Review Of Westcrip's Resurrection ICS Remix ROM v9.0 Ultimate

If you fancy the idea of CM9 + Touchwiz, this is the ROM for you.

No Touchwiz here though.

Just the clean Ice Cream Sandwich interface. Only Samsung's functionality is added into the Resurrection ICS Remix ROM v9.0 Ultimate by @westcrip.


I have to be honest. Seconds after rebooting the phone I got confused with the language used. It's not English and when you type with the keyboard, letters are all wrong. I kept pressing 'A' but the letter 'S' kept showing up on the screen. Once you get past that however, you can change the language to English and be able to set your Google Account from there. All this will take place before you will be taken to the homescreen.


Pros & What Works

• What works: WiFi, 3G, bluetooth, face unlock, camera, video capture and playback (even YouTube), messages, calls, music player, loudspeaker, autorotate, pretty much everything.
• Most stable ICS ROM I've tried. No force closes, phone heating up, or freezing.
• No random reboots.
• Battery drain is average - the typical Android which easily drains when you stay on the internet for too long, enjoy playing games, and text or call a lot.
• Power button gives access to: Volume mode, data connection, flight mode, power off, and restart.
• Choose between two launchers: Trebuchet (as used in CM9) and Nova Launcher.
• Stock Samsung apps are present - AllShare, Calculator, Gallery, Mini Diary, My Files, Music Player, News & Weather, Polaris Office, Task Manager, etc. (see screenshots below)
• You have two apps each for Gallery, Music Player, and Internet Browser - which I think is an advantage. You can choose to use stock Samsung apps off these two or their Google ICS counterparts. (see screenshots below)
• Revamped notifications bar. Now gives access to: Data, Flashlight, and WiFi Hotspot along with WiFi, Data, Bluetooth, and GPS.
• In homescreen, place apps on top of each other to group them in a folder (the similar way it is done with iOS). Folders can be renamed too.
• ICS apps drawer.
• Both music players give access to controls from notifications bar. However, Samsung Music Player has an advantage - music controls also appear on lockscreen just like in the XXLPB leak released by Sammobile :)
• 3D games run smoothly. Never encountered any lags or freezing.
• There's a pre-installed mp3 downloading app :D It works and it's fast too!

Cons & Bugs

• No access to settings from notifications bar (like in CM9)
• While using the flashlight for a few seconds, your phone will turn off.
• Reboot option from power button doesn't work. Your phone just turns off.

Verdict

Westcrip's Resurrection ICS Remix ROM v9.0 is by far the most stable ROM I've tried with an ICS build. Because the most recent ICS leaks for SGS2 are still buggy and unstable, Westcrip managed to cover up their flaws by incorporating Samsung's functionality into his ROM. It's definitely a keeper.

For installation guides and downloads, please refer to the original XDA thread until I am able to come up with my own installation guide :) Don't forget to donate to him!

Screenshots