[VIDEO] Micro review of Virtuous Inquisition 4.0

Posted by Evan Rodgers on March 26, 2012 12:48 am 13

No one expects the Virtuous Inquisition.

Last thursday I called into the Vergecast to talk about how HTC and Samsung have grown since the iPhone was released. After speaking on that point for a while, I was asked whether I used my Galaxy Note as a daily driver. As any Android snob will agree, I would never use any phone running Gingerbread as my daily driver, so when I was asked what was my daily driver, I told the Vergecasters that I use an HTC Sensation 4g running Virtuous Inquisition 4.0.The name alone was fodder for many good laughs, but I am here today to answer the questions put forth by Josh about this notorious ROM.

What is Virtuous Inquisition?

Virtuous Inquisition is a ROM made by the good folks at virtuousrom.com. They make many ROMs for various devices, but the Inquisition ROM is the crown jewel in my mind. It is stable and fast, all of the hardware works wonderfully and, best of all, it is almost completely stock android. However, this is only in appearance. The Virtuous team uses a launcher called Nova Launcher, which emulates the stock ICS launcher almost perfectly, and in some instances improves on some of the stock launcher features. Additionally, a developer known as Shnizlon has developed most of the ICS theme framework that makes all of the non-launcher aspects of the ROM look like stock ICS.

image courtesy of the Virtuous website.

How do you get it?

Simply go to the Virtuous Rom website, click Inquisition, and then click download. One incredibly important caveat is that you must install the firmware that comes with the ICS beta; firmware 3.32. Failing to do so will cause your phone to bootloop at best. After you've done that, simply install the ROM with ClockworkMod Recovery (google this if you haven't done so already) and you're good to go.

Why would you want it?

Virtuous Inquisition on the HTC Sensation hardware is a match made in heaven. I subscribe to the T-Mobile "Dirty Thirty" 5GB plan, and this setup is very compelling, especially since you can use WiFi calling. You can find an HTC Sensation aftermarket for around $250 and with this affordable plan you can cruise the wireless tubes without worrying about incurring the wrath of Ma Bell. Despite Virtuous Inquisition's origins as a beta ROM, the team has undergone painstaking effort to make this ROM a truly stock ICS experience. The stability and speed alone make it worth considering over HTC Sense.

Music: The Hood Internet