Which are the most dev friendly phones?

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toyonut

1508 posts

Uber Geek

#100973 21-Apr-2012 20:53

Just looking to get experiences and ideas on which phones are the easiest to flash, mod and tinker with and have a lot of dev support. HTC seems to do pretty well and so do the high end samsungs including nexus series.
My huawei x5 is only usable because of CM 7.2, but it only has minimal dev support now.
Sony xperias look good, but seem to have temperamental problems with flashing custom roms.
What are everyones experiences with this?

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nzgeek

618 posts

Ultimate Geek

#612978 21-Apr-2012 21:44

I've flashed a number of roms onto my SGS2 and have had no trouble. Samsung are pretty good at releasing their kernel code once they've got official roms coming out, and there's plenty of support from the XDA/Cyanogen comminuty.

It's also a very hard phone to brick. As long as the bootloader is intact, you can plug in a USB jig to get into download mode, and from there you can use the Odin flashing software to install a working firmware.

EvilSteve

232 posts

Master Geek

#612998 21-Apr-2012 22:35

I agree that Galaxy S 2's are fairly trouble free, Im very impatient and generally only read half of the information and installation instructions before flashing mine. Never had an issue that couldnt be fixed by re flashing or chucking in the dongle. I heard that HTC's are good too but that was from a friend that does actually read all the information.

Might be a good idea to check out XDA and see how much activity there is for each type of phone, its not the only place that Devs post their goods but a good sample atleast.

aim

247 posts

Master Geek

#613505 23-Apr-2012 09:14

HTC Desire still going strong... Heaps of dev support. If you'd like dev support high-end HTC/Samsung or a Nexus phone.

dpw

843 posts

Ultimate Geek

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#613524 23-Apr-2012 09:48

aim: HTC Desire still going strong... Heaps of dev support. If you'd like dev support high-end HTC/Samsung or a Nexus phone.

Really? I'm not so sure about that. My main reason for flashing different ROMs is to discover new features and customisations, and perhaps improve performance. These days I feel options for the Desire is drying up - most ROMs are fairly thin customisation/theming on top of existing established ROMs. Some devs seemed to have moved on to better and greener pastures (phones). It's getting harder to find new and relatively innovative features and improvements.

Then again... maybe I'm just hankering for a new phone

. Sorry, this is a bit off-topic.

Back on topic, I have to agree with the Samsung GS-II suggestion - nearly half a dozen colleagues here are happily chopping and changing their ROMs regularly, and finding new cool features with great XDA resources.

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vinnieg

2260 posts

Uber Geek

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#613539 23-Apr-2012 10:14

Vote here for Galaxy S, S2. Both are very easy to flash.

And they have a large amount of roms, I think the GS2 probably has the largest collection of roms of any phone out there

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langers1972

1039 posts

Uber Geek

#613545 23-Apr-2012 10:25

paulmilbank:
My huawei x5 is only usable because of CM 7.2, but it only has minimal dev support now.

Have you tried DZOs Aurora ROM for the X5, based on 4.0.4 and by all accounts it's awesome?

kobiak

1615 posts

Uber Geek

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#613552 23-Apr-2012 10:33

HTC HD2 if I'm not mistaken

number of OS could be installed and running fine including windows mobile, windows phone, android and linux :)

I doubt there are any other devices with such a hardware compatibility.

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vinnieg

2260 posts

Uber Geek

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#613577 23-Apr-2012 11:44

kobiak: HTC HD2 if I'm not mistaken

number of OS could be installed and running fine including windows mobile, windows phone, android and linux :)

I doubt there are any other devices with such a hardware compatibility.

Yeah, completely forgot about the old HD2, that was a winner of a phone!

I have moved across the ditch. Now residing in Melbourne as a VOIP/Video Technical Trainer/Engineer.

toyonut

1508 posts

Uber Geek

#613601 23-Apr-2012 12:08

I think I will probably spring for an sII or maybe the HTC one S for my next phone one day in the future. Certainly CyanogenMod and miui seem to have good support for the galaxy and htc range. I am really liking aosp now, so cyanogenmod and AOKP support is great for me.
Galaxy S is still good, but not a huge advance above my ideos x5 really.
MIUI is nice, but I find some of the theming inconsistant so you end up with white text on white backgrounds in some places which is annoying.

Have not tried Aurora rom yet as it requires upgrading the phone to 2.3.5 official. Will try when Blefish gets his 3.0 kernel and CM9 up and running in a week or 2 I think.

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mwilcox

119 posts

Master Geek

#613657 23-Apr-2012 13:53

Nexus devices are generally the best dev devices as they are stock android.. Galaxy Nexus is also cheaper than the S2 now ($657 from expert infotech)

CdTDroiD

869 posts

Ultimate Geek

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#613749 23-Apr-2012 15:40

Most of the HTC's are probably best when it comes to ease. As the above comments the HTC Desire and the HTC HD2 are still very highly active when it comes to development. Most of the new HTC's are fine when it comes to ease also.

Samsung would be second IMO, still easy to tinker with but can be very temperamental if something goes wrong in ODIN or the user flashes the wrong thing. Its much easier to brick a Samsung device than an HTC device, but still like i said as long as you read a few guides not just take the first one and flash away you will be fine.

Still i think the HTC HD2 is probably the best to muck around with, you can do pretty much anything you want with it, and gives you endless choices. Cant go wrong there.

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CdTDroiD

869 posts

Ultimate Geek

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#613750 23-Apr-2012 15:41

mwilcox: Nexus devices are generally the best dev devices as they are stock android.. Galaxy Nexus is also cheaper than the S2 now ($657 from expert infotech)

Wouldn't agree there, Nexus is stuck with AOSP so you cant flash any other type of ROM... which limits your exploration somewhat. Still good but not if your looking to hack and mod.

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CdTDroiD

869 posts

Ultimate Geek

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#613753 23-Apr-2012 15:43

paulmilbank: I think I will probably spring for an sII or maybe the HTC one S for my next phone one day in the future. Certainly CyanogenMod and miui seem to have good support for the galaxy and htc range. I am really liking aosp now, so cyanogenmod and AOKP support is great for me.
Galaxy S is still good, but not a huge advance above my ideos x5 really.
MIUI is nice, but I find some of the theming inconsistant so you end up with white text on white backgrounds in some places which is annoying.

Have not tried Aurora rom yet as it requires upgrading the phone to 2.3.5 official. Will try when Blefish gets his 3.0 kernel and CM9 up and running in a week or 2 I think.

S2 is an awesome phone, really lasting the test of time against other devices. Honestly i would still struggle to say the HTC One X is better than the S2, it probably would be but not by much.

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toyonut

1508 posts

Uber Geek

#613761 23-Apr-2012 15:49

Certainly not in battery life and day to day usability from the sounds of it, seems galaxy s2 is very good overall even if it is not the fastest any more. It is all for interests sake for now, not going to be upgrading too soon but good to know which phones are well supported when buying an android.

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