Database Users

[Q] stock google rom vs LiquidSmooth

Hey,
I just wanted to ask does the custom roms really worth rooting? in comparison to the google stock rom how much faster and more battery efficient are the custom rom that specialize in those fields? (i.e. LiquidSmooth from what I could gather) and how much more/less stable are they from the stock rom?
Thank you.

Experience differs from user to user. The most conclusive way to get an answer is to try it out yourself. For me, PA has been just as fast as the stock ROM and had equally good battery life, but I have had the occasional random reboot. To me that's a miniscule trade-off for the features you get. You won't really get a ROM that's significantly faster than a stock ROM though because the hardware on the phone is good enough that everything feels fast.

tomer90 said:
Hey,
I just wanted to ask does the custom roms really worth rooting? in comparison to the google stock rom how much faster and more battery efficient are the custom rom that specialize in those fields? (i.e. LiquidSmooth from what I could gather) and how much more/less stable are they from the stock rom?
Thank you.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I would recommend you try both and stick with the one that works best for you. Only you can determine which one you like more. The N4 is easy to install a custom rom on (even from stock). Plus with the backup apps out there you don't have to risk losing your data and starting over. No two users are identical and what works for one may not work for another.
For what it's worth, I've flashed back to stock/locked/unrooted because I never came to depend on the features the different roms gave me. I'm getting older and don't have the time to stay current on the different roms and features. All I need for my phone are apps/features that are found in the stock rom and the google store. Battery life is better on a custom rom but it's not worth it to me to continue my "flashaholic" ways. I still get through a day sometimes a day and a half on the stock rom - which is all I need. My use case could be drastically different than yours so don't do what I did unless you know it will work for you.
The developers here do great work and it's a great community so I would recommend you try them all to see which one you like the most.
Good luck.

You need to find the answer yourself.
Sent from my Samsung Galaxy S3 using tapatalk 2

its not about me testing for myself because i'm not looking for features or special stuff i can get along with everything i'm really just looking for the fastest most battery saving ROM, thats it, I play little to almost no games basicly mail and scanning and stuff like that(i'm a student right now) and soon i'll be writing some apps for myself for security purposes so I need something to really milk that Quad Core for all its worth so I also need some CPU tweaking apps(not sure if thats ROM related)

You'll be very happy with Sabermod or Rasbean both close to stock. Sabermod is the only Rom built using the 4.8 chaintool and is very fast. The battery life is also excellent. I recommend those 2 for a close to stock experience with some useful tweaks both fast smooth and solid.
Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk 2

Thank you for your input.
Any other opinions?
and by the way, excuse my ignorance but what does it mean 4.8 chaintool? what makes it faster then the 4.7 or the older ones? and since its really new im guessing, does it mean its less stable then the other ROMS? and when you say excellent battery life, its in comparison to all those other ROMS that aim for max battery life?
Thank you!

If you really want more battery life or smoothness then IMO you should just install a new kernel; Franco's kernel has great battery life but it still has better performance than stock, Trinity kernel is super fast and smooth, and there's loads more options available.
I'm running CM10.1 and Franco kernel and its very stable, barely ever have any sort of bugs or random reboots
Sent from my Nexus 4 using xda premium

I run CM10.1. Close to stock, but has a few options that are nice to have especially if you like to customize your phone. There are other Roms that have more options, but to me, what's in CM is enough. It's really up to you.
With that being said, I recently flashed a stock rooted rom and got MUCH better battery life than on CM. I don't know if it was an app I had or what, but stock definitely gave me better battery life. I have tried kernels and Rom combinations, but always come back to CM with every single phone I've had. But, in my experience on the Nexus 4, stock Rom gives me the best battery life.

For me liquidsmooth is brilliant! Extremely fast while having tons of customization options. Pair it with matr1x and it really is a great combo for speed and battery life. This is only my opinion but it works for me. I got over 22000 on antutu with this combination (no overclock) while I think its around 17000 on stock. I also get significantly better battery life compared to stock.

if you really want a bump in battery and performance, i suggest rooting and just install francos kernel.i've tried every rom on this forum and for me i ALWAYS find my way back to stock for me it just feels the most fluid and everything works like it should. like me you dont play games or anything and im no app hoarder.that said stock rom with francos kernel gives me the best of everything including color/gamma tweaks to make your screen look better with his app.
with that said i suggest to check out different kernels

Installing kernel...
paul_viado said:
if you really want a bump in battery and performance, i suggest rooting and just install francos kernel.i've tried every rom on this forum and for me i ALWAYS find my way back to stock for me it just feels the most fluid and everything works like it should. like me you dont play games or anything and im no app hoarder.that said stock rom with francos kernel gives me the best of everything including color/gamma tweaks to make your screen look better with his app.
with that said i suggest to check out different kernels
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Now, if we install franco's kernel onto the Stock ROM, will this prevent any future Google updates from being installed?

mastewman said:
Now, if we install franco's kernel onto the Stock ROM, will this prevent any future Google updates from being installed?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Updates in any form will show up in the forum and no need to simply rely on Google for them. They have recently released an updated kernel which I see being implemented by some rom developers and kernel developers already. Let's understand what we have here guys, a community of constant building additions/updates to our phones. So updates should be the last thing for you to worry about IMO
Also to me OP some of the questions you asked can all be answered with a simple Google Search, not that the answers given here are wrong but you would probably find more in depth and uniformed answers by looking it up.. Quite sure its on a wiki somewhere...

playya said:
Updates in any form will show up in the forum and no need to simply rely on Google for them. They have recently released an updated kernel which I see being implemented by some rom developers and kernel developers already. Let's understand what we have here guys, a community of constant building additions/updates to our phones. So updates should be the last thing for you to worry about IMO
Also to me OP some of the questions you asked can all be answered with a simple Google Search, not that the answers given here are wrong but you would probably find more in depth and uniformed answers by looking it up.. Quite sure its on a wiki somewhere...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I believe he means Google ota's and yes it can stop you from getting ota's. Any modification to system. Whether you added or removed something will fail. You would have to be on complete stock for it to work. Just download yourself a nexus 4 toolkit. The latest factory image, latest drivers, and make sure you backup your internal storage on your computer. Use the tool to return your phone back to stock. Of course whenever you feel is tge right time to do so.

Jsparta26 said:
I believe he means Google ota's and yes it can stop you from getting ota's. Any modification to system. Whether you added or removed something will fail. You would have to be on complete stock for it to work. Just download yourself a nexus 4 toolkit. The latest factory image, latest drivers, and make sure you backup your internal storage on your computer. Use the tool to return your phone back to stock. Of course whenever you feel is tge right time to do so.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Oh no I fully understood what he meant and my point was simply people unroot or stay stock to wait for an update. Whether you are rooted or not the update will find you in some form. Either with a rooted stock rom or a custom rom but rest assure that xda will not let an update happen and its not on everyone's phone :good:

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).

[Q] Stock or Not to Stock

I have unlocked my bootloader, rooted with Magisk and flashed AsopExtended Rom. Very happy with the performance of my A2017U as it is right now. My question to ya'll is, What would be the pros and cons of returning to complete stock (for OTA updates) or sticking with rooted and custom rom and not being able to receive OTA updates?

whats the question here? Its on you... what you prefer

Lol that depends of your needs - I stick to stock because of audio (mostly) and somehow bcz of camera (as far as I know you can install stock camera app).
That's question is a little bit irrevelant when you was stock and now you are testing custom rom.
So the answer is simply - replay to your question by yourself and with margin to your needs.

Had to test the waters with custom roms on this phone, but was just wanting to hear other peoples thoughts on the subject. I've always tinkered with customizing my phones and enjoy doing so. Would like to hear different points of view and then see if it would make me change my mind. Sometimes custom roms have little bugs that people can or can't live with, and in some cases stock is best for total functionality. Just curious of others opinions.....

amaury48 said:
Had to test the waters with custom roms on this phone, but was just wanting to hear other peoples thoughts on the subject. I've always tinkered with customizing my phones and enjoy doing so. Would like to hear different points of view and then see if it would make me change my mind. Sometimes custom roms have little bugs that people can or can't live with, and in some cases stock is best for total functionality. Just curious of others opinions.....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
IMHO custom ROMs are littered with bugs, but mostly overlookable. Take the phone bug or storage with SD card bug for example.
Stock works better in every regard (except substratum, damn you mifavor) and with MiFavor 5 this is even truer. But if you like your current ROM there's no reason to go back...

Choose an username... said:
IMHO custom ROMs are littered with bugs, but mostly overlookable. Take the phone bug or storage with SD card bug for example.
Stock works better in every regard (except substratum, damn you mifavor) and with MiFavor 5 this is even truer. But if you like your current ROM there's no reason to go back...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, I finally went back to stock B25 via the DrakenFx method to retain root and custom recovery. I came across the phone bug on my custom rom and that helped me make my decision to go back to a stock rom.....

Yep, used custom ROMs from the first week of owning the phone until about a month ago when I went back to B25 with Magisk. Couldn't be happier.

I was about to make a similar thread myself but saw this one. I have been running custom roms since day one but have been considering returning to stock.
A brief summary of the benefits:
Reasons to go with stock:
Fully functional ZTE camera app with no bugs - This is perhaps more important than you might think, ZTE haven't enabled the Camera 2 API which means its very possible we are going to get the best quality and feature-set by sticking with the stock app. If ZTE haven't released their blobs there could very well be reasons to stick with the default camera app...not only that but I like it. You can install the mod, but there are aspects that will never work and some roms and kernels play more nicely with the mod than others.
Dolby Atmos app. Similar to the camera on stock this would just mean less messing about, you can of course get atmos mods in magisk but whether they work as well as the stock ZTE app I am not sure. The strange thing is I have never had the stock ZTE Axon atmos magisk mod to work on a custom rom, even though I have an Axon!
Reliability, no need to worry about force closes or apps not working, everything pretty much just works. So much less stress if you use your phone as a daily driver.
Ease of use, less features makes the phone easier to use. In some cases even when you are a tinkerer like me its sometimes good to be able to forget about continuously tweaking stuff and digging yourself in to a never ending upgrade cycle.
Oreo, it looks like if you stay stock we will see Oreo sooner than custom roms.
Reasons to go custom:
Substratum, oh boy would I miss this going back to stock. The ZTE theme engine is pants compared and I love the work that goes in to my current premium theme.
Battery life, perhaps with the aid of also a custom kernel there are some very nice roms and kernels being worked on which allow you to fully customise and save battery life.
Features, you can set the phone up exactly as you want too, every small detail can be customised. You can choose exactly which rom you like based on the features you use.
Performance, you can get more performance out of a custom rom with custom kernel and find a nicer balance between battery and performance, whichever suits you.
Fun, its fun to flash different roms and get the flashing bug. You learn a lot and get to join in with a fantastic community where people help each other.
Third option, run a debloated custom rom.
Seems to be more and more popular, as an ex Nexus 5 user I loved Cataclysm rom for this very reason. You keep all the features associated with stock with added performance benefits, fixes and less bloat. There is a downside if you plan on keeping atmos as some stock roms seem to strip it away, but it is a nice compromise between the options above. Usually these roms are more reliable as they are based on stock too. If you want a lean rom that just works, this may suit you!
Its such a hard choice and one I still havent decided on, if I have missed anything please let me know!
Background info and summary:
My first smartphone was a ZTE blade 2 and it was a beast for the money, this phone is tremendous too. My GF owns a pixel and apart from the camera this phone trumps it for value no question...for less than half the price.
I have to say though, I do miss the days of my Nexus 5 and the larger mod community, I realise these days have gone now with google devices but perhaps next time I will opt to go to Oneplus just so I can trust a bit more that there will be less caveats going custom as if there is one complaint I have with ZTE it is their unwillingness to release their source code for the little tiny things like the camera api and atmos.

Dodgexander said:
I was about to make a similar thread myself but saw this one. I have been running custom roms since day one but have been considering returning to stock.
A brief summary of the benefits:
Reasons to go with stock:
Fully functional ZTE camera app with no bugs - This is perhaps more important than you might think, ZTE haven't enabled the Camera 2 API which means its very possible we are going to get the best quality and feature-set by sticking with the stock app. If ZTE haven't released their blobs there could very well be reasons to stick with the default camera app...not only that but I like it. You can install the mod, but there are aspects that will never work and some roms and kernels play more nicely with the mod than others.
Dolby Atmos app. Similar to the camera on stock this would just mean less messing about, you can of course get atmos mods in magisk but whether they work as well as the stock ZTE app I am not sure. The strange thing is I have never had the stock ZTE Axon atmos magisk mod to work on a custom rom, even though I have an Axon!
Reliability, no need to worry about force closes or apps not working, everything pretty much just works. So much less stress if you use your phone as a daily driver.
Ease of use, less features makes the phone easier to use. In some cases even when you are a tinkerer like me its sometimes good to be able to forget about continuously tweaking stuff and digging yourself in to a never ending upgrade cycle.
Oreo, it looks like if you stay stock we will see Oreo sooner than custom roms.
Reasons to go custom:
Substratum, oh boy would I miss this going back to stock. The ZTE theme engine is pants compared and I love the work that goes in to my current premium theme.
Battery life, perhaps with the aid of also a custom kernel there are some very nice roms and kernels being worked on which allow you to fully customise and save battery life.
Features, you can set the phone up exactly as you want too, every small detail can be customised. You can choose exactly which rom you like based on the features you use.
Performance, you can get more performance out of a custom rom with custom kernel and find a nicer balance between battery and performance, whichever suits you.
Fun, its fun to flash different roms and get the flashing bug. You learn a lot and get to join in with a fantastic community where people help each other.
Third option, run a debloated custom rom.
Seems to be more and more popular, as an ex Nexus 5 user I loved Cataclysm rom for this very reason. You keep all the features associated with stock with added performance benefits, fixes and less bloat. There is a downside if you plan on keeping atmos as some stock roms seem to strip it away, but it is a nice compromise between the options above. Usually these roms are more reliable as they are based on stock too. If you want a lean rom that just works, this may suit you!
Its such a hard choice and one I still havent decided on, if I have missed anything please let me know!
Background info and summary:
My first smartphone was a ZTE blade 2 and it was a beast for the money, this phone is tremendous too. My GF owns a pixel and apart from the camera this phone trumps it for value no question...for less than half the price.
I have to say though, I do miss the days of my Nexus 5 and the larger mod community, I realise these days have gone now with google devices but perhaps next time I will opt to go to Oneplus just so I can trust a bit more that there will be less caveats going custom as if there is one complaint I have with ZTE it is their unwillingness to release their source code for the little tiny things like the camera api and atmos.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Some comments about this:
-Stock still has RRO support, so while it is kinda craptastic to use substratum this way, it is doable. I have most of my apps with Swift Dark (the ones that don't force close anyways) and Lawnchair with black theme, on MiFavor 5 which already has a rather black quick settings screen. The result is awesome
While you might be getting more battery life from a custom ROM, I totally disagree on the performance part. Everything works just slower. But yeah, battery-wise I got 7h SOT once which is absolutely bonkers :silly:
If you want a nice modded stock try any MiFavor 5 modded ROM like RDX or ADM Team. Those keep Atmos and use MiFavor 5 B13, which seemingly have a new camera app?

Choose an username... said:
Some comments about this:
-Stock still has RRO support, so while it is kinda craptastic to use substratum this way, it is doable. I have most of my apps with Swift Dark (the ones that don't force close anyways) and Lawnchair with black theme, on MiFavor 5 which already has a rather black quick settings screen. The result is awesome
While you might be getting more battery life from a custom ROM, I totally disagree on the performance part. Everything works just slower. But yeah, battery-wise I got 7h SOT once which is absolutely bonkers :silly:
If you want a nice modded stock try any MiFavor 5 modded ROM like RDX or ADM Team. Those keep Atmos and use MiFavor 5 B13, which seemingly have a new camera app?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks I will give ADM a try first since RDX seems to exclusively for the A2017 and I own the A2017U.
Frankly when I saw substratum without OMS support before I wasn't impressed but it sounds like it's worth a look.
Performance wise I loved running AOKP. It runs so much faster than resurrection remix and faster than my brief time on stock also.
It's a pain sacrifices have to made somewhere, but I guess you can't argue for the money!

Dodgexander said:
Thanks I will give ADM a try first since RDX seems to exclusively for the A2017 and I own the A2017U.
Frankly when I saw substratum without OMS support before I wasn't impressed but it sounds like it's worth a look.
Performance wise I loved running AOKP. It runs so much faster than resurrection remix and faster than my brief time on stock also.
It's a pain sacrifices have to made somewhere, but I guess you can't argue for the money!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think you simply have to flash the univ bootstack and your modem file to install RDX, it just wasn't tested on other phones but the A2017. but yeah, just use ADM Team

If we don't get Oreo, I will root mine, debloat etc and unroot just to keep it stock but lean. Stock camera in Nougat is quite good IMO. Atmos is pants but I will leave it alone.

RobboW said:
If we don't get Oreo, I will root mine, debloat etc and unroot just to keep it stock but lean. Stock camera in Nougat is quite good IMO. Atmos is pants but I will leave it alone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
what's the downside of having it rooted?

Some apps don't work and it has to be secure for work use.

RobboW said:
Some apps don't work and it has to be secure for work use.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Magisk then...

Choose an username... said:
Some comments about this:
-Stock still has RRO support, so while it is kinda craptastic to use substratum this way, it is doable. I have most of my apps with Swift Dark (the ones that don't force close anyways) and Lawnchair with black theme, on MiFavor 5 which already has a rather black quick settings screen. The result is awesome
While you might be getting more battery life from a custom ROM, I totally disagree on the performance part. Everything works just slower. But yeah, battery-wise I got 7h SOT once which is absolutely bonkers :silly:
If you want a nice modded stock try any MiFavor 5 modded ROM like RDX or ADM Team. Those keep Atmos and use MiFavor 5 B13, which seemingly have a new camera app?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just installed adm rom and substratum but can't get any themes to work at all. Substratum appears to work and let's me install them but after a reboot they don't work.
I tested with the Google app, gmail and chrome amongst others. I am using swift black.
I guess it's just a bug with the adm Rom? Magisk is working fine I think.

Dodgexander said:
Just installed adm rom and substratum but can't get any themes to work at all. Substratum appears to work and let's me install them but after a reboot they don't work.
I tested with the Google app, gmail and chrome amongst others. I am using swift black.
I guess it's just a bug with the adm Rom? Magisk is working fine I think.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It can't be because I had everything themed on ADM ROM too. Except system ui and that stuff since it can't be themed. no idea why that happens.

Choose an username... said:
It can't be because I had everything themed on ADM ROM too. Except system ui and that stuff since it can't be themed. no idea why that happens.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Were you using the new release with version 5 of mifavor?
What about systemless host list in magisk enabled to get adaway to work?
Only two things I have changed. I am using A2017U with the b13 bootstack.
Haven't changed anything else so no idea why it isn't working.

Dodgexander said:
Were you using the new release with version 5 of mifavor?
What about systemless host list in magisk enabled to get adaway to work?
Only two things I have changed. I am using A2017U with the b13 bootstack.
Haven't changed anything else so no idea why it isn't working.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i was using the old release with version 5 (ADM Team V3)

I would stick with stock unless you are an extreme power user. ZTE fixed 99% of the issues with MiFavor with 7.1.1 and custom ROMs are littered with SO MANY little bugs. MiFavor is extremely stable now. Audio and camera is also much worse on custom.
But hey whatever you prefer.

stock vs LOS. any advantages?

can someone who's using LOS comment on any advantages over stock? Now that we can install magisk and xposed on stock roms, is there any advantage at all to switch to LOS? How are the comparisons on battery life and speed?

Just got the phone couple days ago. I m not new to rooting and custom rooms. But I think it is better to stick with stock for now. At least for next 3-4 months imo. The phone already has Oreo and is very stable. Battery life is pretty good as well. Barely any lag, if any. I mean things just work and this is basically stock Android. IDK. Just my 2 cents. Unless something revolutionary happens in custom rom community I will be rocking stock for a while.

Generally people flash Lineage to get a more stock Android experience on their phones. The Essential already runs stock Android. The only advantage Lineage could possibly have while stock Android is still being updated on this phone would be whatever features Lineage offers that aren't included in stock Android. You can make the Essential faster by rooting the phone and flashing a custom kernel. You don't need a custom ROM to do that.
But there are significant disadvantages to installing Lineage on this phone. For one thing Lineage doesn't offer an official build for this phone. Unless something has changed over the last couple of days Lineage for this phone is only available as an unofficial build. That doesn't just mean no official support. Lineage doesn't sanction unofficial builds and there is no way of knowing if the build is poorly coded or not. Anyone can compile an unofficial build. You can watch a YouTube video and learn how to do it yourself. If someone making an unofficial build actually knows what they are doing there is a process with Lineage to make the build official as long as both the DEV and the build meet specific standards. Flashing an unofficial build of any ROM on any phone is a risk.
Then there is the fact that custom flashing on the Essential phone can reportedly lead to hard bricking the phone pretty easily. The a & b partitions make custom flashing a lot more difficult than on single partition phones and people with a lot of previous flashing experience have managed to hard brick their Essential phone within hours of taking it out of the box.
I don't personally think custom flashing on the Essential has enough upside to be worth the risk right now but it's your phone. Unless you don't mind turning your phone into a paperweight you should at least read the entire XDA rooting guide from beginning to end (including all of the comments from people who followed the guide) and also go through the Essential Telegram group which seems to be aimed at people who are flashing on the phone. That way you will have a good idea of what you are getting into and reduce the chances of bricking your phone.
Good luck whatever you decide.

Didn't flash lineage because heard about 360° isn't working so far...
For me an showstopper

AOSiP and Lineage run fine for me. Many bugs that need to be worked out, but they still run okay. Currently running stock however as I am trying to pinpoint what is killing my battery life. One day I am running great, the next I am leaking % left and right.

I can't stand stock rom at alllll. RR is the best the phone has ran for me. I can't stand the way touch works on stock, the scrolling feels like wading through molasses.
Plus true immersive mode. Honestly I see zero benefit to stock, but that's just my opinion.

RR is pretty far from the purpose and philosophy of LOS. LOS attempts to create a stock experience with some additional features. RR is for people who want to mod their phones with as many custom options as possible. I tried RR on my OP5 and wasn't a fan but I can definitely understand why someone who doesn't like stock Android would enjoy it. But the Essential phone is a terrible choice if you want to run custom ROMs. There's almost no development for this phone and I don't know if any custom ROM other than AOSIP even has an official build. If you want to run custom ROMs you would have been much better off with an OP5T. Not only are there a ton of official custom ROMs including RR but the phone is super easy to flash on and pretty much impossible to hard brick.

LOS runs smoother than the stock ROM and I it has more advantages.
LOS:
Immersive Mode : It's very easy to hide navbar and statusbar. That and an modded Youtube app and you are ready to really use the full screen. Not just till the notch.
It's very helpful in games too where you need apps or adb with the stock ROM.
Feel: It's just smoother and more responsive thant the stock ROM
Essential Apps works just normal
It has a few bugs like app dosen't start correct but stock rom can have that too and maybe it's just my installation.
Updater : You get many Updates and you can just download and install it in the background. Then you restart and you just installed an update without any waiting time.
Stock ROM:
It's official. You get updates that are suited to this phone and the softwar knows that there is a notch.

I'm on stock because all hardware works. I want full camera including 360 to work.

D4rk_nVidia said:
LOS runs smoother than the stock ROM and I it has more advantages.
LOS:
Immersive Mode : It's very easy to hide navbar and statusbar. That and an modded Youtube app and you are ready to really use the full screen. Not just till the notch.
It's very helpful in games too where you need apps or adb with the stock ROM.
Feel: It's just smoother and more responsive thant the stock ROM
Essential Apps works just normal
It has a few bugs like app dosen't start correct but stock rom can have that too and maybe it's just my installation.
Updater : You get many Updates and you can just download and install it in the background. Then you restart and you just installed an update without any waiting time.
Stock ROM:
It's official. You get updates that are suited to this phone and the softwar knows that there is a notch.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If there was an official build of LOS there would be a lot fewer issues. The unofficial build is probably just the ROM code auto compiled for this device with no further tweaks or fixes. You can do the same thing with any open source ROM. Have you tried AOSIP? I would think that would run better since it's actually official. That was also a solid ROM when I ran it on other phones. Not a lot of features but very stable fast and smooth.
Is updating a custom ROM difficult on this phone? Do you need to reflash the stock system image and TWRP on a computer or can it be updated like a simple OTA?
---------- Post added at 09:28 PM ---------- Previous post was at 09:16 PM ----------
tech_head said:
I'm on stock because all hardware works. I want full camera including 360 to work.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
360 isn't likely to work on any custom ROM because the code for it is probably proprietary. Phone manufacturers rarely release code for something like that. The camera code is probably the only thing on the Essential that isn't stock Android. This phone could easily run faster but Essential seems to have opted for better battery life in their stock setup. Google does exactly the opposite. They maximize performance so much that their phones run too hot and tend to burn out after a couple years. That's happened so far with the 5X, 6P & XL. Three flagship phones in a row dying from heat damage after a couple years is a pretty consistent track record.

When I was running LOS earlier this month the 360 camera worked...
Sent from my PH-1 using Tapatalk

jhs39 said:
If there was an official build of LOS there would be a lot fewer issues. The unofficial build is probably just the ROM code auto compiled for this device with no further tweaks or fixes. You can do the same thing with any open source ROM. Have you tried AOSIP? I would think that would run better since it's actually official. That was also a solid ROM when I ran it on other phones. Not a lot of features but very stable fast and smooth.
Is updating a custom ROM difficult on this phone? Do you need to reflash the stock system image and TWRP on a computer or can it be updated like a simple OTA?
---------- Post added at 09:28 PM ---------- Previous post was at 09:16 PM ----------
360 isn't likely to work on any custom ROM because the code for it is probably proprietary. Phone manufacturers rarely release code for something like that. The camera code is probably the only thing on the Essential that isn't stock Android. This phone could easily run faster but Essential seems to have opted for better battery life in their stock setup. Google does exactly the opposite. They maximize performance so much that their phones run too hot and tend to burn out after a couple years. That's happened so far with the 5X, 6P & XL. Three flagship phones in a row dying from heat damage after a couple years is a pretty consistent track record.
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Click to collapse
You have NO idea what the hell you're talking about...
Shut up... Flash the ROM... Then give your critique... You obviously haven't done that...
The 360 cam has worked for months...
The only reason this device isn't official... Has to do with Jenkins and gapps...
Sent from my PH-1 using Tapatalk

rignfool said:
You have NO idea what the hell you're talking about...
Shut up... Flash the ROM... Then give your critique... You obviously haven't done that...
The 360 cam has worked for months...
The only reason this device isn't official... Has to do with Jenkins and gapps...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
LOS has no quality control over an unofficial build. If it runs fine great. If 360 cam works even better. If I wanted to run a custom ROM I would have just stuck with the OP5. LOS was official on that device. I bought the Essential specifically because it runs stock Android. Buying a phone that runs stock Android and has virtually no development community so you can run a custom ROM on it doesn't make much sense to me but it's your phone.

LineageOS is great but it could be much better if we had a better Support with the essential phone.
It has many advantages.
I just installed the stock ROM and can say
- battery life is better with stock
- UI runs smooth enough but apps like Facebook runs better with Lineage
- Instagram runs better because I had the bug in Lineage that videos getting skipped while playing
- whatsapp voice messages sounds awful sometimes because the sound crackles (no problem with lineage)
- no expanded desktop mode with stock rom
Both have advantages and disadvantages.

[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:
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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.