Back in November of last year, we discussed how Android 9 Pie on the OnePlus 6 differed from that on the Pixel 2 XL, which can be regarded as nearly stock AOSP. While there might be little to no difference at first glance, a closer look reveals that such a claim couldn’t be more wrong. Not only does OxygenOS offer more features that enrich the functionality of the phone, but it does also have some noticeable design alterations. This lightly-skinned version of Android Pie might appeal to the overwhelming majority of users. However, quite a lot of the tech-enthusiasts feel like being left in the dark following this mindset transition, myself considered. So what is it that makes the die-hard custom ROM enthusiasts dump OxygenOS in a heartbeat and flash a custom ROM on their phones? Well, without further ado, let’s dive in and find out.
Ram management
We begin with one of the biggest complaints that might be considered a deal-breaker even for the average consumers. It’s really quite ironic that RAM management is considered a big issue on a device that ships with 6GB of RAM as a minimum spec. Adding more fuel to the fire, this issue has plagued previous OnePlus devices, more specifically when the OnePlus 5 and 5T were updated to Oreo, yet this critical issue remains unresolved. I can’t mention how many times I had to rack my brains to remember where did I pause the last podcast or video on YouTube before it eventually got axed. Not to mention how many notifications have been delayed due to OnePlus’ overzealous battery conserving tactics that are forcibly enabled by default.
Even worse, you can’t really disable OnePlus’ so-called deep battery optimization since it gets reset every time you reboot the phone. It’s funny how my old HTC One M9 with only 3 gigs of RAM effortlessly kept 3 games locked in RAM without stuttering, and they were quite resource-intensive. Whereas, my OnePlus 6, with more than double the RAM, struggles to keep YouTube in RAM. In fact, OnePlus is the second worst OEM in this category. On custom ROMs, though, (AOSiP in my case) all 8 gigs of RAM are at my disposal at any time.
UX Performance
It’s an undeniable fact that the OnePlus 6 has more than enough of firepower at disposal. The Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 SoC might be regarded as an incremental upgrade over its predecessor. But that doesn’t change the fact that the OnePlus 6 is more than capable of powering through any apps with no hiccups. Sadly though, speed does not necessarily translate to a more convenient and fluid UI. Occasionally throughout my usage, OxygenOS tends to drop a couple of frames here and there. The quick nature of the system animations doesn’t help either. On the other hand, custom ROMs do not mess about with the default animation scale, complimenting the whole UI and making the whole experience a lot more convenient and enjoyable.
In all fairness, though, not everyone would pick the default, relatively slower animation scaling over OnePlus’ snappier system animations. After all, the OnePlus 6 was marketed specifically around speed and this linear animation scaling massively helps them with that. Giving the user the option to choose between both scalings would be highly appreciated.
Battery life
Before getting on with my rant, I have to confess that I might be nitpicking at this point. The OnePlus 6’s battery life out of the box was not what I would deem outright bad, even though it was slightly worse than the battery life of its predecessor. I never found my phone beeping at me on my way home at the end of my day, nor did I find my phone’s battery has died on me while on my commute in the busy roads. But that was my absolute limit where if I stretched it a bit further, I risk missing on my social life unless I plug it in for a quick top-up. And of course, this means carrying around the proprietary OnePlus charging brick and cable to make sure I get the fastest charging rate.
That seems to be not the case when I switched to custom ROMs. On AOSiP, the OnePlus 6 had no troubles lasting through my usual 16-hour workday with enough juice to spare for a couple of hours of usage. It’s not like custom ROMs will transform your phone into a 2-day endurance champion—I don’t find myself so confident starting my day with only 30% left. But custom ROMs restored my old routine when I used to rock a OnePlus 5T as my daily driver. I can use my phone all day long, without packing in the charger just in case, knowing that I can fully brim my phone’s battery the next day in the morning while having my breakfast before hitting the road.
Security
OnePlus might be among the quickest manufacturers to update its phones to the latest version of Android. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said about the company when it comes to updating their phones to the latest security patch. At least this seems to be the case with the stable branch. At the time this was written, AOSiP has been updated with the latest March security patch while the latest OxygenOS 9.0.4 has the January security patch. In all fairness, though, the latest Open Beta 14 version updates the phone to the latest security patch. But then, you have to possibly compromise on the phone’s stability to get the latest security patch on OxygenOS.
That would have been absolutely fine a couple of years ago when OnePlus was a fresh start-up company that majorly appealed to the tech enthusiasts. Nowadays, though, where anyone can buy a brand new OnePlus 6T in the stores in the US, OnePlus is not mainly geared towards the tech enthusiasts exclusively as it used to be before. And this might be a concern for a great part of their customers.
Sweet Jesus! It’s time to wave goodbye to OxygenOS then!
Not quite. Flashing a custom ROM is not all roses; there are some caveats to deal with. For starters, you lose a great deal of the nifty features you can find in OxygenOS. Gaming Do Not Disturb Mode and OnePlus’ fullscreen navigation gestures were remarkable omissions. The latter was not something I have missed that much after installing Fluid Nav Gestures on my phone. I still miss the smooth app launching and switching animations OnePlus adopted, though. And while Gcam ports have arguably improved the quality of the photos taken by my phone, I did not come across a single version where I can record 60fps videos, whether at 1080p or 4K resolution.
Then there is the matter of choosing the right custom ROM for your needs. The OnePlus 6 forum on XDA is flooded with loads of custom ROMs that will most probably leave you spoilt for choice. I have chosen AOSiP personally since it has the most features you can get while maintaining a good record on the stability front. There are other ROMs out there that focus on other aspects of the experience. And when you find the ROM that floats your boat, you have to be careful when flashing it on your phone. In some cases, formatting your phone might be necessary.
The Verdict
In the end, it all boils down to your personal preference. It’s all a matter of finding the best compromise for your usage pattern. If you are not annoyed by any of the mentioned quirks and value the improvements listed above, then you might want to follow suit. However, if you think I was talking nonsense for the past couple of minutes, then flashing a custom ROM will probably not get your ringtone singing.
Featured-Image: Android Central
