Database Users

LG G2 questions of an GS3 guy

Hey guys,
I currently have an I9300 (A.K.A Galaxy S3) and thinking about upgrade to G2. I'm not looking for a advice on this thread but some info. Been on my GS3 since 1,5 years now and I rather know all the pros and cons of my device.
One of them is our Exynos chip that literally kills the device when using AOSP, second one is broken HW composer due the lack of closed source stuff of Samsung. Last but not least is the camera quality, vastly better on stock Touchwiz roms.
Knowing this stuff I have the following questions regarding G2;
1.- G2 uses Snapdragon, so on paper AOSP Roms should work fine (or not as bad as it is on Exynos). Is this really true? How does perform CM11 right now on the G2? I'm planning to stick always with CM or AOSP becouse can't stand stock LG skinned Android. On my S3 I am currently rolling CM11 and it is pretty OK due the great devs we have there. But you guys know, we always want something better
2.- Been reading a lot about the camera on the G2 and all threads say the same, camera quality on Stock is much better than AOSP. The question is; Is this difference big as on the GS3?
I am running away from the abusive closed source policy of Samsung and limited updates (I know is the same with LG but at least you guys don't have an Exynos chip to deal with :silly
Will I be able reach the full of G2 capacity staying at AOSP or it is going to be the same as it happens with my S3?. Am I going to be cursed to stay at stock Android until LG stop supporting the device? Will I be at home with a G2 or should look for a fugly Nexus 5 instead?
Posting this thing on General becouse it could help guys with the same doubts as I do. Hope you don't mind this big wall text.
Kind regards!

beeeto said:
Hey guys,
I currently have an I9300 (A.K.A Galaxy S3) and thinking about upgrade to G2. I'm not looking for a advice on this thread but some info. Been on my GS3 since 1,5 years now and I rather know all the pros and cons of my device.
One of them is our Exynos chip that literally kills the device when using AOSP, second one is broken HW composer due the lack of closed source stuff of Samsung. Last but not least is the camera quality, vastly better on stock Touchwiz roms.
Knowing this stuff I have the following questions regarding G2;
1.- G2 uses Snapdragon, so on paper AOSP Roms should work fine (or not as bad as it is on Exynos). Is this really true? How does perform CM11 right now on the G2? I'm planning to stick always with CM or AOSP becouse can't stand stock LG skinned Android. On my S3 I am currently rolling CM11 and it is pretty OK due the great devs we have there. But you guys know, we always want something better
2.- Been reading a lot about the camera on the G2 and all threads say the same, camera quality on Stock is much better than AOSP. The question is; Is this difference big as on the GS3?
I am running away from the abusive closed source policy of Samsung and limited updates (I know is the same with LG but at least you guys don't have an Exynos chip to deal with :silly
Will I be able reach the full of G2 capacity staying at AOSP or it is going to be the same as it happens with my S3?. Am I going to be cursed to stay at stock Android until LG stop supporting the device? Will I be at home with a G2 or should look for a fugly Nexus 5 instead?
Posting this thing on General becouse it could help guys with the same doubts as I do. Hope you don't mind this big wall text.
Kind regards!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
1. AOSP works fine, you have bucketloads of ROMs out there for the G2 (check Original Development forum).
2. Camera is perfectly fine on both stock and AOSP. Haven't read about any issues.
But seriously, stock ROM + Xposed. You don't need much more than that.

beeeto said:
Hey guys,
I currently have an I9300 (A.K.A Galaxy S3) and thinking about upgrade to G2. I'm not looking for a advice on this thread but some info. Been on my GS3 since 1,5 years now and I rather know all the pros and cons of my device.
One of them is our Exynos chip that literally kills the device when using AOSP, second one is broken HW composer due the lack of closed source stuff of Samsung. Last but not least is the camera quality, vastly better on stock Touchwiz roms.
Knowing this stuff I have the following questions regarding G2;
1.- G2 uses Snapdragon, so on paper AOSP Roms should work fine (or not as bad as it is on Exynos). Is this really true? How does perform CM11 right now on the G2? I'm planning to stick always with CM or AOSP becouse can't stand stock LG skinned Android. On my S3 I am currently rolling CM11 and it is pretty OK due the great devs we have there. But you guys know, we always want something better
2.- Been reading a lot about the camera on the G2 and all threads say the same, camera quality on Stock is much better than AOSP. The question is; Is this difference big as on the GS3?
I am running away from the abusive closed source policy of Samsung and limited updates (I know is the same with LG but at least you guys don't have an Exynos chip to deal with :silly
Will I be able reach the full of G2 capacity staying at AOSP or it is going to be the same as it happens with my S3?. Am I going to be cursed to stay at stock Android until LG stop supporting the device? Will I be at home with a G2 or should look for a fugly Nexus 5 instead?
Posting this thing on General becouse it could help guys with the same doubts as I do. Hope you don't mind this big wall text.
Kind regards!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Before G2 I had S3 and Note2 and since both of them have same exynos and camera they were pretty similar in AOSP roms.
With S3 I used AOSP 80% of time (cm11 temasek). On note2 I used lame touchwiz because of spen.
Anyway after switching to G2 I flashed AOSP same day I got it (rooting doesn't void warranty in EU). I got G2 in last december and at that time AOSP was still quite buggy. But now AOSP is nearly as stable as stock.
Regarding your questions:
1. As I said AOSP now is fine, but look for rom that uses kitkat kernel source. In my opinion Mahdi ROM is best for AOSP. CM still uses old jellybean kernel sources that has bugs, so I avoid using it. I have been using Mahdi most of the time and there were only few bugs that were fixed quite fast. I agree that stock LG ui looks awful, but with xposed you can make it look nearly like AOSP (quicksettings and stuff). But you should definitely take a look at G3 roms, they are much better looking.
2. Regarding camera quality yes on AOSP it is a little worse, but in my opinion not as big difference from stock as it was on S3. There are ported stock camera app for AOSP if you want to check that out.
When I switched to G2 I was also looking at Nexus 5 since I am kinda flashoholic. But I am really happy that I got G2 not Nexus5. After I switched from S3 to N2 I got used to great battery of it and G2 has even better battery life than Note2. Plus thoose buttons on back are just the way they should be on all phones.
Anyway hope I helped you with this information.

Orvils said:
Before G2 I had S3 and Note2 and since both of them have same exynos and camera they were pretty similar in AOSP roms.
With S3 I used AOSP 80% of time (cm11 temasek). On note2 I used lame touchwiz because of spen.
Anyway after switching to G2 I flashed AOSP same day I got it (rooting doesn't void warranty in EU). I got G2 in last december and at that time AOSP was still quite buggy. But now AOSP is nearly as stable as stock.
Regarding your questions:
1. As I said AOSP now is fine, but look for rom that uses kitkat kernel source. In my opinion Mahdi ROM is best for AOSP. CM still uses old jellybean kernel sources that has bugs, so I avoid using it. I have been using Mahdi most of the time and there were only few bugs that were fixed quite fast. I agree that stock LG ui looks awful, but with xposed you can make it look nearly like AOSP (quicksettings and stuff). But you should definitely take a look at G3 roms, they are much better looking.
2. Regarding camera quality yes on AOSP it is a little worse, but in my opinion not as big difference from stock as it was on S3. There are ported stock camera app for AOSP if you want to check that out.
When I switched to G2 I was also looking at Nexus 5 since I am kinda flashoholic. But I am really happy that I got G2 not Nexus5. After I switched from S3 to N2 I got used to great battery of it and G2 has even better battery life than Note2. Plus thoose buttons on back are just the way they should be on all phones.
Anyway hope I helped you with this information.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Oh boy, your words are like a gold mine! Exactly what I was looking for.
My G2 is officially ordered. Hope I'll be joining this part of XDA really soon and say good bye my old fellows I9300 users. Im sure here I'll feel at home :fingers-crossed:.
Have a little couple of questions, they are a little specific so couldn't find precise info. Hope you guys can direct me a little.
1.- You surely know that the most famous Kernel on the i9300 is Boeffla, it has own app to control voltages, sound control, overclock, etc. What is the G2 counter part? (I know Kernels are subjective but want to know where to start )
2.- What are the most used OC arround here for the CPU? (On the i9300 was 1.6Ghz)
I'm going to be wondering arround here a lot, so I hope don't get bashed for these questions, they are my base when starting to use a new device. (Yesterday spent 2 hours browsing ROM's and other threads, haha)
Thank you again!

beeeto said:
Oh boy, your words are like a gold mine! Exactly what I was looking for.
My G2 is officially ordered. Hope I'll be joining this part of XDA really soon and say good bye my old fellows I9300 users. Im sure here I'll feel at home :fingers-crossed:.
Have a little couple of questions, they are a little specific so couldn't find precise info. Hope you guys can direct me a little.
1.- You surely know that the most famous Kernel on the i9300 is Boeffla, it has own app to control voltages, sound control, overclock, etc. What is the G2 counter part? (I know Kernels are subjective but want to know where to start )
2.- What are the most used OC arround here for the CPU? (On the i9300 was 1.6Ghz)
I'm going to be wondering arround here a lot, so I hope don't get bashed for these questions, they are my base when starting to use a new device. (Yesterday spent 2 hours browsing ROM's and other threads, haha)
Thank you again!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
1. Well for stock roms there is dorimanx kernel. It has faux sound, overclock, undervolt, etc.
2. With dorimanx you can overclock up to max 2.8 GHz.
Sent from my LG-D802 using Tapatalk

beeeto said:
1.- G2 uses Snapdragon, so on paper AOSP Roms should work fine (or not as bad as it is on Exynos). Is this really true? How does perform CM11 right now on the G2? I'm planning to stick always with CM or AOSP becouse can't stand stock LG skinned Android. On my S3 I am currently rolling CM11 and it is pretty OK due the great devs we have there. But you guys know, we always want something better
2.- Been reading a lot about the camera on the G2 and all threads say the same, camera quality on Stock is much better than AOSP. The question is; Is this difference big as on the GS3?
Kind regards!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
s3's camera doesnt even come close to the cam on the g2 ! the quality is unbelievable. just note that night shots do get distorted when its very very dark ! but that happens on all phone cameras so its fine
oh and also cm11 rom doesnt support UHD and 120 FPS slowmo addons i bought this cus of the camera features n battery backup. i cant let it just go

Orvils said:
Before G2 I had S3 and Note2 and since both of them have same exynos and camera they were pretty similar in AOSP roms.
With S3 I used AOSP 80% of time (cm11 temasek). On note2 I used lame touchwiz because of spen.
Anyway after switching to G2 I flashed AOSP same day I got it (rooting doesn't void warranty in EU). I got G2 in last december and at that time AOSP was still quite buggy. But now AOSP is nearly as stable as stock.
Regarding your questions:
1. As I said AOSP now is fine, but look for rom that uses kitkat kernel source. In my opinion Mahdi ROM is best for AOSP. CM still uses old jellybean kernel sources that has bugs, so I avoid using it. I have been using Mahdi most of the time and there were only few bugs that were fixed quite fast. I agree that stock LG ui looks awful, but with xposed you can make it look nearly like AOSP (quicksettings and stuff). But you should definitely take a look at G3 roms, they are much better looking.
2. Regarding camera quality yes on AOSP it is a little worse, but in my opinion not as big difference from stock as it was on S3. There are ported stock camera app for AOSP if you want to check that out.
When I switched to G2 I was also looking at Nexus 5 since I am kinda flashoholic. But I am really happy that I got G2 not Nexus5. After I switched from S3 to N2 I got used to great battery of it and G2 has even better battery life than Note2. Plus thoose buttons on back are just the way they should be on all phones.
Anyway hope I helped you with this information.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Where did you hear that rooting doesn't void warranty on Europe?
Are you completely 100% sure?
Cause I'm very interested in knowing if this is true.
Only rooting or also installing roms? Installing roms and custom recoveries doesn't void the warranty?
Thanks!!

My G2 is awesome. I keep it running stock ROM because I love what LG has done. If you've never tried it before, give it a chance before moving to CM 11. I have Nova installed and using that instead of LG launcher but other than that I really do enjoy all the features that come from LG =).
I compared my phone to a Nexus 5 side by side and it was pretty much the same speed to open apps (Except Viber, it was faster on N5, no idea why..). It's a very smooth phone, even when running LG UI .
My brother has the S3 and it's a good smooth phone but my G2 is an overall better phone.
You won't regret upgrading to it. Just make sure you get one without a touchscreen bug. I was lucky when I bought mine from someone else, it didn't have the touchscreen bug and still does not.
Camera is not the best and I'm considering trading for an S5 or Z2 just for that reason. I would actually go for the Find 7 but a bit too expensive and big. I prefer the camera on the S4 (I had that phone prior to the G2 and I also had the S4 Zoom). The S4 Zoom was the best one with awesome night shots since you can control shutter speed. Sadly we can't control shutter speed on G2 (on Oppo Find 7 we can and K zoom also). Day shots are good on G2 while some shots can really look awesome. It does bokeh effect better than the S4 and looks spectacular for a phone.
Low light shots can be either ok or bad. Too much over-processing going on and white balance isn't the best. I still love my LG G2 though!
I am using xdabbeb's camera mod, by the way, which I suggest you do also if you get the phone.

Nevermind, figured out by my self, thank you!

[Q] Is it worth it to install a G3 Rom on G2?

Hello all,
I've recently bought a LG G2 (D802). I've seen that there are a few ROMs which have been adapted from the G3 model to the G2: Cloudy G3, Optimus G3 and Lam Hoang G3. I have had a look to this last one and there are still some issues with the ROM.
I wonder whether it's really worth it to install one of these ROMs or it would be enough just installing G2 Exposed and changing the theme to look like the G3 one?
Obviously there are some other differences like some new applications. However since they are both based on Android 4.4.2 I don't see how much difference there could be if I use Xposed.
Here are some of the pros and cons I can see:
G3 ROMs over stock:
Camera
Keyboard
UI (G2 can be adapted to look almost the same as G3 (Tweaks box + G3 theme) though)
Less bloatware as custom ROMs get rid of them in most cases
Smart notice (is it good?)
G2 stock over G3 ROMs:
Most stable software
Less risk of virus in your phone (if you install a custom ROM you don't really know if the person who built it put some spyware in it)
Official updates (I guess official G3 ROMs won't get official updates)
Are there any new applications/features apart from above which make worth it installing these ROMs? Maybe performance benefits?
*This is not a thread to discuss whether it's good or not making custom ROMs. In fact, I want to say thanks to all those developers who spend hours trying to bring something better to our phones.
Thanks,
Javier

I too am interested in hearing responses to this. I previously came from a galaxy s3 (d2spr) and I thought many roms were worth installing on that device as many actually improved either functionality, battery life, or performance. But with my g2, I'm really content with the stock kk. I've heard the camera on the g3 roms is pretty awesome, but I've also heard of issues with hdr not working. Can't wait to hear responses.

I'm on stock, rooted rom, g2 tweaksbox, g3 theme and the camera tweak which adds some features.
It's a great way to go, everything works like a charm.
Sent from my LG-D801

You won't find a single rom that doesn't have someone complaining of issues. So far though CloudyG3 1.2 has been exceptionally stable and pretty much fully functional. Even stock has its quirks in terms of issues.

I use Cloudy G3 1.2, and after a few tweaks, it runs pretty damn smooth. I like it over stock!

Using OptimusG3 and everything is smooth as butter!

I like to add one more candidate for a G3 rom: lamhoang G3 FINAL
https://translate.googleusercontent....4358/&usg=ALkJrhiaba6cK0mY2Vsbrcc3aGQFUPvzdg
The 1st fully deodexed art compatible rom, its very snappy and i find it the best of the G3 ports so far.

I think lamhoang rom eats battery very much

yken said:
I think lamhoang rom eats battery very much
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No, i getting excellent battery life on the Lamhong roms.
8+ hours screen on my 802 and 6+ hours on the 320k

OptimusG3 V1.2
Hi,
I'm running OptimusG3 v1.2. In the beginning tried CloudyG3.
I started experimenting with G3 ROMs since it's G3 has nicer interface than G2 ROMs. It has G3 camera and keyboard. It has also G2 FM Radio apk. CloudG3 has G3 FM radio apk that crashes.
Overall good ROM but battery live could be better when you use it, In stand by is OK.

I tried the G3 rom for a few days but ultimately went back to stock rooted. The flatter, minimal theme of the G3 looks great, but that was about it. I have the VS980 which isn't fully supported for the G3 rom (yet) so I had minor data/mms issues and poorer battery life. Plus, I think the camera on the G3 is a downgrade compared to the G2 - less features/options, and pictures seemed to look a little worse.
For now, I use Nova with a G3 theme, and G2 Xposed/Tweakbox to mimic some other aspects of the interface (notification toggles, status bar tint, etc)

I'm running CloudyG3 and i'm really enjoying it so far, the new 1.2 update added all the missing things so now im super happy
Sent from my LG-D802 using XDA Free mobile app

javism1 said:
Hello all,
G2 stock over G3 ROMs:
Most stable software
Depends. Roms can be built from modded stock roms. It could be argued that removing bloat will result in a more stable rom.
Less risk of virus in your phone (if you install a custom ROM you don't really know if the person who built put some spyware in it)
Well, we KNOW of carriers that add spyware to our phones. Also, many devs post their source, so there's that...
Official updates (I guess official G3 ROMs won't get official updates)
Does this even matter when you can just update the custom ROM? You want the latest carrier update that bad, you'd only have to wait a couple hours.
G2 can be adapted to look almost the same as G3 (Tweaks box + G3 theme)
This is more a lack of a con than a plus.
Are there any new applications/features apart from above which make worth it installing these ROMs? Maybe performance benefits?
Thanks,
Javier
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
See above

lastdeadmouse said:
See above
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've changed on the description that last point

javism1 said:
G3 ROMs over stock:
Camera
Keyboard
UI (G2 can be adapted to look almost the same as G3 (Tweaks box + G3 theme) though)
Less bloatware as custom ROMs get rid of them in most cases
Smart notice (is it good?)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
For Camera, you can install xdabbeb's camera. I read a couple of days ago that there will be an update and that his camera will be available in apk.
For the Keyboard, you can install the LG G3 keyboard as an apk http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2793602

Mobius360 said:
I'm on stock, rooted rom, g2 tweaksbox, g3 theme and the camera tweak which adds some features.
It's a great way to go, everything works like a charm.
Sent from my LG-D801
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Does the camera launch directly from the volume down button when using the shortcut?
I mean does it turn the screen on too, so you can snap a picture?

icoman said:
Does the camera launch directly from the volume down button when using the shortcut?
I mean does it turn the screen on too, so you can snap a picture?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes it does. Just tried it.
Sent from my LG-D801

i love the G3 rom im on cloudys g3 rom

On cloudys g3 rom been playing with settings and tweaks past few days and now I've found prefect balance of battery vs performance no bugs or complaints couple sods but kernel related and now fixed and other minor bugs I can work around till fixed great daily driver love the ui and phone is super snappy
Sent from my LG-D802 using Tapatalk

Danzano said:
On cloudys g3 rom been playing with settings and tweaks past few days and now I've found prefect balance of battery vs performance no bugs or complaints couple sods but kernel related and now fixed and other minor bugs I can work around till fixed great daily driver love the ui and phone is super snappy
Sent from my LG-D802 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
my eyes hurt... ever heard of punctuation?
i think lg did a good job with g3 stock but apart from the interface which looks more flat, you don't get too much over stock g2.

[Q] Custom Rom = Camera Quality Loss?

Hey there guys, I will be quite simple with this one
I love the design of this phone and also the battery + camera (those are my main reasons)
I'm getting my G2 on friday! and I normally go with custom roms (although with htc one m7 I stayed in stock because the camera quality loss (due to no libs) was huge)
does this happen also with LG G2?
Is there a considerable quality loss of taking pictures when you move to a custom rom?
What about the excellent battery? does it gets even better on custom rom?
Thanks for your answers!

mariosanoguera said:
Hey there guys, I will be quite simple with this one
I love the design of this phone and also the battery + camera (those are my main reasons)
I'm getting my G2 on friday! and I normally go with custom roms (although with htc one m7 I stayed in stock because the camera quality loss (due to no libs) was huge)
does this happen also with LG G2?
Is there a considerable quality loss of taking pictures when you move to a custom rom?
What about the excellent battery? does it gets even better on custom rom?
Thanks for your answers!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There might be a little tiny bit, but with the 13mp, you have to zoom in quite a bit more to see noise or blurriness than with the M7. I use PA rom and i have no problem with cameraquality.

I'm new here too, there are 2 kinds of most used roms, stock roms and AOSP or CM roms I can tell you that if you want a good camera use stock custom roms, because AOSP rom's camera doesn't have all Lg features, but if you want better battery maybe the double of screen on time, use AOSP roms, for stock roms I recommend you the Cloudy ones for example, and for AOSP, Mahdi Rom is the one I use when I'm not on stock rom, try them out and decide by yourself,

KiiKeEp said:
I'm new here too, there are 2 kinds of most used roms, stock roms and AOSP or CM roms I can tell you that if you want a good camera use stock custom roms, because AOSP rom's camera doesn't have all Lg features, but if you want better battery maybe the double of screen on time, use AOSP roms, for stock roms I recommend you the Cloudy ones for example, and for AOSP, Mahdi Rom is the one I use when I'm not on stock rom, try them out and decide by yourself,
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
thank for the replies, I will note it down to try them out in friday when my g2 arrives!
edit: I probably think I will go for Cloudy to start with for some time ^^ thanks for the recomendations

[D802]Wich rom to chose?

Hi guys, i'm using this phone for a while and the longer i use it, the more i like it! After a while my stock rom became a bit laggy so i decided to use some custom roms, but wich to chose? I like stock based rooms for their stability and UI. At the moment i use "Ultimate stock v9" and i'm realy happy. It works almost perfect but it has one issue wich is critical for me: when recording video on UHD, 120fps or even 60fps the video is verry dark. Do you have some suggestions on stock based roms or something simillar? Battery life is important to.
P.s. Sorry for mistakes, i'm not an american or something like that

I'm a fan of CyanogenMod myself, but I can't comment as to how it works with your variant of the phone (D802). I know there are issues with the latest version and the VS980 variant I have.
Have you tried any of the other debloated stock ROMs? Why do you prefer "Ultimate stock v9" over them?

I dobt know why i chosed it, but its better than pure stock Allsow i dont kbow if i have right firmware bcs yesteryday i had to unbrick my phone Is there any way to check what firmware is suited for your phone? Well i just need stable and reliable room with no bugs bscs i dont want to change rooms every week.

I find very stabile the cloudyflex 2.6 . Also the cloudyg3 is a very good ROM with a nice battery usage (the stock drains more battery then the cloudyg3). Now i'm trying the enhdroix, which is cm based, i like the UI and the smoothness but it drains battery as hell. An other good choice could be liquid rom, i liked very much

cloudy g3 rom is very smooth and fast. I use it for few day and its really works great! I use some mods like g3 tweaksbox and it I love it. the best rom at this time!

JellyBean vs Lillipop / Stock vs Custom

First of all, this is not a childish "versus" topic to flame fanboys spirits. I just need some technical understanding of some issues.
So... I've run four or five Lollipop 5.1.1 custom ROMs on my C5303, including CM, AICP, XenonHD, Mokee. All are great and fast and developers made a tremendous job. Not all of them are so friendly with Tangerine kernel (I need a custom kernel for increasing in-calls phone volume), per instance, Mokee hangs and struggle like hell. AICP works well with T-kernel, but with some issues (reported by users), when the device will freeze for a few seconds. XenonHD loves T-kernel - no problem at all!
Still, all of these fantastic custom ROMs , with or without custom kernel, are sluggish compared with stock 4.3 Sony ROM. I've made a nandroid backup in TWRP of my XenonHD - T-Kernel installation and installed Binomical SLIM 4.3 base don stock. Just for the heck of remembering the Sony UI, I intended to restore XenonHD soon after. I'm still on Binomical 4.3. Man, this is FAST! This is a blazing rocket compared with any of the Lollipop ROMs!
On Lollipop ROMs I've had ~ 300 MB free RAM, on stock 4.3 (OK, deodexed and slim) I only have 150 MB, but Sony's ROM is way faster and smoother. It really looks like I have a completely new device in my hand. How is this possible? Why? The hardware drivers? Is X-SP really not able to handle Lollipop in a decent manner?
XDA developers worked so hard to gave us the Lollipop ROMs, and I praise their work, but looks like X-SP best choice is still the old JellyBean 4.3.

Agree.
All lollipop roms are really fast in the beginning but after sometime,it begins to lag and become slow and sluggish.I have tried many lollipop roms but always returned to stock rom.It's been 2-3 months that i'm on stock and didn't flashed any other rom.

dude flash latest cm12.1 nightly nd ull forget stock

4.1.2>4.3>5.1.1

I dont think this, i not know what version you test of aicp and xennon, thes lasts versions of aicp are laggy and xennon has battery drain sometimes, but the others no, all depends of the rom, have lollipops roms laggy and have lollipop fast roms, have kikkat laggy roms and have kitkat fast roms, and the same of all android version, the rom stock have good performance but battery drains, now i in miui 7, performance and battery are awesome

I NEVER had battery drains on stock ROM. Yes, lots of bloatware on official stock , but not battery drains. I also didn't encounter battery drain on any of the Lollipop ROM's I've tried - AICP stable and about 10 version of nightlies, CM, XenonHD latest and Mokee. Yes, those were not so "green" as stock, but nothing so horrible, maybe 10-20% less battery power than stock. The issues regarding battery were on calibration of the battery percentage, per instance it used to go downward normally till 6%, then, bang!, the telephone turned off with 0% battery all of a sudden. Anyway, this is a insignificant issue, I don't care if I'm gonna recharge battery one hour earlier, the real problem that brought me back to 4.3 stock was the PERFORMANCE.
What I can't figure out is how come 300MB free RAM Lollipop is worst than 150 MB RAM JellyBean. Why? Xperia SP can't deal with ART instructions, it's Dalvik-only? I mean, OK, our developers have limited resources and most of them test their code on their own device, they have to be careful and not trying something risky; by contrast, Sony have unlimited resources to develop and tune their ROM. I know that, it's obvious, all my respect to XDA developers. What I'm trying to figure out is what's that bump in the road, what keeps X-SP Lollipop to be blazing fast? It's ART? It's drivers? I't Tangerine kernel, that most of us "married" with LP ROM's?
Thank you guys.

To be honest, you have answered your own question based on your newer question.
It is optimisation, man. 4.3 (or prior), those stock ROMs are made by Sony. Since it is made by Sony, you can expect a very great deal out of it, battery life, performance and all of those sweet things.
Since Sony lied to SP users and abandoned the SP with the last known version 4.3, we have problems on optimising ROMs because of no official blobs to refer to.
It has been until now. Everything is, thanks to the hard work of developers, our Xperia SP can still run newer Android versions while still maintaining the "blaziness" of the ROM.
Needless to say, its optimisations.
As always, you have the rights on which ROM to use, so choose the one that suits you.

Guys, I am thinking of buying Xperia SP to use with Cyanogenmod 12.1 instead of cheap budget phone like Motorola E 4G. Price for me is the same, actually SP is cheaper than Motorola E.
I like SP because fast CPU and GPU ( Adreno 320 ! ) so it's no slouch and it has official CM12.1 support. I don't want to use anything other than latest 12.1 but I'm worried about performance and battery. Is it really that bad ?
I cannot try out the ROMs myself as I have not bought SP yet.
Is any CM12.1 ROM stable, fast and with good battery performance ? I see you have custom kernels for CM12.1 but what is the Linux version - is it 3.10 or above ?
Does SP have heating issues and performance problems ( like so many claim here ) ? Or maybe that appears only after some years of usage ?
What about this screen flickering problem which seems to be present in all CM12.1 ? How bad is it ?
Thanks for your assistance !

"Does SP have heating issues and performance problems ( like so many claim here ) ? Or maybe that appears only after some years of usage ?" It has those issues, but I think it depends on certain devices. Mine for example overheats with any rom, no matter stock or custom, while there are people who never experience those problems. As for stock vs custom it's clear enough that stock is best optimised.

I tested a lot ROMS.
I like the OMNI ROM (Android 4.4.4). It's really fast and stable. Maybe you should try it.
I like also the Xenon HD ROM (Android 5.1.1). It's fast. Not so stable, but still very good..
After a few days it gets a little laggy. I´d liked to know why to. Faced the same problem with AICP.

I've had similar experience as you guys with lollipop custom ROMS. As much as I wanted to like them, after trying few, I have switched back to stock. Lollipop roms look nice, they offer more features and battery life is amazing compared to stock. However, none of the roms are stable enough to be used as a daily driver. After few days every single one of them refused to boot up, forcing my phone into recovery mode, so the only way out was to reflash. It has been a nice experience, but XSP is my one and only phone needed for communication, not a toy, therefore I need something that works and does it reliably. I think I'd just get a nexus or motorola when it's the time to upgrade.

bulanula said:
Guys, I am thinking of buying Xperia SP to use with Cyanogenmod 12.1 instead of cheap budget phone like Motorola E 4G. Price for me is the same, actually SP is cheaper than Motorola E.
I like SP because fast CPU and GPU ( Adreno 320 ! ) so it's no slouch and it has official CM12.1 support. I don't want to use anything other than latest 12.1 but I'm worried about performance and battery. Is it really that bad ?
I cannot try out the ROMs myself as I have not bought SP yet.
Is any CM12.1 ROM stable, fast and with good battery performance ? I see you have custom kernels for CM12.1 but what is the Linux version - is it 3.10 or above ?
Does SP have heating issues and performance problems ( like so many claim here ) ? Or maybe that appears only after some years of usage ?
What about this screen flickering problem which seems to be present in all CM12.1 ? How bad is it ?
Thanks for your assistance !
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No heating issues, I mean CPU gets hot sometimes (with not regard of the ROM installed), but it's all at thigh as 60°C. Most Android devices are well in specs on that thermal level.
Performance regarded. CM Vanilla or most of the 5.1.1 custom ROM - it's fast for the day 1, then it gets little sluggish, you'll have to boot to recovery and clear dalvik/art cache to refresh you device. If you don't need kernel level modifications I recommend you to stay with stock FOTA, Tangerine kernel might cause some screen or device freeze and stutter.
Years of usage to get slower performance? LOL We're talking about hours!
Display flickering (or getting yellowish) I guess it's hardware related - some X-SP never experienced it (mine included).

OK. Thanks for your feedback guys. I cannot test myself since I don't have device.
Do you think developer support is strong enough that they will manage to get Android 6 working properly on SP ?

big dilemma
Hi guys,
I have big dilemma what to do. My wife liked to buy the XSP because of the LED lights etc. She uses the phone mostly for calling, texting and music listening. As she has the Deezer premium acc I went in big troubles with XSP because the known bad memory management. More than one year she have bothered with it(and me too . After the 2years waranty ending I have decided to root, UBL and test custom ROMs. First we have tried the lightered stock ArchXperia, which was not helping us. Now she is since August on CM12 nightly. Yes, Deezer works good now, but on the other hand she is missing the stock Sony apps, working LED bar(with music), stock FM radio and generaly dislike the 5.1 Android (she is little bit old school, not likes many new things to learn).
Please, could somebody recommend to me any rom, which is stable, close to stock look (apps incl.) and has good ram management, that Deezer will work good, without memory issues?
Was it maybe wrong, that I have skipped the 4.4.4 Android over?
Many thanks in advance for any kind of tip or idea.

BPavel said:
Hi guys,
I have big dilemma what to do. My wife liked to buy the XSP because of the LED lights etc. She uses the phone mostly for calling, texting and music listening. As she has the Deezer premium acc I went in big troubles with XSP because the known bad memory management. More than one year she have bothered with it(and me too . After the 2years waranty ending I have decided to root, UBL and test custom ROMs. First we have tried the lightered stock ArchXperia, which was not helping us. Now she is since August on CM12 nightly. Yes, Deezer works good now, but on the other hand she is missing the stock Sony apps, working LED bar(with music), stock FM radio and generaly dislike the 5.1 Android (she is little bit old school, not likes many new things to learn).
Please, could somebody recommend to me any rom, which is stable, close to stock look (apps incl.) and has good ram management, that Deezer will work good, without memory issues?
Was it maybe wrong, that I have skipped the 4.4.4 Android over?
Many thanks in advance for any kind of tip or idea.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Try a slim stock ROM, just as Binomical, based o stock JB 4.3. .207. It includes Williams kernel and that might do the trick with RAM management.

Yes, thank you, I was thinking about exactly this one... good to have the choice confirmed. Just installed, look forward to try it and test it on my wife

BPavel said:
Yes, thank you, I was thinking about exactly this one... good to have the choice confirmed. Just installed, look forward to try it and test it on my wife
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Or maybe you can check out the cm11 last build. Used to be on cm11 for a year with William's kernel and was pretty good. With some apps you can have the disco lights fully functional.