Five days ago I gave everyone a look at Obsidian V2 and its performance based on my usage and phone. As of November 14th Team Whiskey launched an update moving the ROM to V3. This build has many fixes for some of the most annoying issues that plagued V2. Most notable was the mounting issue, which prevented you from adding files to the internal storage of your device when connect via USB. So of course if you haven’t figured out a way around it heres how I did it. Once connected to the PC I would add the file to my external SD card. Then unmount the phone and open the ‘Files’ application. Locate the file and long press on it and select ‘move to’ and place it on the internal memory. If you are on V2 and looking to upgrade to V3 this is your easiest and least stressful way to achieve it. They have also solved the ‘blurry MMS’ issue that was a concern for many. The solution for now was removing the TW MMS and swapping it out for the standard AOSP MMS.

Now lets take a look at some of the major changes from this build. The guys took and heavily modified the framework-res files to really blacken out as much as possible for now. The reason being that black uses 0 power when displayed on our SAMOLED screens. I missed the blackness in V2 after being a big fan of the of the original Bionix ROMS. I’m very glad to see it back in.

Team whiskey set the internal memory handler to strict and the internal CPU governor is set to conservative to give you the best speed and the longest battery life possible. The Wi-Fi calling application is not pre-installed. You can install it manually from HERE if you wish but they do advise against it currently. Not because of issues pertaining to the ROM but with issues pertaining with the application in general. Even though the feature is a nice addition, it will send out various error message and constantly keep running on its own, draining battery life.

Lag issues seem to be resolved as well. OCLF application is pre-installed with this ROM as well as the playlogos1 needed to utilize it if you wish. The team strictly states though to use the one THEY INSTALLED, potential issues if you install a different version of the OCLF. The files are not run automatically, you need to do it on your own if you want to. So far I have seen no reason to run the lagfix or even worry about it anymore. If the Voodoo lagfix is your cup of tea be sure to uninstll it before flashing. Team Whiskey does have have the stock kernal available with or with out voodoo support. Again it is all up to you. I don’t use any of the lagfix’s in any of my ROMs. So what you read and see is a straight flash with a full battery. With that being said you can see where my linpack and benchmarks are.

Linpack is looking good clocking in at nearly 14 MFLOPS. Benchmarking in at just under 1000 but on fresh boot breaches 1000. Might not be the huge improvement numbers you might be expecting to see. If you have been following along in the community though we should know by now that the Benchmark Standard isn’t the best gauge of speed.

So far with this build I have experienced ZERO issues. My battery life is remarkable. I have been running for nearly 15 hours and am only at 60% battery. As far as how much I actually used he phone, about 2 hours of phone calls a few hundred SMS and GChat, some web surfing and 12 app downloads. I really can’t imaging Team Whiskey making this ROM any better. There might be room for improvement in the overall black theming. Overall this ROM is hands down, in my opinion, the best ROM I have every enjoyed on any phone.

If you haven’t tried any of the latest 2.2 Froyo ROMs available for your Samsung Vibrant, you should have no fears with this one. Once you load it up and start running it, you won’t need to go back to anything else. Final words of wisdom. When coming from 2.1, be it a ROM or stock, for the first time to ever load a 2.2 ROM, BACK UP EVERYTHING!  When you flash 2.2 for the first time your internal memory will be wiped.

Head on over to Team Whiskeys official page and xda-developers

Small update: I just learned that there is an Obsidian V4 that just became available for download on their homepage, no details on the change log yet. These guys can sometimes beat you to the punch when you review a ROM. Look forward to an update on Obsidian V4 or Obsidian V5. Depends on how fast they change things on me.

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About the Author

Stormy Beach

Time for an update. I am the proud father of three, 2, 8, and 11. I finally just moved up from the Samsung Vibrant to the Samsung Galaxy S III...... Let me tell you, it is mind blowing. I love Android, I love tech and I love my family. Not in that order though. I work to hard, play even harder and take care of all that are around me when I can.

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