[Galaxy S II Original Android Development] Try4Ce:
Ok guys, here is my review of the latest CM9 alpha.

It is a LONG text, so I hope it gets even read and appreciated. Maybe it helps the developers a little and gives a nice insight for other users that are interested in this ROM.

I will go through it starting with different headlines.

1. Installation

I came from Andromeda Hyperdroid (which is an awesome custom ROM on TouchWiz base by the way!). I thought to myself: "FULL WIPE!!" so thats what I did. I downloaded all provided packages into one single directory on my SD Card / Internal Memory. Then I did 2 factory resets, 2 system wipes, 2 dalvic caches and then I installed the CM9 package first, then Google Apps, then Face Unlock and then, finishing up, the provided Radio.

After that, everything went smootly. It bootet up without any issues, and I set up the device.

2. Display / Performance

First off: The image quality and brightness levels seem just fine, as well as automatic brightness control. The image looks sharp and vivid and the bightness reacts surprisingly fast to changing light conditions.

I soon realized that the image/display rotation seems still kind of bugged and glitchy, since its reacts VERY slowly. But so far I didnt see any graphical glitches while rotating.

Performance wise it performs quite well, way better than I expected. Out of the box I got a Quadrant score of 2900 Points, which may not say much, but with the first few builds I still scored around 1800 which actually MUST mean something in total. Tho I think its kinda weird that, even with VSync now working and activated, the frame cap seems at 30 FPS instead of the usual 60 FPS. All 3D Tests in Quadrant were capped at 30 FPS.

Otherwise, there still are some minor graphic glitches. For example, if you run PowerAmp and you scroll through your songs, you will notices some flickering on the lower part of the UI (Artist Name, Album Name etc). Thats a minor issue tho and my be connected to the "forced 2D gpu rendering" activated in my debug settings.

Overall Performance seems quite good, tho there are still some little lags with opening Applications and quick scrolls though different menu's or Google Maps.

Needless to say: It's an early alpha, which doesnt even get full support yet. And for an early build like this, it performs just wonderfull. Pretty impressive work!

3. Audio

Nothing much to say about the Audio. It behaves very well, tho I occasionally run into some trouble with the VolumeHack Application, which has been introduced to resolve the "50% Level Volume Bug" present in CM7 and MIUI based on Gingerbread.

Other than that: The Volume is pretty loud, I would say close to Stock (TouchWiz). Its clean and vibrant. Better than expected here as well.

4. Sensors, Microphone and "NITZ"

As we know, there are still some issues with the hardware Sensors right now.

For example I might get a black screen when somebody calls me, but a push on the home button resolves that problem. It happens occasionally, but once resolved, the display reacts correctly to "phone at ear" and "phone not at ear". Display switches on and off just like it should. Regarding the Accelerometer, I think its not actually causing too much trouble. Even if the rotation doesnt act like it should (quite late response), rotations within Apps like "Spirit HD" work correctly.

Now there is the question with the NITZ Bug that was present in earlier builds before. It made phone calls and mobile internet impossible for users which were using Providers with NITZ support (something with automatic time setup or someting). I am actually one of those, since I am from germany and using o2 Germany. o2 Germany is a NITZ provider. Therefore it was impossible for me to use and test previous builds without much hassle. Gladly, the NITZ "No Service" Bug is NOT present for me anymore. Everything works. Calls, SMS, mobile Internet. Call quality is actually quite good and very stable. I've been on the road today for over 300 km and never had any connection break ups or problems.

Microphone on phone calls works flawlessly. The ppl I called for tests were hearing me loud and clear without any hickups or something like that.

So: For phone calls, WLAN, SMS, mobile connectivity, this build sure works for me!

5. Applications and its issues

Ever since Ice Cream Sandwich has been introduced, there were some issues with various Applications not compatible anymore.

Actually, I never really got serious trouble running and installing applications, tho the Game "Spirit HD" gave some kind of headache. If you install it from the market, it tries to install on your SD Card automatically. ICS CM9 doesnt like that for some reason, so I always got a "Failed to install to USB Memory / SD Card" error upon installation. The only way I saw was to manually put the APK File to /data/app and reboot. After that, it worked.

Some ppl reported issues running Navigon (select), so I headed off to try it out. Since I use Navigon Select, I had no issues installing or running it. So I actually cannot reproduce that issue. Version Number is 4.0.1.

As for Google Maps login, I had the same issue. ICS is way more strict when it comes to user permissions within Google Applications.

I managed to get rid of the "Failed to log in" Message in Google Maps after opening "Places" which led me to a "Authentication"-Message in the system tray where I was able to authenticate the GMaps login. Maybe that helps out some users here?

BetterBatteryStats doesnt work of course, since ICS again works different in collecting data than Gingerbread.

I havent tested Chainfire 3D yet, so I dont know if it works.

Various Games work, like "Shadowgun", "Spirit HD", "Sprinkle" or "Sentinel 3".

6. Camera / Imaging

YAY for CM-Team, Camera works now! And the quality is surpringly good. I even have the imagination its close to TouchWiz Stock Image Quality? Maybe a placebo.

Nevertheless, Camera works, as well as panorama. The Panorama function is actually really good. Great stiching. My first few tests showed almost none, if any, errors in stitching quality.

Tho, Video Recording doesnt work. Video Recorder starts, but as soon as you hit the record button, it crashes. It was worth a try tho, even if its a known issues regarding Video Codecs.

That actually leads me to a following issue. I think its related to the video codec problem, but Videos have quite some issues. They start, and they play back. They even play back very fluently, but the colors are badly distorted and a thick green, horizontal line goes along the bottom of the video. This is present in any Video playback, yeah, its also within the Youtube App.

Its not a big deal tho, but hopefully it can be fixed on day :)

Its good to say, that even external camera applications like HDR Camera+ or Camera Zoom FX work without any trouble!

ADDITION: Of course I also tested Face Unlock. Its working quite good, like how you expect it to work. Therefore, Front-Facing Camera works without issues. Face Unlock is a nice feature to play around with, but as many already reported, pretty easily to fool with Photos... Anyways, good to see it working!

7. Remaining issues / collection

I will sum up some issues I found while playing with this release.

There are some issues left, but no biggies.

1. Battery drain can be pretty high while the display is on.

2. Sometimes the ringtones wont save correctly

3. Video Codecs still messed up. No Video Recording, no correct video playback (color distortions).

4. The App "Download Manager" actually can quite easily cause the deep sleep to fail. I think it happens often after downloading something within the web browser. The service stays at around 9-12% CPU load and therefore, deep sleep fails. The only thing I can do to resolve this issue is to stop the service (NOT deactivate!) and clear all data of the application.

5. Rotation doesnt work as expected, but within 3D Apps like "Spirit HD", it seems to work just fine.

6. 3D FPS Cap looks like to be forced at 30 FPS, not 60 FPS like it used to be on Gingerbread ROMs

7. Specific screen elements start to flicker from time to time. Best reproduced within PowerAMP. Just scroll through your songs in the Player Screen. Maybe related to "Forced 2D GPU Acceleration" in debug settings.

8. Applications in the marked that get installed on the SD Card by default wont install at all. Installation fails and you get a message, that the installation on USB memory / SD Card failed.

9. The "Volume Hack" sometimes causes the Music Player to Force Close, but that might be totally random.

8. Ending words

These will be my ending words. In total, I am really surprised and astonished by this release. Its surprisingly fast and stable, and actually, now that phone calls, sms and mobile internet work, good for daily use, even if there are some issues left.

I am not a big youtuber, and dont record many videos, so I can live with it not working yet.

Never would have thought to get a release this soon working this good already. Big respect to the CM-Team and everyone else involved in this!

Keep it up, it looks like you can really beat Samsung in the "Working ICS"-Race :D

PS: I would stay away from Titanium Backup for now! ICS works differently than Gingerbread, so restoring might not work at all or may cause serious issues or even data loss. If you test ICS, test it on a clean basis. Do NOT attempt to push already "used" Gingerbread-Data on it via Titanium Backup Data! It most likely will mess with the OS and you can easily get a wrong impression of the awesome work the Team has already achieved to do!