[XPERIA X8 General] KingAmir:
I have created this thread in order to offer viewers my personal review on the MiniCM9 ROM on the nAa-ICS kernel for the Xperia x8. I have had experiences with many ROMS and have decided to review the one I am currently running on my device.​

Before I begin I have to mention that, although there maybe other reviews every one is opinionated or 'spiced' differently. I think it is valid that there will be more than one review of the same ROM.

If you have ANY suggestions, please leave them as a post below.

This review will be of the latest version of the ROM - 3.0.4 and the latest version of the kernel - 04.

The latest MiniCM9 ROM for the x8 was released on the 31st of March 2012 by nobodyAtall, bursting onto android forums all over the web. As the successor to the extremely popular MiniCM7, users were desperate to see if the newest installment would live up to the high expectations. After using the ROM for a month, I can safely say it has blown me away. I will cover specific areas in which I was amazed.

Visuals

The CyanogenMOD series aims to offer the most 'vanilla' experience of the android OS. Obviously, as a port, many resolutions would have to be tweaked in order to look more beautiful and smooth. Yet again the CyanogenMOD offers a wonderful set of vibrantly tweaked icons. nobodyAtall also includes signature artistic wallpapers with the release that will blow your mind, perfectly rendered for the screen. Overall visual quality is perfect. Stock ICS infused with that CM touch.

Kernel

The kernel, also developed by nAa is yet again wonderful. Once installed, it will offer you the greatest in performance. With an Antutu benchmark of around 1800 and a gaming fps of around 50. Of course the custom kernel will give you the option to overclock and undervolt. Overclocking to a scale of around 729mhz will definitely please your performance needs. In addition to this the kernel will give you a powerful kick for your charge giving you a massive one day of heavy use and 2-3 days of moderate use.One of the greatest pleasers however was the fact that Clockworkmodrecovery is built in. How convenient is that! As a whole, the kernel is top notch - which is to be expected from nAa. However you will have to unlock your bootloader to install a custom kernel. Something many less brave users were unhappy with. But seeing as nAa dropped support for stock, I guess users will just have to toughen up.

Advanced Options & Apps

On every release CyanogenMOD gives the x8 advanced options like overclock (mentioned above) which are not on the stock rom. CyanogenMOD 7 was jam packed with these 'advanced options' allowing you to tweak every aspect of things like performance on your device. Unfortunately, seeing as many users did not use these features, nAa decided to 'dumb it down' a bit in his cm9 release. Although this is not an issue for many users, some advanced users (especially me) felt quite a burn. nAa has also included custom apps like the music manager, Apollo, DSP manager and DEV tools. I do not think a small individual review of these apps will do them justice but in short, they're great.

Conclusion

The overall experience provided by MiniCM9 will surpass any expectations you had (probably). It is a lightweight ROM with many features that will make you enjoy your phone even more. I would definitely recommend the ROM itself as it expands immensely on the stock stuff Sony provided. (who even uses that anymore :laugh:). I am not using the CM10 ROM because of little known issues and other things. But I can confirm that even in its BETA like state, it is 20x smoother than ICS ever was! The experience is expected to be just as satisfying as cm9.

Rating: 8.5 out of 10

I have spent quite some time typing this review, please do not troll. All suggestions on the other hand are more than welcome. Please hit 'thanks' if you appreciate my massive effort. Sorry if this is not something you wanted. Even though the guide is long, I call it mini because it does not cover everything.

To see my tips and tricks for this ROM. Please see HERE

Check out the roms:

MiniCM9

-kernel

MiniCM10

-Kernel