Database Info

Comparitions among available ROMs

Hello Defy fellows!
I'm new here and to all Android ROM flashing thing. I own a Defy for a couple of weeks now, it runs Android Éclair and I'm looking forward to put on a nicer ROM on it. It is my first Android smartphone, I've come from a sad Symbian 2.3 Nokia.
So: I'm not familiar with any of the ROMs that lots of users here have been playing around and I believe that there could be really interesting inputs for the interested who are new to those developments.
I've been reading on the procedures and what's involved to flash new ROMs to the Defy and I couldn't help to notice that there are quite a few custom ROMs available.
I wonder which ones are the most stable and reliable. Also, which ones have the best performance and deliver higher battery autonomy. I would not like much experimental things, but mostly one with less bugs and problems, to carry on with it and don't bother for a while, until there is a major update or something.
I will use it here on Brazil and I expect it to not lose any functionality regarding GSM, 3G and GPS. I don't know exactly what is involved on this aspect and what are the limitations but I can say to you that my network uses 850 and 2100 MHz for 3G and 1800 MHz for GSM.
It should also support portuguese, even that there's just the spelling dictionary.
I'm sorry if there are dumb questions above, I simply don't know what can be a problem if I change the native ROM to a customized/tweaked one.
I believe that there are patches to do almost anything, but I would like to not need to worry about how to fix issues on my phone's system...
At first, I am tempted to get the main CM7 ROM but I'm creating this thread really to explore the differences and comparisons among the available options.
I am also strongly considering undervolting/overclocking the CPU
Looking forward to your thoughts!
Regards!
BTW: my Defy has Bayer Green lenses!

ursoouindio said:
BTW: my Defy has Bayer Green lenses!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
bayer is red lense
SOC is green

remuseu said:
bayer is red lense
SOC is green
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
looking against the light I see green and yellow shinning... and Catlog reports is as being Bayer.
But that's ok, I wont rely that much on which color it seems to me without having something different on my other hand to compare with.

So, you have Bayer Yellow lens.

Well, thanks...
I didn't even know that there were a third color for the lenses....
But I think that isn't important , its all about the module, Bayer or SOC.

i will recomend you to use ms2ginger... it's a fully operational rom with gingerbread + motoblur, can record at 720p (HD), it's fast and have dlna option to share things with pc, laptops and LED tv.... ohh, it's have support for portuguese language too

espaciosalter20 said:
i will recomend you to use ms2ginger... it's a fully operational rom with gingerbread + motoblur, can record at 720p (HD), it's fast and have dlna option to share things with pc, laptops and LED tv.... ohh, it's have support for portuguese language too
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
MS2Ginger is a very nice ROM. It's my current ROM.

ursoouindio said:
I wonder which ones are the most stable and reliable. Also, which ones have the best performance and deliver higher battery autonomy. I would not like much experimental things, but mostly one with less bugs and problems, to carry on with it and don't bother for a while, until there is a major update or something.
I am also strongly considering undervolting/overclocking the CPU
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
As I see, here two common options for you:
I will vote for Barebones Froyo,
-stable Froyo, have no bugs
-without Blur
-best battery (1-2% per night, 2-3 days of average using 3g
-you can overclock it with bootmenu preinstaled
-as good bonus, u'll have many other little things which will make your every day use more enjoyable (720p playing, widescreen recording etc)
CM7 - bleeding edge, you'll have latest software, and latest bugs.
Actually, for me, CM7 give no advantage in every day use.
Someone will say perfomance, but its only syntetic tests (cheating), you'll have no real improvments, cuz hardware stays same.

You've given me an idea.
Would it be useful if I made a spreadsheet/googledoc listing all available roms which os they using, stable, major bugs etc?

what is ms2ginger?

kimagure01 said:
what is ms2ginger?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
check yourself....http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1140839

If u need better battery life(in stand by mode) u must use Barebones froyo ROM.
If u need better performance u can consider using WIUI or cm7.
If u need more new feature u can use cm7.
If u need more moto staff u can use ms2ginger.
For me I am using WIUI and i would say it is a great rom if u like miui's interface and the battery life is good for me(1-2 days) also I don't need new features except crystal talk plus . But I guess MIUI's guys will be add it soon.

My friends, thanks for the replies so far!
Can you enlighten me on what are these tweaks that gets better performance for CM7 over barebones?
As I understood, ms2ginger has the motoblur thing, right? I don't care much about it and I think that I probably would be happier without it as I believe it impacts considerably on the overall performance.
Comparing CM7 and MIUI, which are the most elementary differences?
Sorry for the lots of questions, but there it is hard to someone new keep track on all those developments.

Don't forget to give a try to MS2Ginger, it's a very good ROM and it's in RC2 phase. It has very good battery perfomance and also gives you 720p recording and the new motoblur. Right now it's the ROM I am using and I feel very good with it.

miui
why no one say something bout MIUI?
i've been using it since i got my Defy.
and so far, its a great ROM and nice also.
and good to showoff to iPhone fag

ursoouindio said:
My friends, thanks for the replies so far!
Can you enlighten me on what are these tweaks that gets better performance for CM7 over barebones?
As I understood, ms2ginger has the motoblur thing, right? I don't care much about it and I think that I probably would be happier without it as I believe it impacts considerably on the overall performance.
Comparing CM7 and MIUI, which are the most elementary differences?
Sorry for the lots of questions, but there it is hard to someone new keep track on all those developments.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
CM7 have no moto staff that improve performance also gingerbread have a better performance. I guess CM7's developers optimized drivers to get much better performance over CM7. MIUI is base on CM7 so there are no much difference of performance. The differences of CM7 and MIUI is they use the different shell(you can read as UI) and also MIUI doesn't use the latest source of CM7 so it may have more bugs and do not have some newest features. I perfer WIUI (mod of MIUI) because it is stable and it's easy to use

Barebones is really insane in battery life !!! it has been 12 hours ..... since and still i m on 90% but though it seems that the older or newer sim it really has a greater impact on battery life .... older seems eats up quickly whereas newer sim they use a lot less battery

joydeep1985 said:
Barebones is really insane in battery life !!! it has been 12 hours ..... since and still i m on 90% but though it seems that the older or newer sim it really has a greater impact on battery life .... older seems eats up quickly whereas newer sim they use a lot less battery
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
can confirm the sim effect...i too have lot better battery life after change of sim...am on bbfroyo...amazing rom...15 hours..lot of smses...few calls...an hour of chess plus quite a bit of aimless playing around with the phone...still 78% battery left...amazing

kevin_diu, thanks for the answer, I was wondering on this kind of relation between them...
Wouldn't it be possible to get the same shell as MIUI while using CM7?
joydeep1985, that is really incredible if you get that much battery from this smartphone. How's the performance on it?
I just don't get the sim issue, what is that?

Confused!
joydeep1985 said:
Barebones is really insane in battery life !!! it has been 12 hours ..... since and still i m on 90% but though it seems that the older or newer sim it really has a greater impact on battery life .... older seems eats up quickly whereas newer sim they use a lot less battery
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Wow! BB Froyo 157 gave me 12 hours of life from 100%-0% I can't believe how all of you get so much battery life! I'm back on WIUI and I get 18 hours from full to zero now.

Rom recommendations... For stingray

Hi all, I have been happily on cm 4.1.2 for awhile because it has been stable and this is primarily a device for my kids. Lagfix and greenify have been wonderful for good performance.
What is your experience with 4.2.2 and 4.3? Is it worth going to 4.2.2 for performance and stability? I am old school and really like the lower only status bar in 4.1.2 which is gone after that from my knowledge. Perhaps there is an exposed framework change that gets the old interface back. Ha!
I was waiting to see what might happen with 4.3 since that performs better on all my devices including rezound. It looks pretty stable. Maybe I should go for that.
Any comments on path appreciated.

weaverinva said:
Hi all, I have been happily on cm 4.1.2 for awhile because it has been stable and this is primarily a device for my kids. Lagfix and greenify have been wonderful for good performance.
What is your experience with 4.2.2 and 4.3? Is it worth going to 4.2.2 for performance and stability? I am old school and really like the lower only status bar in 4.1.2 which is gone after that from my knowledge. Perhaps there is an exposed framework change that gets the old interface back. Ha!
I was waiting to see what might happen with 4.3 since that performs better on all my devices including rezound. It looks pretty stable. Maybe I should go for that.
Any comments on path appreciated.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'd say that 4.2.2 and 4.3 aren't going to give you much in the way of performance, and may even perform worse. The problem is, there really are no drivers. The 4.2.2 and 4.3 ROMs are still using 4.1.x kernel code and 4.1 drivers, so I really don't think there's much to be gained other than being able to say you're on the latest version of Android. If 4.1.2 is working alright for you, I'd say to leave well enough alone.

oldblue910 said:
I'd say that 4.2.2 and 4.3 aren't going to give you much in the way of performance, and may even perform worse. The problem is, there really are no drivers. The 4.2.2 and 4.3 ROMs are still using 4.1.x kernel code and 4.1 drivers, so I really don't think there's much to be gained other than being able to say you're on the latest version of Android. If 4.1.2 is working alright for you, I'd say to leave well enough alone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you. Glad to have confirmation that things are as good as they seem on 4.1.2. I know the size of the system partition is a real problem for newer builds.
Interesting in the way of performance though because I thought trim was built into 4.3. Also, when I moved on my rezound from 4.2.2 to 4.3....wow what a difference. I really have no reason to move off of that phone because it performs so well.
Say, what clocking do you run it at? I have seen that it runs well from 800 to 1500 Mhz on the top side.
All the best....

weaverinva said:
Thank you. Glad to have confirmation that things are as good as they seem on 4.1.2. I know the size of the system partition is a real problem for newer builds.
Interesting in the way of performance though because I thought trim was built into 4.3. Also, when I moved on my rezound from 4.2.2 to 4.3....wow what a difference. I really have no reason to move off of that phone because it performs so well.
Say, what clocking do you run it at? I have seen that it runs well from 800 to 1500 Mhz on the top side.
All the best....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My Xoom is running stock JZO54M/4.1.2 with a locked bootloader and no root. haha Clock speed is 1 GHz stock. Also, I think people are overblowing the trim in 4.3. Yes, it has auto-trim, but it just runs it sporadically. Plus, trimming only helps so much. Increased memory requirements isn't something trim will be able to get you out of.

My opinion why you shouldnt flash your Galaxy device

To start this thread off, I will start by saying ying I am not bashing the developers in any type of way, just giving people my perspective and opinion.
Hello guys,
Let me start by introducing myself. I'm not new to this forums, ask many questions and do lots of research and from my research here is my conclusion.
People normally say they want a custom, stock feel of an android and that's why they flash rooms. If you want a pure droid feel get a Nexus device simple as that. Why flash a rom that takes away originality from the device? Things like S Voice, Samsung Watchon, multi window mode, WiFi calling and etc are very useful in everyday life. It's also what makes the phone better than an iPhone in opinion, the only advantage I see with roms are slight speed advantages and honestly, it isn't by much. I feel like roms are only better for games but if you're rooted, you can over clock your phone when you're playing games and problem solved.
I didn't go too much into detail, just stated a few reasons. Feel free to drop your opinions though, I'd like to hear why some of you think custom roms are better.

i rooted my s3 for the first time a few weeks ago, and the main reason was because i wanted the new 4.4 and heard that it wasn't going to come out for a LONG time through an official update. i was leaning towards buying the nexus 5 but when i found out i could flash a custom rom i tried it right away. i'm extremely happy with my decision because the new rom has been stable and makes the phone brand new again. like you mentioned, its much snappier without all the extra samsung extras.

dreseansr said:
To start this thread off, I will start by saying ying I am not bashing the developers in any type of way, just giving people my perspective and opinion.
Hello guys,
Let me start by introducing myself. I'm not new to this forums, ask many questions and do lots of research and from my research here is my conclusion.
People normally say they want a custom, stock feel of an android and that's why they flash rooms. If you want a pure droid feel get a Nexus device simple as that. Why flash a rom that takes away originality from the device? Things like S Voice, Samsung Watchon, multi window mode, WiFi calling and etc are very useful in everyday life. It's also what makes the phone better than an iPhone in opinion, the only advantage I see with roms are slight speed advantages and honestly, it isn't by much. I feel like roms are only better for games but if you're rooted, you can over clock your phone when you're playing games and problem solved.
I didn't go too much into detail, just stated a few reasons. Feel free to drop your opinions though, I'd like to hear why some of you think custom roms are better.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
you cannot overclock your phone by rooting
you need custom kernel for that

pradeepxtremehacker said:
you cannot overclock your phone by rooting
you need custom kernel for that
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Actually, you can. I've overclocked my phone lol.

It's not just for better performance but in custom ROM everything is better, such as battery life, it's the most important thing after performance.
You can also take the full control of the device after root and install a custom ROM. Games also is very important point for huge number of android user, because the stoke (original) android system cannot run games as smooth as custom ROMs.
Another reason is the lag, lag is a big problem in any android environment and up to now there is no solution for that, however, custom ROMs reduce the lag and make a better feeling for the user.
Help me by hit like here :
https://www.facebook.com/BankMuscatMeethaq/posts/576114045788466

dreseansr said:
Actually, you can. I've overclocked my phone lol.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
you cannot

tabnnaj said:
It's not just for better performance but in custom ROM everything is better, such as battery life, it's the most important thing after performance.
You can also take the full control of the device after root and install a custom ROM. Games also is very important point for huge number of android user, because the stoke (original) android system cannot run games as smooth as custom ROMs.
Another reason is the lag, lag is a big problem in any android environment and up to now there is no solution for that, however, custom ROMs reduce the lag and make a better feeling for the user.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not in all cases a ROM makes for better performance, and in some cases it actually makes it worse if the ROM is not properly configured. But a ROM can give the device a plain android version without the bloat software from the device manufacturer, thereby increasing performance and stability. In most cases I don't think it increases performance over plain android other then giving access to overclocking and scheduling options

[Q] Xperia J NeutronMP - how to reduce heavy lags?

Hi,
I'm using a Xperia J with Cyanogenmod 10.1(month ago installed) and the NeutronMP, because I have some 24 Bit/96kHz flacs, which only NeutronMP undestands them. The little better Quality is a reason too. But every time, when I'm using this, i get some heavy lags and most of the time listening to music isn't very nice.
Firstly, what's the reason for that? Too low CPU/RAM, low performance on sd card? Every time I've looked in task manager, it seems to be (relative) normal. In addition, i haven't got any performance hungry apps running in background.
Secondly, how can I reduce this? What would be most effective?
Thanks in advance,
Lg

CM 10.1 for J was never stable stick to CM 10 and don't use that crappy audio engine

Racer X said:
CM 10.1 for J was never stable stick to CM 10 and don't use that crappy audio engine
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Do you mean Neutron with "crappy audio engine"? I Haven't found a alternate player, so i can't choose.
I will install CM 10 later. Other things i could do?
thanks anyway.
EDIT: furthermore, i think "that crappy audio engine" is the reason, it can play all of my files.

TheBigApple said:
Hi,
I'm using a Xperia J with Cyanogenmod 10.1(month ago installed) and the NeutronMP, because I have some 24 Bit/96kHz flacs, which only NeutronMP undestands them. The little better Quality is a reason too. But every time, when I'm using this, i get some heavy lags and most of the time listening to music isn't very nice.
Firstly, what's the reason for that? Too low CPU/RAM, low performance on sd card? Every time I've looked in task manager, it seems to be (relative) normal. In addition, i haven't got any performance hungry apps running in background.
Secondly, how can I reduce this? What would be most effective?
Thanks in advance,
Lg
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I stuck with stock when I got my J, I did however flash a new kernel to allow me to overclock to 1.3ghz. Do a search for vengence kernel and flash that. Don't flash the newest one though, stick with v1.40 (later versions do not have oc facility)

You see, most people think OC actually speeds up their phone, well it doesn't. Only wastes battery, get CM 10 and use Riches Kernel or use my ROM if you want a stable and fast jellybean.

Of course overclocking speeds up the phone. You are increasing your CPU speed to the maximum that the hardware will allow. Yes there will be slightly less battery life, but that's a given. Its swings and roundabouts. Personally I find that there isn't a noticeable difference in mine (I still get 2 days on regular usage), but with the extra 300MHz I get from overclocking I no longer have the heavy lagging I had on the stock kernel. If there are no benefits from oc, how do you explain all the tests that prove you wrong?
Sent from my ST26i using xda app-developers app

Thanks for your ideas, i will test both versions. But i don't know really, what exact is too less.
EDIT: btw, I've installed CM 10, and it isn't really better. But anyway, i didn't thought it would change the world.

which rom you installed CM 10.1 ?

Suxter said:
which rom you installed CM 10.1 ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Now I have installed this one: [projectfreexperia/download/cyanogen-mod-10] (FXP248). I thought, i had installed this one: [projectfreexperia/download/cyanogen-mod-10-1], but i can't find the package; so it could also have been this: [projectfreexperia/download/cyanogen-mod-10-2] (FXP248).
But it really doesn't matter, what of these versions I had installed, because they have all the same (bad) performance for my NeutronMP. Right?

If you wanted to stick with cm10, I think that Rom supports the vengeance kernel so you could get the best of both worlds
Sent from my ST26i using xda app-developers app

TheBigApple said:
Now I have installed this one: [projectfreexperia/download/cyanogen-mod-10] (FXP248). I thought, i had installed this one: [projectfreexperia/download/cyanogen-mod-10-1], but i can't find the package; so it could also have been this: [projectfreexperia/download/cyanogen-mod-10-2] (FXP248).
But it really doesn't matter, what of these versions I had installed, because they have all the same (bad) performance for my NeutronMP. Right?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
so you tell us, you installed unsupported CM 10.1 / 10.2 & your phone is laggy & not working it;s functions ? :laugh: :laugh:
i loled , because you installed unsupported CM versions to your phone & says its very laggy lol
be careful next time, because maybe it'll end with soft brick or hard brick like this http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2550937 ( phone main board change after he installed that rom )

There are many more ways to improve a phone's performance
Install A Custom Rom,
Mods like Supercharger or Crossbreeder which benfit battery life
OCing is not bad but it is also not beneficiary for the device

Suxter said:
so you tell us, you installed unsupported CM 10.1 / 10.2 & your phone is laggy & not working it;s functions ? :laugh: :laugh:
i loled , because you installed unsupported CM versions to your phone & says its very laggy lol
be careful next time, because maybe it'll end with soft brick or hard brick like this http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2550937 ( phone main board change after he installed that rom )
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My phone only is lagging, when I'm using NeutronMP, never with other apps. (I don't use other performance hungry apps like games, but anyway.)
I asked this, because I've had the same problems when I've used NeutronMP with the stock android.
@ all: thanks for your replies.

[Q] What kernel and rom do you use?

I was wondering what kernel and rom do you use in order to have a maximum performance on the device? I am looking for a new rom to have a better performance

I think slim Kat has the best performance, along with Agni kernel

Do you think its faster than CyanogenMod 11?

If we want to know what rom do the best max performance, do we have to try each rom to know which rom can bring max performance? or is there any link to show benchmark test for every rom available?
As long as the rom is working, stable and no bugs, i guess thats the best rom. Well at least thats for me.
Because each person have different usage and setting, apps and data, depend what do you put inside your gadget.
I use CM 11 and it works like a charm, but i'm not sure if its faster though.
Just my two cents,

I use @Android-Andi's SlimLP build. It is fast and smooth.
jrc2

Hey there,
I'm using CM12 by Android-Andi at the moment, are there any big difference with the slimLP?
Besides less is more, dark theme or something that have been mention on every thread. I couldn't fine (yet) what's the real big deal using slimLP instead CM12. If it's faster, I'm not sure how to measure. If it's no lag and smooth, then CM12 has already too (at least for my needs).
If someone could mention something and have the experiences tried both roms and find the differences, please do let me know it.
Yes, you may say I should flash it bymyself to get the experiences, but to do clean install and re-download apps and adjust the setting for my preference are taking some times. I would thanks someone if could help.
Sorry if its too long. Thank you all. Cheers

theandroidneo said:
Hey there,
I'm using CM12 by Android-Andi at the moment, are there any big difference with the slimLP?
Besides less is more, dark theme or something that have been mention on every thread. I couldn't fine (yet) what's the real big deal using slimLP instead CM12. If it's faster, I'm not sure how to measure. If it's no lag and smooth, then CM12 has already too (at least for my needs).
If someone could mention something and have the experiences tried both roms and find the differences, please do let me know it.
Yes, you may say I should flash it bymyself to get the experiences, but to do clean install and re-download apps and adjust the setting for my preference are taking some times. I would thanks someone if could help.
Sorry if its too long. Thank you all. Cheers
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think SlimLP is a bit more smooth and lag free..I have tried both the roms on my tab and I prefer to use Slimrom
And it is better compaitable with the DHOLLMEN kernel :thumbup:
Tapped from my furious Xperia ZR

Do SlimLP have a smoother experience than the cm 11?

Xnin47 said:
Do SlimLP have a smoother experience than the cm 11?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Of course it is smoother
For you it will be great as you're moving from daivik to art.
Its based on stock and lacks CM features but still a great stable rom..
Butter smooth
Tapped from my furious Xperia ZR

I am using @Android-Andi 's SlimLP rom and it is quite smooth and has practically no bugs and it is in such early stage of development