So I found a brand new Xperia SP at a local retailer and I like it's unique looks and slick pocketable size,
but I don't know how usable it could be in 2018, Android never been my thing but it's running Jellybeen which has I think has aged now..
So in brief how usable will it be (with the official rom) given that my usage is fairly light and revolves around:
1. Most importantly IMAP Email (Anyone kindly confirm that the mail client still works nowadays).
2.Some light web browsing (Stack overflow, Twitter, Youtube (Rarely)), How is it's web performance overall ?
3.Some music playing and Light PDF Viewing (My Nokia E66 handles those quite easily, So I think it will have no problem).
As I said I am not good with Android so I won't be able to Flash ROMs, Root, etc...
So we are talking official ROM as is..
Any Thoughts
Hi !
I used the Xperia SP as a daily driver last year for a few months, mostly because I bought some other cheap chinese phone and it had ****ty ROM - so before I found new ROM, I switched to Xperia SP for some time. Here's what I think :
1. Most importantly IMAP Email (Anyone kindly confirm that the mail client still works nowadays).
I'm pretty sure it will work without problems, in case you faced anything not working you can install some alternative e-mail client from the Play Store, like Aquamail (brilliant piece of software, and free for up to 2 e-mail accounts)
2.Some light web browsing (Stack overflow, Twitter, Youtube (Rarely)), How is it's web performance overall ?
For this it should be also OK, and actually I'd recommend using Firefox Focus (exceptionally light browser with built-in advertising filter!)
3.Some music playing and Light PDF Viewing (My Nokia E66 handles those quite easily, So I think it will have no problem).
Music sound absolutely great on this phone, as it is always for Sony devices. PDFs... no problem.
The major problem might be overweight set of Google apps. They cause weaker phones to slow down, so at the beginning it's actually good to spend some time on actual configuration of the phone (de-bloating, switching off unnecessary things etc.)
And it would be really nice to consider flashing Lineage 14.1 or 15.1 switched to Android Go. It's really not that difficult, but gives great results.
And actually it's possible to use the phone without Google Apps at all (this is what I did) - it depends on your needs. First, think about what actually would you like to use the phone for, and it might come out that you don't need Google at all (for the things you mentioned, I don't think you need it...)
Hi, I don't recommend this phone with 4.3 stock ROM, but I do recommend it with 6.0 AOSP or CyanogenMod, it just works far more better (Nougat and Oreo are worse). So, it depends if you want to try installing a custom ROM, it's not so hard, and if you want, I can try helping you with it
actually xperia sp can only run smooth without gapps, but i suffer alot because of it, if you have a better phone then you could use xperia sp for app development if u are a dev or as spare phone
You can use it without Gapps pretty smooth enough for daily basis on even Android 9.0 Pie
Then, wich is the best Rom for Xperia SP (Faster, good Batery, and daily use)
Fast, daily, battery friendly
I have used for this experience stable XenonHD 8.1. Best rom i ever had ! You dont need any tweaks, this rom is pretty fast, battery friendly and good daily experience. Plus - you can choose no navbar but gestures. Newest root solution magisk 20.1 - no issues and try with MindGapps or only Yalp Store apk.
If you turn on Ambient Display, battery drain will be knowable. I will recommend turn this function off.
My second will be LineageOS 15.1.
But lineage 15.1 have newest security updates, obviously i prefer XenonHD. Try by yourself and reply to me your exp and comparison.
Too good is AOSP-CAF 7.0, this rom have things straight from hardware compositioner (Qualcomm), so you can have fun with their options and is pretty fast.
I have tried new stable AOSP 9 and LineageOS 16.0, but i cant mark it stable, because they have still some issues, what you see after some days using, see my comment at AOSP 9, we must wait for some update.
Related
This is a bit unorthodox and clumsy, but I carry two devices around with me in order to keep in touch with the world.
A QWERTY Droid4 for SMS and calls.
A more modern Android device (Samsung Note 4 for WhatsApp, FB Messenger, YT, web browsing).
Which ROM would be best for the Droid 4 if it is used only for the four things listed below?
Calls
SMS
Messaging (including WhatsApp and Messenger Lite) (no SnapChat/Instagram/etc)
Email (keeping in mind I may need to view attached links and docs)
I am looking for something reliable, snappy and responsive. Thank you!
I would definitely recommend some Android KitKat based ROMs, such as this or that one.
Android KitKat based ROMs are noticeable newer than stock ROM and lighter than Android Lollipop based and newer ones.
Thank you very much for your reply!
I believe you are 100% correct. In my time waiting for a reply, I went ahead with experimenting with LOS 14, and SlimKat.
Though LOS 14 looks fancy, shiny, and new... it doesn't run as good as how it's styled, at least on the 2012 Droid 4.
Running SlimKat was a breath of fresh air. It is an especially nice bonus that small details in its function are all programmed in (ex, volume rocker in landscape, any many others I'm sure I"m missing). Overall, SlimKat is miles more functional that LOS14, at least from my short experience.
Though SlimKat took a bit of extra work to get running with Canada's GSM (Rogers). That in itself was a very fun and challenging process (better understanding rooting/safestrap/mounting-storage-as-root/build.prop).
I look forward to seeing how this device in its current form can help manage my life. So far GCal, the messaging apps and the QWERTY keyboard have been immensely helpful.
So after seeing announcements about Project Treble and GSI floating about the internet I thought I'd look for a version to use on my Honor 9 Lite and came across this thread:
https://forum.xda-developers.com/project-treble/trebleenabled-device-discussion/android-pie-kirin-guys-t3830420
Users have had Android Pie running on a honor 7X so I thought there can't be that much difference between the 2 devices, so why not give it a try? If it goes wrong I can always use my stock backup.
So I flashed as per the instructions in that post and it works, really well. So much so that I'm gonna keep it as a daily driver.
Be careful which version of Gapps you use, the BitGapps mentioned in the post has been discontinued by the Dev, I initially tried OpenGapps but it was for 8.0 so failed to install.
If you search around you can still find the last version of BitGapps that was released, and is version 9.0 compatible.
What's Good
Installs pretty quick
Fast, much faster than EMUI - Could be a Placebo effect, but general use is very snappy and downloads/app installs seem very quick
Wi-Fi working fine
Bluetooth working fine, confirmed on Ticwatch and Car radio
Mobile data works fine
Finger print reader works fine
Sound and phone calls work fine
What's not so Good
This Rom is based off AOSP, don't expect any of the Huawei/EMUI functions or features.
On first boot the ROM is bare bones, hardly any apps installed, looks like an old version of Android rather than a shiny new one.
You have to enable guestures before the swipe navbar appears
You'll have to use a 3rd party launcher to get the full Android P look. The Quickstep launcher in this version of AOSP has sqaure icons and certain options like wallpaper/widgets etc just FC. - I chose Lawnchair for this.
Hotspot doesn't work at all, it just disables wi-fi then FC
You may have to mess around with the display settings to make things align correctly, for some reason everything seemed to be shifted to the left edge. I chose small display size with large font size to smooth it out
Camera obviously, same issues as we had on the 8.0 roms, banding/poor tracking/poor quality (Biggest downside) I've not rooted, so not tried any of the camera ports. Open Camera app has the same issues.
Sound over bluetooth was distorted (not confirmed, could be my car radio)
Some graphical glitches. Stutters & frame drops when using task switcher, switching to chrome from recents has a lag/distorted effect and menus appear out of focus and take a second or two to correct
Any Questions I'll try to answer as best as I can.
I've tried many different gsi images on my H9L. Most did make my phone 'feel' faster, I guess mainly due to the overhead EMUI takes and eliminating it does remove some burden from the phone. However, that's where the advantages stopped. Many of the issues you mention on Pie are on Oreo also. I had too many issues to overcome and make it 'daily driver' usable that it just wasn't worth it, so went back to stock and removed as much huawei/honor stuff as i could via root, then removed root. This seems to give me best of both worlds, i.e. close to vanilla android but everything, hardware wise, just works as intended. Since I have BL unlocked and TWRP working i can also keep updating, via HURupdater, with official updates for as long as huawei/honor keep posting updates; e.g. currently on B135 with Aug security patches, that is just as good as any GSI image now (Aug18).
Hi everyone.
I just got my Note 8 and it is a beast!
my phone prior to this was actually an Xperia Z1 (yep, the one from 2013), which has LineageOS 7.1 (Nougat) loaded onto it. I loved that rom, so much I actually put the same LineageOS version on my ASUS tablet too. So I'm pretty used to the trebuchet launcher and Nougat system in general.
the previous owner of my Note8 had pretty much installed all the updates up till late last year, so It's got the 9 Pie update installed. Android 9, combined with the One UI launcher, and topped with annoying "Bixby???" button I keep accidentally pressing, is all a little too crazy for me, coming from LOs Nougat.
with my scouring of forums, I've seen a few people suggest that staying on Oreo is better for battery life / performance / usability compared to the Pie update.
Compared to my Z1, this thing is a speed demon, it certainly isn't slow... but I do notice that the battery seems to drain a bit even when the phone is left in standby, and considering it's a fresh factory reset OS with almost no user apps installed, I'm a little concerned to see it's using 3gb of memory on just bloat and background services.
So pretty much I've been looking into the custom rom situation for the Note8.
My main priority is debloating and stability. I've seen the popular Hades and Deluxe roms, but they look almost more like they are adding features and customization, rather than stripping the useless bloat. Also they seem to be pushing even newer android versions now.
I've seen that TeamEXYKings put out a few light roms, even ones supporting nougat. which I'm interested in trying, anyone have any thoughts on these? It looks like support has dropped for them.
Points I understand so far.... (correct me if I'm wrong)
*Currently, I can't flash because my KG state is in Prenormal, still waiting the 7 days with simcard and phone staying on.
*Exynos has an unlocked bootloader, snapdragon doesn't. It seems to be a common opinion that Booatloader can't be downgraded, so therefore I won't be able to roll back an oreo or nougat rom? yet I've seen some people claim they were able to after they unlocked the bootloader (very confused)?
*Most Roms take away Spen functionality? I do need this, but only for the pressure sensetivity in my art apps, I don't care too much about the drawing on notes/screenshots/off screen/ring shortcut. Will I still get the basic funcationality of my Spen on a custom rom?
*Seems there are some Galaxy S8 roms that have Note 8 functionality and vice-versa.. should I consider these? are there any drawbacks/bugs to consider?
sorry for the long post I'm open to anyone's thoughts and suggestion, cheers!
TLDR: new phone, not too keen on Android Pie and excessive Samsung bloat. please suggest light and stable rom for note 8.
dc_all said:
Hi everyone.
I just got my Note 8 and it is a beast!
my phone prior to this was actually an Xperia Z1 (yep, the one from 2013), which has LineageOS 7.1 (Nougat) loaded onto it. I loved that rom, so much I actually put the same LineageOS version on my ASUS tablet too. So I'm pretty used to the trebuchet launcher and Nougat system in general.
the previous owner of my Note8 had pretty much installed all the updates up till late last year, so It's got the 9 Pie update installed. Android 9, combined with the One UI launcher, and topped with annoying "Bixby???" button I keep accidentally pressing, is all a little too crazy for me, coming from LOs Nougat.
with my scouring of forums, I've seen a few people suggest that staying on Oreo is better for battery life / performance / usability compared to the Pie update.
Compared to my Z1, this thing is a speed demon, it certainly isn't slow... but I do notice that the battery seems to drain a bit even when the phone is left in standby, and considering it's a fresh factory reset OS with almost no user apps installed, I'm a little concerned to see it's using 3gb of memory on just bloat and background services.
So pretty much I've been looking into the custom rom situation for the Note8.
My main priority is debloating and stability. I've seen the popular Hades and Deluxe roms, but they look almost more like they are adding features and customization, rather than stripping the useless bloat. Also they seem to be pushing even newer android versions now.
I've seen that TeamEXYKings put out a few light roms, even ones supporting nougat. which I'm interested in trying, anyone have any thoughts on these? It looks like support has dropped for them.
Points I understand so far.... (correct me if I'm wrong)
*Currently, I can't flash because my KG state is in Prenormal, still waiting the 7 days with simcard and phone staying on.
*Exynos has an unlocked bootloader, snapdragon doesn't. It seems to be a common opinion that Booatloader can't be downgraded, so therefore I won't be able to roll back an oreo or nougat rom? yet I've seen some people claim they were able to after they unlocked the bootloader (very confused)?
*Most Roms take away Spen functionality? I do need this, but only for the pressure sensetivity in my art apps, I don't care too much about the drawing on notes/screenshots/off screen/ring shortcut. Will I still get the basic funcationality of my Spen on a custom rom?
*Seems there are some Galaxy S8 roms that have Note 8 functionality and vice-versa.. should I consider these? are there any drawbacks/bugs to consider?
sorry for the long post I'm open to anyone's thoughts and suggestion, cheers!
TLDR: new phone, not too keen on Android Pie and excessive Samsung bloat. please suggest light and stable rom for note 8.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Rather than trying to address everything I will stick to what is most important for you, debloating and stability. Both Deluxe and Hades rom let you choose most of what bloatware you want during the Aroma installation, although they vary slightly in what is selectable but if you don't want Bixby for example just don't select it in Aroma. For stability you won't go wrong with a stock based rom.
If you love Lineaage OS you can flash Lineage 17 which is stable, you can find the latest build in the link I will post below, however this will remove the Spen functionality so it is literally just a touch pen and I don't know if the pressure censor works for drawing. You will need to flash Gapps with this to get the Google play store.
https://images.stricted.net/lineageos/greatlte/
I want to make you aware, just in case you don't know, that as soon as you flash TWRP this trips Knox so Samsung Pay will never work again, it breaks other things too like Shealth and Secure Folder but most stock based roms have this patched so they work, just not Samsung Pay.
Another option is to buy a package disabler, which is what I use, so I can disable or enable any app with just a click so then you can stay fully stock.
stonedpsycho said:
Rather than trying to address everything I will stick to what is most important for you, debloating and stability. Both Deluxe and Hades rom let you choose most of what bloatware you want during the Aroma installation, although they vary slightly in what is selectable but if you don't want Bixby for example just don't select it in Aroma. For stability you won't go wrong with a stock based rom.
If you love Lineaage OS you can flash Lineage 17 which is stable, you can find the latest build in the link I will post below, however this will remove the Spen functionality so it is literally just a touch pen and I don't know if the pressure censor works for drawing. You will need to flash Gapps with this to get the Google play store.
https://images.stricted.net/lineageos/greatlte/
I want to make you aware, just in case you don't know, that as soon as you flash TWRP this trips Knox so Samsung Pay will never work again, it breaks other things too like Shealth and Secure Folder but most stock based roms have this patched so they work, just not Samsung Pay.
Another option is to buy a package disabler, which is what I use, so I can disable or enable any app with just a click so then you can stay fully stock.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks a bunch for your advice, very helpful.
and thanks for bringing up the knox thing. I have heard that, though I forgot to mention it in my post. I think I'll be fine without those samsung features.
I'll keep a close eye on Hades and Deluxe then. There seems to be the most information about them online and even some video reviews.
I'll look into the newer lineageOS too, it sounds like it will meet my needs, but I would hate to lose some functionality on Spen or camera, so Stock based may be the way to go..
Also I hadn't ever heard of a Package disabler.. definitely going to look into that too.
Another great perk for LOS was the privacy guard, being able to disable apps loading at startup or not allowing them to run in background really extended my battery life. I'll have to look into similar options from 3rd party apps.
thanks again for your help.
MiUI EU, Arrow OS, lineage OS, paranoid android?
Which do you prefer or dislike and why?
Hi. i use since one week "aosp extended" version 8.6 with included miui camera. this is for me the best rom for our phone. everything is working. i use this rom with elipson kernel. just try this rom !
lukas030581 said:
Hi. i use since one week "aosp extended" version 8.6 with included miui camera. this is for me the best rom for our phone. everything is working. i use this rom with elipson kernel. just try this rom !
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
MIUI camera means here ANX camera?
AOSP Extended is a great and fully functional daily driver.
I've tried most of the popular roms for our device. In terms of stability, IMO you can't go wrong with either ArrowOS, AOSPExtended or Xiaomi.eu if you prefer MIUI. crDroid is not bad either, but I had issues with Snapchat voice calls breaking up with the screen off. Otherwise it was also good.
ArrowOS: Great battery, very stable, everything works. The included camera is very basic though. ANX Cam 204 works great though but requires root.
AOSPExtended: Also great battery life, is very stable, and includes ANX camera (but dark mode didn't work for me). Hey google doesn't work though (requires a workaround as posted by fobtob387 in the AEX thread) and currently charging is a bit slow on this rom but I would imagine will get fixed soon.
Xiaomi.eu: Stock so everything works fine. I found it to be fast, stable and the battery life was good. I just prefer AOSP.
crDroid: Great battery, quite stable, includes ANX Camera 204 with working dark mode. But again I had snapchat voice call issues, which I use often with my niece.
I installed Pixel Experience but it currently has a bug where it thinks the external SD card is corrupt and can't read it. It asks to format, which I do not want to do and this doesn't happen with any other rom I've tried.
LOS18.1 unofficial seems to be another good one but I haven't tried yet.
For me, I'm debating between AOSPExtended and ArrowOS. I'm gonna test both roms out for a longer period of time and see if I experience any bugs. I'll reconsider crDroid if they can fix the snapchat problem.
djskribbles said:
I've tried most of the popular roms for our device. In terms of stability, IMO you can't go wrong with either ArrowOS, AOSPExtended or Xiaomi.eu if you prefer MIUI. crDroid is not bad either, but I had issues with Snapchat voice calls breaking up with the screen off. Otherwise it was also good.
ArrowOS: Great battery, very stable, everything works. The included camera is very basic though. ANX Cam 204 works great though but requires root.
AOSPExtended: Also great battery life, is very stable, and includes ANX camera (but dark mode didn't work for me). Hey google doesn't work though (requires a workaround as posted by fobtob387 in the AEX thread) and currently charging is a bit slow on this rom but I would imagine will get fixed soon.
Xiaomi.eu: Stock so everything works fine. I found it to be fast, stable and the battery life was good. I just prefer AOSP.
crDroid: Great battery, quite stable, includes ANX Camera 204 with working dark mode. But again I had snapchat voice call issues, which I use often with my niece.
I installed Pixel Experience but it currently has a bug where it thinks the external SD card is corrupt and can't read it. It asks to format, which I do not want to do and this doesn't happen with any other rom I've tried.
LOS18.1 unofficial seems to be another good one but I haven't tried yet.
For me, I'm debating between AOSPExtended and ArrowOS. I'm gonna test both roms out for a longer period of time and see if I experience any bugs. I'll reconsider crDroid if they can fix the snapchat problem.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Great info, thanks.
Does it make sense to search for a ROM that comes with MicroG if I want to use Google Photos, Google Books, Gmail (not calendar), Google Maps, Google Play? If I understand correctly MicroG is a drop-in replacement for some proprietary piece of Google software. I suppose the advantage of MicroG would be to have less tracking.
Id also like to use GCam (because this is the best camera app?), Youtube Vanced (because its a better youtube app)
I'd also like NFC payments to function.
I been using crDroid 7.10 and its very stable. Good battery, anx camera included and Google Pay works fine. No messing about. Although it's only been one day I've been using but everybody works great from what I can see. Charging was decent but not super fast, wasn't slow either.
derpaloo said:
Great info, thanks.
Does it make sense to search for a ROM that comes with MicroG if I want to use Google Photos, Google Books, Gmail (not calendar), Google Maps, Google Play? If I understand correctly MicroG is a drop-in replacement for some proprietary piece of Google software. I suppose the advantage of MicroG would be to have less tracking.
Id also like to use GCam (because this is the best camera app?), Youtube Vanced (because its a better youtube app)
I'd also like NFC payments to function.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm not very familiar with microg tbh.
As far as cameras go, someone else might be able to answer this better. But from my understanding, stock MIUI camera is very good. Gcam can look as good or maybe better, with some tweaking or using someone's config file.
djskribbles said:
I've tried most of the popular roms for our device. In terms of stability, IMO you can't go wrong with either ArrowOS, AOSPExtended or Xiaomi.eu if you prefer MIUI. crDroid is not bad either, but I had issues with Snapchat voice calls breaking up with the screen off. Otherwise it was also good.
ArrowOS: Great battery, very stable, everything works. The included camera is very basic though. ANX Cam 204 works great though but requires root.
AOSPExtended: Also great battery life, is very stable, and includes ANX camera (but dark mode didn't work for me). Hey google doesn't work though (requires a workaround as posted by fobtob387 in the AEX thread) and currently charging is a bit slow on this rom but I would imagine will get fixed soon.
Xiaomi.eu: Stock so everything works fine. I found it to be fast, stable and the battery life was good. I just prefer AOSP.
crDroid: Great battery, quite stable, includes ANX Camera 204 with working dark mode. But again I had snapchat voice call issues, which I use often with my niece.
I installed Pixel Experience but it currently has a bug where it thinks the external SD card is corrupt and can't read it. It asks to format, which I do not want to do and this doesn't happen with any other rom I've tried.
LOS18.1 unofficial seems to be another good one but I haven't tried yet.
For me, I'm debating between AOSPExtended and ArrowOS. I'm gonna test both roms out for a longer period of time and see if I experience any bugs. I'll reconsider crDroid if they can fix the snapchat problem.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
have you had any issues with snapchat being unable to open the camera on these roms? cuz i have had issue with it on pixel, arrow and aosp and would appreciate some help.
s0tix said:
have you had any issues with snapchat being unable to open the camera on these roms? cuz i have had issue with it on pixel, arrow and aosp and would appreciate some help.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No camera has been fine on all of the roms I've tried. The only problem I have with snap are either staticy voice calls, delayed messages (or until I unlock/turn on the phone).
THREAD LOCKED
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Kindly use the existing thread for continuing discussion: https://forum.xda-developers.com/t/help-me-chose-best-custom-rom.4296373/
Regards,
shadowstep
Forum Moderator
Hey there!
I recently ordered a refurbished XZ1c in a great condition for a great price. Even though it's a relatively old device I'm not happy with the new ones coming out, they always lack certain features I look for, while this one has small size, great hardware, 3.5mm jack, stereo speakers and all the other goodies - I'm really impressed by it.
Software wise I prefer to use clean android with MicroG, so the unofficial Lineage 17.1 seems like the rom to go for, but I have some questions for you guys already owning the device.
DRM keys:
As far as I know unlocking the bootloader results in losing the keys, which breaks sony features and camera (for android 8)/reduces the quality (android 9). I saw there is a way to back the keys up and restore them after rooting which eventually fixes the camera. My question is does this work for custom roms or only stock? Does it bring the other sony features to custom roms as well?
Overall how is the performance with custom android 10 roms? I prefer to use them because of the stock camera, but if you compare them vs the stock which is better?
Also, I would be happy to stay on stock if I can debloat the google apps and use microg instead. Is such an option available?
My phone is *way* faster after flashing a custom ROM -- both Android 10 and 11.
Regarding DRM keys and custom ROMs, been looking into it myself, couldn't find the confirmation that the whole rigmarole of downgrading-temprooting-extracting-(unlocking bootloader)-recovering the keys makes much sense since the lack of keys seems to primarily affect camera and windevine-related apps on Nougat and partially Oreo... Of course, keeping them is better if you have the time and energy for that. I had, but I'm not sure the model I bought have had them in the first place and I don't know how to check.
Turbolqk said:
I would be happy to stay on stock if I can debloat the google apps and use microg instead. Is such an option available?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sure is, adb GUIs will help you with that. ADB AppControl for windows is what I used to debloat, it's a very convenient app letting you disable apps without deleting and back them up to pc before deleting them if you chose to do so (though it does have a rather obnoxious premium version advertisement behavior). for linux, Mobydroid, universal-android-debloater and qtadb (root) have varying degrees of usability.
@4qx The TA keys make a huge difference with the stock Sony camera in low-light conditions. Unfortunately, that app is not possible to use in Android 11+.