Last year, Samsung made a great comeback with the Galaxy Note after launching a series of unimpressive handsets, including the Galaxy S5. Despite being made primarily from plastic, the Galaxy Note 4 comes with a metallic mid-frame that greatly improved its in-hand feeling and build quality.
As for the specs, the Note 4 is an absolute beast in every sense, which includes a beautiful 5.7-inch Quad HD display, a Snapdragon 805 processor, 3GB RAM and a 3220mAh battery that is capable of powering the device for a full day without breaking into a sweat. The Galaxy Note 4 is not without its flaws though. Despite coming with such powerful internals, Samsung’s TouchWiz UI and all the pre-loaded bloatware on the handset easily brings the mighty Snapdragon 805 to its knees.
Thankfully, it is possible to fix the minor software niggles and performance issues of the Galaxy Note 4 by simply flashing a custom ROM. To make your decision easier on which custom ROM to flash, we have done a roundup of the 5 best custom ROMs available for the Snapdragon (N910F) variant of the Note 4.
Keep in mind that installing any of the ROMs listed below will require root access with a custom recovery installed, which in turn will void the warranty of your device.
Emotion Revolution
Emotion Revolution is based on the Android 5.0.1 (BOC3) firmware for the N910F Galaxy Note 4. The base of ROM has been tweaked by the developers to make it faster, smoother and lighter.
The developers have also taken extra care to remove or fix some of the common annoyances in TouchWiz, including removing the S Finder and Q Connect shortcuts from the notification bar, less bloat, more toggles in Quick Settings and more.
If you want a no-frill and stable custom ROM for the Note 4, Emotion Revolution for Note 4 will be able to fulfill all your needs.
Download: Emotion Revolution
Read: How to install a custom ROM on your Android device
Super.Fast&LolliFamous
Like its name suggests, LolliFamous is also based on the official Android 5.0.1 firmware from Samsung. However, the firmware has been tweaked by the developers and stripped off of all its bloat to make it smoother and faster. It also comes with its own custom kernel that features color and synapse control for the display.
Some of the features present in the ROM include Viper Sound, nine different SystemUI themes, tweaked TouchWiz launcher, advanced power menu, Private mode, Toolbox and more. The ROM also comes with its own Fast Control app preinstalled that offers users with quick access to handy tools and the ability to quickly install any new mods on the ROM.
Download: LolliFamous
Omega ROM
Omega ROM is available for almost all of Samsung’s Galaxy S and Galaxy Note devices, and the Note 4 is no exception. The ROM is based on Samsung’s own TouchWiz firmware, though it has been tamed by the developer, who has removed all the bloatware from the ROM. Other features of the ROM include a call recorder, faster overall performance, the ability to write to external SD card, faster boot times, a custom boot animation, 4-way reboot menu and more.
The ROM also comes with Omega Files app that allows users to install new mods and apps easily on their device. Other pre-installed apps and services on the phone can also be removed through this app, which can free up an additional 850MB of storage space on the device.
The current version of Omega is based on an Android 4.4 firmware (ANK4), but it should only be a matter of time before the ROM is updated with a Lollipop firmware as its base.
Download: Omega ROM (Only for N910F variant)
AllianceROM
In case none of the above ROMs were according to your taste, you can try out Alliance ROM. Every feature and mod in this ROM is optional, which basically allows users to customize the ROM according to their own liking by only installing the mods they want.
The ROM is based on Android 5.0 Lollipop, and comes with 18 different themes. The Alliance Control app will offer users with all the customisation and tweaking options the ROM has to offer.
Download: Alliance ROM
All the above ROMs are based on Samsung’s own firmware, so they all have TouchWiz. In case you want to totally get rid of TouchWiz, your only option is to install an AOSP based ROM like CyanogenMod 12 on your Note 4.
While AOSP ROMs will offer better day-to-day performance, they will not offer the same level of stability and battery life as Samsung’s firmware. Additionally, you will also lose out on some of Samsung’s useful features like Multi-Window, IR blaster, various gestures and more. While S-Pen works on AOSP based ROM, not all the features that are seen on Samsung’s ROM are working on it.
CyanogenMod 12 nightlies
If you have already made up your mind about installing an AOSP based ROM on your Note 4, your only option is to flash CyanogenMod 12 nightlies. While there are quite a few other AOSP ROMs for the Note 4, they are all based on CyanogenMod’s sources and hardly offer any compelling new feature over it.
Download: CM12 nightlies
Which is your favorite ROM for the Galaxy Note 4? Drop in a comment and let us know!
