To Root or Not to Root.

[Irontheater]

Hello Everybody,

I am New to the Forums, and to the Android World. I can say i have had an Android for just over 2 Weeks, and it is doing pretty fine with me. Before Android I was on Symbian, but, it became a Total fail, so i switched over and Treated myself to a G SII.

Now, i do consider myself to be the Average Joe (okay, maybe a little more educated) in Mobiles. And as i was searching for a way to customize my mobile even further to meet my needs, i stumbled upon the idea of Rooting. Searching it further, i found out that it was something like Jailbreaking for the iOS. But, i had though that Jailbreaking was only to get free Paid stuff... Anyways, as i continued searching, i found that by rooting i could indeed customize my phone the way i want, and even Overclock my processor, and extend my battery life. Now, maybe from your points of view, it is fine, but for me, this is horrendous! I mean, wouldn't overclocking a CPU cause it heat up, and shorten its life span? (just a question, i don't know the answer).

Being New here, and completely new to the idea of Rooting, i would like to know the Advantages and Disadvantages of rooting. I mean, would it void Warranty? Is warranty even important if i don't play Frisbee with my G S2? Will it extend battery life? I mean, we all know, this is a huge issue, i have to charge my S2 about once per day, while I charge my other Mobile (N97) which has a lighter OS, and smaller battery, once per Week! I can see the Battery life draining whenever i am playing a certain game on my G S2. It would be nice if I could extend it (double would be fine).

And is there some sort of way that allows me to change the mode of the Mobile from Ringing to Vibration, just by pressing Two times on the lock screen button? I mean, when i am in the middle of a meeting, and remember that i forgot to change the mode of the phone to vibrate, it takes quite a lot of time to take the Phone out of my pocket, press one time, and then swipe two times across (using Widget Locker) to turn it into Vibration mode.

And, is there a certain way, i could make my Cam faster? It takes quite a lot of time to load ( about the same time as my N97), is there a way to turn off all the other Apps on the Phone as i am going in Cam mode, and then turn them on as i exit it?

How faster can my GT I9100 become? What are the different methods of Rooting? Which is safer?
(i feel an idiot asking this much questions on a forum)

And Finally, is it really worth Voiding my Warranty to get my phone Rooted? I mean, do you use your warranty?

Thank You,
GM

P.S.: I made in bold the important points, just so that you don't have to read the hole post.

 

[Duggald]

First off, yes, rooting does void warranty. What you're doing is gaining core access to the phone to make tweeks that the manufacturer would prefer you did not.

However it does come with benefits. You mention overclocking and better batterylife. These two are usually seperate entities, unless you install a custom ROM which is capable of doing both. Overclocking generally does use more battery, but as your phone has been rid of all the "bloat-ware" that used to suck up battery by rooting, the difference shouldn't be too significant. And yes, an overclock can cause increased heat, but as long as you set it right (the GS2 is stable around 1.5 - 1.6ghz) it shouldn't be too much of a problem.

Increased batterylife (without overclocking) is about as guaranteed as the next week.

I mention custom ROMs above, which is another added bonus. These ROMs are built by developers to replace the stock, and are generally much more appealing to those looking to completely re-design their phones.
Heres a link to my personal favourite: [ROM] Lite'ning Rom v6.1 XXKH3 - Fast as Lightning - xda-developers

There is one method of rooting which I found clear and concise, with a "follow-me" video, here: How to Root Galaxy S2! | Galaxy S2 Root
It also contains links to everything you need.

But you do need to think through it carefully, as like you said, will you really need your warranty? A lot of things can happen between now and before the warranty runs. But as long as you're the safe type (which I assume you are, considering you don't play frisbee with your phone), then I say go for it. Just make sure to follow everything clearly.


Good luck!

 

[Johnly]

Ask yourself this. "What do I need from my phone that I currently don't have that rooting will give me?" Then put the pros and cons on a scale and decide

 

[h4lf47r1ck]

Some really good questions from IRONTHEATER and equally good answers from DUGGALD. I have been thinking of rooting my Galaxy S2 but am worried the pros will not out weigh the cons.

Does any have a quick list of pros and cons and also what can you do (thats useful) with a rooted phone that you can't do with a normal phone???