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hello! my first ever post so please tell me if i do anything wrong.
So now that huawei no longer gives unlock codes many previous huawei fanes are scattered trying to find a new favorite OEM, and i think Xiaomi would be the best for me, but i need to understand a few things before i buy one:
1- Does unlocking/rooting void warranty? and is it like the Samsung case where they would have to be sued in order to get the warranty?
2- Is MIUI really that bad as people make it sound?
3- What are your thoughts on the poco f1?
4- What are the most special things about Xiaomi phones that makes you like it?
1. They are officially supporting bootloader unlock, but not sure about rooting and custom ROM, btw, you can always flash stock ROM with Xiaomi flash tool and fastboot images.
2. MIUI is one of the most feature rich ROM, the Chinese version is the best and is much stable. Global ROMS are developed by nincompoops and they always introduce more bugs than fixes. I have seen this trend that in MIUI with each new update, your phone will become more slow and buggy.
3. Poco F1 is a great phone, I really liked it but because of so much bugs and company not saying anything about it nor fixing it and also, those bugs are present in other Xiaomi phones which is still not fixed till now motivated me to sell it and buy Nokia 7 Plus which is more expensive and less feature rich. Due to this attitude of Xiaomi I am not gonna buy Xioami phones atleast when they are newly launched. Also, never believe on reviewers, especially Indian, they are all bastards.
-->Best things about Xiaomi:
1. Best thing for price.
2. One of the best development support.
3. Best display and camera for price.
-->Worst thing about Xiaomi:
1. Bad developers
2. Bad and buggy software, they tend to release a new version before fixing all bugs in previous one;
i.They stopped development on MIUI9 and stopped support on many devices leaving half of their device in a bad shape.
ii.Redmi 2 and Redmi 2 Prime that share the same specs only the latter has 2GB RAM, one has got VOLTE and other doesn't have it, while it can be easily turned on in the software because if you flash Prime's software in normal Redmi 2, VOLTE works, although it's not properly optimized for 1GB RAM phones.
I also used Honor 8 Pro as one of my personal device and I was too furious of no developer support but atleast they provide proper updates. I am using Nokia which also doesn't allows bootloader unlock. Btw, if you use VOLTE, custom ROMS won't support it or will take a long time for one with VOLTE to be available.
I am not sure what section to post this question in and I am not aware that this question has been answered.
Where to I find a list of recent phones or tablets suitable for Lineage OS? The LineageOS own site is a mix of really old phones with more recent ones and omits all non official ports.
The question is actually quite simple: suppose I want to buy a phone or a tablet today to install LineageOS. What are the options?
The requirements are:
-the device should not be too old (issued in 2017-2018), or I can't buy it new
-it should support Lineage 14 or 15
-Lineage should be installable on the current version, ideally without needing to register as a developper by the manufacturer.
The latter is more tricky than it seems. For example, the Samsung A5 is officially supported by LineageOS 14, but there is no LineageOS 15 rom available. Current versions come with Android 8.0 and cannot be downgraded to LineageOS 14. Besides, Samsung added extra security on their bootloader which makes installation a real pain.
jerome_m said:
I am not sure what section to post this question in and I am not aware that this question has been answered.
Where to I find a list of recent phones or tablets suitable for Lineage OS? The LineageOS own site is a mix of really old phones with more recent ones and omits all non official ports.
The question is actually quite simple: suppose I want to buy a phone or a tablet today to install LineageOS. What are the options?
The requirements are:
-the device should not be too old (issued in 2017-2018), or I can't buy it new
-it should support Lineage 14 or 15
-Lineage should be installable on the current version, ideally without needing to register as a developper by the manufacturer.
The latter is more tricky than it seems. For example, the Samsung A5 is officially supported by LineageOS 14, but there is no LineageOS 15 rom available. Current versions come with Android 8.0 and cannot be downgraded to LineageOS 14. Besides, Samsung added extra security on their bootloader which makes installation a real pain.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Why not just shortlist a few devices you like and then checking whether they have good dev support?
Samsung is the toughest to get a bug-free lineage os rom, so strike that
OnePlus has good dev support and some Xiaomi phones too
RVR said:
Why not just shortlist a few devices you like and then checking whether they have good dev support?
Samsung is the toughest to get a bug-free lineage os rom, so strike that
OnePlus has good dev support and some Xiaomi phones too
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you for your answer.
I did not consider OnePlus, because their phones are only available for a short period of time. When LineageOS is available, the phone is usually out of production. Xiaomi, I don't know about their phones.
Do you know if OnePlus and Xiaomi allow installation of alternatrive roms without requiring an unlock key from the manufacturer?
jerome_m said:
Thank you for your answer.
I did not consider OnePlus, because their phones are only available for a short period of time. When LineageOS is available, the phone is usually out of production. Xiaomi, I don't know about their phones.
Do you know if OnePlus and Xiaomi allow installation of alternatrive roms without requiring an unlock key from the manufacturer?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
OnePlus doesn't require a key from the manufacturer. OnePlus 6 or 6t should be a good bet if you don't mind the notch . However, unlocking a Xiaomi bootloader may be time-consuming since you need a code and it can take time to get.
EDIT; You can't go wrong with a Google Pixel 2XL , all roms will work seamlessly
RVR said:
OnePlus doesn't require a key from the manufacturer. OnePlus 6 or 6t should be a good bet if you don't mind the notch . However, unlocking a Xiaomi bootloader may be time-consuming since you need a code and it can take time to get.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So, Xiaomi would be a second choice. I don't really want to have to beg the manufacturer for an unlock code.
I checked about the OnePlus 6 and 6T. No real development yet on 6T, since the phone is not publicly available (expected). LineageOS 15 does not appear to be maintained any more on the 6. Bummer.
RVR said:
EDIT; You can't go wrong with a Google Pixel 2XL , all roms will work seamlessly
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I checked the Google Pixel 2 and 2 XL. There are difficulties with these phones because of encryption, but they can be solved. Lineage is a special build that comes with gapps pre-installed. I dont want gapps at all.
Thank you for your help, but I still don't have what I am looking for: a phone, reasonably recent so as to be available new, with a reasonably usable Lineage OS 15 installable without too much trouble.
I also asked about a tablet, but that seems even more difficult.
any one can tell me how to install miui 11 gsi on mi a3?
deadheart420 said:
any one can tell me how to install miui 11 gsi on mi a3?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
aslo badly need miui on my mi a3
It is literally known as meme-ui the whole Android community gives out about it, it is a meme for how bad it is.
Your better off going with an aosp rom as your privacy and data will be safe, Android one just gives it all to Google aswel.
Read up about these things first don't just go blindly flashing stuff coz it's "cool".
Plus it's a lot heavier than an aosp rom which will eat ram and battery on the device and probably result in a decrease in performance.
What is the reasoning behind wanting miui so much? Just out of curiosity.
Is there any way to install gsi on mi a3? tried to install resurrection remix through fastboot in "A" slot (fastboot flash system system.img) but phone doesn't boot.
garylawwd said:
It is literally known as meme-ui the whole Android community gives out about it, it is a meme for how bad it is.
Your better off going with an aosp rom as your privacy and data will be safe, Android one just gives it all to Google aswel.
Read up about these things first don't just go blindly flashing stuff coz it's "cool".
Plus it's a lot heavier than an aosp rom which will eat ram and battery on the device and probably result in a decrease in performance.
What is the reasoning behind wanting miui so much? Just out of curiosity.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i am using miui from very first of my phone. and after buying mi a3 i just stuck into minimal feature of android one .. also i need to get back app locker, privacy locker, screen recoder with internal audio, real full screen gesture dark mode and many mode without using any 3rd party app
Why did you buy the A3 in the first place? CC9e is identical in specs but with MIUI, I'd buy this phone because of Android One like the most of us.
StomaNL said:
Why did you buy the A3 in the first place? CC9e is identical in specs but with MIUI, I'd buy this phone because of Android One like the most of us.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
moreover, CC9e has FullHD+ 1080p screen, unlike A3.
3 yars since A1 was released, and people are still buying Android One devices to install miui there...
ne_toy said:
3 yars since A1 was released, and people are still buying Android One devices to install miui there...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
???? Lol
ne_toy said:
moreover, CC9e has FullHD+ 1080p screen, unlike A3.
3 yars since A1 was released, and people are still buying Android One devices to install miui there...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
nope the cc9e is also 720p. the cc9 is indeed fhd (aka mi 9 lite)
yes, such a shame... and makes no sense, the android one support does add to the price the phones so why... is a big mistery for me too... not to mention variety, there's countkess more miui phones to choose from
garylawwd said:
It is literally known as meme-ui the whole Android community gives out about it, it is a meme for how bad it is.
Your better off going with an aosp rom as your privacy and data will be safe, Android one just gives it all to Google aswel.
Read up about these things first don't just go blindly flashing stuff coz it's "cool".
Plus it's a lot heavier than an aosp rom which will eat ram and battery on the device and probably result in a decrease in performance.
What is the reasoning behind wanting miui so much? Just out of curiosity.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What you are saying used to be true.
I hated Miui when I first tried it in 2017. Recent Global versions of Miui is fantastic, I prefer using the customized Xiaomi/EU rom.
AOSP has its merits, but the Xiaomi Meme thing is honestly outdated and frankly silly.
and after so many jokes and history classes, and explanations of the boy who works at bestbuy, is there any way to use MIUI in the A3?
deadheart020 said:
i am using miui from very first of my phone. and after buying mi a3 i just stuck into minimal feature of android one .. also i need to get back app locker, privacy locker, screen recoder with internal audio, real full screen gesture dark mode and many mode without using any 3rd party app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
...Second space
Record calls (without using any 3rd party app)
etc, etc, etc
What's so bad on using 3rd party apps to have those feature? I for one have zero interest in call recorder, screen recorder, app lock, second space or any of the MIUI apps and I'm glad that these, for me useless apps are not part of the system. That's why I always choose clean Android. If you know that you need such features, well, buy a phone with MIUI..? Even if you somehow manage to boot MIUI on A3, it won't support OTA updates and most probably some of the essential features won't work (e.g. FP sensor).
_mysiak_ said:
What's so bad on using 3rd party apps to have those feature? I for one have zero interest in call recorder, screen recorder, app lock, second space or any of the MIUI apps and I'm glad that these, for me useless apps are not part of the system. That's why I always choose clean Android. If you know that you need such features, well, buy a phone with MIUI..? Even if you somehow manage to boot MIUI on A3, it won't support OTA updates and most probably some of the essential features won't work (e.g. FP sensor).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If Mi CC9e had a global MIUI (not English / Chinese only), there would be no such conversation. But since there are a lot of people who like MIUI more than Android Stock, there are a lot of people looking for MIUI for the Mi A3!
jo2006 said:
If Mi CC9e had a global MIUI (not English / Chinese only), there would be no such conversation. But since there are a lot of people who like MIUI more than Android Stock, there are a lot of people looking for MIUI for the Mi A3!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Xiaomi has 4 phones with Android One and at least 20 with MIUI. A3 is nothing special (except the Android One program), why on Earth would you choose it over any other phone with fully supported MIUI out of the box? Just to complain that you miss things which are deliberately not present?
_mysiak_ said:
...A3 is nothing special ...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
A3 is nothing special? Tell me one smartphone with a screen less than 6 inches (for me very important) and a decent battery (over 4000 mAh). In addition it has a good / excellent camera.
jo2006 said:
A3 is nothing special? Tell me one smartphone with a screen less than 6 inches (for me very important) and a decent battery (over 4000 mAh). In addition it has a good / excellent camera.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am not familiar with MIUI phones as I find zero interest in them. If there is no such phone, I guess you need to make a compromise somewhere.
Most recent phones have excellent camera with gcam mod.
Guys, MIUI has its benefits, but stock android is not that bad either. I just love stock android.
But it seems many people are regretting buying this phone. Maybe someone will port MIUI for A3 someday, meanwhile you can follow the video shared by @ozankardes, it looks promising. The video is not in English, but I guess you can pickup the important bits easily. Good luck!
I tried the MIUI ROM in the video. it work.
ROM belongs to MI CC9e. Only 2 languages. English & Chinese. You can use morelocale2.
-No Google apps.
-Auto brightness is not stable.
-Fingerprints don't work.
Everything works except what those.
I tried a few more A/B GSI roms (Flyme 8, MIUI 11). None of them worked. Maybe only will work GSI A roms I don't know. We need to do more trials.
Hi All,
I'm an engineer looking to upgrade a product which uses an old Altel smartphone. I'm experienced in Unlocking and flashing. I have already done a search, but now in 2020, there may be new info.
Looking for suggestions for the best CHEAP android phone which has good custom ROM support for android 7+ (ish).
I need to use the back camera, and connect via wifi, bluetooth, or Cellular Data. It will be tested in the US, but may benefit from support for many globally common 3g and 4g bands.
One last thing. Would love to find something I can still buy a few dozen of NEW, or at least MFG REFURB.
Can anyone suggest suitable phones? So far, been considering late nexus line and early pixel line, knowing they're flash unlockable.
Thank you for reading! Apologies if I hit the wrong section of the forum.
bizzzle said:
Hi All,
I'm an engineer looking to upgrade a product which uses an old Altel smartphone. I'm experienced in Unlocking and flashing. I have already done a search, but now in 2020, there may be new info.
Looking for suggestions for the best CHEAP android phone which has good custom ROM support for android 7+ (ish).
I need to use the back camera, and connect via wifi, bluetooth, or Cellular Data. It will be tested in the US, but may benefit from support for many globally common 3g and 4g bands.
One last thing. Would love to find something I can still buy a few dozen of NEW, or at least MFG REFURB.
Can anyone suggest suitable phones? So far, been considering late nexus line and early pixel line, knowing they're flash unlockable.
Thank you for reading! Apologies if I hit the wrong section of the forum.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There are no *NEW* cheap phones that have custom ROM support unfortunately. But used phone are an option : ) If you want official ROM support (Even to this day!), you can get a Samsung Galaxy S4 for 50$, an S5, Note 3 (Android 9 - 10 support!).
If you want a used phone at 100-150$, you can get a A5 2017, Google Pixel 1, Nexus 6 (Don't buy the 6p)
If you want to get a Brand new phone: Moto G7 and G6 Plus (200-250$). (Theese phones have a more complicated process of modding)
You can check the Lineage OS download Page here: https://download.lineageos.org/ Theese are all of the supported devices.
If you don't want to have any difficulties, you can get a Samsung but be careful with the variants! Get the international or Canadian variant because if you get a US variant, there are no methods of unlocking the device (except for the S5 and less) You can also get the Google Pixel, but do not buy the US variant. Same for the nexus devices...
Your knowledge and help are much appreciated.
Can you offer advice on USB OTG Compatibility with various phones on Lineage? I've had mixed results in the past with stock ROMs.
alexenferman said:
There are no *NEW* cheap phones that have custom ROM support unfortunately. But used phone are an option : ) If you want official ROM support (Even to this day!), you can get a Samsung Galaxy S4 for 50$, an S5, Note 3 (Android 9 - 10 support!).
If you want a used phone at 100-150$, you can get a A5 2017, Google Pixel 1, Nexus 6 (Don't buy the 6p)
If you want to get a Brand new phone: Moto G7 and G6 Plus (200-250$). (Theese phones have a more complicated process of modding)
You can check the Lineage OS download Page here: https://download.lineageos.org/ Theese are all of the supported devices.
If you don't want to have any difficulties, you can get a Samsung but be careful with the variants! Get the international or Canadian variant because if you get a US variant, there are no methods of unlocking the device (except for the S5 and less) You can also get the Google Pixel, but do not buy the US variant. Same for the nexus devices...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
bizzzle said:
Your knowledge and help are much appreciated.
Can you offer advice on USB OTG Compatibility with various phones on Lineage? I've had mixed results in the past with stock ROMs.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
All of the phones I mentioned have OTG capability
Probably almost all phone supported by lineage have OTG. Don't worry about that.
bizzzle said:
Hi All,
I'm an engineer looking to upgrade a product which uses an old Altel smartphone. I'm experienced in Unlocking and flashing. I have already done a search, but now in 2020, there may be new info.
Looking for suggestions for the best CHEAP android phone which has good custom ROM support for android 7+ (ish).
I need to use the back camera, and connect via wifi, bluetooth, or Cellular Data. It will be tested in the US, but may benefit from support for many globally common 3g and 4g bands.
One last thing. Would love to find something I can still buy a few dozen of NEW, or at least MFG REFURB.
Can anyone suggest suitable phones? So far, been considering late nexus line and early pixel line, knowing they're flash unlockable.
Thank you for reading! Apologies if I hit the wrong section of the forum.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have 2 Samsung Galaxy S3 ( circa 2012 ) and while they are far from new, they are great phones to play around with.
I am far from experienced, but I have enjoyed flashing Custom ROM's , from CyanogenMod, thru various versions of Lineage, and now CrDroid. The newest O/S that I flashed is CrDroid 3.8.9 ( based on Android 7.1.2 - I think! ). Runs great. Stable. Long battery life. Ran ( 'right out of the box' ) without any need to install Gapps.
The nice thing is the Samsung Galaxy S3 is so darn abundant. Seems that everybody has one collecting dust in a drawer. And that means they are cheap ( as in give it away ). All the Samsung Galaxy S3 came with unlocked bootloader ( I think that is the term ) except for the Verizon model.
Icing on the cake is, a fellow from Montreal, alexenferman, is the genious authour of the CrDroid Custom ROM.
I am about to purchase a Xiaomi MI PAD 4 - 3GB RAM, 32GB, MicroSD, 1920x1080 Tablet. My main goal to start is to root the device and see if I can load a few .apk on it. (Some medical antibiotic apps, if that matters).
I'd like to load a Custom ROM on it as well. I'd prefer something that would be reliable and low maintenance as a first ROM. I'd consider jumping to something more customizable later. I just want it to run first.
I've read a bit and have 3 Custom ROMS in mind that seem to fit my criteria (Lineage OS, Evolution X, or Havoc). Any opinions which would be the easiest for a newb like me ?
All help appreciated.
I'm also trying to learn how to Root this device and install a custom ROM. If anyone has a link to a good guide that would help me greatly. Newb friendly is a bonus.
The most simple rom I would recommend is Pixel Experience, which I port for Mi Pad myself:
https://forum.xda-developers.com/mi-pad-4/development/rom-pixel-experience-t4095793
Another good choice would be LineageOS by @S-trace, it's similar to Pixel Experience but closer to AOSP rather than a Pixel:
https://forum.xda-developers.com/mi-pad-4/development/rom-lineageos-17-0-t3989187
For rooting: You will have to go through the OEM unlock procedure which means you need to sign up for a Mi Account and then request unlocking. This may take anywhere from 72hours to a few weeks AND when you unlock the bootloader it wipes everything - so be aware that you will lose everything.
During the unlocking process you need a windows machine and the Xiaomi unlocking software, and almost all my Xiaomi devices have been very finnicky about what USB cables are used - best advice on this is use the supplied cable in a USB2.0 port.
(If you need to use Google Play before you unlock and you have the Chinese ROM, you can use the Google Services installer).
The Xiaomi Global and Xiaomi.EU Roms are actually not too bad, although now outdated. Am also considering switching ROM very soon.
In case you are wondering, the MIUI12 (which the MiPad 4 may or may not be getting officially) has not left me very impressed on my other devices primarily as it feels rather counter-intuitive to use.
(Lineage OS, Evolution X, or Havoc)
I have never tried Evolution, but Havoc is discontinued and do not waste time on it. I used it a moment. It is full of options, but nothing will be fixed. Good to know who is an author of it, because he prepares different roms and discontinue all. Floco 3 will be good (I used mordiford) but I suggest LOS 17.1 from S-trace. I am using it and it is better than 16. Please do not use 17.0 from author of Havoc because of standard problem.