[Xperia Z1 Android Development] srqrox:
iHacker's Nano - Review / Impressions.

Let me start of by saying that I love AOSP/CM based ROMs.

I totally love the look, I like the way they work, I like the dark color schemes. I even love the way they smell, taste and feel under my touch.

Part of this love comes from my psychological belief that these ROMS are clean - of bloat, of services that I don't use and of stock software that I don't like. The idea that because it is as clean as it could be, there is no need for me to tinker with TB and disable, uninstall and freeze services that I don't like, is pure bliss.

The other part, though, is the buttery smoothness (Yeah, unlike some, I never had ANY lag, at all),Hover, Screen Peek, Proximity, Light Sensitivity based features (I know I can install software for that but doesn't hurt if they come as part of the OS), awesome battery life (6.5/7+ Hours of SOT), and themes.

Call me biased, but that's what I am, like we all are regarding some things in our lives.

The reason I am saying all this is to provide whosoever reads this review, a background, a relative point of comparison, a mindset that may represent some other similar mindsets and as a means of relative / comparative evaluation.

Test Plan:

I am using iHackers Kernel 5.1 for this particular review.

I won't be installing Add-on Pack for now, just to see how Nano stands on its own.

I, initially won't be tweaking any kernel related settings - using it as close to out-of-the-box paradigm as I could.

If I see, ANY kind of lag, I'll try and try to fix it using Performance Control app that comes with the ROM.

I'll post detailed battery usage consumption stats in day after the kernel has properly settled.

Installation: Impressions

Installation is literally, bare bones - and for me it is a good thing.

All it took for me to install the ROM were a couple of touches on the "Next" button. A reminder that this ROM is actually going to be bloat free.

Installation for me finished in less than a minute, pretty fast although because of AROMA much prettier - I like the trademark red skin of Aroma Installer.

First boot took 1 minute and 15 seconds - that is remarkably fast about as fast as any AOSP based ROM.

Wiping the previous ROM, clearing the caches. installing the Nano and booting to a working Setup screen took less than 3 minutes.

I am definitely impressed.

First Boot: Impressions

As I said, took less 1 minute and 15 seconds, that is fast.

Setup screen was somehow different, animations specially where you are supposed to set up an account is pretty nice. Lists were butter smooth to scroll, and fluid.

After the initial setup was over I was taken to the cleanest ever homescreen I have ever seen on any Z1 Stock Based ROM.

Applications that are present are enough to keep phone functional, and nothing more. As clean as any AOSP/CM based ROM, even cleaner maybe.

To be honest, Nano is smoother, much smoother than any non-tweaked AOSP/CM Based ROM or ANY other Stock based ROM that is currently out there, for that matter.

Phone did feel warm at this point, nothing uncomfortable but warm enough to notice - again let me be clear it is due to flashing + first boot + setup.

I left it for a few minutes before I picked it up again and it was totally cool. Haven't faced any heating issue, since then.

Restoring application from TB worked fine, I restored all my apps restarted, phone still is blazing fast, no surprises here.

Restarted. Again.

2nd Boot: The Tuning Phase

First thing I set out to eliminate was the slight lag. I am a nitpicker, the lag was just barely barely noticeable and I can bet a month's pay most wouldn't be able to spot that. I had work to do. I kept Faux Clock and other of the ilk away - hoping to see if the lowest common denominator of the users would be able to fix this.

Here is what I did:

1. Settings > iHackers > Performance Control:

Changed the Governor to Interactive (Previously, OnDemand)

That's all.

Here comes the actual first bump in an otherwise a very smooth experience. I couldn't sign in to my Google Account. I could be the only one having the issue, as I asked the dev and he said it was working fine on his end.

If something like this happens do the following.

1. Install GAPPS (I installed the PA one, but you can install anyone. )

I'd advise installing the PICO version of GAPPS which is bare bones essentials.

2. Go to Settings > Apps > All

3. Find Play Store, tap and Clear Cache and Data.

4. Find Google Play Services, tap and Clear Cache and Data.

5. Restart.

Battery: Consumption

It is said that we must give kernel the time to settle, give it a day to see the real performance. I didn't do that, I just started measuring the battery consumption the moment my phone first boot up.

IT IS SOLID.

I had 97 percent battery left*, when I first boot up. Since then I have been playing with it, messing with settings, restoring my applications with data, browsing my Facebook, doing a little bit of texting (via sms), configuring some of the applications that I had restored.

Screen has been on for 36 minutes and 10 seconds; Phone is on standby for 1 hour and 10 minutes, and now the battery is 86 percent.

Beautiful.

*It took 3% to wipe the previous ROM, install the Kernel, install the Nano, and checking out the contents of the Add-on Pack. [I didn't actually install Add-on Pack, just ran the Aroma and checked it.]

The Rest:

Camera: I installed Google Camera, works just fine.

Calls: Loud and Clear.

Speakers: Loudspeaker for calls is working fine, and so is for the Music.

Bluetooth: It connects with my speakers, flawlessly, Audio is fine range is cool.

Wifi: Downloaded a couple of songs on 3G and on Wifi - Works perfectly.

Wifi Hotspot: Tried, works fine.

3G Signal: Latest PA and DCM builds were having 3G signal loss issues, in this ROM there is no such problem.

X-Reality/Vivid: I don't know, but I couldn't spot a difference with it turned off or on could be just me.

Can't think of anything else, let me know if anyone wants to know about a certain aspect of the ROM.

Battery Drain: NONE, A BIG HAPPY NONE.

No wakelock, with all my apps up and running, there was though on my DCM based setup.

Conclusion:

I am sold, it clean, fast, looks like Stock and is something I can actually use as a daily diver even in the Beta State. After installing this baby, I actually don't feel the need to go back to PA or DarkCM for now, I miss Hover though.

I am still going to test the battery life see how it acts after a day or two of normal usage. Would be trying it with Trinity, and Doomlord's Kernel and the recommended settings to see how far I can push.

Awesome work iHackers, have tried all Stock based ROMs, loved this one.