Hands On: Cyanogen, AOKP, And MIUI Release Official Jelly Bean Builds

If you happen to have a rooted phone or tablet, today is your lucky day. Why you ask? Because CyanogenMod, AOKP, and MIUI are now all officially on the Jelly Bean bandwagon, and have all recently released their official Jelly Bean builds. That's right folks. Three of the most popular Android developers have hit us with what I like to call, “Da Bean”, all at the same time. Decisions decisions...With the development community in full swing for the transition to Jelly Bean, which ROM should you flash? What are the differences between them? Which devices are they available for? To help answer those questions, let’s break them down one by one and have a closer look at all 3 ROMS (video comparison included).

CyanogenMod

CyanogenMod is the Godfather of Android ROMS. In most cases, anytime you see an Android ROM for a popular phone or tablet, it’s most likely based on Cyanogens work. CyaonogenMod 10 nightlies were recently released, which is a Jelly Bean based ROM that’s available on the following devices (for now):

• Samsung Galaxy S3 (US models)
• Galaxy Nexus variants
• Nexus S variants
• Nexus 7 (having issues..I would wait)
• Asus Transformer and Transformer Prime
• Samsung Galaxy S variants (Vibrate, Captivate, International, and i9000b)
• Samsung Galaxy S2 i9100g
• P3 and P5 tablets

(Insecure bootloader required!)

To flash this ROM, you will naturally require root access on your device. CyanogenMod ROMS are known for their performance, stability, and the additional features that you won’t find in stock AOSP ROMS. You can basically never go wrong flashing anything from the CyanogenMod team.

If you have one of the above devices and are interested to give CM10 a shot, you can download the ROMS here.

AOKP (Android Open Kang Project)

AOKP is another insanely popular ROM that focuses on performance, stability, speed, and customization. A section in the ROM called ROM Control allows you to customize the UI, navigation bar, lock screen, status bar, and so so so much more. I’m a big fan of AOKP, and find myself bouncing back and forth between CyanogenMod and AOKP often. The new Jelly Bean nightlies are available for the following devices (for now):

• Galaxy Nexus
• Nexus S
• Nexus 7
• Galaxy Tab 2
• T-Mobile Galaxy S2
• T-Mobile Galaxy S3

Again, you will require root access to use AOKP. If you have any of the listed devices and are interested in trying out this great ROM, you can download it here.

MIUI

This ROM, like most ROMS, is also based on Cyanogens work, but looks nothing like any Android ROM you have ever seen before. The Chinese developers completely overhauled the Android UI, which resulted in a hybrid Android with a dash of IOS and plenty of unique features to keep you coming back for more. It’s smooth, it’s different, and it’s very customizable. So far, MIUI Jelly Bean is available for the following devices (for now. For MIUI ICS, it’s available for many more devices):

• Galaxy Nexus
• Nexus S
• Nexus 7

Again, root access is needed to use this ROM. If you own one of the devices above and want to try out MIUI Jelly Bean, you can download the ROM here.

Differences

So what are the differences between each ROM? That’s so hard to write and much easier to show, which is why I have put together the video below showing you a bit of each ROM on 3 different Galaxy Nexus devices (and on my Transformer Prime). For CM10 and AOKP, they very much look similar, but are very different in the way they offer customization options to the user. MIUI looks VERY different (in many ways like IOS), but naturally stays Android under the hood. If I had to recommend which one for you to try, I couldn’t. They are simply all 3 awesome awesome ROMS, and if you’re a crackflasher like me, I would highly suggest trying all 3 (I personally like AOKP due to the customization options. If you're new to Android, go with CM or AOKP, as MIUI might confuse you a bit at first).

Here is a video (sorry for the length. 4 devices in 15 min is hard to keep at just a few min) showing a bit of each ROM running on 3 Galaxy Nexus devices (and CM10 on my Transformer Prime. Youtube link here):

Conclusion:

Remember guys, these are nightly alpha builds, not milestone/stable releases. Things could be broke, and more features/devices will become available in the weeks to come. That being said, they all seem more than stable enough to use as a daily driver. 

Also, remember that's these aren't your only options, as Bugless Beast, Black Bean, and many other ROMS are also definetely worth checking out. There are SO many amazing devs out there, so don't ever be afraid to try out new ROMS. 

What do you guys think of the new JB releases? Have you had a chance to test any of these? Which do you prefer using?

Let me know what you think in the comments below!

P.S- And yeah I know...I have a crack on my Prime display :-(

P.S.S - Sorry for the mistake I made about Bugless Beast ROM having the weather lockscreen option. It doesn't contain those type of customization settings, and is more an AOSP Stock ROM without any bloat that's tweaked for performance. Also, credits to Jermaine151 from Rootzwiki for the awesome Black Bean Jelly Bean Kang I was running on the Prime. You can download that ROM here. 

Picture credits: knowyourmobile.com