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So I was all up and ready to buy a Moto G5 plus and then saw the Honor 8 Pro will be out soon. Everything about it looks great - The display (isn't amoled - thankfully!) and the size, the Kirin 960 looks like it competes with the Snapdragon 835 in many ways. And the price of course is very reasonable.
I'll be coming from the Nexus 5 so I've been in and around XDA a long time, flashing ROMs etc. I don't expect the Honor 8 Pro to be anywhere near as Dev friendly as the Nexus 5. But I was wondering if anyone can tell me what it's actually like for Devs with Huawei phones and getting hold of the sources needed to make custom ROMs or even get LineageOS and all the hardware working? I get the sense (but I'm not sure) that at the moment it's a *real* challenge because Huawei, like most manufacturers don't really believe that engaging with the Dev community can provide a great boost to brand visibility and "geek cred" which will then filter out into recommendations to friends and family etc: It can be a very strong marketing tool essentially. But companies rarely understand that it would actually benefit them in a business sense. So...
Do Huawei provide all the "sources" and resources needed for developing custom ROMs *eventually* or do they just not bother at all in some cases or make it very hard in others? I saw on a Honor 8 (not pro) thread that there are "ambassadors" around. Can these guys interact with Huawei/Honor to encourage them to help out with the necessary technical stuff to make building ROMs a viable possibility, and is that likely to get a good response or is it already in process?
I mean if I get the Honor 8 Pro, I'll use it "as is". EMUI is not bad but still quite amateurish/90s in many ways and I'm thinking I can go along way to fixing it by using a custom launcher. But if there's a good chance Honor/Huawei will suddenly become much more helpful with Dev stuff it would make it a dream phone for sure. Any info?
I've been looking in to this too. It seems you can unlock the bootloader on EMUI devices in an official way so that's a good start.
Have you had a look around the other Huawei and Honor forums? There do seem to be ROMs and unofficial Lineage OS builds, but I haven't found much info on sources, etc.
I have actually pre-ordered an Honor 8 Pro, it looks awesome and at £474 I couldn't resist. I think the major manufacturers have lost the plot in terms of flagship pricing.
alsheron said:
So I was all up and ready to buy a Moto G5 plus and then saw the Honor 8 Pro will be out soon. Everything about it looks great - The display (isn't amoled - thankfully!) and the size, the Kirin 960 looks like it competes with the Snapdragon 835 in many ways. And the price of course is very reasonable.
I'll be coming from the Nexus 5 so I've been in and around XDA a long time, flashing ROMs etc. I don't expect the Honor 8 Pro to be anywhere near as Dev friendly as the Nexus 5. But I was wondering if anyone can tell me what it's actually like for Devs with Huawei phones and getting hold of the sources needed to make custom ROMs or even get LineageOS and all the hardware working? I get the sense (but I'm not sure) that at the moment it's a *real* challenge because Huawei, like most manufacturers don't really believe that engaging with the Dev community can provide a great boost to brand visibility and "geek cred" which will then filter out into recommendations to friends and family etc: It can be a very strong marketing tool essentially. But companies rarely understand that it would actually benefit them in a business sense. So...
Do Huawei provide all the "sources" and resources needed for developing custom ROMs *eventually* or do they just not bother at all in some cases or make it very hard in others? I saw on a Honor 8 (not pro) thread that there are "ambassadors" around. Can these guys interact with Huawei/Honor to encourage them to help out with the necessary technical stuff to make building ROMs a viable possibility, and is that likely to get a good response or is it already in process?
I mean if I get the Honor 8 Pro, I'll use it "as is". EMUI is not bad but still quite amateurish/90s in many ways and I'm thinking I can go along way to fixing it by using a custom launcher. But if there's a good chance Honor/Huawei will suddenly become much more helpful with Dev stuff it would make it a dream phone for sure. Any info?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm in the same boat. I love the H8Pro but all I see outside of stock based roms, is one unofficial Lineage build for the Honor 8. The camera is currently listed as not working still. It's like that on a lot of phones that aren't too well known. My Le Pro 3 for example didn't have working camera on the marshmallow roms for a while and then when they got it working the 7 roms didn't have it until very recently. So it's a maybe it will at all. The problem is that while a lot of these companies allow bootloader unlocking, no they don't release sources. That's a big problem. That means devs have to build things like camera drivers from scratch, and without them being that popular devs working on it aren't usually too plentiful. Also not too much kernel support for that Kirin chipset either.
Well let me ask you guys. How much custom ROMs do you use these days ? I myself found that after changing to custom ROM I found back to stock ROM. These days stock roms has become so good that they actually brings the true character of a phone
Apparently I'm not the only one facing this decision. I've owned the Moto 2nd gen, G3, and G4 and frankly every time I've moved up a model, I like them a little less. For that reason alone, I'm trying to look past the Moto G5. Now that the Honor 9 is coming out, I'm taking a look at the Honor 8, hoping the cost will come down. I've always carried my phone in my front pocket so the size difference over the G4 I have now has me a little worried, but the weight really doesn't matter. I'm really looking very hard at the Honor 8 Pro though since price wise, it looks pretty close to the best bang for the buck.
ehh ..
alsheron said:
So I was all up and ready to buy a Moto G5 plus and then saw the Honor 8 Pro will be out soon. Everything about it looks great - The display (isn't amoled - thankfully!) and the size, the Kirin 960 looks like it competes with the Snapdragon 835 in many ways. And the price of course is very reasonable.
I'll be coming from the Nexus 5 so I've been in and around XDA a long time, flashing ROMs etc. I don't expect the Honor 8 Pro to be anywhere near as Dev friendly as the Nexus 5. But I was wondering if anyone can tell me what it's actually like for Devs with Huawei phones and getting hold of the sources needed to make custom ROMs or even get LineageOS and all the hardware working? I get the sense (but I'm not sure) that at the moment it's a *real* challenge because Huawei, like most manufacturers don't really believe that engaging with the Dev community can provide a great boost to brand visibility and "geek cred" which will then filter out into recommendations to friends and family etc: It can be a very strong marketing tool essentially. But companies rarely understand that it would actually benefit them in a business sense. So...
Do Huawei provide all the "sources" and resources needed for developing custom ROMs *eventually* or do they just not bother at all in some cases or make it very hard in others? I saw on a Honor 8 (not pro) thread that there are "ambassadors" around. Can these guys interact with Huawei/Honor to encourage them to help out with the necessary technical stuff to make building ROMs a viable possibility, and is that likely to get a good response or is it already in process?
I mean if I get the Honor 8 Pro, I'll use it "as is". EMUI is not bad but still quite amateurish/90s in many ways and I'm thinking I can go along way to fixing it by using a custom launcher. But if there's a good chance Honor/Huawei will suddenly become much more helpful with Dev stuff it would make it a dream phone for sure. Any info?
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Click to collapse
personally, i am a fan of their emui5, amazing ui tho,
and their harware is solid,
camera is good too,
battery lives are excellent (thanks to emui optimisations)
but my only regret is that i dont have much of a custom roms to play with, given that their kirin chip is not open sourced
offcourse, their is open kirin team unofficially, but they are not working on every device, so only complaint will be kernel sources,
many honor devices has no development at all,
thilak devraj said:
personally, i am a fan of their emui5, amazing ui tho,
and their harware is solid,
camera is good too,
battery lives are excellent (thanks to emui optimisations)
but my only regret is that i dont have much of a custom roms to play with, given that their kirin chip is not open sourced
offcourse, their is open kirin team unofficially, but they are not working on every device, so only complaint will be kernel sources,
many honor devices has no development at all,
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Click to collapse
1. kernel source from p10 plus works on duk
2. resurrection remix will follow soon .. it is booting already, but still has some major bugs we have to fix first
EDIT: I just saw you are talking about kirin devices in general, sorry
OldDroid said:
1. kernel source from p10 plus works on duk
2. resurrection remix will follow soon .. it is booting already, but still has some major bugs we have to fix first
EDIT: I just saw you are talking about kirin devices in general, sorry
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
don't worry, we are always greatfull for open Kirin and the hard work of devs like you
Source code is just released! Check HERE. Since the phone is new, source is released early. OpenKirin Team can now develop for this device.
adriansticoid said:
Source code is just released! Check HERE. Since the phone is new, source is released early. OpenKirin Team can now develop for this device.
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wooow... source released ?? :cyclops:
thilak devraj said:
wooow... source released ?? :cyclops:
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Click to collapse
Yeah. That's what I just said.
adriansticoid said:
Yeah. That's what I just said.
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wasnt expecting huawei to do this
thilak devraj said:
wasnt expecting huawei to do this
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Rox_Honor said it will be released mid-June. A bit delayed but it's good.
adriansticoid said:
Rox_Honor said it will be released mid-June. A bit delayed but it's good.
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finally, i could play with custom roms , hope it woud happen for the 6x too
thilak devraj said:
finally, i could play with custom roms , hope it woud happen for the 6x too
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Yeah. Everybody's hoping for that.
adriansticoid said:
Yeah. Everybody's hoping for that.
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imagin , if huawei bedev friendly, and their phones will be like snapdragons, no one would stop em
thilak devraj said:
imagin , if huawei bedev friendly, and their phones will be like snapdragons, no one would stop em
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Click to collapse
They'll see this in the future. Yeah that future again.
adriansticoid said:
They'll see this in the future. Yeah that future again.
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if that happens, huawei's gonna beat sam
thilak devraj said:
if that happens, huawei's gonna beat sam
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Click to collapse
Of course. So it's important that they decide for this.
All the other XIaomi phones from last year , including the ones with the same ram , storage and processors as ours have roms.
Is it that we just dont have the developers?
The mi max3 is soo similar to the other phones and even its predecessor.
I am baffled as to why we have to struggle with unreliable treble roms.
Just venting, but im sure 90% feel the same.
Almost all the GSI roms are stuck on Oreo and installing them is an iffy process
im trying to follow the guides, but i cant even get one of the trebble roms to success fully boot. ive got the 6gb/128gb variant. pffffff. ill have to sell it and try to upgrade to a mi mix3 in time
caniranges said:
All the other xisomi phonrd from last year , including the ones with the same ram , storage and processors as ours have roms.
Is it that we just dont have the developers?
The mi max3 is soo similar to the other phones and even its predecessor. I am baffled as to why we have to struggle with unreliable treble roms.
Just venting, but im sure 90% feel the same.
Almost all the GSI roms are stuck on Oreo and installing them is an iffy process
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Maybe because access to other devices has been easier. I know that some manufacturers even offer some devices for this purpose, which should not be the case of the Mi Max 3. In particular, I bought this device by the screen and battery, and I am accustomed to little development, because my previous device was a Huawei (that I use until today), which I was able to install a version of the lineage, where the camera did not work. It may also be that mm3 is not as attractive as the others for development. The way to learn is to develop or hope to help.
I'm also a little bit disappointed by the lack of custom roms for the MiMax3, but i bought it for looking prime and netflix when i'm abroad. So the big screen and the battery is enought for me. And for flashing i have my Poco :laugh:
First: Stuck on Oreo?
You don't know what you are talking about.
Most decent ROMs have a proper Pie vendor build by now.
Unstable and buggy?:
Stick to the stable ones (AOSP, PE, AOSiP, Descendant, etc) and always run on a patched Pie vendor.
Use my latest fix bundle and you'll have no bugs.
You'll even have VoLTE no working.
I had the Mi Max 1, then the 2, which the day I first used it, I crashed the screen. The Mi max 3 had just been launched, so I bought it.
After two months of not getting any ROMs I decided to buy another Mi Max 2, which I totally love. Development is really good.
I keep my Mi Max 3 until development gets better and we can have more options, cause hardware is obviously better than the 2.
I will never buy a newly released phone or one that gets little development.
The thing I don't understand is: Why is everyone so obsessed with device specific ROMs?
You can install GSIs right now... Install my Max 3 fix patch on top and you'll have a flawless experience, no different to any other ROM you'll find out there.
That's (kind of) the whole point of treble to begin with!
Be able to build ROMs without the whole device specific crap...
MrColdbird said:
The thing I don't understand is: Why is everyone so obsessed with device specific ROMs?
You can install GSIs right now... Install my Max 3 fix patch on top and you'll have a flawless experience, no different to any other ROM you'll find out there.
That's (kind of) the whole point of treble to begin with!
Be able to build ROMs without the whole device specific crap...
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Click to collapse
There is just one or two things that don't work as it should with the gsi treble roms compared to xiaomi.eu
1.GPS, unable to get a lock..always hovering around 3 or 4 satellites with bad signal
2.viper4android not detecting the correct device, sometimes it does and sometimes not...not a big issue but to me it is annoying
Device specific roms would probably have these things working without issues.
Of course in the future there might be a bright minded who can fix this on the gsi roms and either get the dev to implement them in the treble system.img or provide instructions how to patch them.
But that's just my argument why it "could" in theory be better with a device specific rom for this device
You were saying?
MrColdbird said:
You were saying?
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I'm sure it has gotten better but a few months back I was driving and came into a car accident and needed to take an alternative route so I would not sit there the whole night and it was snowing and pitch dark and the further up the mountain I drove and had to rely on my memory to know where I was, it was the only way around the highway that was closed off as the gps lost signal time after time.
I have also lived around this mountain area and it is a spot for radio silence.
Ham-radio has difficulties working here and only a few types of big antennas work properly
Calling with your cellphone don't work with most providers
The gps lost signal time after time on havoc while sitting at home testing several reflashes and updating the arb-less fw and xiaomi.eu I could not get a lock indoors or outdoors.
I also live in a cement building so it shields me, so of course the signal might be affected by that.
Because of that I have to use large 17db wifi antennas to be able to penetrate the walls.
Then I flashed the xiaomi.eu released after chinese new year holiday and imminently I got a lock on tons of satellites when sitting indoors.
Of course If I drive far away from any building the signal gets better for gps, but the difference between havoc and xiaomi.eu was significant enough for me to abandon it.
I need gps to work reliably in events such as this and I don't have time to play around with the phone
Your case sounds extremely special but in my case I notice absolutely no difference in GPS.
I believe it's because of the anti-roll back
I did want to know why only so few roms do get treble support? It's esp. raw if you want LOS based builds rather than AOSP.
But even there - most vendors did yet not update to Android 10, but dev. for pie is at a complete hold.
I do get, that most do rely on phh (great work btw, no offense), but - can that rly be all?
I mean there are PLENTY of devices out there, that have no personal development, do support treble, but may not be rdy for Q, yet there is NO P rom out there with current patches?
Going further if you want customization you'll reach only roms half a year behind seeming at eol.
Don't get me wrong, am grateful for all development there is, supporting where I can. Also I'm not asking for myself (plenty loved device), but a friend of mine who is not happy with his OM's ROM. I'd just like to know ... why there is such less support for s.t. that prob. could affect more devices than any single device rom could achieve?
I am a big fan of cell phones and installing custom roms.
In the past I have had several oneplus like the o 3t, 6t, 7pro, and without a doubt the one that has disappointed me the most is the one I have now, the 9 pro European version.
It was already a big shock the purchase price, but I longed for the old days in which you could find dozens of functional roms for your oneplus and enjoyed exploring it.
Before I bought it I saw that there was community so I decided to get the 9 pro... but after half a year I am quite disappointed.
It makes me sad that there is no rom with all the features perfectly validated, battery life and customization superior to the stock rom and with the native camera app, I always believed that custom roms served to improve the stock one (very sloppy compared to previous times), but at the moment it is not so.
I admire developers a lot, and I know how difficult it is, just maybe my mistake was waiting for this oneplus to have its soul of the past, and now I don't know if it has a solution or it is better to sell it before its price plummets.
Unfortunately, the stability does suffer on the 9 Pro. It's one of the things you'll have to live with. To be fair, most phones aren't that great in 2022. Samsung has horrible battery life and Apple's caught in that iCloud scanning controversy. Pixel 6 is meh for a phone, the chip just can't keep up.
So pick your poison.
aforocars said:
I am a big fan of cell phones and installing custom roms.
In the past I have had several oneplus like the o 3t, 6t, 7pro, and without a doubt the one that has disappointed me the most is the one I have now, the 9 pro European version.
It was already a big shock the purchase price, but I longed for the old days in which you could find dozens of functional roms for your oneplus and enjoyed exploring it.
Before I bought it I saw that there was community so I decided to get the 9 pro... but after half a year I am quite disappointed.
It makes me sad that there is no rom with all the features perfectly validated, battery life and customization superior to the stock rom and with the native camera app, I always believed that custom roms served to improve the stock one (very sloppy compared to previous times), but at the moment it is not so.
I admire developers a lot, and I know how difficult it is, just maybe my mistake was waiting for this oneplus to have its soul of the past, and now I don't know if it has a solution or it is better to sell it before its price plummets.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
if you think stock OS is better than custom rom for the 9pro, just stick with stock.
if you are not satisfied with the result from people who do support custom roms in their free time, maybe think about doing it yourself instead of complaining.
also there is probably a reason, why the stock cam is not available in any custom rom...
there are great gcam alternatives, that work well.
for me the custom rom is way better, after the OOS 12 disaster from oneplus.
aforocars said:
It makes me sad that there is no rom with all the features perfectly validated, battery life and customization superior to the stock rom and with the native camera app, I always believed that custom roms served to improve the stock one (very sloppy compared to previous times), but at the moment it is not so.
I admire developers a lot, and I know how difficult it is, just maybe my mistake was waiting for this oneplus to have its soul of the past, and now I don't know if it has a solution or it is better to sell it before its price plummets.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm afraid you don't understand how development works. Custom ROM developers rely mainly on how developer friendly a phone manufacturer is. OnePlus has known a steady decline in community support in the past few years. You would be amazed how difficult it is to make components like a fingerprint reader or camera work properly if no sources are released. This is a massive challenge that this community struggles with every single day. To be honest I'm even surprised they get the hardware working so fast. I'm not familiar with today's hacks but I remember the camera of the OnePlus "Bacon" One was quite the piece of work. I am still thankful to @Sultanxda for the near magic he performed on this and many other devices. Interesting read: Cameras in Custom ROMs: How Developers Make Hardware Work without Source Code
But that was then, "simpler times". With all added security measures by Big G nowadays and how reluctant OnePlus has become to cooperate with the very community that made them so great it can only have become more difficult. They say "added security" but they really mean "protecting our economic interests". If custom development is so important to you it should've been a part of your selection process when buying a new phone. That's what I asked myself when I was looking for a device for my son: "What's cheap, has a decent battery, some gaming capabilities and has a solid development community?". I got him a Xiaomi Poco M3, no regrets. I've been on the 6T for over 3 years now and will likely be on the lookout for an upgrade later this year. Development will be an important selling point. Nothing looks promising! If it's going to be as 'open' as they claim, it will have amazing community support.
TL;DR: Don't look to independant devs about quirky ROM development, complain to the companies about their lack of community support instead.
vincemue said:
if you think stock OS is better than custom rom for the 9pro, just stick with stock.
if you are not satisfied with the result from people who do support custom roms in their free time, maybe think about doing it yourself instead of complaining.
also there is probably a reason, why the stock cam is not available in any custom rom...
there are great gcam alternatives, that work well.
for me the custom rom is way better, after the OOS 12 disaster from oneplus.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
vincemue said:
if you think stock OS is better than custom rom for the 9pro, just stick with stock.
if you are not satisfied with the result from people who do support custom roms in their free time, maybe think about doing it yourself instead of complaining.
also there is probably a reason, why the stock cam is not available in any custom rom...
there are great gcam alternatives, that work well.
for me the custom rom is way better, after the OOS 12 disaster from oneplus.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The point of my comment was not any criticism of developers, maybe I should have put this " I admire developers a lot" in bold.
Neither stock rom nor custom roms are what they used to be in oneplus devices.
Timmmmaaahh! said:
I'm afraid you don't understand how development works. Custom ROM developers rely mainly on how developer friendly a phone manufacturer is. OnePlus has known a steady decline in community support in the past few years. You would be amazed how difficult it is to make components like a fingerprint reader or camera work properly if no sources are released. This is a massive challenge that this community struggles with every single day. To be honest I'm even surprised they get the hardware working so fast. I'm not familiar with today's hacks but I remember the camera of the OnePlus "Bacon" One was quite the piece of work. I am still thankful to @Sultanxda for the near magic he performed on this and many other devices. Interesting read: Cameras in Custom ROMs: How Developers Make Hardware Work without Source Code
But that was then, "simpler times". With all added security measures by Big G nowadays and how reluctant OnePlus has become to cooperate with the very community that made them so great it can only have become more difficult. They say "added security" but they really mean "protecting our economic interests". If custom development is so important to you it should've been a part of your selection process when buying a new phone. That's what I asked myself when I was looking for a device for my son: "What's cheap, has a decent battery, some gaming capabilities and has a solid development community?". I got him a Xiaomi Poco M3, no regrets. I've been on the 6T for over 3 years now and will likely be on the lookout for an upgrade later this year. Development will be an important selling point. Nothing looks promising! If it's going to be as 'open' as they claim, it will have amazing community support.
TL;DR: Don't look to independant devs about quirky ROM development, complain to the companies about their lack of community support instead.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I probably know the world of development a lot better than you think... , I wasn't complaining at all about the developers, just my misconception that oneplus was what it used to be.
aforocars said:
I probably know the world of development a lot better than you think... , I wasn't complaining at all about the developers, just my misconception that oneplus was what it used to be.
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Click to collapse
So we're basically saying the same thing? Alright then! Easy discussion. Maybe literally say you're disappointed in OnePlus next time, that would've made more sense.
I don't see separate sub-forums for ROMs and recoveries etc. Just wondering what happened to this phone? The root is available. So, why is ROM development not there?
devsk said:
I don't see separate sub-forums for ROMs and recoveries etc. Just wondering what happened to this phone? The root is available. So, why is ROM development not there?
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Root is not available on all versions. There is no unlocking the bootloaders on the US versions.
Oh... And there is this.
[13][ROM][sGSI][CWAI+][Exynos2200] Pixel Experience Plus
Pixel Experience Plus "s"GSI DISCLAIMER I am not to be held responsible for any damage that might come to your device while trying to install or using this rom. This is your own responsibility. What is this? Pixel Experience is an AOSP based...
forum.xda-developers.com
Latest Samsung phones are not really friendly towards custom roms and third-party modifications. S20 is advancing at a really low pace compared to S10 and S9 series, which recieved a lot of love from the community. Maybe, if you're truly interested in custom rom development, you should get a phone from another brand (OnePlus, Google, etc..)
Tbh considering how long Samsung is supporting their phones currently i do not miss custom ROM's that much..
k3lcior said:
Tbh considering how long Samsung is supporting their phones currently i do not miss custom ROM's that much..
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I feel the same way. I would only bother with a custom rom if SOT was a few hours higher.
Custom ROMs will make changes to your device that cannot be undone. You might have issues later if you want to use company resources on your phone for your job. Also ROMS have really improved a lot the last years. Personally I don't miss custom ROMs anymore on my S22+. Even on my previous S8+ I was really satisifed with stock roms. The only thing I miss today is good ad-blocking. But not enough to 'partially break' my device.
If you can't live with Samsung's bloat, then you need a custom ROM