Database Users

[Help] Getting my N7 next week...

I'm getting my N7 next week and I already decided not to run stock JB, but to root and install some of the kernels and roms already posted in dev. section.
Since I haven't been following those forums I'm a bit confused with so much choice, so I thought you could help wich kernel/rom to install.
So far, I think that motley kernel and smooth rom are the ones, but I hope you guys will make or break for me, since you've got more experience with the device.
Thanks!

I'm running Hyperrunner's Glazed Jellybean 2.0 with the included Franco kernel, and used PmR 2.0 for some additional tweaks, and I have to tell you, I'm loving this combo!. I've used/tried many rom and kernel combinations, and can honestly say I haven't found one much more polished than this.
Sent from my Nexus 7 using xda premium

Paranoid Android; I hate the phone-style of the buttons in the center, can't reach them all with my thumb and it's really annoying since you'll be hitting the home button a lot in applications. Paranoid Android fixed that by letting me choose the tablet setting for that.
Also, what I noticed, is that apps are often build with two resolutions in mind; 360px and 720px. As the phablet mode tells the app it needs to use 600px, it will automatically scale down to 360. With Paranoid Android you can change that manually to 720
Which is also a nice toggle if your tablet gets older and can't seem to run all games anymore; you just set it to 360px for a little more FPS.
Although I'm hearing a lot from users here they are using glazed rom because it's the fastest and smoothest. Haven't noticed any stutters or lag on PA, and how smooth is smooth? It's just all down to launcher animations nowadays.

Regain performance

I have noticed that my phone has become quite slow. My Nexus S is a contract phone and I think I have had it for almost 2 years. When i first got it - it felt snappy. Around that time, I did things like install kernals, custom roms, bootloader unlock etc. Then I went back to the stock rom.
I dont mind wiping the memory etc. As long as the important stuff is backed up like messages and contacts - everything else can go. I can reinstall when needed. So my question is - what do I have to do to regain the performance. Should I do a full reinstall? or install a custom ROM? or should I get a new phone (my contract ends this month)
Thanks

well, if you get the possibility, I would definitely go for an different phone. I don't know your budget, but I would go for a quad(/dual)-core phone, as mobile software seems to become heavier on a faster pace than before. I advise you this, because else your next phone will feel like your nexus s after two years, but than in one year. Of course this is just a prediction, so do whatever you wish to do

I had been running the same custom ROM for months. When the Nexus 4 came along, I wanted to upgrade, but I decided to wait another year and just install a smooth and stable custom ROM/kernel.
I have found the combination of rasbeanjelly, the marmite kernel and brainmaster's seeder tweak to be extremely smooth. After flashing this combination, an upgrade to the Nexus 4 doesn't seem so needful anymore. Battery is okay too: I can get shy of 4 hours on screen time.
Klinkerkp was so nice to compile his own build of rasbeanjelly: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=36373552&postcount=278. It has the following:
Latest rasbeanjelly version
Gapps
SuperSU
BusyBox
Working photosphere
Dark mms with quick reply
marmite kernel v7.2.3CM
brainmaster's seeder tweak
You can download it here: http://www.d-h.st/HJ9. Very useful, because you only have to flash one file. Be sure to wipe and everything, but you know that already.

Androyed said:
I have found the combination of rasbeanjelly, the marmite kernel and brainmaster's seeder tweak to be extremely smooth. After flashing this combination, an upgrade to the Nexus 4 doesn't seem so needful anymore. Battery is okay too: I can get shy of 4 hours on screen time.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I also recommend this combination if you just want preformance. :good:
However, in my opinion, ROM performance is device dependent. What's fast for another may/may not be fast on your device. So be sure to try them all when you got time

ej8989 said:
I also recommend this combination if you just want preformance. :good:
However, in my opinion, ROM performance is device dependent. What's fast for another may/may not be fast on your device. So be sure to try them all when you got time
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sure its device dependant, that is why I asked in this forum. Surely all the nexus s's are the same?

viperfx07 said:
Sure its device dependant, that is why I asked in this forum. Surely all the nexus s's are the same?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well yeah, but the fact that person A gets 4.5 hours on screen time with the same ROM/kernel and exact same settings won't mean you will also get 4.5 hours on screen time. The same goes for smoothness.
A question like "what's the fastest ROM/kernel combination" is very difficult to answer. But I think you can't go wrong with the rasbeanjelly/marmite combination. I suggest you make a NAND backup and try the compilation I posted to see for yourself.

I've been troubled by this issue of gradual performance degradation in android custom Rom/kernels ever since I came to android from a non-smart phone. I've asked about it before, but nobody really had a good answer for exactly why it was happening. It is likely related to something in custom kernels though, that's my gut feeling. The more reboots and freezes I'd get, the worse the system would run. Like you said, starting over from scratch always helps, but it really sucks having to do this regularly. My search for long term stability has brought me to cm 10.0 stable. I use the stock kernel, and don't mess around to much with advanced or performance settings. You won't get nearly the performance or battery life of other configs, but I've found the system runs just as smooth on day 60 as day 1. I actually have come back from a galaxy nexus to my ns4g cause of how useable the phone is, and how much I like the smaller size. So I disagree with the earlier poster who said to look for a new phone. I think you can definitely use this phone till the next android is version comes out, provided you don't use a lot of resource intensive apps.
Good luck in your search.
Sent from my Nexus S 4G using xda app-developers app

Its not that money is an issue, but the problem is that if I do get a new contract I will be stuck in that for atleast 2 years with any new smartphone. The thing is that the nexus S is perfectly fine for my mobile needs. I just wish it could be a little snappier, as one of you have said already when getting a new phone its much better to get one that can be with you for 2 or more years - therefore it makes sense to get a good one. I will most likely wait for the new phone from samsung that uses the ARM big.LITTLE chip.
I just checked my phone and it seems I must have relock'd it when putting the stockrom on. I have not done this custom rom stuff in a while, not sure if the scene has changed much. Is the rooting process using adb recommended for mac's?

If you have many apps installed, it can be a quick performace boost if you uninstall all the apps you don't use or don't need. Keep the apps you use regularly, delete those you don't remember when was the last time you used them. I had some games and utilities which I froze in Titanium Backup (same as uninstalling except you don't lose any data and it can be reverted with one tap), since then my phone feels as new.

Androyed said:
I had been running the same custom ROM for months. When the Nexus 4 came along, I wanted to upgrade, but I decided to wait another year and just install a smooth and stable custom ROM/kernel.
I have found the combination of rasbeanjelly, the marmite kernel and brainmaster's seeder tweak to be extremely smooth. After flashing this combination, an upgrade to the Nexus 4 doesn't seem so needful anymore. Battery is okay too: I can get shy of 4 hours on screen time.
Klinkerkp was so nice to compile his own build of rasbeanjelly: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=36373552&postcount=278. It has the following:
Latest rasbeanjelly version
Gapps
SuperSU
BusyBox
Working photosphere
Dark mms with quick reply
marmite kernel v7.2.3CM
brainmaster's seeder tweak
You can download it here: http://www.d-h.st/HJ9. Very useful, because you only have to flash one file. Be sure to wipe and everything, but you know that already.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
New build with latest rasbean source & latest marmite kernel 7.3CM
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=36674772
On the road with my Nexus S...

I think the rasbeanjellybuild MDO on 4.1.2 is faster. 4.2 was very laggy on my device. There are not so many functions in this rom. But that's my opinion. Kernel: marmite of course and the tweaks from brainmaster are for smoothness very well too.
Gesendet von meinem Nexus S mit Tapatalk 2

viperfx07 said:
I have noticed that my phone has become quite slow. My Nexus S is a contract phone and I think I have had it for almost 2 years. When i first got it - it felt snappy. Around that time, I did things like install kernals, custom roms, bootloader unlock etc. Then I went back to the stock rom.
I dont mind wiping the memory etc. As long as the important stuff is backed up like messages and contacts - everything else can go. I can reinstall when needed. So my question is - what do I have to do to regain the performance. Should I do a full reinstall? or install a custom ROM? or should I get a new phone (my contract ends this month)
Thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I was in a similar position, except for the contract. I wiped everything, installed CM10 stable and uninstalled a couple dozen apps I was not using. Performance is ok again. Some battery issues, but I hope that with a new battery I can have the phone for some more time.

Hey,
I'm running Jellyshot with marmite 7.2.1 at 1.3GHz OC.
For me it's the perfect Rom / Kernel combo. The setup is pretty stable, incredibly fast and I got around 2-3 hours battery time, which is about as much as twice as stock.
I personally wait for the next Nexus device, because even today my nexus S with this setup can compare to 80 % of the smartphones in my vicinity.
Jellyshot:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2023699
Marmite Kernel:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1719775

Androyed said:
I had been running the same custom ROM for months. When the Nexus 4 came along, I wanted to upgrade, but I decided to wait another year and just install a smooth and stable custom ROM/kernel.
I have found the combination of rasbeanjelly, the marmite kernel and brainmaster's seeder tweak to be extremely smooth. After flashing this combination, an upgrade to the Nexus 4 doesn't seem so needful anymore. Battery is okay too: I can get shy of 4 hours on screen time.
Klinkerkp was so nice to compile his own build of rasbeanjelly: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=36373552&postcount=278. It has the following:
Latest rasbeanjelly version
Gapps
SuperSU
BusyBox
Working photosphere
Dark mms with quick reply
marmite kernel v7.2.3CM
brainmaster's seeder tweak
You can download it here: http://www.d-h.st/HJ9. Very useful, because you only have to flash one file. Be sure to wipe and everything, but you know that already.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i dont know if i really tried it all but i think i lost count on flashing roms ...and i always go back to this awesome combo,... i can safely say its the best i ever had too...:fingers-crossed:

Thanks for the suggestions, I will try them out. Since you guys have flashed so many, does it not get tiresome to wipe and reinstall everything? Is there an easier way?
What is your process for flashing a rom/kernal nowadays?

viperfx07 said:
Thanks for the suggestions, I will try them out. Since you guys have flashed so many, does it not get tiresome to wipe and reinstall everything? Is there an easier way?
What is your process for flashing a rom/kernal nowadays?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm not really attached to my apps and data. The only thing I hate is asking everyone for their Wi-Fi passwords again. But I could easily back them up. I just don't because I'm lazy. If you want, you can back up pretty much anything with Titanium Backup.
My process? I first download everything I'm going to flash, throw it all in some folder on my sd card (most of the time I just keep it in the download folder). Then I don't make a NAND backup. That's right. #YOLO. No, just kidding. Like I said, not really attached to any setup at all. If I flash a new ROM, that means I don't care about my previous setup at all. But a NAND backup doesn't really take that long, and it's really easy to restore, so I would just do it if I were you.
I always restart after flashing. If I have to flash 5 things, I restart 5 times. Don't know if this helps, but someone taught me this once, and I've been doing it ever since. After I've flashed everything, I connect to Wi-Fi, download one or two apps I frequently use (whatsapp, my favourite browser), and then that's it. All other apps I download only when I need them.

i downgraded from 4.2.1 to apex 4.0.4
Now i have more then 170 mb ram free with most of my apps open!!!
with matr1x kernel cfs it seems to be great at gaming

I'm a little surprised to see so many NS users complaining about poor performance on 4.2.1. A lot of people seem to have become convinced that a single core cpu isn't enough to handle Android smoothly anymore, but I think they're just yearning for unachievable WP levels of UI sheen or they're flashing the wrong zips.
bed's Marmite kernel has been so well-optimized since its 7.1.6 incarnation that even a dirty-flashed ROM laden with 200+ apps feels usable. Having said that, it really does help to do things as cleanly as possible: full wipe, manual format of system and data, wipe cache and dalvik, reboot recovery; flash your ROM, flash gapps, and flash your chosen kernel once only (resist experimenting with different versions), then fix permissions.
For about the past week and a half I've been using tchaari's 4.2.1 build of Slimbean + Marmite 7.1.7, without an overclock, and it's remained consistently smooth and responsive well beyond 100 hours of uptime.
One thing which has in the past slowed my phone to a crawl is the SD card. There are some flaky versions of ClockworkMod which will leave corrupt blocks on the external storage after creating a NANDroid backup - Media Scanner hates this and so do the apps living on your SD. I've experienced this a couple of times and reformatting the SD is the only way to restore performance. Not sure if people are still suffering from this without realising the cause, but I now refrain from making NANDroids and just rely on Titanium Backup and everything seems to run smoothly.
Anyway, install Slimbean, flash Marmite 7.1.7 (or try out 7.3), and don't for one instant consider purchasing a fragile Nexus 4 or any other oversized power hungry droid.

my nexus s felt laggy since updated to ICS, then jellybean came along and made it even worse . At last I just put CM7 in and the phone is smooth as butter again

Odp: Regain performance
superweird said:
my nexus s felt laggy since updated to ICS, then jellybean came along and made it even worse . At last I just put CM7 in and the phone is smooth as butter again
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Is your internet browser as smooth as in jb too?
Sent from my Nexus S using xda premium

** OFFICIAL WHICH IS THE BEST or FAVORITE ROM /KERNEL THREAD **

This is the official "which is the best or favorite ROM/KERNEL for the Nexus 7 Thread"
In lieu of all the threads recently being created, asking the same question "which is the best, fastest, least trouble free" ROM for the device, this thread has been created. This thread also covers Kernels.
Notice, all other threads asking the same question, will be deleted and re-directed here. This is in an effort to keep the number of new threads lower, and to enable better searches for people looking for an answer.
Thread Rules
1. No Flaming and no arguing. Everybody has a favorite.
2. No links to external Sites. The ROMs must be linked at XDA
3. No linking to Non-GPL
4. No Profanity (or acronyms used to cleverly disguise such words)
Keep it clean people.
MD

Thanks for locking my thread and opening this about best ROM for nexus. I will watch this thread and see which is the answer of my question.

STOCK ROM!

Honestly, on my N73G, I am liking stock. I will probably do Parandroid eventually, but the amount of trouble, vs. benefit is too high. (Am not able to make my N7 connect via adb to unlock, etc...but that's not what this thread is for )

Paranoid Android for me.

Re: ** OFFICIAL WHICH IS THE BEST ROM THREAD **
For Nexus 7 3G, I must say that Supernexus 2 is quite good. even though the customization options are lacking compared to CM10.1 for example, it's smooth and so much stable!
I tried temasek unofficial CM10.1 for quite some time before using supernexus rom; I think I have been flashing 1x of his roms, latest one on top previous ones. I only update temasek rom every 3 or so version or when there is an interesting changes. Can't afford to download everyday; slow and expensive Internet here. If only it offers delta update through cyandelta or rom manager. It's got all CM10.1 features plus many cherry picks which are epic IMO, like native USB OTG mounting, wifi / bluetooth/USB tethering. Just to name a few.
I am now waiting for supernexus 2 build 3 which should be released today, one day after its been released for S2 and S3. It's based on 4.2.2. Gonna try that for a few days. If there's any major problem, I might try temasek rom again.
I have a question: is it safe to flash just the bootloader in fastboot even though I'm using a custom rom based on 4.2.1? I don't want to return to stock because I heard it will wipe internal sd again. My N7 can't connect to my desktop computer through MTP; tried in windows 7 and Ubuntu 12.04
Sent from Nexus 7 3G using Tapatalk HD

The amount of roms out here is simply confusing.. And please don't accuse me of not doing my homework, I've spent hours reading through rom features and trying them out. None of them have the perfect feeling to me. Also, there is no performance comparision as there is with kernels.
What I'm looking for is as clean rom as possible, more impprtantly though, one that is fast(est) for gaming. Yes, I will use a kernel and oc my device, but roms i've tested still have different performance levels with same kernel settings. Rom should also have tablet ui and some fundametal configuration options such as power menu, quick settings customization etc.. Also, it should be stable enough for everyday use. Battery life is not as important, as it can be saved with app usage and undervolting.
I'm sure others have the same things in mindk, so I'll ask for everyone.
Thank you very much in advance.

scream4cheese said:
STOCK ROM!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
zedwards said:
Honestly, on my N73G, I am liking stock. I will probably do Parandroid eventually, but the amount of trouble, vs. benefit is too high. (Am not able to make my N7 connect via adb to unlock, etc...but that's not what this thread is for )
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have to agree - stock and unrooted my N7 rocks. Granted, I've only had it a week tomorrow and I'm coming from Hashcode's Kindle Fire rom'ed device - which with most mods is trying to emulate the Nexus 7 - and does a pretty good job too. But my new device got the latest 4.2.2 jelly bean pushed to it a couple of days ago - no fuss/muss - and smooth and awesome it is still.
I'd decided when I activated my new N7 that I'd hold off root and modding it for a week or two to break it in, make sure that I had no warranty claims to make. With one week down all that I've missed about not having root so far is Titanium Backup.
Maybe I'm in the wrong place. Where is the, "Benefits of rooting your Nexus 7?" thread?

Maybe I'm a weirdo here but while stock ROMs are great and fast and whatnot, I'm looking for the most unique ROM! Or maybe I just need a different launcher to spice things up?
But, agreed, there are way too many ROMs that offer minimal differences...

R: ** official which is the best rom thread **
I think it's smoothroom with franco kernel
Inviato dal mio Nexus 7 con Tapatalk 2

Paranoid Android is by far the best Custom ROM I've tried. Other than ViperX for the HOX etc I think the Paranoid team do such amazing work.
Updated all the time, and never had an issue with PA.
With Faux kernel it "USED" to be amazing all round, but I've noticed recently the battery has been less and less with each update (perhaps Faux isn't keeping up)?
Franco kernel is also brilliant with PA. But yeah, for the Nexus, PA is the way to go !

Re: ** OFFICIAL WHICH IS THE BEST ROM THREAD **
The last time I tried PA, my N7 just freezes in the lock screen, quite often. Only thing I can do is reboot. At other time, when lock screen is working, there are lots of lags pretty much everywhere. I still don't understand why people still praised it until now even though in my testing it feels as if I'm holding a bomb ready to explode at any time.
Even people in the nexus community can't escape the "hype" and placebo effect of roms or tweaks or even kernels.
Sent from my GT-I9300 using Tapatalk 2

Re: ** OFFICIAL WHICH IS THE BEST ROM THREAD **
dadeo1111 said:
I have to agree - stock and unrooted my N7 rocks. Granted, I've only had it a week tomorrow and I'm coming from Hashcode's Kindle Fire rom'ed device - which with most mods is trying to emulate the Nexus 7 - and does a pretty good job too. But my new device got the latest 4.2.2 jelly bean pushed to it a couple of days ago - no fuss/muss - and smooth and awesome it is still.
I'd decided when I activated my new N7 that I'd hold off root and modding it for a week or two to break it in, make sure that I had no warranty claims to make. With one week down all that I've missed about not having root so far is Titanium Backup.
Maybe I'm in the wrong place. Where is the, "Benefits of rooting your Nexus 7?" thread?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I love stock and stock kernel on my N7 because it gives me the best battery life plus performance. I can run many applications flawlessly. No hiccups or lags. To be fair, i have only tried MiNCO ROM, paranoidandroid, and CM 10.1. I liked the customizations and the tweaks that were implemented to improve it but it just wasn't for me.
I flashed back to stock a few days and I'm going to camp here for a while.
Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk 2

For me: #1 Paranoid Android, #2 Stock.

Re: ** OFFICIAL WHICH IS THE BEST ROM THREAD **
Paranoid android, but cant wait to get back to stock 4.2.2...
Sent from my Nexus 7

I'm a pretty big fan of dirty root box IMHO. I think it looks really slick and gives pretty good performance and tons of customization. Paired with Franco kernel it also gets great battery life.

PRIME D02 is the fastest ROM I've tried, by far.
It is a clean ROM concentrated on improving performance, it doesn't add a lot of features which also can be added afterwards to your taste (for instance if you want a PIE menu you can add LMT Launcher). But you can select extended desktop (full screen), you can customize the navbar buttons and settings, nav ring, status bar, and quick settings (swipe down from the top right of the status bar).
If you use this rom with its standard kernel, make sure to install Trickster MOD and adjust the setting 'CPUQuit Power Management' to 'RUNNABLE' (swipe to the last tab, and don't forget to press 'V' on top of the screen to activate, and enable 'set on boot'). This is needed to get good battery performance, otherwise 3 cores will run at high speed. You will still get the super fluid performance.

fac51void said:
PRIME D02 is the fastest ROM I've tried, by far.
It is a clean ROM concentrated on improving performance, it doesn't add a lot of features which also can be added afterwards to your taste (for instance if you want a PIE menu you can add LMT Launcher). But you can select extended desktop (full screen), you can customize the navbar buttons and settings, nav ring, status bar, and quick settings (swipe down from the top right of the status bar).
If you use this rom with its standard kernel, make sure to install Trickster MOD and adjust the setting 'CPUQuit Power Management' to 'RUNNABLE' (swipe to the last tab, and don't forget to press 'V' on top of the screen to activate). This is needed to get good battery performance, otherwise 3 cores will run at high speed. You will still get the super fluid performance.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
+1

Isn't anyone using AOKP? I switched from SmoothROM and never looked back. SmoothROM was nice, much better than stock, but the customization and stability with AOKP simply incredible. I'm using a 4.2.2 nightly right now, couldn't wait for the Bluetooth fix and haven't had a problem yet.
aokp.co
Try it out, you don't hate unicorns do you? :cyclops:

Re: ** OFFICIAL WHICH IS THE BEST ROM THREAD **
CodefireX,Xylon,Vanilla Root box,and now Dirty Rootbox have been impressive this year. Originally loved Baked but haven't even looked for an update since v.7.
Don't much care for PA.
Got tired of hearing about tablet ui and the (ugh) 'Phablet' ui and now its Pie this and Pie that. There is a launcher for that so keep pie out of the ROMs please...
Sent from my Nexus 7 using XDA Premium HD app

[Q] General questions from a new owner

Hey guys, I recently bought a Nexus 4 (I will get it tomorrow, but will have to wait more for screen protectors and case) and coming from an Xperia T it's like I'm a kid in a candy shop; all those kernels and ROMs, my head is spinning.
So my plan is to enjoy stock Android for 15 minutes and then root/unlock the device right away. Now, couple questions for you guys:
1, I've seen some Linaro builds of both ROMs and kernels here and there. Does it speed up the phone much? Does it make it worse (see: overheating)? Also, I don't know if I can run a stock toolchain ROM with a Linaro kernel or vice versa. How about that?
2. Regarding the kernels, I'll never stick to stock so will change to a custom one. I heard faux's and franco's (remember the latter from his very first release on the Optimus One ) are the best ones on the market and they both have customization apps. Now for what I've seen, faux's kernel provides more customization on the app, but don't know how does it perform in real-life situations, nor I do with franco's (altough I tend to prefer this one for the per-app settings). Could you guys give me some informations about this?
Thanks a lot
-Bytecode

Bytecode said:
Hey guys, I recently bought a Nexus 4 (I will get it tomorrow, but will have to wait more for screen protectors and case) and coming from an Xperia T it's like I'm a kid in a candy shop; all those kernels and ROMs, my head is spinning.
So my plan is to enjoy stock Android for 15 minutes and then root/unlock the device right away. Now, couple questions for you guys:
1, I've seen some Linaro builds of both ROMs and kernels here and there. Does it speed up the phone much? Does it make it worse (see: overheating)? Also, I don't know if I can run a stock toolchain ROM with a Linaro kernel or vice versa. How about that?
2. Regarding the kernels, I'll never stick to stock so will change to a custom one. I heard faux's and franco's (remember the latter from his very first release on the Optimus One ) are the best ones on the market and they both have customization apps. Now for what I've seen, faux's kernel provides more customization on the app, but don't know how does it perform in real-life situations, nor I do with franco's (altough I tend to prefer this one for the per-app settings). Could you guys give me some informations about this?
Thanks a lot
-Bytecode
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
1. 4.2.2 ROMs and Kernels are inteechangable. You can use any kernel with any ROM, even the stock one. However, with 4.3 , you have to match the build number of the ROM with the kernel type.
Sidenote : The Nexus 4 does not normally overheat. The glass gets warm because it's a good heat conductor, and pulls the heat out. Don't worry about it.
2. While Franco seeks to be the perfect balance between performance and battery life, faux gives you a choise: either performance or battery life, or both, in a balanced way.

I was in a similar situation as you are about a week ago. I came from a Galaxy Nexus and couldn't wait for my Nexus 4 to arrive. I too spent a lot of time in the Development forum trying to figure out which ROM would work well for my needs. In the past, I have never run stock Android. However, that was before the launch of 4.3.
Right now, I am still running stock (a whole week later!) and am really enjoying the smooth experience. With root, I can use Xposed framework to implement the few mods that I like.
Overall, I am very happy with the device. I'd give stock a try - at least a day or two, and see if it meets your needs as well.

Thanks all, I'll give both a shot. I'll give stock a shot too. First days will flash ROMs on ROMs and I will find the stablest for me

Sorry, but this is "what is the best rom/kernel" thread. Try them out for yourself and see what works for you. You mentioned some of them so just flash them first and see how they work, they're free. Personally I like franco and semaphore kernels, Neo is a good kernel for performance too, for roms I stick to the big names like CM, AOKP, SlimRoms and Paranoid.

Hey Bytecode,
Try slimbean, you probably remeber popdog's slimbean for p500, it is 10% of real slimbean on good device You will not need any custom kernel with it.

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.