[REVIEW] OpenEclair v1.2.1 Stable [02/21/2010]

[gibbon]

Review of OpenEclair v1.2.1 Stable
Posted on AndroidSpin by GIBBON



URL: AndroidSpin DB
Based off: Eclair 2.1
Created By: CTSO wesgarner benbuchacher aka OpenTeam
Download: OpenEclair v1.2.1 Stable OpenEclair Forum

First Impressions

Here we have another fast loading ROM from the OpenTeam, with the first boot taking almost 2 and a half minutes. Second boot was less than a minute. After booting, the first thing you’ll notice is the choice of home screens. Home is the standard that you have already seen on many Eclair ROMs. Launcher is a new home screen, which I prefer. The slider turns into the 9 dot opaque icon you get on the Nexus One with a number of dots either side of this to inform you of which home screen you are on. As always there are screenshots of both home screens below.
Once the home screen was selected, the next thing to do is personalise it. There are a lot more options for backgrounds this time. The ‘Wallpapers’ option is empty, but ‘Wallpaper Gallery’ had a vast selection to choose from, but it did take a little while to load them all.
This time round, the live wallpapers almost all work... almost. ‘VU Meter’ and ‘Many’ just never seems to load and Magic Smoke force closes.
The next logical step was to see what programs we have installed. Apart from the standard Google apps (i.e. calendar, Google mail etc) there really isn’t that many. We have Facebook, with the widget and phonebook sync. Then there are two versions of gallery. One is the standard gallery, with categories like ‘camera pictures’ and ‘videos’, the other is a slicker gallery, which I can’t seem to get pictures to load through. Then there is a news and weather app, again with a customisable widget and finally the voice controls, Dialer and Search.

Score: 4/5

Polish and appeal

Once a live wallpaper is set, the slide between home screens has a slight delay. Icons move as quickly as you slide, but the background catches up a second later. Still pictures slide smoothly.
Gallery, Browser and Maps all have multi touch, although on the browser it does occasionally lag when zooming.
As soon as the program icon is pressed, instead of the normal tray sliding up, there’s an almost ‘gathering’ of icons this time as they all fade into view from the foreground. Pressing either of the home buttons (one appears on screen and you always have physical button) make the icons disperse again. Very nice, and much better and smoother than the old ‘slide up’ method.
I have noticed that using ‘Launcher’ in landscape and then accessing the application tray doesn’t load as smoothly as it does in portrait. The screen fades to black, and after a delay the application Icons appear in place. There is a home icon to the left of centre at the bottom of the screen and also over laps the applications behind it. The apps at the very end of the list only display icons as the descriptive text at the bottom is cut off the end of the screen. However, I very rarely use the Application tray in landscape, but if you do, then it’s worth checking the screen shot below.
Using ‘Home’ instead of ‘Launcher’ works exactly the same as previous Eclair ROMs, so this sliding application tray is still used. Both methods seem to be quick, but ‘Launcher’ looks more impressive, at least in portrait, so I have stuck to this one as default from now on.
We once again have the voice features from the Nexus One. These are the Voice Dialer and the Voice Search. Both of these work remarkably well. This voice search is also integrated into other parts of the ROM. E.g. Google Maps has a Voice search option and even in the Browser (did I mention there’s multi touch?)
This ROM is not without a few minor issues. Once again, as the previous OpenEclair, pressing the physical Call button with a contact highlighted will cause contacts to force close. There is a touch call button, so this isn’t a major issue. Once you have called the contact, and they are now in the recent call list, pressing the call button will dial out without a problem. This could get annoying after a while, but hasn’t caused me to want to remove this ROM. This ROM also lacks the YouTube application, which personally isn’t an issue, but I know a lot of people do like this app.

Score: 4.5/5

Stability and speed

Well, what else is there to say except that this is very quick? The only slow down I have noticed at all is the Live Wallpapers giving a slight lag. There is also a small lag sometimes while closing the camera. That’s it. As previously mentioned there have been very few force closes, but really not many.

Score: 4/5

Force Close Log
• A few live wallpapers
• Calls using the ‘green’ button
Boot time: 2 Minutes, 28 Seconds (first boot) 58 Seconds (other boots)
Ratings:
Pre installed app’s: Facebook with widget and contacts sync, News and Weather, Voice Dialer and Voice Search 3/5
Battery Life: Survived a full day with about 40% battery life left with many downloads from the market and settings changes (7am-9pm day) 5/5

Overall Score: 4/5

[daragh]

Hi,

thanks for the review! It is generally really helpful, but might I suggest taking into account others' experiences with/comments on the ROM (as well as the developers own notes)? Specifically for this ROM, there are significant issues such as lack of Bluetooth support, YouTube (not uncommon on Eclair) and not being able to unlock with the menu key.

I hope to see more reviews, so please don't be discouraged! Thanks again.

D

[gibbon]

Hi,

thanks for the review! It is generally really helpful, but might I suggest taking into account others' experiences with/comments on the ROM (as well as the developers own notes)? Specifically for this ROM, there are significant issues such as lack of Bluetooth support, YouTube (not uncommon on Eclair) and not being able to unlock with the menu key.

I hope to see more reviews, so please don't be discouraged! Thanks again.

D

Don't worry, that won't put me off :P
I agree that other user's accounts of the ROMs would be nice, and I would really like people to reply on here so I can answer any questions I may have missed... (for example, lack of bluetooth)

There is a review currently in the works, so expect to see it here in the next 2/3 days.