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
Click to expand...
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!
Click to expand...
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.
Hey people, I want to know what is the best rom that the majority thinks is the best ICS rom with the best battery life. There were so many roms to choose from and I am unable to decide which one to settle for. Maybe xda should create a chart for the top 10 best roms for S2? Sorry for sounding off like a noob.
Or a chart of the top 10 daily noobs.
There is no such thing as the "best ICS rom with best battery life". You have your phone setup differently to everyone else, you use your phone differently to everyone else and your phone came out of the factory slightly differently to everyone else's.
A rom that runs well for me might not run well for you.
I suggest you go the development sections of the forum & read the first few pages and the the last 10-20 pages of the particular threads devoted to different roms. That way you will get an idea of the features/pluses/minuses of each rom, and also see other users' experiences with that rom.
Then you can test different roms for yourself to find one that works best for you.
Edit to add - How bout you do the community a service, test a few dozen rom & make the 'top 10' list you're after instead of expecting other people to do it ?
Just try one until you find one you like
Closed
I switched from iPhone to Android last August and have been running UnNamed ever since. I love the android. I had wanted to re-flash it with a ICS ROM, but can't find many screenshots of how each rom looks like.
I noticed that the kernel was released for ICS 4.0.3 and lots of ROMS now have this in it.
Can any of you that have tried more than one of these roms comment on which rom you think is better? I'm not sure how to tell the roms apart from each other yet :/
I found and am deciding b/w these: SHOstockv2 ICS, CM9 (Not actual 4.0.3 ICS?), and Phone-Bricker.
I'm looking for a cool-looking ROM with lots of features. Those are my only requirements really when I look for roms.
Thanks guys!
Hi. We're not going to do vs. threads on new roms that have just come out or have been here for awhile.
Every phone is slightly different and what works great for you may not for the next person. The best bet is for everyone toy the roms for themselves and see what works best for them.
The reason we dont have these vs. threads is because it can very easily (and has in the past) turned into flame wars... because when one person says "I didnt like so-and-sos rom so I moved to this rom" its inadvertently putting down the work of that dev and his rom. It may not be intentional, but it happens. So to avoid that, we just dont do it.
Hey there you awesome developers.
I am just after a new rom which is stable and fairly fast but with good battery life.
I am currently on the official Three UK 4.03 rom and frankly.. it sux the big one.
The battery life is just absolutely terrible and it is also starting to become a little buggy in the last few days.
I have also had bluetooth connection problems to my work car since upgrading to ICS.
Any ideas or good suggestions for a rom that you can recommend??
Cheers people and major props for an awesome forum, just awesome.
There is no such thing as the "fast but stable rom with good battery life". You have your phone setup differently to everyone else, you use your phone differently to everyone else and your phone came out of the factory slightly differently to everyone else's.
A rom that runs well for me might not run well for you.
I suggest you go the development sections of the forum & read the first few pages and the the last 10-20 pages of the particular threads devoted to different roms. That way you will get an idea of the features/pluses/minuses of each rom, and also see other users' experiences with that rom.
Given how quick/simple it is to flash roms & backup/restore in CWM there is no excuse for you not trying out a bunch of roms for yourself. Tipping this thread is closed within an hour.
MistahBungle said:
There is no such thing as the "fast but stable rom with good battery life". You have your phone setup differently to everyone else, you use your phone differently to everyone else and your phone came out of the factory slightly differently to everyone else's.
A rom that runs well for me might not run well for you.
I suggest you go the development sections of the forum & read the first few pages and the the last 10-20 pages of the particular threads devoted to different roms. That way you will get an idea of the features/pluses/minuses of each rom, and also see other users' experiences with that rom.
Given how quick/simple it is to flash roms & backup/restore in CWM there is no excuse for you not trying out a bunch of roms for yourself. Tipping this thread is closed within an hour.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is sound advice.
Closed
Hi,
I've met with Galaxy S2 after ICS released so I've never used GB roms. So far I've tried ParanoidDroid, D4ROM, Hydrog3n, Slim Rom, Litening Rom, Turkbey Rom and Resurrection Remix. I've fairly used them all and happy with Hydrog3n atm. My gf also bought S2 and complaining about battery life since I've never tried GB roms and don't have any technical knowladge to compare GB with ICS (I mean voltage and stuff) I ask you gentleman to recommand a rom for me. It doesn't matter if it's stock ICS or stock GB or some custom rom. I just want to get best battery life out of Galaxy S2. Since I think custom roms remove most of the unnecesery apps and stuff from stock's it has to last longer and since ICS is newer and as far as I've read from posts that the voltage values on paper are lower then GB ICS has to last longer than GB but somehow ICS consumes more battery. I just upgraded her phone to ICS stock with Siyah Kernel with battery profile but she is complaining to me that it was better before I'm very confused and couldn't decide on what to do.
Is it better to not root at all or return back to GB ? I just want to maximize the battery life.
Thanks in advance
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=25164221
Sent from my GT-I9100 using Tapatalk
No rom. Because there are far too many variables which determine battery life to say conclusively "Such and such rom/kernel is teh awesomz battery life man !"
Battery life depends on how you have the phone setup and how you use it. Any tweaks you might have made to kernel settings, and so on. There is no simple path to getting the best battery life possible from your phone, there are no quick fixes. It's a matter of experimenting with your phone setup & trying different roms/kernels until you find one that's good for you.
If that kind of thing doesn't enthuse you, as well as being in the wrong place, you might as well stick to stock tbh.
With all this in mind, IAmFrk was quite right to refer you to the forum policy of not asking for rom/kernel recommendations. There have been hundreds of these threads in the past, you should do a search & see what people recommended in those rather than start another thread.
No no you guys understood my q wrong. I'm asking if GB is better in terms of battery than ICS and not rooting the phone is a better option than rooting or not. I'm not asking any roms or kernels since I don't need any recommendation on that for myself since I've been trying diffrent roms and kernels in that matter. I just want technical information for the stuff as I mentioned above not rom or kernel. The difference between GB and ICS, stock phone and rooted phone. Does rooting a good thing or not ofc I've read tweak battery life related posts before asking mine but couldn't find any info comparing my needs.
And I'm asking this since I upgraded her phone and didn't do anything else she is using the same settings as she did in GB but her battery lasts less. That's why I'm questioning the GB and ICS, with the same settings which one will last longer ?
But it isn't as simple as 'GB is better in terms of battery than ICS'.
Some people on here (who help a lot of people in Q&A and whose opinions I really respect a lot) say GB is better, ICS is buggy & they've had crap battery life from the roms they've tried. For me, I get the best battery life I've ever had with CM9. Why ? Because I've put in the time/effort to tweak my setup to make it that way. My point is if you ask 100 people on XDA that question, you'll get different answers to the question depending on the person.
So far as rooting/not rooting concerned, again, nothing to do with battery life per se. What rooting does is give you control over your phone, and can (it can also enable you to make your battery life/phone performance a whole lot worse) enable you to run kernels (and tweak those kernels), and enable you to set your phone up to possibly give you better battery life .
Given it's your GF's phone & I presume you want it to work well 100% of the time with no glitches (because you'll probably end up playing tech support, which from experience I know is a pain in the arse), leave it on stock.
On the other hand if you like a challenge, I've given you plenty to think about in my two posts. Every bit of info you could possibly need to tweak your phone is on XDA. It's just a matter of searching, reading, learning & then using that info to make a setup that gives you what you want.
Nebtawi said:
No no you guys understood my q wrong. I'm asking if GB is better in terms of battery than ICS and not rooting the phone is a better option than rooting or not. I'm not asking any roms or kernels since I don't need any recommendation on that for myself since I've been trying diffrent roms and kernels in that matter. I just want technical information for the stuff as I mentioned above not rom or kernel. The difference between GB and ICS, stock phone and rooted phone. Does rooting a good thing or not ofc I've read tweak battery life related posts before asking mine but couldn't find any info comparing my needs.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
MistahBungle said:
But it isn't as simple as 'GB is better in terms of battery than ICS'.
Some people on here (who help a lot of people in Q&A and whose opinions I really respect a lot) say GB is better, ICS is buggy & they've had crap battery life from the roms they've tried. For me, I get the best battery life I've ever had with CM9. Why ? Because I've put in the time/effort to tweak my setup to make it that way. My point is if you ask 100 people on XDA that question, you'll get different answers to the question depending on the person.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I totally agree with you I'm very happy with my rom also coz I'm tweaking kernel and also manually disabling stuff by myself but It's not possible for me to do that to my gf coz I'll have to act as tech support and I'm always checking if there is anything on wake while the screen is off and act accordingly to it, I can't do this on her phone.
So as you mentioned I'm not asking this formyself nor asking a rom reccomendetion but as you said I think I'm gonna install stock GB and do the necessary settings for her and leave it.
Thanks for your replies much appreciated.
Thread closed
Best ROM is the one that works best for you. There are too many variables. Try a few out and make your own decision.