Knowing @Faryaab and his previous work on F1 Galaxy Nexus, I knew that Super Nexus was going to showcase what he does best - a raw Android experience. Super Nexus does just that and offers Jelly Bean on a buttery platter. For an early release, the Super Nexus is an impressive custom JB ROM.
Version reviewed in this post: Super Nexus BUILD 2
Build date: 08-11-2012
Developer: Faryaab of XDA Forum
Original XDA thread here
Pros
- What works: WiFi, Camera, Video Recording, GPS
- Stable. Force closes are very rare. Most FCs are due to an app's incompatibility with Jelly Bean and therefore the app developer's fault (not Faryaab). On that note, I say "screw you Gameloft."
- Good battery life. My phone lasted approximately 1 day 6 hours on light use and 15 hours 22 minutes on light to moderate use.**
- Real slick. Everything loads fast - even the Gallery.
- Features all the Jelly Bean goodies such as Google Now and a much-improved notification system. In case you're wondering, they work smoothly on Super Nexus.
- Light-weight and bloatware-free.
- Clean UI. More professional looking than Ice Cream Sandwich.
Cons
- Bug: Gallery app sometimes force closes while being used by other applications (see Gallery below for more info)
- No toggle shortcuts on the Notifications Drawer. This is the drawback of aiming for a vanilla Jelly Bean experience.
- Non-resizable widgets. Maybe I just got used to Apex Launcher?
- You can't change the lock screen wallpaper. Whatever the home screen has, the lock screen gets.
OVERVIEW
Lock screen
- Access shortcuts to the Camera app (left), Google Voice Search (top), and phone unlock (right).
- Notifications Drawer drops down from here.
Home screen and dock
- Smooth scrolling. No lags whatsoever.
- Place apps on top of each other to instantly create folders. Each folder can hold up to 16 applications. Folders can be renamed.
- Change wallpaper from home screen.
- Widgets are non-resizable.
- Place folders on the dock bar. With space for four folders, that means the dock can hold a maximum of 64 apps!
Notifications Drawer
- Displays time, day of the week, and date.
- Shortcut to system settings.
- Swipe to individually remove notifications.
- Clear all notifications in one click.
- Displays preview of emails and messages.
- Shows Google Now cards.
- Missed calls have shortcuts to call back or reply with a message.
- Access app info by giving the notification a long press. Useful for identifying source of spam notifications.
Recent Apps View
- No task manager.
- Swipe to remove an app from the list.
App Drawer
- Apps and Widgets found in separate tabs.
- Shortcut to Play Store (upper right)
- Smooth scrolling.
Messaging, Contacts, and Phone Dialer
Camera
- Shortcut to Gallery.
- Flash: Auto, On, Off
- Adjust White Balance, ISO, Exposure, Scene Modes, Focus Mode, and picture size
- Apply color effects: Aqua, Negative, Sepa, Mono
Gallery
- Bug: FC's while being used by another app. Like when viewing the Gallery from the Camera app, editing photos, or setting a gallery photo as a wallpaper. Happened to me on all three occasions and it doesn't happen instantly. Takes a few seconds before it does.
- Loads fast.
- Has shortcut to camera app (upper right).
- Play photos in slideshow.
- Share photos individually and by group. Remembers the app you last shared photos with.
- Change orientation and crop photos.
- Set picture as.
- Edit photos in photo editor (see Other Applications below for more info.)
Music
- When playing music, it shows up as shortcut on Notifications Drawer. Sadly, the notification shortcut doesn't have music controls.
- Party Shuffle.
- Add to playlist.
- Delete songs from your phone/memory.
- Adjust sound effects.
- Set music as ring tone.
Internet Browser
- Automatically signs in to your Google account. Syncs saved bookmarks.
- Swipe to remove open page from tabs view.
Other Applications
Google Now. Brings up cards displaying information on weather, traffic, public transit, flights, sports, calendar appointments, translations, currency, time at home (when traveling to a different time zone), and nearby places that may interest you.
Voice Search. Perform actions with the right commands. Search your phone or the web for apps, images, and more!
Galaxy S II Settings
- Configure radio. Choose from UMTS only, HSDPA only, and HSDPA + HSUPA
- Adjust screen. Change colors, touchscreen sensitivity, and enable/disable backlit keys
- Calibrate sensors.
- Set vibration intensity of haptic feedback.
- Enable/disable passive audio out on dock.
Photo Editor. Can only be accessed from Gallery. Lets you apply an assortment of photo filters (with adjustable intensities).
News & Weather. Brings you updated weather and news reports based on location.
Thanks for your post, it made me try SuperNexus on my SGS2 and I'm very impressed. I'm looking for some mods to add toggle shortcuts on notification bar and screenshot shortcut, so I have 2 questions: Would you recommend me to try other ROM or to look for compatible mods to flash? and how to know if a mod is compatible with this ROM? I guess any AOSP based mod would work but I'm not sure.
ReplyDelete@Pablo: To be honest, I haven't tried modding before. So I can't say if mods will or will not work on a certain ROM. I don't want to give advice based on the Internet either because I haven't experienced it myself. What I do is switch between ROMs to find one that suits my needs.
ReplyDeleteNow about the mod. Try contacting @Faryaab on Twitter about it. Hopefully he responds :) He would be the best person to talk to in your case.