Well, in fact, I do likewise, if only to get a feel of the default phone features and capabilities.
But, judging from the current device alone, that phase tends to end pretty quickly: although the 48MP MIUI camera was outstanding and hasn't been surpassed by any of the custom clones and competitors, the amount of system level ads, annoying/nagging features and sheer data exfiltration made the phone almost unusable to begin with (luckily, I was able to use another cheaper phone as daily driver) and put an end to the affair quite soon.
Considering it took me months to find a suitable alternative ROM, I'd be pretty content to stay with a lightly modded stock ROM, but that didn't cut it, also. Only now, a over year after I bought it, do I feel it's really usable and yet it still inflicts a few paper cuts I'd love to get fixed...
Same here -- and not for lack of advocating. Even my own sibling, kinda high-level tech consultant, is perfectly happy stuck inside Apple's walled garden...Andrew Lee wrote: ↑I think people who use custom ROMs on their Android phones are like the 1%-ters. Within my circle of friends and acquaintances, I know of no one else who does it.