Database Users

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.

I9505 - Unhappy since years with all roms

G'Day all my friends of the shining sun!
I'm a S4-owner since the first second and I really like that mobile... On the hardware site. I switched from the iPhone 4s and I loved to playing around with Android, Tasker, Flashing... Etc pp.
But I missed this "set it up and just use it"-feeling. Why? Because I have to care about the battery life, about the speed and about the storage space. So I tried all possible roms, starting with A like Alucard, over CM, Google Edition, Samsung Stock, crDroid, Abele, optimized cm... And now I'm with kushan rom.
Thank you all for this fantastic community, for the development, for the reports, help, Q&A, love and peace for the world!! There are also nice tweaks, features, gimmicks and other crazy stuff for everyone - awesome!
BUT: It feels like that there is no really stable build in any rom. There are still some little bugs that no one cares about because of the new Android (every year) and no one fixed it. Especially the CM's only nightly and monthly builds politic... Maybe I have very exotic problems or I'm still to stupid to find the stable one.. Anyway I'm unhappy
I'm just looking for a really stable and basic rom, that is fast and low on battery consumption. I just use the smartphone for browsing, sms, camera and Bluetooth music connection to my car... That's it, nothing more.
I don't like to start a big discussion of the best rom or sth like that, I'm just looking for tips because I don't have more ideas. Additionally I don't care about the newest rom... It just have to work (see the paragraph before).
Thank you
Nira
(traveling 1year in Australia... to improve my English )

Performance and battery don't go along very well.
For stability and battery life you would be looking at stock roms. But, for some reason, people have problems even with stock roms. So what does that tell you?
Even stock roms aren't completely stable.
Marshmallow took android's speed up a notch. Everything seems snappier. Although, there are still issues. But they vary from user to user.
People say that Lollipop didn't improve over Kitkat in terms of battery life.
Toucwhiz still has the best camera app and can make most of the camera features (HDR, Slow-Motion). And it probably also has better battety life. We are talking about stock touchwhiz, not a custom touchwhiz.
Slim roms are very basic, with a few extras.
AOSP roms from JDCTeam are even more stripped down. It's just basic android.
Keep in mind that wifi and mobile data are big battery drainers. I can maybe get 2 hours SOT with wifi or mobile data activated. But I can probably double or triple that with wifi and mobile data off.
But I don't use the more fancy features of the phone, like GPS and such.

Stock Based, Custom Rom - Opinion

I have had many phones starting back with Windows phones. With my Moto G4, I find that I can use apps with my rom and get almost all features of custom.
I use Xposed:, Gravity Box(GB), Battery Home, Xposed Torch, Boot Manager and Native Clipboard. I use Nova Launcher too. Battery life is excellent. Phone is responsive. I don't think a deodexed custom rom would do better. PIE is available with GB but I never use it.
I was thinking of trying CM 14. I tried Nougat on other device and, in my use, it has no meaningful advantages. I'm blocking updates to the MM rom. I'll wait a while to see what others might find.
I'm not a gamer. I would describe my camera skill as a snap shooter. Rarely do video. Have Snap Camera but haven't had patience learn it.
Unless Lenovo gets a much larger user base, I don't think that many custom roms will be done for this phone.

Yeah. With a clean enough android that is supplied with the phone, after flashing the stuff you mentioned, it gives a stable and smooth experience.
Unless you actually want to try the latest development I too don't see the need to flash every custom ROM out there.
Yeah ROM based on stock are distributed as well( intact I might try something myself after stable nougat comes) and it will be my go back to ROM. I'm pretty happy with unmodified CM myself.
Regarding the development side I think its happening fast enough recently with new builds coming online almost every week. Give it time we'll get more(I hope).

ROM suggestion for a S5 User

Hi,
My father is using my old S5 (KLTE) for about 2 years now. He's recently complaining about the performance (response and battery) of the phone. So I was in search for a price/performance phone to replace his S5.
But then I decided that in the old days, I was able to have better performance from my old Android phones by just changing the rom. (to a lite and recent version) together with a factory reset, I believe he will have better performance for at least a few more months while I find a better phone for him
So, I'd like to get your suggestions on a performance rom.
Preferably, I'd go with a touchwiz based rom because I don't want to change his familiarity of the interface. But I know that it (touchwiz) would mean loss of performance.
he's used to use video talk over the GSM so I believe this is only available in touchwiz , right ?
On the other hand, a lite rom with possibly Nougat (7.1.x) would be a good upgrade.
I can't select at the moment which path to go.
Can you recommend me best roms for each path ? (Touchwiz and Non-Touchwiz)
Thanks.

Currently I'm with the stock Marshmallow ROM from Samsung and it's pretty fast. You can check my signature for all the info about it. But I'll soon change to MagMa ROM VX3 (when it gets released) which is a port from the S8/Note 8. While still on Android 6.0.1 it has all the features and is lighter I think. Try out a few ROMs and see which one's the best. It all depends on apps installed, kernel used, disabled stuff, etc. In my opinion better to stay on TouchWiz since he's familiar with it. Plus non-touchwiz ROMs tend to have bugs.

I would like to know also if there is any custom rom than has better performance than the last stock one and has no bugs. I'm afraid that custom roms could have neither and add some extra features that won't compensate.
About the battery you can simply buy another one. That was the last Galaxy S to have a removable one and that is the main reason why I have not upgraded it. But I have the feeling the phone has become slower, even I have reset it.

Try these ROM. It is a TouchWiz Rom so I think your dad would like it. It is fast in terms of performance and battery life is okay. Works best with boeffla. Heres the link:
https://forum.xda-developers.com/ga...om-xxx-limits-1-1-stable-smooth-fast-t3304941

Nardskie1999 said:
Try these ROM. It is a TouchWiz Rom so I think your dad would like it. It is fast in terms of performance and battery life is okay. Works best with boeffla. Heres the link:
https://forum.xda-developers.com/ga...om-xxx-limits-1-1-stable-smooth-fast-t3304941
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
But in what way is this better that the last stock one? And it has any disadvantage? (battery life, bugs etc that are usual in custom roms)
For me the bigger problem of the phone are not the features, that come mostly from the apps and they are the same. It is the performance as it always have a delay before starting any app that is not present in newer devices.
Even cheap devices as the Moto 5 has better performance, but the camera and the display is worse as the Galaxy S5 was a high end device making the upgrade a mix bag. Unless I go to more expensive devices. But the ideal would be a rom that optimize more the speed.

karlpj said:
But in what way is this better that the last stock one? And it has any disadvantage? (battery life, bugs etc that are usual in custom roms)
For me the bigger problem of the phone are not the features, that come mostly from the apps and they are the same. It is the performance as it always have a delay before starting any app that is not present in newer devices.
Even cheap devices as the Moto 5 has better performance, but the camera and the display is worse as the Galaxy S5 was a high end device making the upgrade a mix bag. Unless I go to more expensive devices. But the ideal would be a rom that optimize more the speed.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So far so good. No problems or bugs at all. The performance of the Rom is absolutely amazing when it comes to games or whatever you are doing. I even got a 64000 score in Antutu Benchmark without overclocking. I think it is the most stablest Rom that I had to my galaxy s5.

My recomendation if you want fast its the Ressurection Remix 5.8.5...
Its the fastest rom I've tried no doubt

Sharlimar said:
My recomendation if you want fast its the Ressurection Remix 5.8.5...
Its the fastest rom I've tried no doubt
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
But is buggy in any way? And what is the link for the rom? I have done a search and appears lots of different versions.
My s5 has the tendency to stall at the start of google maps and is rather slow with google assistant. Eventually I will buy one new but I would prefer a s9 (that is quite near) or s10

karlpj said:
But is buggy in any way? And what is the link for the rom? I have done a search and appears lots of different versions.
My s5 has the tendency to stall at the start of google maps and is rather slow with google assistant. Eventually I will buy one new but I would prefer a s9 (that is quite near) or s10
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I can tell you its that google maps its faster on rr 5.8.5 and on home screen you slide to the left and you are on google assistant so its great for you
You find the oficial rr rom on the oficial site
Search on google

[Discussion] my experience with custom roms in 2 years with this device

I am just telling my experience, all the Dev's are best, they are the ones who let me explore more in around android and it's versions.
I used custom roms on k5 plus 3gb for 2 years i think.
It was like first few months i used the original rom and then i voided the warranty with custom roms as i saw more possibility and newer versions of android coming better than what i had. I kept exploring every part of the phone, and whatever softwares i could use and get more from this phone. Few roms lasted around 4-5 months. I love the nougat roms still, there is a Android Q rom already here, amazing. It was a good experience, until this last few months i started to have battery drain faster when i would use the hotspot feature or use bluetooth for headsets, and gps was like the most battery drainer. I kept changing roms and seeing what would give more bettery life while using, the sleep/screenoff state uses like no energy and then opposite happen if i use in full brightness outside and gps
Then
today i just tried to see the stock rom backup is working or not, it did, and now i realise that the most stable rom is the stock rom that comes from lenovo. The battery life is just way better than any other roms (+1hour than what you get in current Oreo and pie roms), the performance is back, Dolby Atmos is back and works, the inbuilt vr works.
The apps which were quite heavy lagged in animations in custom roms, stock does it smoothly, and i didn't need to get a small gapps package for performance this time, stock has like most gapps i think and it's smooth.
New stuff like play protect, assistant, well-being, etc are now available for this old lollipop rom as well, most of the features in the future versions are now available to use with simple downloads and a few majisk modules, without harming performance.
i am not sure how secure the rom/os it self is with old security patches. But yeah original rom got to be top 5 in best rom/os available for this device in terms of overall usability in daily life.
Tell me what your experience has been, i will use the stock lenovo again now for sometime. And might get back to custom".:laugh::good:

Fax Max said:
I am just telling my experience, all the Dev's are best, they are the ones who let me explore more in around android and it's versions.
I used custom roms on k5 plus 3gb for 2 years i think.
It was like first few months i used the original rom and then i voided the warranty with custom roms as i saw more possibility and newer versions of android coming better than what i had. I kept exploring every part of the phone, and whatever softwares i could use and get more from this phone. Few roms lasted around 4-5 months. I love the nougat roms still, there is a Android Q rom already here, amazing. It was a good experience, until this last few months i started to have battery drain faster when i would use the hotspot feature or use bluetooth for headsets, and gps was like the most battery drainer. I kept changing roms and seeing what would give more bettery life while using, the sleep/screenoff state uses like no energy and then opposite happen if i use in full brightness outside and gps
Then
today i just tried to see the stock rom backup is working or not, it did, and now i realise that the most stable rom is the stock rom that comes from lenovo. The battery life is just way better than any other roms (+1hour than what you get in current Oreo and pie roms), the performance is back, Dolby Atmos is back and works, the inbuilt vr works.
The apps which were quite heavy lagged in animations in custom roms, stock does it smoothly, and i didn't need to get a small gapps package for performance this time, stock has like most gapps i think and it's smooth.
New stuff like play protect, assistant, well-being, etc are now available for this old lollipop rom as well, most of the features in the future versions are now available to use with simple downloads and a few majisk modules, without harming performance.
i am not sure how secure the rom/os it self is with old security patches. But yeah original rom got to be top 5 in best rom/os available for this device in terms of overall usability in daily life.
Tell me what your experience has been, i will use the stock lenovo again now for sometime. And might get back to custom".:laugh::good:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
just to add you could try the latest stock ROM our device got wich is MM, and tell us your experience. I'm on it since a lot of time, and I won't move from it anymore.
don't you know the link?
here it is:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1OGx6L4kTsoH1e_RxIRA_S6shIEiRBqT9/view?usp=drivesdk
it's a TWRP backup made by a Brazilian user and posted here on xda long time ago.
related thread:
https://forum.xda-developers.com/k5...fficial-lenovo-andoid-6-t3596733/post72044687
quickly instructions?
here we go:
go to TWRP and restore only /boot and /system partitions. that's it.
You could share with us how did you feel it compared with LP.
PS: everything is working flawlessly for me. a6020l37 (sd616 2gb RAM single SIM)

Okay I will check this out, also you don't need to quote long messages

Lenovo stock ROM wasn't that bad but after installing Android 10 (AOSP) Custom ROM on my Vive K5 Plus, it's feels a relief.
Yes there are some minor issues & bugs but over all satisfactory experience.
Personally I will always stick with this ROM over Lenovo stock 5.1
Thanks.

Fax Max said:
Okay I will check this out, also you don't need to quote long messages
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
and you don't need to say what I need/don't need.
Yes, I extended a bit, but not that much as you unnecessary long OP, just to say stock ROM is more battery saver than any custom ROM.
BTW learn that this kind of experiences sharing shouldn't be posted in the guides section.

walterfuster said:
BTW learn that this kind of experiences sharing shouldn't be posted in the guides section.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
..... It's not just guides section it's also news and discussion

NaXal said:
Lenovo stock ROM wasn't that bad but after installing Android 10 (AOSP) Custom ROM on my Vive K5 Plus, it's feels a relief.
Thanks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yep aosp 10 feels good.... I will use it when it gets a bit more updates

AOSP 10 has got another build. I guess the last possible build since Dev may be moving out of Vibe K5 Plus platform.
I have just upgraded to the new build & it's stable enough.
Yes although performance can't be called butter smooth but it's better than previous build & most of the phone features that I may need in daily usage are working fine.
Standby time is good but SoT is on lower side, but I can't blame the ROM, it's my battery which is very old & worn out by now.
Thanks. :fingers-crossed:

The best rom with extended battery life was AOSP extended. i used it for 2 years with Dolby atmos mode and it worked flawlessly. Stock rom eats up battery too fast.