FoxHound
FoxHound is a Samsung ROM specific to the
Galaxy S3, which is based on the latest stable Jelly Bean sources. It offers
you the latest and best, along with proprietary features like pop-up play,
smart stay, etc. Also, as opposed to AOSP ROMs – Bluetooth, NFC, TV-Out, Dock,
etc, work flawlessly. However, its most important feature is the Aroma
installer, which provides installation options like what you see while
installing an operating system on your computer, where you can choose each and
every component and application that you want to install on your ROM. You have
the freedom to choose from different launchers, kernels, mods, keyboards,
themes, etc.
ParanoidAndroid
This
particular ROM lets you turn your phone into a mini tablet
Paranoid Android is another marvel based on
CyanogenMod 10, that makes you thank the Android ecosystem for all the
customisability it provides in modding your devices. This particular ROM lets
you turn your phone into a mini tablet, and allows you to run selective apps as
if they are running on a tablet. This, for example, gives you the benefit of
the split-column view in the email app. It does this with the help of per-app
DPI adjustment, along with a colour scheme adjustment according to the most
prominent colour in the app. Apart from this, it provides the usual
customisation features that CyanogenMod does. The support seems to be equally
good, with a dedicated forum and chat page to communicate with the development
team.
Slim Bean
Slim Bean is a ROM compiled and built from
scratch, right from the AOSP code. It also incorporates all the important
customised features from CyanogenMod, AOKP and CNd. This includes minor
features like User Agent Switcher and Quiet Hours to mute notification sounds,
profiles, performance tweaks, etc.
JellyBam
JellyBam
is one of those ROMs that offers you the best of all features
JellyBam is one of those ROMs that offers you
the best of all features. It mixes everything from AOKP, CyanogenMod and
ParanoidAndroid to offer you everything in one single ROM. It also comes with
many performance enhancements, along with many mods, and YouTube HD support.
The Omega ROM series
Omega ROM is also one of the popular ROMs
developed by Indie, and is based on Samsung firmware. It offers built-in
features like BusyBox, init.dsupport, Aroma installer, and Google Apps from
Android 4.2 on ROM Android version 4.1.2. As usual, it also adds a lot of mods
and tweaks after removing the bloatware.
AOKP
AOKP
is another popular ROM for Android
AOKP, or Android Open Kang Project, is
another popular ROM for Android. It offers innumerable tweaks and
configurations and has much more mods, tweaks and customization options than
CyanogenMod. The difference also lies in the layout and development philosophy.
One needs to try both in order to form an opinion on which
suits you better.
UltimaROM
UltimaROM offers the standard Aroma Installer
with multiple options, and a bloatware remover. It comes with everything themed
in blue, even the default Google Apps like Play Store, YouTube and Gmail.
WanamLite
WanamLite
is a Samsung ROM based on the JellyBean update
WanamLite is a Samsung ROM based on the
JellyBean update, which offers better battery life and removes all the bloat,
whilst providing customizations like call recording, 15 toggle buttons on the
notification screen, and most importantly, a lower OS footprint, with the ROM
taking up much less space in internal memory as well as
RAM. In short, if you want better battery life, more free RAM, and an overall
snappy experience with a de-bloated Samsung-based ROM, WanamLite is for you.
There are many more ROMs that might be
equally popular, but since we are doing a ‘Top 10’ here, I'll restrict my
choice to these. Usually, if you ask experts on where to start with a good ROM,
most reply with a “Depends on your preferences…” kind of answer and that makes life much more difficult for people who don't know
where and what to look for. However, you should note that it is very difficult
to point out which ROM is the best for your particular device. What's more,
sometimes it even becomes difficult to differentiate between two popular ROMs,
because they look very similar on the outside, and the features available are
not too different from each other. Even if you don't find a particular feature
in your ROM, you'll find that it is very easy to customise and add new
functionality on a rooted Android device, if you know how to go about it!
