!!" Etc.. i run 4.1.1 jely bean on my SGS3 for 3 months.. its enough.
If you like always research for better and better mobile experience, you have to root your phone. Or simply just say yes for your brand's supply.
Sent from my GT-I9300 using xda premium
lolkoz said:
My question is plain and simple. I mean, I do know the benefits of rooting like backing up apps, removing bloatware, over/underclocking and so on. But in my own experience rooting the device and putting a custom rom in it automatically made the device less stable and more battery hungry (for some weird reason) plus added many many bugs which made me question why did I do it in the first place. So I'm asking do you feel any improvement whatsoever while using any custom rom? Or do you use custom rom just because you can?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
since everbody is aware that customization can happen better with a custom rom over and above the stock one.
and regarding improvement, well it all depends on what sort of customization u need and accordingly the Custom rom and kernel u choose. which do vary from person to person.
and nobody use custom rom because they can but because they need the same to customize the phone accordingly to there need.
lolkoz said:
My question is plain and simple. I mean, I do know the benefits of rooting like backing up apps, removing bloatware, over/underclocking and so on. But in my own experience rooting the device and putting a custom rom in it automatically made the device less stable and more battery hungry (for some weird reason) plus added many many bugs which made me question why did I do it in the first place. So I'm asking do you feel any improvement whatsoever while using any custom rom? Or do you use custom rom just because you can?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
From my experience with my HTC Desire on which I tried a lot of different ROMs you can either:
1) Flash a stable ROM, benefit is that most of the time its faster than stock & includes additional features and is 99% stable. In addition ROMs are improved all the time and new features added that you might not get on your stock ROM or only very late
2) Flash a ROM that is currently under development and not stable, e.g. earlier ICS ROMs for the HTC Desire had features missing and were not very stable
In my case I started with stable ROMs as I need my phone as daily driver, after I got more experienced I switched to (2) and tried the not so stable ROMs as I always like to try new things etc. and you will get all those new features and improvements (sometimes on the cost of stability and or speed).
Basically up to you what you want to do.
For my Galaxy S III I will also start with a rooted stock ROM as currently I do not see that much benefits in the custom ROMs yet (please correct me if I am wrong).
The answer is also plain and simple. Rooting is to unlock your phone for more customisation and some extra features.
Why we need more customisation and extra features? Because we get bored easily and because we can.
Sent from my GT-I9300 using xda app-developers app
There is a really good article you can read here.
You just get so much more with root. Without root i would have been stock with stock rom on my htc desire and my xoom. The brilliant roms that are on here have provided me with so much more and given me an amazing experience with android.
Every since the ics release ui hasn't hardly changed a bit from ics to jb ui,the biggest change over from any android
O.s was from gb to ics.
Anyone agree that Jb roms aren't even remotely unique as they used to be with the gingerbread o.s and older o.s systems .
The way Roms, were themed and made back in the day to compared to every single custom rom now for jb aside from a few setting tweaks they are all the same looking .. almost as if theming is hard and it's to much work for devs to make they're roms ui look, different from any other . This is only speaking on original android development based of stock release .
What's the point in flashing anymore .
Unless you go for a TOTAL Change over with cm10 or aokp, stock based roms lack a unique ui, and theming from Rom to Rom, they all mimic stock with maybe power toggles built in and a claimed battery saving kernel.
This must be why at the end of the day everyone reverts back to their stock nandroids.
Sent from my HTC One using xda premium
abcdefg1234567 said:
Every since the ics release ui hasn't hardly changed a bit from ics to jb ui,the biggest change over from any android
O.s was from gb to ics.
Anyone agree that Jb roms aren't even remotely unique as they used to be with the gingerbread o.s and older o.s systems .
The way Roms, were themed and made back in the day to compared to every single custom rom now for jb aside from a few setting tweaks they are all the same looking .. almost as if theming is hard and it's to much work for devs to make they're roms ui look, different from any other . This is only speaking on original android development based of stock release .
What's the point in flashing anymore .
Unless you go for a TOTAL Change over with cm10 or aokp, stock based roms lack a unique ui, and theming from Rom to Rom, they all mimic stock with maybe power toggles built in and a claimed battery saving kernel.
This must be why at the end of the day everyone reverts back to their stock nandroids.
Sent from my HTC One using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have not yet flashed, but you don't mention that many of the ROMs are dodexed, which makes them faster. Maybe it isn't that important with the faster processors these days.
Also, the chefs are putting in a lot more than meets the eye - more than eye candy (depending on the chef, of course).
I'm not using their ROMs right now, but I value their work and dedication.
I don't know why you're complaining. Clearly you have no idea what a launcher is. That's what the "LOOK" you're talking about is. Devs now focus on making roms clean and run more efficiently. YOU can make it look however YOU want. The dev doesn't need to clutter the base rom with stuff most people won't use.
Sent from my PG86100 using xda app-developers app