Root AOSP vs Sense ROMs

[stevcha]

Just curious are Sense ROMs just as fast as AOSP ROMs? Since AOSP ROM's are bare bones so to speak do they offer more performance?

 

[luigic81]

frenchy told me that he thought mikfroyo was about as fast as cynaogenmod. I plan on trying an aosp rom soon (probly CM) just to compare

 

[fortisi876]

I don't know if Quadrant scores are a telltale sign but if it is then I'd say yes. I just posted in another thread that my best ever score on the quadrant app was while on CM6.

 

[wrapkgb]

AOSP will always be faster. The reason is because HTC Sense is coded on top of AOSP, therefore it will preform slow. For instance look at the size of the rom, CM6.1.1 is 76.9mbs and Fresh 3.5 is 205.5mbs. But how much slower? That all depends, with the mikefroyo rom for instance i don't even think you'll be able to tell a difference. So who knows. But AOSP FTW. lol

 

[Beermuny]

Yes, ASOP roms are faster than Sense roms but I doubt you'll be able to notice a big difference, especially if you're using one of the faster sense roms like Myn's Warm or MikFroyo. There are also some optimized turbo stock sense roms out there that are pretty quick. I'm not one to get caught up in quadrant scores, but the ASOP roms do perform better. With that being said, if you use 4g or HDMI out then sense is the only way to go at this point until the devs figure it out. I personally would stick with one of the faster sense roms unless you want to play around with Gingerbread.

 

[akazabam]

Yes, ASOP roms are faster than Sense roms but I doubt you'll be able to notice a big difference, especially if you're using one of the faster sense roms like Myn's Warm or MikFroyo. There are also some optimized turbo stock sense roms out there that are pretty quick. I'm not one to get caught up in quadrant scores, but the ASOP roms do perform better. With that being said, if you use 4g or HDMI out then sense is the only way to go at this point until the devs figure it out. I personally would stick with one of the faster sense roms unless you want to play around with Gingerbread.

Not too long of a wait for 4g:

http://androidforums.com/evo-4g-all-things-root/240177-wimaxx-cm-6-1-a.html
http://androidforums.com/evo-4g-all-things-root/251921-cm6-wimax-alpha-released.html

Otherwise, AOSP will always be faster, but I think a lot of people don't do the proper research before switching, and end up wanting stuff they had with Sense. Sense may be slower, but it's like that because they added some arguably better (and worse) "enhancements".

 

[stevcha]

Yeah, I noticed the quadrant scores are usually higher on AOSP. I tried CM 6.1 awhile back and paired it with one of the Snap kernels. My quadrant scores were a lot higher than any of the Sense ROMS I've had. But to me MikFroyo felt as fast as my previous CM setup. I remember reading that the Snap kernels or CM do a better job at I/O portion of the quadrant test therefore providing higher scores. Is this true?

 

[akazabam]

Yeah, I noticed the quadrant scores are usually higher on AOSP. I tried CM 6.1 awhile back and paired it with one of the Snap kernels. My quadrant scores were a lot higher than any of the Sense ROMS I've had. But to me MikFroyo felt as fast as my previous CM setup. I remember reading that the Snap kernels or CM do a better job at I/O portion of the quadrant test therefore providing higher scores. Is this true?

Yes, that's a good part of it. That is why Quandrant is kind of useless. It can give you an overall idea of performance, but I/O will inflate the scores a lot. A lot of people have reported that certain ROM/kernel combinations feel much smoother than others that get much higher Quadrant scores. Also, you can overclock as much as possible, and it will make things smoother probably, but not affect quadrant scores *that* much. There's just too many factors to make it useful. All it's really good at is comparing is differences in a more controlled environment. For example, you can get a good idea of much faster a kernel is by running a quadrant score using both kernels, but on the exact same ROM, using the exact same governor, etc. Otherwise, you can kind of just forget Quadrant results.

 

[stevcha]

I agree. The scores just give me a baseline idea of how certain roms/kernels run. In the end its all how it feels to me.

 

[wrapkgb]

Yeah, I noticed the quadrant scores are usually higher on AOSP. I tried CM 6.1 awhile back and paired it with one of the Snap kernels. My quadrant scores were a lot higher than any of the Sense ROMS I've had. But to me MikFroyo felt as fast as my previous CM setup. I remember reading that the Snap kernels or CM do a better job at I/O portion of the quadrant test therefore providing higher scores. Is this true?

Snap7.6 is not compatible with CM6.1. Just wait till Snap 9 is released for CM7... it will be blazing fast, no joke.

 

[stevcha]

Snap7.6 is not compatible with CM6.1. Just wait till Snap 9 is released for CM7... it will be blazing fast, no joke.

How do you like CM7? How does it compare to CM6.x?

 

[fortisi876]

^ From what Im seeing myself and reading in various threads it's no where near as stable as CM6.x. A lot of people are having issues with GPS, wifi and obviously no 4G. I just dl'ed what they're calling build #48 and it seems pretty damn cool to be honest.....fast. And I will admit the screen off animation is pretty cool, probably cuz I'm old enough to remember the old tv tubes.....

 

[stevcha]

^ From what Im seeing myself and reading in various threads it's no where near as stable as CM6.x. A lot of people are having issues with GPS, wifi and obviously no 4G. I just dl'ed what they're calling build #48 and it seems pretty damn cool to be honest.....fast. And I will admit the screen off animation is pretty cool, probably cuz I'm old enough to remember the old tv tubes.....

I hope someone ports that screen off animation over to Sense. I definitely remember when TVs did that, lol. Or when TVs didn't have remotes, lol

 

[luigic81]

I've been considering trying CM or a an AOSP for a little bit, and thinking about giving it a whirl here pretty soon.
I have never used the hdmi, and I can count on 1 hand how many times I've used 4g, I live in a 4g area, but the battery drain is terrible, and most of the time I dont need it.
Anything else that you would lose going from sense to AOSP?
All you AOSP lovers out there, what do like most about it?

 

[luigic81]

Also if I plan on trying CM what version should I try? the latest stable? which I think is 6.1.2, or expermental?

 

[luigic81]

Thanks, i thought 6.1. 2 was a stable build.... what would be the last stable build then?

 

[Reallz]

How do you like CM7? How does it compare to CM6.x?

cm7 is nice. it just doent have the kernel support yet.i did get snap 7.6 to work with cm7 the only problem i came across was these weird line in whatever i touched on the screen

 

[nYdGeo]

Not that I will ever knock CM or the fine fellows that develop it, if someone wants to experiement with another really nice Gingerbread ROM compiled from the Google code like CM is, you should look into the Kings GBv10 Ultra Blue HAZE. I've been using it since it was released on Feb 3rd and its very nice.

Not perfect of course, Quadrant scores are in the basement for an AOSP ROM, as I was only able to get 1345 at the max overclock of 1113MHz using the performance governor. But Quadrant scores mean little, and it is smooth, quite stable, and I've had no problems since I locked it to use "Launcher". Nothing wrong with Launcher Pro (also available in the ROM) of course, but on my phone with this ROM it was very quirky. In the current configuration I've been able to use it as a daily driver for the last week.

You can find the link to it over at XDA.

As to the main topic, all in all I prefer a really nice Sense ROM, my current favorites being the Azrael X v4.0 and Calkulin's EViO 2 (current version is v1.8, but I'm still on 1.7.7). However, I still appreciate a nice AOSP ROM, and always have one on my phone.

Thank you for your time.

 

[Mr. Ed]

been playing with cm6 and it's pretty good. wifi gave me some issues for a day or so but I think I ironed that out.

overall I like it, but some of the things I am accustomed to are a chore...like finding kernels that are compatible etc. not much out there for "easy" customizations...

it's cool but I will most likely go back to a sense rom (and remove sense)

 

[Pierceye]

Hello all, first post here! Just chipping in on the discussion. I have tried a few of both since I rooted and have found a few pros and cons for both. AOSP ROMS do seem to operate a little faster, but their visual appeal is still lacking a bit. You end up theming them which to me is fun but a little frustrating. They do offer a big advantage over Sense based ROMS in my experience though. They allow you to configure everything to your liking a bit more simply than a Sense ROM.

The upside to a Sense ROM for me was the polish and the widgets that HTC has built in. Their FriendStream and Calendar widgets are the ones I miss. I say that I miss them because I have been sticking with MIUI pretty much since I found it. The best features are, 1) A weekly update, that does seem to always be adding small improvements. 2) Easy to Theme. It comes with a Theme Manager app built in. This app makes it a piece of cake to find themes and install them. Or even just components of a theme, like icons or boot screen animation. 3) A dedicated development team. These guys are great. I was amazed at the amount of free time that they pour into the ROM.

The only serious con I have found is occasional instability. Random reboots. Still not a big enough problem to make me move on, but worth knowing about.

Overall, it is a matter of personal preference. Get familiar with the backup/restore process and then start flashing! It's an easy process if you follow the guidelines, so try a few of each and see what you like.

 

[rjd728]

Yes, that's a good part of it. That is why Quandrant is kind of useless. It can give you an overall idea of performance, but I/O will inflate the scores a lot. A lot of people have reported that certain ROM/kernel combinations feel much smoother than others that get much higher Quadrant scores. Also, you can overclock as much as possible, and it will make things smoother probably, but not affect quadrant scores *that* much. There's just too many factors to make it useful. All it's really good at is comparing is differences in a more controlled environment. For example, you can get a good idea of much faster a kernel is by running a quadrant score using both kernels, but on the exact same ROM, using the exact same governor, etc. Otherwise, you can kind of just forget Quadrant results.

I agree. CM6 Quadrant scores on my EVO are much higher than MikFroyo, Azrael, Ava or Koni's Elite. However in everyday usage CM6 seems a bit slower in many areas compared to the Sense ROM's. I've done complete wipes and re-flashed to make sure my theory was correct. So I pretty much ignore the Quadrant score altogether. What is more important to me is how fast the phone feels with everyday usage and how fast the 3G upstream/downstream is (test with speed test app from Market). Stability and options are EXTREMELY important to me. I don't care how fast or cool the ROM looks if it force closes and/or crashes. I can do without 4G for now, but clean Bluetooth connectivity, properly functioning SMS/MMS and Voicemail (not Google voice) are a must for me. Now don't get me wrong.....I really like CM AOSP ROMs....and have a Nandroid backup on my phone as we speak. I just don't feel 100% loyal to any ROM at this point until something really blows me away.

 

[andygu3]

Coming from the Hero, AOSP roms were always better, I always felt that the Hero hardware was not always best for the sense overlay. AOSP roms ran so much better, imo.

That said...

With the Evo, I've only tried MIUI. Nice and fast but without 4G, it's pointless for me. At my house, I usually do the most tinkering with the phone, and with solid 4G service, I usually can pull 8-10, with 3G 1-2. So for now, I'm sticking with the Sense roms. With solid 4G service, it's a no-brainer for me

I may try CM7 soon though

 

[Mr. Ed]

just a quick note about quadrants that I ran across while doing my stagefright research...any rom that is using stagefright (2.2+) will typically have an inflated quadrant score..the audio portion of the test errors out and is basically skipped

in some cm roms it is enabled, in others it is disabled... in roms that are enabled it can throw the score off by almost double.

 

[akazabam]

just a quick note about quadrants that I ran across while doing my stagefright research...any rom that is using stagefright (2.2+) will typically have an inflated quadrant score..the audio portion of the test errors out and is basically skipped

in some cm roms it is enabled, in others it is disabled... in roms that are enabled it can throw the score off by almost double.

Thanks for the info. More evidence to the point that these things are just so inaccurate.

 

[novox77]

I've been saying this for a long time, and occasionally, I get flamed for it... but benchmarks are not a good indicator of your phone's performance. Benchmarks don't use your phone the way you use your phone. People can manipulate the phone so that benchmarks score better, but that doesn't mean that manipulation actually benefits you the user in a meaningful way.

A phone's performance is more or less limited by its hardware. Good software helps in reaching the phone's max potential, but the stock software (kernel + OS) is pretty damn good. HTC even fixed the FPS cap.

So back on topic: AOSP may be "faster" than Sense, but what is it faster at? And by how much? Are we talking about smoother screen scrolling? Apps open faster? Web pages load faster? Phone transforms into a jet faster?

Personally, after trying many ROMs and just measuring day-to-day performance based on actual usage, there's not much difference between the various flavors of ROMs out there in terms of "speed." You select a ROM for its features and/or its aesthetics, not so much for its "speed," whatever that means.