We’re only a couple of days away from the official unveiling of the OnePlus 2, but leaked pictures of the highly anticipated device have already given us a pretty good idea of what to expect. We reported on the leaked pictures earlier this week, and initial impressions from the community mostly seemed pretty mixed. What do you think? Are you impressed with the design? Let us know in the comments below.
All ZenFone 2 models offer some of the best bang-per-buck ratios available today, but this didn’t stretch past the hardware. ASUS’ ZenUI has enough going for it, but the general consensus is very clear. When I originally reviewed the ZenFone 2, I was one of those who complained about its nonsensical bloatware among other pointless decisions that kept the software down. ZenUI was no Stock Android, but now we have another solution.
CM12.1 was reported to come to the ZenFone 2, but you don’t have to wait too long to get a taste of it. The ZenFone 2 already has an unofficial version making rounds, and it gives us a glimpse of what’s coming for those who jumped into the purchase despite the phone’s stock software and development complications. I’ve been test driving a build of CM12.1 on the ZenFone 2 for a day, and I’ve come to some good conclusions. Mainly, that this is close to what the ZenFone 2 should have provided off-the-bat. Before jumpting into that, here you will find the resources you need to make it happen for your device:
The installation follows standard flashing procedure, and you can find out how to get there in our forums. It’s as straightforward as you would expect, and with the simplified tools provided, unlocking the phone and installing a custom recovery shouldn’t take you long:
Once you load up the ROM, make sure to install an x86-compatible GApps package if you want Google apps and services. This is one that worked for me, courtesy of XDA Senior Member deadman96385.
Disclaimer: This ROM is in development and an unofficial release as of yet, so some bugs are to be expected and encountered. The version I tried was not the one listed in the forums, but rather one provided yesterday at r/ZenFone2. This is not meant to be a review of CyanogenMod 12.1 nor this particular release, but rather initial impressions of the UX of an early AOSP-based ROM on the ZenFone 2.
Onto the ROM itself: on a first boot, I immediately realized just how much more vibrant the screen seemed. This is not just because of the base theme having a much more gracious color palette than ZenUI’s default, but also because the screen can seemingly get dimmer and brighter. The ZenFone 2’s ZenUI had a limit in maximum brightness, which could be upped through third party software. This ROM, however, seemingly allows for the maximum from the get go. Dynamic contrast and content adaptive backlighting (CABC) is also seemingly missing, as jumping from all-black to all-white screens does not produce a jarring change in brightness. The Material Design color palette compliments the ZenFone 2’s LCD display much better than the stock aesthetics of ZenUI do, and I believe this is a change you will notice on the first boot.
As for the UI, this is just what you would expect out of CyanogenMod 12.1. All its material goodness remains, and it runs like a dream on this hardware. The theme engine works as well, and given that the ZenUI theme engine was so lacking, this is good news for all customization lovers out there. For all its bloat, the ZenUI did a very good job in terms of performance. CyanogenMod 12.1 does not seem to be much faster per se (in terms of opening applications), but it does feel much more lightweight and responsive in most areas (except for the Trebuchet Launcher’s drawer, but that can be easily replaced). Firing applications is handled graciously without stutters nor slowdowns, and multitasking is as speedy as an Android device should handle it. Benchmarks do not show significant variations, but I haven’t done a serious round of testing yet. What matters the most is that the user experience is now more straightforward than ever.
The tested build had no bloat, which is a stark contrast to my first reaction to the ZenUI. I have been used to CyanogenMod ROMs for a while, but to see such a clean experience on this particular device is refreshing. The fact that this is running on x86 hardware seems to have no detriment to the actual user experience apart from the odd bug or incompatibility, which the stock ZenUI ROM had plenty of anyway. Something I noticed is that gaming performance seems to be a little worse than it was before, and 3D games like Asphalt showed stuttering I had not encountered on ZenUI. But remember, this is an early, unofficial build. This being said, I tried using Gamebench to confirm this by measuring frames-per-second on two separate occasions, but both ended up with a reboot. This leads me to the bugs:
What I tested is not a perfect ROM, and I’ve found many little issues with it. This was to be expected, however, given this is an early, unofficial release meant for beta testing. Among some issues, I’ve had the System UI crash on me entirely during a call, the default camera app crashing whenever I switch to the front camera, and a couple of inconsistencies in the status bar. Despite this, I am enjoying the ROM because it brings the experience much closer to what many believe the ZenFone 2 should have originally offered. Performance is top notch, RAM management is as great as ever. However, while the stock ROM’s camera post-processing kept image quality down, the lack ASUS’s custom camera software seems to have dragged it down further. This was expected, as it’s something typical of AOSP-based ROMs on devices that come with OEM ROMs (such as Samsung devices).
A final note on battery life: a complaint I’ve had with the ZenFone 2 on its stock ROM was inconsistent battery life. Given that I have only been test driving the early CM12.1 ROM for a day, I don’t have many samples to show and no conclusive statements to make. The overnight drain sample here should not be taken as an absolute, and while disappointing, we must remember this is an unofficial beta. I haven’t gotten around to measuring the temperature in serious testing yet, but the device does seem to be all-around warmer during regular usage.
Overall, this is much closer to what the ZenFone 2 should have been. Developing for this platform might not be as easy as it is for the more mainstream devices and the standard ARM processors, but despite this, in a short amount of time we’ve achieved a lot. It wasn’t long ago when a bootloader unlock method was found within our forums, and before we even had a review up, there already were ways to root the phone, install TWRP and have Xposed up and running as well. Running a CyanogenMod ROM in this device opens up a lot of possibilities. If you had been considering the ZenFone 2, this should be good news. If you have it, I strongly suggest you try this out, because it might just make you very excited for what’s to come.
We will keep you updated on any interesting findings and developments regarding the ZenFone 2’s new-found ROM scene.
Are you excited for these new developments for the ZenFone 2? Let us know!
Note: We seem to have some trouble with our image previews/thumbnails right now, please excuse the slight pixelation!
Pictures of the up coming OnePlus 2 have been released. That and much more news is covered by Jordan when he reviews all the important stories from this week. Included in this week’s news is the announcement of CyanogenMod 12.1 for the HTC One M9 and be sure to check out the article talking about the rooting of the Alcatel Idol 3. That’s not all that’s covered in today’s video!
Jordan talks about the other videos released this week on XDA TV. XDA TV Producer TK released an Xposed Tuesday video covering Action Widgets. Then TK held a showdown between Hound and Google Now. Also, TK gave us an app review of Boldbeast. Pull up a chair and check out this video.
Be sure to check out other great XDA TV Videos
Check out Jordan’s YouTube Channel and Jordan’s Gaming YouTube Channel
Nuclear UI is a slick new Material Design-inspired theme for CyanogenMod 12/12.1 by XDA forum user mastero9017. It’s fully featured, including sounds, fonts, and themes for over 42 apps, and it comes in more than a half-dozen colors. Check it out!
The 78Blue theme uses accents and shades of blue with white as the primary background to give you a refreshing and visually “cool” look on your phone. The theme also features themed icons, with the dev keen on adding more in future updates.
As we build up for the second half of 2015, we get to see more and more of the surprises that OEM’s have in store for their customers, courtesy of both professional and amateur leakers who get their hands on unreleased test devices.
The latest device, or devices in this case, come from the stables of Samsung, who is riding high after the success of its Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge lineup. Praised highly for their design, it should come as no surprise that Samsung is going to stick with what worked magic on the market.
First up, the Galaxy S6 Edge+ gets photographed. If you have seen a Galaxy S6 Edge, you will instantly recognize the S6 Edge+.
While the images are low quality, they give us a good idea that nothing much would be changing as far the Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge Plus is concerned. The “Plus” is simply an enlarged version of the S6 Edge, design wise, featuring the same curved display and a fingerprint scanner home button on the front. Even the position of the front sensors and camera remain unchanged, so it would be a safe guess that the back of the device will also follow along identically on the lines of the Galaxy S6 Edge.
The leaked images also mention that the Galaxy S6 Edge Plus will bear the model number SM-G928A and will come with atleast Android 5.1.1 out of the box.
Moving on to the Galaxy Note 5, the front of the device features very thin side bezels, and a slightly larger fingerprint scanner than what was present on the Galaxy Note 4. The front sensors have also been repositioned, with the front camera moving away from the corner of the device, towards the center.
The interesting part of the Galaxy Note 5 is the back panel as well as the frame of the device, as it is still guesswork on what path Samsung chooses to embark upon for its Note lineup. Unfortunately, these and the S Pen design were not included in the leak. The images of the leak were of rather low quality too, leaving little scope of further speculation based on them, albeit the Note 5 is rumored to be more closer to the S6 in terms of its design rather than the Note 4.
Nonetheless, we can cross our fingers on getting more clearer photos of actual demo units of these devices before their official launch. Let us know your thoughts on these images in the comments below!
LG enjoyed moderate success with its flexible 6-inch G Flex, enough to invest in this year’s successor, the G Flex 2. This confidence has been reflected in the company’s insistence that flexible smartphones will make up 40% of the market share in 2018, and now more firmly in its newly announced flexible display factory.
Despite the phone itself initially suffering from issues with performance due to poorly optimized software and its now infamous processor, the design principles of the Flex 2 are logical and have some distinct advantages. These include ergonomic improvements like making the top of a large display slightly easier to reach and having the phone fit the face and hand more naturally, as well as physical gains in the durability of the screen and handset as a whole (see The State of Smartphone Design for more details). As much as curved screens are becoming more popular however, fully flexible devices are yet to fully hit the mainstream.
LG has made its intentions clear in this respect; they still agree with their previous projections, and have put 1.05 trillion Won ($907 million) towards the construction of a new plant dedicated to the production of flexible displays. This outlay is set to begin in the third quarter of this year, for over two years, and is specifically funded by LG’s ‘LG Display’ off-shoot, who are one of the world’s top two screen manufacturers along with Samsung Display Co. Of course there is more to a flexible phone than the display, like ensuring circuit boards and batteries have room to move over one another, but considering that the average user’s attention is almost wholly focussed on the screen, poor quality in this department can affect the experience hugely and cripple a device’s chance at success.
It looks as if this investment is also geared in the direction of the introduction of foldable (or rollable) displays which is good for driving innovation within the industry as a whole, especially considering that LG Display provides hardware for other OEMS. However, an important part of owning a dedicated production line for flexible displays is increasing the yield and quality of said components. This could contribute greatly to the uptake of this kind of device, as consumers of previous examples have experienced issues in this area, with threads here at XDA dedicated to the evidence. Ultimately though, this move from LG should inspire confidence amongst fans of the form factor, and leaves us hopeful for what we’ll see over the coming years from the South Korean giant.
Do you think flexible displays are the future of the mobile world? Let us know in the comments below.
