[Galaxy S III Q&A, (US Carriers)] sekigah84:
Custom ROM Reviews

This will be a section where I will do a thorough review of custom ROMs. These are based on my own usage and your mileage may vary depending on what apps/etc you use. I will take requests to do certain ROMs and I will post up a schedule to do reviews so you can send me questions ahead of time. Please also note, that I will only test Sprint ROMs because I only have a Sprint device. I will take reviews from other people on different carriers.

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Each ROM will be broken down as follows:

ROM Name:

ROM URL:

Version/Build:

ROM Type: (AOSP/TW/AOKP/ETC)

Recommended for:

Stability:

Features:

Bugs/Issues:

Final Thoughts:

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ROM Name: Sprint CM10 Preview Build

ROM URL: http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=1778266

Version/Build: 7/20 Preview Build

ROM Type: CM10 (AOSP)

Recommended for: Experienced flashaholics

Stability: This is a preview build just for the community to see what is in store for their phones on Jelly Bean with CM10. There are bugs expected with this. However for a preview build, this is surprisingly stable. This build came out today and while it is still too early to say it is fully stable, it is surprisingly smooth and as of this moment, it is stable for me. I did run into a very annoying com.android.phone FC loop in the previous build that wouldn't go away till you wipe and reflash the ROM. I'm waiting to see if it happens again on the 7/20 build.

Features: Jelly Bean and all its features. http://developer.android.com/about/versions/jelly-bean.html

It is an AOSP ROM so it has better integration with Google products like Google Voice and no bloat. It is a CyanogenMod ROM so it is made for performance. It is very snappy and will only get faster and smoother once they integrate Project Aurora. If you want to test Jelly Bean, you can flash this. However you are warned that it may crap out on you. If you need 100% stability, then don't flash it.

Bugs/Issues: The camera will take pictures but I did get a force close (FC) on the Gallery and it will freeze. The previous builds did have a green hue over the camera but that is fixed. The widget toggle buttons are being worked in but they are not working as of this build. Facebook integration with contacts isn't good. Contact images do not get linked/joined with existing Google contacts. Bluetooth music does not work. Audio over Bluetooth is not working either. Phone calls over Bluetooth work but it is a little distorted.

Final Thoughts:

The reason why I jumped to CM10 despite knowing it is buggy is to try out Google Now with the new speech engine and Project Butter and it did not disappoint. It took a day or so to get Google Now to learn my habits but it was pretty much on point! The new speech recognition engine is AMAZING! Very quick and the most accurate I've used to date and I've used a lot. Overall, I would recommend this for anyone who wants to test the latest and greatest Android flavor but can work though bugs and issues.

Reviewed on 7/20/12 @ 1:46PM EST.

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If you want to ask me any questions, feel free to PM me or add me on GTalk @ sekigah@gmail.com