OpenEclair v1.2.2 Review.

OpenEclair is a community project to bring a stable 2.1 ROM to the Android Users.  I’ve been using OpenEclair since it’s first released and I was overly excited for 1.2.2 to come out.  It was finally released the other night, and I’ve been using it ever since.  Here is what I think.

It’s a good improvement from V1.2.1, which was a good version but after 2-3 days it started to lag to the point where I had to switch back to Super D.  So far not much lag with this version, although it could use a speed boost.  It has two home launchers.  The Nexus launcher, which features the box app tray and the indicators as to which page you are on.  As well as a nexus like animation when pulling up the app tray.   The app launcher does lag sometimes, but it’s usually when a lot of apps are running at once.  A quick push to kill app and it should be fine.  It also features the new gallery on the Nexus One, without the 3D animations of course.  I’ve experienced a few force closes when opening the gallery, but other then that it works fairly well.

Live wallpapers work actually fairly smooth in this version.  I downloaded a few from the market and Starfield so far is my favorite.  It’s doesn’t delay when switching homescreens, like some of the stock wallpapers.  I can’t forget to mention the boot animation.  Which is just awesome.

Pros:  It runs a lot faster then previous verisons.  Live wallpapers work well, and no force closes in major apps.  Apps load quickly, and work effieciently.  The Gmail app comes with a manage accounts options, which allows you to sync several gmail accounts to your device.  It’s a very useful tool for those of us who manage more then one account.

Cons: Wifi and wired tether force close and don’t work.  The Clock app force closes and now Im stuck with this icon at the top of my notifications bar, which I can’t seem to get rid of.  Battery life seems to be shorter even when I’m not using live wallpapers or wifi.

All in all I see myself using this as a daily ROM, with much satisfaction.  Be sure to thank Chris Soyars and Wes Garner for all their hard work.