Most battery-friendly 4.3 - 4.4 AOSP/CM ROM?


Mavamaarten

Members
Jan 26, 2013
74
18
Hello everyone.

I have been looking for the most battery-friendly ROM to use on my phone. I'm getting a smartwatch soon (Pebble Steel, woohoo!) so I'll be needing the battery to last a long time.
I have tried a lot or ROM's, but not all of them, so I'm looking for other people's experience with ROMS.

ROM's I have tried so far:
• CM10.2 Android 4.3 by Cofface (my daily driver, pretty good battery life but Google Services drains a lot of my battery here)
• CM10.2 Android 4.3 by M1cha (same as above, but for some reason the Cofface build seems to have less battery usage and I found it to be a little more stable)
• CYNGN 11 Android 4.4 by M1cha & Linuxx (Battery life is not so great, but performance is. My biggest drawback from this ROM is that it freezes quite often)
• CM11.0 Android 4.4 by Cofface (Couldn't get this rom to boot, or get past the lockscreen. It just freezes there, or reboots at the bootscreen)
• MIUIandroid, latest version (Battery life is great, but I don't like MIUI, I really prefer AOSP look and feel).
• Xiaomi AOSP 4.1 (Battery life is great, but 4.1 is so old. I really want 4.3 or higher)

So, what do you guys recommend for a good battery life? I am aware of WIUI, but I don't like MIUI.
 
Its exactly same as cyanogen mod :/ maybe you mean old 2.3 build? the first thing you want to do maybe, its to deactivate the animation while scrolling un settings ( look around, there is some settings animation control)

Inviato dal mio MI 2S utilizzando Tapatalk
 
Its exactly same as cyanogen mod :/ maybe you mean old 2.3 build? the first thing you want to do maybe, its to deactivate the animation while scrolling un settings ( look around, there is some settings animation control)

Oh wow, you're right. I googled "Mokee OS Screenshot" because there were no screenshots in the thread. I found weirdly themed screenshots so assumed that Mokee OS looked like that. So far I'm digging it, I'll edit my original post with my findings :)
 
Hi, I am sorry, i will take back my words... Mokee's latest ROM is not at all so good for me.
 
Hi, I am sorry, i will take back my words... Mokee's latest ROM is not at all so good for me.

Last week I was testing Mokee 2014-01-23 and the results are very interesting.
4 hours of screen
Playing Real Racing 3 without lag, crash etc.
And listening some music at night with the remaning battery
Drain about 1% per hour (give or take)
 
Mokee 44.2 has best battery life. Deep sleep drain about 1% per hour, which I'd rate as excellent. 3g is broken for me though.
 
Too much battery drain for me. In 6 hours, from 73% to 24% with just 2 time turned the screen on for 5 mins & no calls or videos / camera & as usual for me wifi & gps off here.
I feel it is too much. Hence i changed back to Flying ROM from chinese & using Redmaner's 009 Kernel. I must tell you it is having the best combination for best battery life for me..
I am loving it....
 
Mokee 44.2 has best battery life. Deep sleep drain about 1% per hour, which I'd rate as excellent. 3g is broken for me though.

EDIT: It turns out that the settings had to be entered manually. 3g works fine now. First time I had to do this on a rom.
 
http://xiaomi.eu/community/threads/...-with-download-links-update-17-12-2013.22873/

That thread is about the same, conclusion:
The most stable rom is QDT14 from Xiaomi, here is how I use my phone with Xposed framework
and some other minor changes to get the Cyanogen options back:
I'm using this rom, official Xiaomi Rom QDT14 (Vanilla Android 4.1.1):
http://bigota.d.miui.com/QDT14/miui_NativeMI2_QDT14_44bd255a2d_4.1.zip
Found here:
http://en.miui.com/thread-1885-1-1.html

Actually I use a slightly edited version which you should use instead because of less bloatware
and way better camera!! I've uploaded it for you on my Google Drive so you can choose yourself:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B0H81qsvg-aNX0JKYW8tVEllYWM/edit?usp=sharing
(M1chaa also edited this rom its on the forum here somewhere... that one has no bloatware and
is already rooted, so its better! hehe)
Here is the thread where you can find M1cha's version.
http://xiaomi.eu/community/threads/2013-06-29-aosp-4-1-1-qdt14.20990/

Flash it with CWM, then flash Gapps, I use CM10.0.x Gapps found here:
http://goo.im/gapps
http://goo.im/gapps/gapps-jb-20121011-signed.zip
After flash, CWM asks if you want to flash new boot, you dont want that, you want to keep CWM I guess.

Then I install Apex Launcher and set it up the way I like it.

I install Google Keyboard found here(So I have my own language when typing):
http://d-h.st/hSX

(This step is not needed when you use M1cha's rom, it has root already)
I use the app framaroot.apk to root the device, look here (Select Gandalf and the app will install SuperSU):
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2130276

Then I use Xposed Framework:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1574401

With Xposed Framework I use Gravity box to get back CM functionality, lots of things are there, just not the android 4.2+ Quicksetting toggles, just search for "Gravity box" in Xposed apps download selection.

I use intelli3g, another Xposed Module, to let my phone automaticly switch to 2G when in
standby which saves a lot of battery, when you unlock the screen it automaticly switches on to 3G...
there is a lot of other options. Just look at it:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.voidvapps.intelli3g
Here is a thread about this app:
http://xiaomi.eu/community/threads/battery-saving-automaticly-switch-2g-2g-3g.23334/

You could also use MiCore for undervolting and downclocking but I do not need it as I get amazing battery life!

Edit:
I'm using this for more then 2 months now and it is fantastic.
You can put the phone in "battery saving mode" but I found out it does not make a big
difference in battery life, but it does make a difference in overall smoothness/responsiveness of
the phone so from now on I'm using "normal power mode" and it works even better :D

Some tip I got from, I believe it was Paulrlzz, if you want theme support like in CM use this.
XDA XthemeEngine

And here is how to port CM themes to this Xthemer:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2504371

And for all the KitKat fans, use this theme:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2545932

I found out XthemeEngine did not work on my phone unless I flashed it as a system app, it still gives an error
when opening the module, but when I click outside of the confirmation box the app works...
So here is a .rar file with, XthemeEngine which is you can flash, this way it will work,
Framaroot.apk, GoogleKeybord.apk, Miui Camera for stock rom and a bootanimation which I like a lot more then stock Miui :)
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B0H81qsvg-aNLUtVV1dSNGVXRlk/edit?usp=sharing
 

Attachments

  • XThemeEngine_beta5FLASHABLE.zip
    1.1 MB · Views: 320
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: shocks
Too much battery drain for me. In 6 hours, from 73% to 24% with just 2 time turned the screen on for 5 mins & no calls or videos / camera & as usual for me wifi & gps off here.
I feel it is too much. Hence i changed back to Flying ROM from chinese & using Redmaner's 009 Kernel. I must tell you it is having the best combination for best battery life for me..
I am loving it....

Flying ROM??
Any Link? If possible upload it to drive, I would like to try
 
It's called flying in general V5 ROM. It is so far good with redmaner kernel. It is available in xiaomi.cn
I am sorry but I cannot find the link now yet. Can you search there for yourself?
 
I've been running Mokee OS for over a week now and I must say, I'm impressed. As far as stability goes, it works great, it's fast, but it sometimes crashes when turning wifi off. Nothing too serious, it only happens if I mess with Bluetooth and Wifi at the same time.

Battery life is great. I'm on 1 day 8 hours, 62% remaining. This is without the extended battery. I admit, I barely used my phone, but it's still really good. I do kinda notice that after a few days the battery usage starts getting less, but a reboot gets rid of this.

And it's KK :)
 
I've been running Mokee OS for over a week now and I must say, I'm impressed. As far as stability goes, it works great, it's fast, but it sometimes crashes when turning wifi off. Nothing too serious, it only happens if I mess with Bluetooth and Wifi at the same time.

Battery life is great. I'm on 1 day 8 hours, 62% remaining. This is without the extended battery. I admit, I barely used my phone, but it's still really good. I do kinda notice that after a few days the battery usage starts getting less, but a reboot gets rid of this.

And it's KK :)
Mmm with me the battery drain increased enormously after some days, making it unsuitable as a daily driver.
 
  • Like
Reactions: paulrlz