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We're all here because we want better roms than what our phones came with, upgraded roms etc. Idealy we'd want the most stable version with the last junk so it's the most responsive. As I upgraded more and more roms, I started to feel that the phone is showing it's age in processing power, and just like computers, you can't just install a newer stronger OS on older hardware, at some point you aren't gaining performance, you start to lose it because the hardware is struggling to keep up. I went from stock to 4.2 roms, then 4.4 roms, (pacman, mokee, CM, etc etc ). I eventually went back to 4.4 stock and it gave me the least trouble and quite snappy. Of course it had the OEM bloat from Verizon. Its been going strong for maybe a year, and now it too is starting to crash with a lot of bugs, probably from installing so many apps, but also I see a lot of built in apps taking up memory. So my main question is, if you still the Razr M and still using roms, what have you settled with ? What has been the most stable and fastest for you so far? For me so far it turned out to be the stock 4.4.2. So my options are to start over again with a fresh 4.4.2 or maybe a stripped 4.4.2, or one of the new 5.1 builds. I mainly use it for Navigation + music + calls, generally nav + music at the same time. Someone mentioned that CM12.1 couldn't handle that because of memory issues so that scared me off, but I love the CM12.1 on my galaxy tab pro. I do use the Bluetooth when im riding, and the camera from time to time, and the stock just had everything working.
If I can't find a stable build/rom, it might be time for me to move on to a newer quad core 2ghz + phone, browsing on the razer m is ok, but admittedly a little slow. The battery isn't what it used to, but it still gets through the day, and there are (albeit dodgy quality ) replacement batteries on amazon to hold out longer... The phone was basically free over 2 years ago, I've never been one to shell out $300 for a phone, but that oneplus one is mighty tempting to switch carriers for. ATT failed me on signal at this house so Verizon has been great, but i'd be willing to try tmobile if im forced to pick a new phone.
TLDR: Which rom has been the most stable for you ? ( rom name and build/version ).
vo_danh said:
So my main question is, if you still the Razr M and still using roms, what have you settled with ? What has been the most stable and fastest for you so far?.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Stock 4.1.2 (with uninstalled bloatware), as 4.4.2 has broken audio on (some?) Rev.B phones.
I have been on stock jelly bean, rooted stock kitkat (debloated with permissions removed for batt life), cm12.1 (our device is just too limited) and now cm11 snapshot 12 on kitkat boot loader. So far cm11 is my favorite.
Sent from my DROID RAZR M using XDA Free mobile app
For me stock kitkat debloated runs smoother, although is very sluggish sometimes: for example when I'm swapping messenger, whatsapp and running music player at the same time, it's almost impossible...
Ice tested cm when was 5.0,and was terrible. Pac man Kk, not as good as stock.
Sorry for this ugly link, I'm on my phone, but this post and the thread overall has a lot of good tips:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=53724034&postcount=17
In the last 2 and a half years I've been through:
Stock 4.1.2 (rooted after 1 day, debloated, Safestrap)
Eclipse Rom v1.2 (Safestrap)
CM10.1 (Unlocked BL)
CM10.2 (Unlocked BL)
CM11 (Unlocked BL, JB Kernel)
Stock 4.4.2 (rooted, debloated)
CM11 (Unlocked BL, KK Kernel)
CM12.1 (Unlocked BL, KK Kernel)
Best user experience for me? Sad to say but I had it with the Stock 4.1.2: overall smoother than all the rest. Then after some months my Razr M started a bootloop, so I unlocked the bootloader and tryed the CM ROM: the CM Power Widgets were an overkill at the time (mainly the 2G/3G toggle)...
After all the CM ROM that I've used, the second place goes to CM11 (with JB BL).
Right now I'm testing the latest CM12.1 builds, and they seems ok. I've installed onlyt the apps that are strictly necessary to me (gmail, maps, onenote, osmand, dropbox, wikipedia, Room Toolbox Pro, SuperSu, calendar, meteo, etc...). Everithing seems fine but I liked more the old KK style (lockscreen, quick settings). Everything is working, even if sometimes the data, Wifi and GPS signals are erratic. The performance are acceptable too.
So far a vote for CM11, and stock unlocked debloated. That's what i was heading towards too, stock debloat, and probably 4.1 it still has the best performance really. I mean the custom roms look great and all, but at the cost of performance which, after the initial wow factor, I think we would all prefer performance. Back when I had my HTC my favorite and most stable rom was jacko's most basic slim version ( he had like 1-5 tiers of peformance and features ). If I go back to stock and it lasts me another year or two i'll take it.
I'm trying out CM11 Snapshot 12 right now. I was already on 4.4.2 stock with unlocked kk bootloader so it made sense to try it first. Its already a lot smoother than what it was, freeing up half the memory. I noticed the dialer doesn't go all the way up sometimes, you have to push back and hit the keypad icon again. Otherwise very smooth so far. I'll report back after I get some use out of it and if I ever decide to go back to 4.1. I might need a new battery though, if I'm using it it doesn't last through a day.
*Update - I went from having basically no free memory left to about 50% free memory. I think my battery life increased dramatically with so much less running in the background. Maybe by 20-50%.
I took one phone call and updated a few apps, about mid day through the work day. was 12h by the end of the day and a few calls and some browsing w/o having to charge. Definitely gave new life to the phone. Very minor dialer bugs, sometimes the number pad doesn't come up correctly the first time.
Android 4.1 has various security issues that won't be fixed anymore, so that's not really an option.
But I don't think there are big differences in battery life anyway (see this).
After testing a lot of CM11, using Performance settings, changing memory settings, having a very poor battery performance, I've come back to the 4.4 backup with all the apps I had. The difference was incredible, now my phone feels snappier than an iPhone, and sincerely, i don't know why!! I think that doing a restore sometimes can help a lot.
Yeah the last time I did a fresh install of 4.4.2 stock it was great. After a while though with all my apps installed + the oem bloat the phone had very little memory left and became sluggish. My best options right now seem like going back to stock, either 4.1 or 4.4 and trying to do manual debloat.
I did a fresh install of CM11 again but still didn't fix it. I still had the occasional dialer error and wifi would only work upon boot, after disabling, it never reconnects to any wifi. Battery was still horrible. I went back to stock 4.4.2. RSlite would not work on any version on windows 8.1 64 bit. I had to do msfastbootv2 and was able to restore to stock 4.4.2 However upon booting, it wanted to update to 183.84.15 but failing. It would say there's an update, download it, reboot, and automatically boot into recovery. I would select reboot and it boots in, sometimes saying update complete but it hasnt' actually updated anything. I eventually gave up and started over, this time using stock recovery, not logging into my google account so it doesn't start downloading all my apps, no supersu, no gapps, and it successfully updated to 183.81.15. At that point using mfastbootv2 I installed twrp 2.8.5, rebooted into recovery, installed gapps and supersu. Then used titan to debloat using http://forum.xda-developers.com/droid-razr-m/general/complete-debloat-list-droid-razr-m-t3045731 , removed most of the things on that list, particularly anything I didn't use that I saw running. I also installed Greenify. After about a day I started noticing the google play services issue using a majority of my battery. I downloaded App Ops to disable google play services wake permissions. I am amazed at what happened. I feel like I have the original batteries back. I received 2-3 short calls today, and 2 browsing sessions, installed some apps (facebook lite), and I still have a lot of battery left, normally it would be over half gone. Going home after that much use and still having over 70% of battery left is nothing short of amazing and I no longer feel like getting a new phone. I was very close to trying the Droid Turbo.
TLDR: Got original usage/battery back with stock 4.4.2 + debloat (backup & Uninstall with titanium ) + App ops to fix google services wake battery drain + Greenify. I don't know how much Greenify is doing, I attribute most of my gains from debloat + fixing the google services issue. Before App Ops you'd see a giant bar at the top of Google Services instead of screen.
Still odd you having WiFi issues. I don't I did learn recently that my Bluetooth does not seem to be fully functional.
Sent from my GT-P3110 using XDA Free mobile app
So far, all I've tried (and stuck with) are stock 4.1, stock 4.4.2, and CM 12/12.1.
Stock ROMs were fairly snappy, but I was always a little fearful (irrationally, but still) of trying to debloat while on 4.4 (and I remain fearful of downgrading the bootloader). This is my daily driver, though, and it must remain so until I become eligible for a newer phone in December (or I can pick up something better, used, for extremely cheap ...).
I have been toughing it out on CM 12 since late January. I like several of Lollipop's UI changes and new features (as well as CM's additions over stock), so despite some frustrations with bugs and somewhat-laggy performance, I haven't felt terribly compelled to try CM 11, or to go back to stock 4.4.2. (At least, not all the time; there have been moments of extremely slow response times where I've wanted to wipe /system right then and there and flash CM 11. I have stuck with 12 so far in hopes of improvements on the way to the first snapshot.)
Also, vo_danh, I was the one who reported about the issue with simultaneously running Maps and Play Music. I don't think I've ever gotten a phone call while trying to run those, but suffice to say that I have enough trouble with (occasional) lag when a call comes in.
If you're already on the kk boot loader like me, you don't need to downgrade the boot loader for cm11. Its been almost a week and i am still just amazed at how well this config is working for me. The battery life is like new again. Don't be afraid of debloating with titanium, since you can back it up first before unisntalling, if anything goes wrong, simply reinstall the backup. As a safety, after I restored to stock 4.4.2, updated to 183.84.15 OTA, I created a TWRP backup, so if anything goes wrong I can just restore it with TWRP instead of doing through all the steps to go back to stock. I didn't remove everything that was on that debloat list, just most things from verizon or anything I raw under 'running' list that I didn't need. It's so stable and fast. I would only move to a stock + debloat rom now for this phone for now. If I had a stronger phone there's no doubt i'd be using Cm12.1 but for now, this phone isn't meant to handle it smoothly and the wifi issues i had with Cm11 just make it not worth it. All wifi issues are gone now on stock. I didn't have wifi issues on any of the other roms either.
vo_danh said:
We're all here because we want better roms than what our phones came with...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
1. One that the phone came with, with a little tweaking. 4.1.2 deodexed and debloated. Best usability and battery life. Slows down with heavy games tho so i unlocked the BL.
2. KK debloated. 4.4.2 i think. better in many respects but I sorely miss the Jb camera. It was wonderful. Battery life had come down a couple of notches.
3. Currently running the Bliss rom (5.1). My earpiece and mic doesn't work with the latest update. lol.
Edit: Call issues in the Bliss rom have been fixed. It's a solid rom and deserves a strong recommendation.
Hi There,
I want to ask people that have tried several different roms: What are the big differences between Stock roms and CM/AOSP Roms?
Also: What are the downsizes of using CM/AOSP Roms? I head about a worse camera but is that all of it?
Thanks in advance!
Best,
C.
kilador said:
Hi There,
I want to ask people that have tried several different roms: What are the big differences between Stock roms and CM/AOSP Roms?
Also: What are the downsizes of using CM/AOSP Roms? I head about a worse camera but is that all of it?
Thanks in advance!
Best,
C.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am finding out that every custom rom that i try, CM or AOSP, has a bluetooth ble bug. They will not see bluetooth low energy devices such as some fitness trackers. Custom roms look much better than stock roms but i am forced to being on stock because of that.
Can someone using non stock roms throw a bit of light over here please?
1. Does FM radio work?
2. Does the camera picture quality drop by a lot?
3. Does the eye recognition feature work?
4. Does the knock knock wake feature work?
5. Does battery life improve or worsen?
6. Does it have a Bluetooth bug such as the poster above mention?
Any feedback on these matters will be very much appreciated
Thanks!
For me, i tired 2 AOSP roms, and went back to stock after a month, THEN i heard that it supported 4k via Snap Camera so i flashed another AOSP Rom, im now back on cloudy 2.5
The let downs for me are...
The Camera sucks so hard - nothing comes close to stock, not even lenovo super camera, the moto port.
Battery sucks, yea it can vary Rom to Rom but for me, battery life was crap, im not (and many others) arent interested in flashing 4-5 different kernels and then having to use Synapse to tweak stuff to get the best out of it.
Laggy, i got lags, even with it set on "performance" and having it set there drained even MORE battery.
Many people are happy on AOSP roms but after nearly a year with my G3, stock is still the best (purely IMO)
Good luck
kilador said:
Can someone using non stock roms throw a bit of light over here please?
1. Does FM radio work?
2. Does the camera picture quality drop by a lot?
3. Does the eye recognition feature work?
4. Does the knock knock wake feature work?
5. Does battery life improve or worsen?
6. Does it have a Bluetooth bug such as the poster above mention?
Any feedback on these matters will be very much appreciated
Thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
1. Yes, with Spirit FM app
2. Yes, especially in low light.
3. Not included in custom roms, can be added by application.
4. Double tap to wake works most of the time. Periodically it stops working and user have to disable and enable it.
5. Well, i've got 0.5%/h in deep sleep, and 6-6.5H in active browsing via LTE. Screenshots attached. RR 5.5.3, pure stock - no custom kernel, sysctl/buildprop/etc tweaks.
6. Never had any BL LE device, can't say.
YaDr said:
1. Yes, with Spirit FM app
2. Yes, especially in low light.
3. Not included in custom roms, can be added by application.
4. Double tap to wake works most of the time. Periodically it stops working and user have to disable and enable it.
5. Well, i've got 0.5%/h in deep sleep, and 6-6.5H in active browsing via LTE. Screenshots attached. RR 5.5.3, pure stock - no custom kernel, sysctl/buildprop/etc tweaks.
6. Never had any BL LE device, can't say.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Many thanks for your comments, greatly appreciated
Did you implement any tweak to achieve that much sot battery life? Like reducing screen resolution and such. What battery life did you manage to get back with a stock rom? To compare.
.
And the camera in good light conditions, does quality really suffer that much?
Thanks again!
kilador said:
Many thanks for your comments, greatly appreciated
Did you implement any tweak to achieve that much sot battery life? Like reducing screen resolution and such. What battery life did you manage to get back with a stock rom? To compare.
.
And the camera in good light conditions, does quality really suffer that much?
Thanks again!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No tweaks, no resolution changing (Besides, it won't change battery life unless you're gaming, 2d performance for FHD and 2K is very close on Adreno 330) and no custom kernel.
This result is consistent - today I lost 23% for 3h of usage, of which 83 minutes are SOT. 83/23*100 = 360,8 minutes of SOT if usage pattern won't change. 6 hours of browsing on LTE while travelling through city (i.e changing cells often and high brightness) is good enough for G3.
On standby, I lose 0.4 - 0.7% per hour, depending on how much data there is to sync.
On stock KK, I almost always got 5.10 - 5.30 h of SOT with same usage pattern. But KK was pretty laggy, so I switched on LL. I tried every D855 5.0 build which lg released (With the exception of 20B/C), and even on latest builds I struggled to get 5h SOT, usually phone ended up dry after 4.30 - 4.40 h.
Camera postprocessing in normal conditions is worse than on stock - pictures are less sharp, example of AOSP photos attached.
YaDr said:
No tweaks, no resolution changing (Besides, it won't change battery life unless you're gaming, 2d performance for FHD and 2K is very close on Adreno 330) and no custom kernel.
This result is consistent - today I lost 23% for 3h of usage, of which 83 minutes are SOT. 83/23*100 = 360,8 minutes of SOT if usage pattern won't change. 6 hours of browsing on LTE while travelling through city (i.e changing cells often and high brightness) is good enough for G3.
On standby, I lose 0.4 - 0.7% per hour, depending on how much data there is to sync.
On stock KK, I almost always got 5.10 - 5.30 h of SOT with same usage pattern. But KK was pretty laggy, so I switched on LL. I tried every D855 5.0 build which lg released (With the exception of 20B/C), and even on latest builds I struggled to get 5h SOT, usually phone ended up dry after 4.30 - 4.40 h.
Camera postprocessing in normal conditions is worse than on stock - pictures are less sharp, example of AOSP photos attached.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Great post mate thanks
DId you just pretty much flash RR and thats all, wow, impressive SOT !
Vivasanti said:
Great post mate thanks
DId you just pretty much flash RR and thats all, wow, impressive SOT !
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes.
Just got a bit tired of little bugs in the CM13 based roms and thinking about switching back to CM11. The only concern is the lack of security updates after the maintainers abandoned the projects for newer android versions.
Did anyone here try downgrading? Or maybe never upgraded? Is it wise to do so?
Some of my issues with CM13 based roms which have put me off:
Insane lag when reciving calls
Adopting Storage doesn't work half the time
Front Camera crashes
Mobile Data issues
Lock Screen Wallpaper Issue
Music suspend bug
Battery drain Issue
LOL brother. I am still using CM 11 build 14/11/15 with Xcelerate kernel build 4/12/15.
I still used this OS as it gives me atleast 500+mb ram which I require a lot for gaming.
At battery 100%............(with airplane mode on)...wifi on After 3hrs of continuous wifi gaming my battery drops to around 20%.
So I guess battery life is good.......though i haven't activated any sim cards(that would be a different story)
I don't have any voice(call) related problem though. Only bug is HDR. Once a picture is clicked with HDR on, you have to exit camera to click again in HDR mode
I actually need a CM 13 rom which provide such performance.(I was thinking about Slim rom 0.4 by Aniket Lamba)
So if anyone can suggest me better rom then please let me know. For me stability & usability matters more than recent builds.
I always will appreciate any information whether good or bad
I used to like KK as it was last in the line of the Holo interface and it was the only 4.x available for our phone, so I used it for fairly long and didn't switch to LP until MM came around. Along with Xcelerate it was really good: decent battery life, smooth experience and fast charging. But now that I've grown to like the Material interface as well, I've been using MM more often these few months, especially Slim6, which I feel gives the same feel I used to get on KK: stability and smoothness.
KK is still one of my more favourite ROMs, but given that KK is mostly dead by now and there are more developments and features in LP and MM, I think I'll just stick to Slim6.
amangupta53 said:
Some of my issues with CM13 based roms which have put me off:
Insane lag when reciving calls
Adopting Storage doesn't work half the time
Front Camera crashes
Mobile Data issues
Lock Screen Wallpaper Issue
Music suspend bug
Battery drain Issue
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
1) I don't get this
2) I don't use Adoptive Storage, heard it screws with WiFi
3) I don't get this (it has been fixed recently)
4) Depends on ROM
5) GravityBox (for AOSP MM), or this guide (which also works on CM13)
6) Disable MPDecision. Strangely when I downgraded to CM11 I was still getting the bug.
7) Depends on ROM
The issues I had with CM11 were generally the use of Apollo and the HDR issue as stated in the post before mine. And the music bug after downgrading. Apart from those I was happy with it, and I wouldn't mind a single bit to change back to it. I just don't understand the hate regarding KK, especially in the MIUI 8 thread...
NightRaven49 said:
I used to like KK as it was last in the line of the Holo interface and it was the only 4.x available for our phone, so I used it for fairly long and didn't switch to LP until MM came around. Along with Xcelerate it was really good: decent battery life, smooth experience and fast charging. But now that I've grown to like the Material interface as well, I've been using MM more often these few months, especially Slim6, which I feel gives the same feel I used to get on KK: stability and smoothness.
KK is still one of my more favourite ROMs, but given that KK is mostly dead by now and there are more developments and features in LP and MM, I think I'll just stick to Slim6.
1) I don't get this
2) I don't use Adoptive Storage, heard it screws with WiFi
3) I don't get this (it has been fixed recently)
4) Depends on ROM
5) GravityBox (for AOSP MM), or this guide (which also works on CM13)
6) Disable MPDecision. Strangely when I downgraded to CM11 I was still getting the bug.
7) Depends on ROM
The issues I had with CM11 were generally the use of Apollo and the HDR issue as stated in the post before mine. And the music bug after downgrading. Apart from those I was happy with it, and I wouldn't mind a single bit to change back to it. I just don't understand the hate regarding KK, especially in the MIUI 8 thread...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hate towards KK is only because most of the apps are working great in >LP than in KK. If MIUI with LP is given then it can be easily a great choice for armani. MIUI ram issues have sorted out but only thing is standby time(wifi on) is low.
NightRaven49 said:
I used to like KK as it was last in the line of the Holo interface and it was the only 4.x available for our phone, so I used it for fairly long and didn't switch to LP until MM came around. Along with Xcelerate it was really good: decent battery life, smooth experience and fast charging. But now that I've grown to like the Material interface as well, I've been using MM more often these few months, especially Slim6, which I feel gives the same feel I used to get on KK: stability and smoothness.
KK is still one of my more favourite ROMs, but given that KK is mostly dead by now and there are more developments and features in LP and MM, I think I'll just stick to Slim6.
1) I don't get this
2) I don't use Adoptive Storage, heard it screws with WiFi
3) I don't get this (it has been fixed recently)
4) Depends on ROM
5) GravityBox (for AOSP MM), or this guide (which also works on CM13)
6) Disable MPDecision. Strangely when I downgraded to CM11 I was still getting the bug.
7) Depends on ROM
The issues I had with CM11 were generally the use of Apollo and the HDR issue as stated in the post before mine. And the music bug after downgrading. Apart from those I was happy with it, and I wouldn't mind a single bit to change back to it. I just don't understand the hate regarding KK, especially in the MIUI 8 thread...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The music bug persisting after the downgrade is what's keeping me back. I, too, don't use Adoptive storage for all the bugs it brings - even on AOSP. But this means I'm running out of space by the end of the month because of necessary evils like WhatsCrap.
The gravitybox mod is good to know, although I don't use xposed, but really is simply a hassle to effectively change your wallpaper - especially when I'm changing them every other week.
I've recently tried disabling MPDecision - the music seems to be playing fine but I can't help but notice sightly degraded performance all around.
slst said:
Hate towards KK is only because most of the apps are working great in >LP than in KK.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Funny when there was a time when apps couldn't run properly on ART...
amangupta53 said:
I, too, don't use Adoptive storage for all the bugs it brings - even on AOSP. But this means I'm running out of space by the end of the month because of necessary evils like WhatsCrap.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Adoptive Storage is a hassle to set up: you need to format your SD card (which meant I had to shift everything out before converting it), and TWRP has no way to read such encrypted storage, so I didn't use it after the first time I tried it. Also you could do with regular housekeeping of your phone's storage; usually I keep WhatsApp images for a year before deleting them (after keeping the important ones and archiving the rest).
amangupta53 said:
The gravitybox mod is good to know, although I don't use xposed, but really is simply a hassle to effectively change your wallpaper - especially when I'm changing them every other week.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Xposed is very helpful, but if you don't want to use it then I won't force you.
Generally in those CM12/13 ROMs if I wanted to switch between lockscreen wallpapers I would leave a couple of those wallpapers in the /data/system/users/0 folder, just renamed to let me know which file is which wallpaper. Whenever I wanted to change them I just renamed them to the proper filename.
amangupta53 said:
I've recently tried disabling MPDecision - the music seems to be playing fine but I can't help but notice sightly degraded performance all around.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You don't have to leave MPDecision off the whole time: just disable it when listening to music, and re-enable it afterward.
Thank you everyone for your valuable comments:good:. It seems I can finally move on to CM 13:fingers-crossed:.(mostly slim6 version)
Note: I don't have music stop bug in CM11 though( may be related to firmware version or kernel. don't know why different people have different bugs:silly
Dr. Joy Das said:
Thank you everyone for your valuable comments:good:. It seems I can finally move on to CM 13:fingers-crossed:.(mostly slim6 version)
Note: I don't have music stop bug in CM11 though( may be related to firmware version or kernel. don't know why different people have different bugs:silly
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What I think is that the KK firmware/modem we all flashed for CM13 builds has something to do with the music suspend bug. This is probably the reason why downgrading back to CM11/12.1 doesn't seem to fix this issue.
Anyway, seems like I'll just stick with CM13 for now.
NightRaven49 said:
Funny when there was a time when apps couldn't run properly on ART...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sorry my friend i think its past now.
amangupta53 said:
What I think is that the KK firmware/modem we all flashed for CM13 builds has something to do with the music suspend bug.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well not really, as the same v7.0.5.0 is used for CM11, 12 and early 13 builds. It's most likely a kernel issue, given that disabling MPDecision fixes it somewhat.
slst said:
Sorry my friend i think its past now.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I totally didn't know that, like totally dude
/sarcasm
Hi Z2 plus users.
After lot of analysis and research, I finally ordered Lenovo Z2 plus today. Got a great deal.
8k INR / approx 125 USD
I have the option of getting Redmi Note 4 as well at approx 150 USD / 10k
I have gone through lot of videos on youtube with different custom rom reviews of Z2 plus, pros, cons etc.
My main concerns are:
- Battery Life
- Heating issue
- Overall usability without digging into custom rom installations and updates very frequently. I will install custom rom but would like to use it as daily driver for few months at least before I look for new updates etc. (Time is the issue - Don't get much of it these days to do all the research and experiments )
With custom roms like AICP, Jaguar - how is the battery life in terms of SOT?
How is the heating issue with custom roms which this phone is infamous for?
I saw a review from Indian tech reviewer on youtube suggesting Jaguar R14 is very stable and good rom for this. But I see some complains and users posting different issues in Jaguar rom thread.
Kindly suggest, if it will be good to go for this phone now (after 1.5 yrs of it's launch)?
Can I expect to use it as daily driver without any significant issues for next 2-3 years with custom roms?
At present which custom rom will you suggest with regards to Battery life and heating issue resolution?
some inputs here will he really helpful
saurav_k said:
some inputs here will he really helpful
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Try aex/paranoid/citrus and see what suits you best!
rohanvartak said:
Try aex/paranoid/citrus and see what suits you best!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I do not have the device yet and that is my dilemma whether to accept it or return it.
Does these roms also have overheating issues?
How is the battery life on these?
CitrusCAF 3.5 by miju12 seems very stable(dont flash custom kernel unless you know what you are doing) and have favourable review from the users.
and Lenovo z2 is better choice anyway
looks okay
Got mine today as well. Same deal as the OP (around $120). First thing done was an upgrade to Nougat. Sept 2016 manufacturing and there was still 30% charge left . Device did heat up during upgrade as it was on charge. Haven't observed any major heating since. I have upgraded (or downgraded) from a oneplus 2 so my criteria of heating may be somewhat biased. A 5 inch display does seem smallish though.
Geekbench 4 was 1720, 3999 which is par for SD820. So no throttling etc.
Just wondering what is so broken about stock ROM ? What's not going well with everyone on ZUI ? I did tweak the DPI to my liking - other than that ROM feels pretty much stockish android. I mean I have heard so much hate about stock ROM for this device?
Edited - Ok I am starting to see oddities. 1. Double notifications (any fixes?)
And the usual follow up questions -
- Does the U touch specialization / gestures (swiping etc) work on the custom roms for this device ? Edited - Yes I guess.
- Would unlocking bootloader reset the device ? If yes, might as well do it before setting up apps etc. Edited - Yes it would like any other device.
Just wondering what is so broken about stock ROM ? What's not going well with everyone on ZUI ? I did tweak the DPI to my liking - other than that ROM feels pretty much stockish android. I mean I have heard so much hate about stock ROM for this device?
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I have been using Rooted ZUI (I believe that’s what the stock rom is called) for a few weeks now (Xposed now, but that’s been just a few days). At first I thought I would keep it stock rooted and get all the things I need with Xposed, but the Notification drawer and Lock screen is getting on my nerves. All notifications are ICS Style, i.e. they are not expandable and they have no quick action (except USB connection to PC which lets u choose cam/file mode). Lock screen has this weird image in the middle which just sits there doing nothing. Notifications doesn't get displayed in lockscreen (weirdly I am getting 1 calendar notification there, but nothing else). I tried enabling lockscreen notification for a lot of apps, but it seems to just allow calendar and nothing else.
The U-touch is awesome BTW, but wont let me start Google Assistant voice through it (I like being able to set alarms through it)
So I am switching to the One + 5T, I am coming from the Axon 7. I have alot of reading to do to catch up to current activity. I am curious if someone could assist on what to do and what not to do to quickly optimize my experience with this device. Are there certain update to do and not to do to avoid getting to a point of no return? I am not new to romming and unlocking the potential of devices.
On devices previously, it was better not to do certain updates due to locking yourself out of certain features and abilities that rooting and flashing custom roms provides. Mostly I would like to know what not to do, as I will read through all tutorials and instructions to find what best works for me. I would like to get the device I will be using daily up to speed.
Are there kernels that are better than others for battery like without compromising performance?
I read that 'codename phoenix' is the only ASOP with full OEM camera functionality, Is this still true as where I rad that could easily be dated with all the support for this device?
Any guidance or answers are greatly appreciated. To this device I am a noob, but not to the helpful community atmosphere XDA can provide
Thanks and Kind Regards,
Fellow enthusiast.
+1 for OP.
Wondering also what are possible benefits and drawbacks of using custom/modded version of kernel?
I couldn't get the OOS portrait mode to work on codename phenoix. In my experience codename phenoix had the worst camera experience. Every app like Snapchat and instagram had camera bugs and other ROMs don't. I also recommend flash kernel on any ROM. Rock stable and fast AF . there's always a way to get back to 100% stock and locked bootloader. I have net heard of a fully hard brick that couldnt be fixed. So go for it, even if u stay on OOS then later choose to go custom roms.
I'm on custom ROMs using gcam v6 beta. Its way better than OOS cam. I'm using the HDR front cam fix and I have the pixel 2 portrait mode on front and rear. Way better than OOS portrait but only work on human faces. U can also use this on OOS but with the fix it breaks face unlock
I'm in the same situation here, I'm getting my OP5T tomorrow and I've been reading XDA non-stop for a week trying to figure out the differences between the popular ROMs and Kernels so I know where to start.
So far I've come to the conclusion that Flash Kernel (for custom Roms or OOS) and RenderZenith (for OOS Stock only) are probably the best kernels around if you want performance and stability. Franco Kernel would be for saving more battery probably sacrificing performance.
And for stable ROMs (I don't care too much about customization, I just want stability and performance) either Omnirom or Liquid Remix.
Of course that it's really hard to judge without even being able to try them first and just reading lots of comments about each one, so I think I'll start with these first and see what happens. I've also seen many people recommending Resurrection Remix.
bkn89 said:
I'm in the same situation here, I'm getting my OP5T tomorrow and I've been reading XDA non-stop for a week trying to figure out the differences between the popular ROMs and Kernels so I know where to start.
So far I've come to the conclusion that Flash Kernel (for custom Roms or OOS) and RenderZenith (for OOS Stock only) are probably the best kernels around if you want performance and stability. Franco Kernel would be for saving more battery probably sacrificing performance.
And for stable ROMs (I don't care too much about customization, I just want stability and performance) either Omnirom or Liquid Remix.
Of course that it's really hard to judge without even being able to try them first and just reading lots of comments about each one, so I think I'll start with these first and see what happens. I've also seen many people recommending Resurrection Remix.
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Tbh u just need to get them and try them all. I was like you. I made my mind up, that I would stick to RR when I got it. But I've tried most of the ROMs now, and tbh they are really similar in features wise. Some have little bits and pieces which make you stay. For example on cr droid u can customise the alert slider to toggle auto rotate and force rotation off etc.
Some ROMs lagged for me, some had delays when waking the screen, some didn't have proximity check when in pocket. Its up to you. Personally. Any time i'm on a custom ROM, I just flash , flash kernel because I know its amazing and lag free.
Ive been using Cr droid with flash kernel for weeks bug free with flash kernel for weeks.
I spent like one morning. Downloading all the ROMs, wiping and flashing them all without gapps so the install Is quick and just go through and looking at everything. U will be suprised how similar lots of them are. Its the little things that I look for.
Jamie_oppo said:
Tbh u just need to get them and try them all. I was like you. I made my mind up, that I would stick to RR when I got it. But I've tried most of the ROMs now, and tbh they are really similar in features wise. Some have little bits and pieces which make you stay. For example on cr droid u can customise the alert slider to toggle auto rotate and force rotation off etc.
Some ROMs lagged for me, some had delays when waking the screen, some didn't have proximity check when in pocket. Its up to you. Personally. Any time i'm on a custom ROM, I just flash , flash kernel because I know its amazing and lag free.
Ive been using Cr droid with flash kernel for weeks bug free with flash kernel for weeks.
I spent like one morning. Downloading all the ROMs, wiping and flashing them all without gapps so the install Is quick and just go through and looking at everything. U will be suprised how similar lots of them are. Its the little things that I look for.
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Click to collapse
Thanks for your reply!
I'm thinking the first days I'll keep OOS and maybe flash "Flash Kernel" or "RenderZenith" since apparently it gives the smoothest experience and then I'll start flashing ROMs. I really like the idea of ROMs with OTA updates like LineageOS which I currently have on my Moto G4 Plus because then I don't have to continuously check the forums to see if there is an update available, do you know of any other custom ROM that does this? Also, when you update a ROM, do you have to flash the kernel again each time?
bkn89 said:
Thanks for your reply!
I'm thinking the first days I'll keep OOS and maybe flash "Flash Kernel" or "RenderZenith" since apparently it gives the smoothest experience and then I'll start flashing ROMs. I really like the idea of ROMs with OTA updates like LineageOS which I currently have on my Moto G4 Plus because then I don't have to continuously check the forums to see if there is an update available, do you know of any other custom ROM that does this? Also, when you update a ROM, do you have to flash the kernel again each time?
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Yeah the custom kernel needs to be reflashed. So the ota will update but u will still need to flash a kernel which to me defeats the purpose of an ota. So I just manually do it. Also kernels get updated often too. OK what I recommend. As soon as u get the phone. Unlock the bootloader and install magisk. And stay stock for a while. Try out the camera (I miss the OOS cam with that awesome 4k stabilisation) but gcam is better for the rest. And then try custom kernels. I didn't really notice much difference on oos with custom kernels but on aosp I noticed it fly.
Jamie_oppo said:
Yeah the custom kernel needs to be reflashed. So the ota will update but u will still need to flash a kernel which to me defeats the purpose of an ota. So I just manually do it. Also kernels get updated often too. OK what I recommend. As soon as u get the phone. Unlock the bootloader and install magisk. And stay stock for a while. Try out the camera (I miss the OOS cam with that awesome 4k stabilisation) but gcam is better for the rest. And then try custom kernels. I didn't really notice much difference on oos with custom kernels but on aosp I noticed it fly.
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Awesome! And one last question if you don't mind, I'm pretty sure the phone will come with Android 7.1.2 and my understanding is that the latest OOS version contains Oreo. After hearing about all the bugs Oreo brought, should I stay in Nougat for now or is it safe to upgrade to Oreo? I don't mind staying in Nougat for now if it means I'll have better battery life and/or stability.
bkn89 said:
Awesome! And one last question if you don't mind, I'm pretty sure the phone will come with Android 7.1.2 and my understanding is that the latest OOS version contains Oreo. After hearing about all the bugs Oreo brought, should I stay in Nougat for now or is it safe to upgrade to Oreo? I don't mind staying in Nougat for now if it means I'll have better battery life and/or stability.
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I'm using OOS 5.0.4 completely stock Android 8.0.0 which is the latest official version there is (to my knowledge) and I haven't experienced a single bug.
bkn89 said:
Awesome! And one last question if you don't mind, I'm pretty sure the phone will come with Android 7.1.2 and my understanding is that the latest OOS version contains Oreo. After hearing about all the bugs Oreo brought, should I stay in Nougat for now or is it safe to upgrade to Oreo? I don't mind staying in Nougat for now if it means I'll have better battery life and/or stability.
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Oneplus last nougat update was 7.1.1 and the Oreo update for me has less bugs for me and has better battery life. Custom kernels can fix battery life ?. Wouldn't recommend to stay on nougat. Everyones on the Oreo train
TBH i feel that the stock OS is fine performance and battery wise and there is not much point rooting and installing a custom ROM unless you want even more customization than what OOS gives u
I think you're better off running the stock ROM (8.0 or 8.1) and stock kernel first on any new device, at least for a few days, to get a baseline. After that try different kernels and/or ROMs if you're not satisfied with stock.
Unless you have the stock experience you've nothing to compare custom mods to.
And to be frank, OOS is a pretty awesome AOSP mod anyway and any difference a kernel is going to make is in the margins.
djmcnz said:
I think you're better off running the stock ROM (8.0 or 8.1) and stock kernel first on any new device, at least for a few days, to get a baseline. After that try different kernels and/or ROMs if you're not satisfied with stock.
Unless you have the stock experience you've nothing to compare custom mods to.
And to be frank, OOS is a pretty awesome AOSP mod anyway and any difference a kernel going to make is in the margins.
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^ this
I bought this phone a month ago and still using till now. After trying all stock and custom roms, I have my own choice, just simple, stock 5.0.4 rom (or beta 5 rom) + your favorite kernel (up to you) + stock camera mod (it's a must if you need better quality photos) + magisk (for camera mod) = stable daily use for me.
I have been using for over a week and I think it's going better with time, so far so good now, average 8 hrs SoT (15% bettery left) within 50+ hrs is about the same as my old Mate9, still less than custom rom 1 hr SoT but no problem for me (the phone comes with Dash charger). I also use Xposed with GB that's why I dont need custom roms anymore.
lemonade747 said:
I bought this phone a month ago and still using till now. After trying all stock and custom roms, I have my own choice, just simple, stock 5.0.4 rom (or beta 5 rom) + your favorite kernel (up to you) + stock camera mod (it's a must if you need better quality photos) + magisk (for camera mod) = stable daily use for me.
I have been using for over a week and I think it's going better with time, so far so good now, average 8 hrs SoT (15% bettery left) within 50+ hrs is about the same as my old Mate9, still less than custom rom 1 hr SoT but no problem for me (the phone comes with Dash charger). I also use Xposed with GB that's why I dont need custom roms anymore.
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Can you link which camera mod has there's a few knocking around it's it the gcam
Thanks
sutty86 said:
Can you link which camera mod has there's a few knocking around it's it the gcam
Thanks
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Here you are:
https://forum.xda-developers.com/oneplus-5/themes/mod-oneplus-camera-jpg-quality-to-100-t3714595
the title is for Oneplus5 but it's working well with 5T also, no problem so far. I used to use Gcam but after days I realized that it's not much better than stock mod cam. In addition, gcam shutter speed is slower than stock mod cam and it lacks of many feature from the stock one. I can say with stock mod cam, OP5T photo quality is better than my Mate9 right now, Im sure for that. (with original stock cam, it's the worst but with stock mod cam, it's much better than many cams out there, no more noise and grain in low light)
I've just come from mate 9 , bought a view 10 last week , really pissed at the camera/video lack of eis makes it unusuable.
Received 5t a few hours ago flashed beta and took some snaps video and I'm impressed
---------- Post added at 04:22 PM ---------- Previous post was at 03:45 PM ----------
Already missing ir blaster
Trust me i have been user of OP3 and now op5t ..OOS is best out there and if you wanto to go swing and unlock bootloaderOOS+Franco is lethal ..you can also use xXx no limits available on OP 5 forums or any other OOS based custom roms
lemonade747 said:
I bought this phone a month ago and still using till now. After trying all stock and custom roms, I have my own choice, just simple, stock 5.0.4 rom (or beta 5 rom) + your favorite kernel (up to you) + stock camera mod (it's a must if you need better quality photos) + magisk (for camera mod) = stable daily use for me.
I have been using for over a week and I think it's going better with time, so far so good now, average 8 hrs SoT (15% bettery left) within 50+ hrs is about the same as my old Mate9, still less than custom rom 1 hr SoT but no problem for me (the phone comes with Dash charger). I also use Xposed with GB that's why I dont need custom roms anymore.
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What module are you using in magisk