OnePlus was an unknown company in the smartphone industry until 2014, but now two years down the road it is a big competitor in the smartphone world. Currently, Oneplus has three smartphones in its lineup, Oneplus One, ONeplus 2, and Oneplus X. All of these are great performing devices and are available at not so high prices. OnePlus has been able to reduce the price to performance ratio which is a thing to worry about for its competitors.
Oneplus One was a true flagship killer, you got high-end specs at a budget level price. OnePlus 2 was launched to provide a more premium device at a lower price but same performance as 1+1. All the devices by Oneplus have been successful, the only major drawback for OnePlus devices was the invite system which has been forgone in the recent past.
OnePlus 2 is a well-built device which feels premium while holding it in your hands. The metal on the sides of the device feels solid in your hands. Also, the stock sandstone black back cover adds to the grip the device. The device feels to be a bit heavy, weighing around 175 grams but for a 5.5-inch device with a metal frame, the heaviness is somewhat expected.
1+2! comes with a 5.5-inch 1080p screen, a fingerprint scanner, a 13MP rear-facing camera with laser Autofocus, a 5MP front-facing camera and USB type-C port for charging and high-speed data transfers. It is powered by a Snapdragon 810 chipset clocked at 1.8Ghz and has 4Gb of RAM. On the software front, you get a Oneplus’s own iteration of Android known as OxygenOS. It looks and feels close to stock Android with a few customization features added by the OnePlus team. But if you want to add more features and customization options that were available in 1+1 via CyanogenMod ROMs, you will have to install a custom ROM on your device. Given below are few of the best custom ROMs available for OnePlus 2.
Before starting off with the list of best custom ROMs for 1+2, let’s go over the prerequisites for installing a custom ROM on your device.
Prerequisites For Installing A Custom ROM on Your 1+2!
- Your 1+2 should have an Unlocked Bootloader.
- A custom recovery like TWRP should be installed on your device.
Read our guide on:
Best Custom ROMs for OnePlus 2
There is no best custom ROM for Oneplus 2 or for any device. Yeah, you read that right! there is no perfect ROM for a device. Each user is different from other, some may want a simple ROM with good performance while others may want more customizing options. Here are few ROMs that may suit each type of user, check out all of them to find out which one suits you best.
1. HydrogenOS H2OS v1.4.0
Hydrogen OS is a custom ROM developed by OnePlus devs, this ROM comes preinstalled in Chinese variant of Oneplus 2. The ROM was developed while focusing the needs and preferences of Chinese users. You get iOS style user interface with all applications on your home screen and an iOS-like control center for toggles that can be accessed by swiping up from the bottom of the screen. The UI is simple and easy to get used to also the performance of this ROM is better than compared to other ROMs
You will love this ROM if you want a simple UI and great performance. I found that the fingerprint sensor was faster and more accurate than on other ROMs. But you will have to forego the App drawer and there seems to be no option to add your widgets to the home screen. Well, you can install a third party launcher to overcome these issues but an option to have them built in the H2OS launcher would have been nice.
You also have the option to remove Chinese bloatware available in the ROM using the Debloater provided by the dev on the XDA thread. To gain root access you will have to flash SuperSU zip file using a custom recovery. To download and install the ROM head over to the XDA thread linked below.
[XDA Thread Link]2. SkyDragon v4.0
SkyDragon is a customized version of OxygenOS. The latest version of this ROM is based on OxygenOS 3.0 which was recently released. The performance in the latest version of OxygenOS was significantly improved, the UI got smoother, fingerprint scanner got faster, camera UI got changed and few other changes were made to improve the user experience. As this ROM is based on OxygenOS, all the changes made are incorporated into the ROM. Some of the customization made by the developer to improve the performance and overall user experience of the ROM are:
- Rooted with SuperSu powered by Chainfire
- Tweaked for more Battery without losing Performance
- BusyBox Built-in
- Debloated
- Speed Optimizations
- Battery Optimizations
- Viper4Android included
You can opt for this ROM if you want to stick to the OxygenOS and want better performance and battery life from your device. Also, the ROM comes pre-rooted so you have better control over your device.
[XDA Thread Link]3. Resurrection Remix v5.6.x
The infamous Resurrection Remix makes its way to our beloved Oneplus 2. The ROM is based on CyanogenMod 13 and runs the latest Android version 6.0.1 Android Marshmallow. Being a CM13 based ROM you get all the goodness of CM and some more features and optimizations by RR developers. Few of the features added in this ROM are:
- Navigation bar tweaks
- Status bar tweaks
- CM13 theme engine
- cLock widget
- Lockscreen customization
- App circle Bar
- And much more…
To download and install Resurrection Remix on your phone head over to the Xda thread linked below.
[XDA Thread Link]4. CyanOxy OS
CyanOxy OS as the name suggests is a fusion of OxygenOS and CyanogenMod 13. The ROM is basically stock OxygenOS with some applications from CyanogenMod ROMs included. The performance and battery life of this ROM is best among the other ROMs based on OxygenOS. Unnecessary applications/ bloatware has been removed from the ROM to provide a slimmer ROM. The latest update of Marshmallow came without the Audio tuner, but Vipe4Android has been included in this ROM to compensate it.
The following CM apps have been added to the ROM:
- File Manager
- Trebuchet
- Browser
- Music Player
- LockClock
- Boxer Email
- Boxer Calendar
- Screencast
- Sound Recorder
- CM Gallery
I had amazing battery life with this ROM and was definitely smooth enough on a day to day usage. Would recommend everyone to try it out at least once. Head over to the XDA thread linked below for the downloads and installation instruction. Do keep in mind to read FAQs given in the XDA thread before installing the ROM on your device.
[Xda Thread Link]5. TEMASEK’S CM 13
Temasek’s ROM are popular among custom ROM users and it is no different for OnePlus 2 as well. Temasek’s CM13 is a favorite of many users as it provides stable ROM with customizations of CM13. Temasek’s ROM is developed at maintained by benschhold for the Oneplus 2.
The ROM aims to provide a fluid and smooth user experience without too many features. The basic customizations available in CM13 are present in the ROM but nothing fancy is included as the developer aims to provide better performing device as opposed to one with too many customizations.
This ROM has much positive feedback, so go ahead and head over to the Xda thread linked below to enjoy this ROM on your Oneplus 2. Downloads and installation instructions are mentioned in the first post of the Xda thread.
[Xda Thread Link]These were few of the best custom ROMs available for OnePlus 2. Enjoy them on your device and let us know which one do you prefer. Also, let us know which custom ROM would you prefer other than the ones listed above.
Drop your queries regarding installation procedure in the comments section below.
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