New Life Into an Old Phone

[RadeonHD4250]

So I've been running a custom ROM on my Note 4 for a few months. I hit a bumpy road the few weeks since I had no idea what I was doing at first, but I didn't let that stop me.

I knew there was a whole other world out there for me and this Note 4.

Samsung support was rather lackluster... who am I kidding half assed. Add that with Verizon and slow as Hell updates... it was a disaster.

I got tired of waiting for things that never came so I looked into the Developer community for support, and boy was I shocked. So much support for such an "old" device.

Development is ripe as ever especially with former Note 7 owners coming back to the Note 4.

I started from nothing. Knew nothing about rooting. Zero, but I sat down, put on my reading glasses and dug into the XDA forums.

Anyone with a little patience can root, as long as you read carefully. If you're a visual learner, watch videos.

I was blown away after I ordered a ZeroLemon battery. I mean, running custom ROMs was good enough, but now running a custom ROM with a MASSIVE battery has certainly changed my opinion of this phone.

I love it even more! My biggest complaints (New features / better battery) are GONE.

If you're looking for Nougat or any other support from Samsung. That has long sailed. Take a stab at rooting. It'll definitely breathe life into your phone.

Below is a screenshot of DAY ONE battery life on a Note 7 ROM with ZeroLemon.

All that BS about a phone slowing down with the latest update/ losing battery with latest update is just that. BS.

My phone not only operated more smoothly, it also lasted a bit longer than stock (even on the stock battery.)

Once rooted you can do whatever you please. I bought this phone two years ago today. I never wanna let him go.

 

[RadeonHD4250]

Share your stories.


Was it a disaster?
Was it amazing?
Do you not care enough to?

For those interested in rooting, but don't know where to start. I will compile some links in a bit.

I had mine rooted about two hours.
From there, the world is vast I didn't even know what to do for a few minutes. Lol

 

[TechNut79]

Can the Verizon model be rooted? I know some of them have locked bootloaders.

 

[RadeonHD4250]

Can the Verizon model be rooted? I know some of them have locked bootloaders.

It can be; I own the N910V.
They have a thread on XDA specifically for Verizon users for unlocking the Bootloader.

I've done it twice.

Once when I first messed around with this kind of stuff. Then again when I flashed a stock ROM by and factory reset... *long story*

 

[ratsttam]

I was heaving into the rooting and roms back when I had a Samsung Intercept, then the Epic 4g, and finally with the Galaxy Nexus. There was ALWAYS a tradeoff of one feature or another between different roms, even compared to the manufacturer branded "stock". Just never seem to be as stable to me. I'm sure things have changed

I went to Windows Phone 8 after that, and came back to an HTC M8, then M9, the Note 4, and now Note 5.

During the year or so after I left, Android had come such a long way, that I never had the need, or even an urge to root my M8. Being able to shut down background apps (and using Package Disabler Pro to kill the rest), there was just never a burning need.
Samsung and HTC (and many others) have backed down from having a very heavy skin over the base Android.

 

[AXEL314]

Glad to see this isn't the typical "I think I bricked my phone, help!" thread. Rooting is fantastic if you give yourself the time to read, read, read. My Galaxy S5 was a beast and ran great the time I used it. When I got my international Note 4, I decided to stay back from the development scene and just roll with stock. With the monthly updates, Good Lock UI, and marshmallow - I don't feel like I'm missing out on much and my phone still runs great.

Rooting is definitely a rewarding route, just be mindful with what your meddling with and don't forget to backup!

 

[RadeonHD4250]

I'm what you call (or at least used to call) "trigger happy."

Flashing this, flashing that and screwing something up in the process; however, I always had a backup handy. 3 minutes later, I would restore my backup and be back to normal.

One of the glorious things about rooting is having that TWRP backup. Everything was exactly how left it before you screwed something up.

Eventually I learned to be careful what I flashed. Search threads to make sure it was compatible, and ALWAYS have a backup handy worst case scenario.

Now owning a ZeroLemon battery, I'm glad I'm rooted and found a kernel that was programmed to read the 10,000 mAh battery right away.

Having to open up the case, pull battery out, out battery back in, close up case, reboot, turn back on, etc just to get the right reading wasn't really appealing and sort of defeats the purpose of the ZeroLemon. If I have to do that all the time, I might as just cycle through a few stock batteries and use those anytime I'm down to 0.

Other than that, the Theme Store and other light system enhancements was all I really wanted from Samsung.

I didn't think that was too much to ask.

But since it's never gonna happen, I turned to the community for support, and haven't looked back since.

 

[RadeonHD4250]

Never understood why Verizon is so locked down. When it comes to new development, a good portion of ROMS and features aren't available for Verizon.

Hell, even Verizon on stock has less features than AT&T and T-Mobile! Horrible!

Verizon is almost like the "Apple" of carriers. Hehe.

I will add that the Note 4 is almost perfect in every way and I don't want to get rid of it anytime soon.

I actually want to invest in an SD Card to store music. Do you guys have a preference of brand or model?