For this week’s Galaxy S5 ROM of the Week, check out latest CM11 ROM. They actually have been around for few months now but I was reluctant to recommend them as camera wasn’t working. Recently, camera has been fixed, which I am sure many of you guys need to run as daily driver.
This CM11 ROM is not official but still will get you the ability to run pure Google OS without TouchWiz. And no, you will lose all of your TouchWiz features as CM11 ROM is an AOSP ROM (What is AOSP?).
Now, CM11 ROM can be installed on most Galaxy S5 models, any S5 with Qualcomm-based processor. But does not work with locked bootloaders and SafeStrap recovery, which means you won’t be able to install it if you have retail version of AT&T or Verizon Galaxy S5.
Supported Galaxy S5 models:
SM-G900F, SM-G900I, SM-G900M, T-Mobille SM-G900T, Sprint SM-G900P, and Canadian SM-G900W8
If your model is not listed, it may still work if you have Qualcomm-based Galaxy S5 (like US Celluar) but DO NOT INSTALL if you have Exynos-model SM-G900H as it will HARD BRICK YOUR PHONE! YOU’VE BEEN WARNED!
If you have developer’s edition of AT&T SM-G900A or Verizon SM-G900V, you can install it but if you have regular, retail version, you cannot install as your bootloader is unlocked and CM11 ROM does not work with SafeStrap Recovery. (If you feel sad about this, send AT&T and Verizon a letter that you want your bootloader unlocked on a device you paid full price for!!!)
The goods?
CM11 ROM for Galaxy S5 has pretty much everything working out of the box except NFC and 4K recording. If NFC/4K recording is an issue to you because you use Google Wallet daily, this isn’t going to be a daily driver for you. But if you don’t really use NFC all that much like myself, CM11 ROM is pretty stable enough with blazing-performance and fair battery life. (Make sure you set Display timeout to 30 seconds after installing ROM, I found that it was set to 1 minute and reason why it was draining battery.)
UPDATE: NFC actually works on all models now except Sprint, which should be fixed also soon!
UPDATE2: NFC is actually a bit buggy please re-download the ROM (update) and install over to avoid freezes.
Battery life is pretty decent, there’s no Ultra Power Saving mode but for an unofficial nightly release, it will get you through a full day no problem. I would say battery life is about same as stock TouchWiz firmware.
Calls works fine except there was just one time where dialer froze on me (calls still worked) for couple seconds. I haven’t had another issue after that but proximity sensor works also flawless, screen turns off when you are talking and turns back on when you take the phone away from your ears.
•Download CM11 ROM for Galaxy S5 (update) (For all SM-G900F, SM-G900I, SM-G900M, T-Mobille SM-G900T, Sprint SM-G900P, and Canadian SM-G900W8)
•Download Android 4.4.4 Gapps [You can use Stock or Micro.
•Download CM11VolumeBoost (If you want to boost your speaker volume, install this after installing ROM and Gapps!) .
÷ How 2 install:
Install, reboot into recovery, make backup ROM, wipe data/factory reset, install ROM, install Gapps, install Conversion Kit, and reboot. (If for some reason you end up in a bootloop or get force-closed keyboard error on boot, reboot into CWM recovery, go to Mounts & Storage->format /system. For TWRP, go to Wipe->Advanced Wipe->Wipe /system.)
This CM11 ROM is not official but still will get you the ability to run pure Google OS without TouchWiz. And no, you will lose all of your TouchWiz features as CM11 ROM is an AOSP ROM (What is AOSP?).
Now, CM11 ROM can be installed on most Galaxy S5 models, any S5 with Qualcomm-based processor. But does not work with locked bootloaders and SafeStrap recovery, which means you won’t be able to install it if you have retail version of AT&T or Verizon Galaxy S5.
Supported Galaxy S5 models:
SM-G900F, SM-G900I, SM-G900M, T-Mobille SM-G900T, Sprint SM-G900P, and Canadian SM-G900W8
If your model is not listed, it may still work if you have Qualcomm-based Galaxy S5 (like US Celluar) but DO NOT INSTALL if you have Exynos-model SM-G900H as it will HARD BRICK YOUR PHONE! YOU’VE BEEN WARNED!
If you have developer’s edition of AT&T SM-G900A or Verizon SM-G900V, you can install it but if you have regular, retail version, you cannot install as your bootloader is unlocked and CM11 ROM does not work with SafeStrap Recovery. (If you feel sad about this, send AT&T and Verizon a letter that you want your bootloader unlocked on a device you paid full price for!!!)
The goods?
CM11 ROM for Galaxy S5 has pretty much everything working out of the box except NFC and 4K recording. If NFC/4K recording is an issue to you because you use Google Wallet daily, this isn’t going to be a daily driver for you. But if you don’t really use NFC all that much like myself, CM11 ROM is pretty stable enough with blazing-performance and fair battery life. (Make sure you set Display timeout to 30 seconds after installing ROM, I found that it was set to 1 minute and reason why it was draining battery.)
UPDATE: NFC actually works on all models now except Sprint, which should be fixed also soon!
UPDATE2: NFC is actually a bit buggy please re-download the ROM (update) and install over to avoid freezes.
Battery life is pretty decent, there’s no Ultra Power Saving mode but for an unofficial nightly release, it will get you through a full day no problem. I would say battery life is about same as stock TouchWiz firmware.
Calls works fine except there was just one time where dialer froze on me (calls still worked) for couple seconds. I haven’t had another issue after that but proximity sensor works also flawless, screen turns off when you are talking and turns back on when you take the phone away from your ears.
•Download CM11 ROM for Galaxy S5 (update) (For all SM-G900F, SM-G900I, SM-G900M, T-Mobille SM-G900T, Sprint SM-G900P, and Canadian SM-G900W8)
•Download Android 4.4.4 Gapps [You can use Stock or Micro.
•Download CM11VolumeBoost (If you want to boost your speaker volume, install this after installing ROM and Gapps!) .
÷ How 2 install:
Install, reboot into recovery, make backup ROM, wipe data/factory reset, install ROM, install Gapps, install Conversion Kit, and reboot. (If for some reason you end up in a bootloop or get force-closed keyboard error on boot, reboot into CWM recovery, go to Mounts & Storage->format /system. For TWRP, go to Wipe->Advanced Wipe->Wipe /system.)