15 best roms for s4

15 custom XDA ROMs for your Samsung Galaxy S4 GT I9500

The Samsung Galaxy S4 is almost a year old now and only recently it was updated to the Android Kitkat v4.4. However, the amount of bloatware that Samsung gives along with your smartphone firmware is enormous. Most of these ‘free’ apps pre-loaded on the smartphone is unwanted unless you really make use of each one of them. These unwanted apps run in the background, make your phone sluggish and also occupy precious space in your phone’s internal memory.

Most Android phone users suffer with these ‘free’ apps, but some go a step ahead, root the phone and get rid of the bloatware completely. Some even change the original firmware, upgrade or downgrade the Android versions, remove and install their own UI or home launchers or simply delete all unnecessary applications and services to make their phones blazing fast.

As for Samsung Galaxy S4 users, the process of tweaking the firmware is simple, but do note; you will lose warranty (if any). And if you tend to make mistakes while flashing the phone, you might end up with an expensive paper-weight.

Disclaimer: Rooting your phone will lose warranty and can permanently damage your phone. Do this at your own risk.

Here is some good news for Samsung Galaxy S4 users. The XDA Forums have plenty of custom built ROMs foe the GT-I9500 model. While some ROMs are based on stock, others are AOSP-based and a few are completely ported from other devices. Here are a few you can try out.

1. MIUI (Android JB v4.2.2)
2. PAC-Man (Android Kitkat v4.4.2)
3. Lidroid v2.0 (Android Kitkat v4.4.2)
4. Omega V18 (Android Kitkat v4.4.2)
5. WanamLite Fast (Android Kitkat v4.4.2)
6. Prism Barebone v7.0 (Android Kitkat v4.3)
7. NextGen ROM v11.0 (Android Kitkat v4.4.2)
8. Crash ROM v14 (Android Kitkat v4.3)
9. Hassan ROM v3 (Android Kitkat v4.4.2)
10. KingCobra (Android Kitkat v4.3)
11. Sunburn_Kit_Kat (Android Kitkat v4.4.2)
12. Arrow ROM v11.0.0 (Android Kitkat v4.3)
13. Sensonic HD (Android Kitkat v4.4.2)
14. Phoenix ROM v10.1 (Android Kitkat v4.2.2)
15. SmartDroid v2.0 (Android Kitkat v4.3)

Presently, I am using MIUI and am most happy with it. I tried most of the custom ROMs out there and found features that I require on my phone which MIUI offered.  Some features are not available across all ROMs. In that situation, it is best to make use of third-party apps to fulfill your needs. I keep changing my phone’s ROMs every week to try out newer ROMs. Personally, Samsung’s official Kitkat update is not satisfactory, so I preferred to roll back to Jelly Bean v4.2.2 and stick to MIUI.