Database Develop

Did I buy the right phone...n

I'm currently on a Samsung SIII with KitKat (omnirom), but because my daughter's phone broke down it's going to her after I get my new phone. I wanted to buy a Nexus 5, but it's sold out in the Netherlands even though it's € 400,- instead of € 350,- Because I was in a hurry I opted for an S4-active. I had some water damage with a HTC HD2 in the past and this one is probably better equipped in that respect. I already read enough to avoid putting it under water on purpose.
But...
I did get a bit of a scare when I looked for custom ROMs in this thread. Why are there so few options? Is this phone so different?
Maybe I should have waited a bit longer or even try to get a Nexus 5 from Germany.
Can someone give me an advice what to flash when my phone arrives? I don't like all the Samsung bloatware and don't mind to run cyanogenmod.
Cheers

I find this phone to be an almost perfect match for me.
I don't take underwater photos, but I love watching online content while I take a bath. I would never do this with any other phone. It's decided to take a few dips in the tub with me, but just pulling it out and drying it off it doesn't miss a beat.
The lack of custom roms/kernals is a bit disappointing, but I find that with the safestrap and Google stock rom I'm able to reach an experience that I can enjoy.
The screen was a sell for me hands down. I hate the new pentile style screens that cause blurriness in the display. Despite many people telling me it's not humanly possible to tell on such a small screen. When I see a flat red/blue color on the normal S4 screen it looks absolutely disgusting (Think 540p resolution because of the 1:2 ratio of pentile to rgb)

Thanks for your elaborate reply. I went to the safestrap thread. Is this only for the AT&T version or is it for my international version as well?
You're talking about Google stock.. do you mean cyanogenmod?
I hope to hear more from you
Cheers

The limited ROM development is quite disappointing but I think it's because the market that would've normally bought this device had already largely bought the s4.
I use the CyanogenMod ROM. It works quite well. The camera works but it's unstable. LTE is great .
I agree with Celeste, the display is amazingly good, especially considering it is LCD based. The phone is also the only device I know of that combines both the features of Exynos 5 (which features the BIG.little CPU design) and LTE in one package.
Sent from my GT-I9295 using Tapatalk

I don't use Cyanogen, just the Stock Google 4.2 Rom that's in one of the development threads.
I haven't seen any of the features of most customized roms to be appealing enough to me, and I'm always afraid the features will end up adding larger overhead to the system.
I really enjoy 60fps content whenever I'm playing around and the jitter that happens whenever other processes get in the way of displaying the next frame always seem to irk me a bit.

I'm actually about to sell my active to buy a nexus 5, due to the limited rom development. Just waiting for the 32Gb model to reach Sweden.
I've got the international version as well, and as you've noted we don't have much to choose from - safestrap won't work for us. I run cyanogenmod and it mostly works, has a few quirks particularly when it comes to the camera that has me rebooting now and then. I don't think anyone can answer if you bought the right phone or not, it really comes down to if you can live with one of the existing roms or not - because there isn't likely to ever be many roms to choose from. This phone just didn't get a breakthrough and there just isn't enough users out there to get the development really going. The hardware is good, the screen is phenomenal, but that's not all there is to a phone for me.
Try out the roms, and if they don't scratch your itch... sell it and get something else.

Thanks for all the info...
I already have the files in place to flash when it arrives tomorrow.
I think I'm going to flash it to Google's
If only we would have the same deals as our German neighbours...
€ 350,- is still even much more than $ 350,-
They could at least have given us the 32 MB model for that price.
Otherwise I would have waited for the Nexus...

Buy Xiaomi?

Guys. i want to buy xiaomi mi3 but im confused as many ppl who have bought it say that its build quality is not upto the mark also flipkart isnt supporting after sales for the device...and many also state that its the best phone ever...
please anyone can guide me through?

Hi, I have xiaomi mi3, what i could say is that it is quite up to my expectation.
Solid build with fast hardware, you will most likely need not to look for service center for repairs unless you have misused the device(ex. drop).
My wish for this device would be an AMOLED screen! so I could enjoy much more battery life and notification on standby.

Any other person review please...

There are already plenty of reviews around. A simple search and you will find them

Sent from my MI 3W using XDA Free mobile app
Listen to me now, menu people hate this phone because they bought Samsung and HTC... And they pay a lot of money for their phones so they are jelaus because they can't admit to themself that they made bad decision, on the other hand xiaomi with their massive sales made a lot of small businesses owners who sell phones angry because they are loosing a lot of customers so they are trolling on the internet how bad this phones are. Now let me tell you about mi3 I have one and is absolutely perfect, build quality is superb feels quite sturdy and strong, working experience is blazing fast. On benchmark its faster than Samsung s5 , what moore to say this phone is best just damn buy it every single thing is at the best quality, otherwise I wouldn't buy it, cheers from Europe.

xiaomi mi3w said:
Sent from my MI 3W using XDA Free mobile app
Listen to me now, menu people hate this phone because they bought Samsung and HTC... And they pay a lot of money for their phones so they are jelaus because they can't admit to themself that they made bad decision, on the other hand xiaomi with their massive sales made a lot of small businesses owners who sell phones angry because they are loosing a lot of customers so they are trolling on the internet how bad this phones are. Now let me tell you about mi3 I have one and is absolutely perfect, build quality is superb feels quite sturdy and strong, working experience is blazing fast. On benchmark its faster than Samsung s5 , what moore to say this phone is best just damn buy it every single thing is at the best quality, otherwise I wouldn't buy it, cheers from Europe.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Boy are you way wrong. Most people don't buy the device because 1. It's not available world wide other the. A china based site. 2. People don't like MIUI. Most would just buy an iPhone if they wanted that type of closed sourced OS. 3. Developers don't buy it due to lack of Kernel source code.
Benchmarks mean nothing to anyone that knows cell phone tech

zelendel said:
Boy are you way wrong. Most people don't buy the device because 1. It's not available world wide other the. A china based site. 2. People don't like MIUI. Most would just buy an iPhone if they wanted that type of closed sourced OS. 3. Developers don't buy it due to lack of Kernel source code.
Benchmarks mean nothing to anyone that knows cell phone tech
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, not really true is it? 99% of people don't care a bit wether the OS is closed source or not. Plenty devs use Windows/OSX/iOS although it lacks kernel source code and is closed source.
Biggest problem is your first point: They don't sell this phone on every corner near you. There are however plenty trustworthy webshops around, I got my MI3 from Ibuygou.com and it was delivered in 5 working days, thats just as good as a local webshop.
Concerning the phone: I think it's a bit oversized compared to it's competitors, the bezels are quite large. This hasn't been a problem for me however and is compensated by the slim design. Another problem is the lack of 4g/LTE. Other than that it's just a great device, especially when you take the price into account.

Dwarre1 said:
Well, not really true is it? 99% of people don't care a bit wether the OS is closed source or not. Plenty devs use Windows/OSX/iOS although it lacks kernel source code and is closed source.
Biggest problem is your first point: They don't sell this phone on every corner near you. There are however plenty trustworthy webshops around, I got my MI3 from Ibuygou.com and it was delivered in 5 working days, thats just as good as a local webshop.
Concerning the phone: I think it's a bit oversized compared to it's competitors, the bezels are quite large. This hasn't been a problem for me however and is compensated by the slim design. Another problem is the lack of 4g/LTE. Other than that it's just a great device, especially when you take the price into account.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
As it is posted here. Most do care about the kernel source as without it you can't get a working aosp build. And most Android devs use Linux to develop.
Your right you can't buy it and unless they redo the look of it they never will sell it outside of China.

zelendel said:
Boy are you way wrong. Most people don't buy the device because 1. It's not available world wide other the. A china based site. 2. People don't like MIUI. Most would just buy an iPhone if they wanted that type of closed sourced OS. 3. Developers don't buy it due to lack of Kernel source code.
Benchmarks mean nothing to anyone that knows cell phone tech
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
1. Its available outside china. Officially
2. Have you even checked the MIUI stats. Its one of the most widely used custom ROM.
3. even after being closed source it has lots of stuff to customize and mods to flash compared to iOS. There are even custom ROM out for it.
REVIEW for OP
I was scared if the same stuff like you. Me n my sis bought it for my dad. But when the device arrived and i opened the box. I was surprised to see such an awesome device for so low cost. Felt like for once i was not being looted by big companies like samsung htc. I have owned plenty of smartphones. I buy nokia and samsung stuff, always the flagship devices but i know that they are overpriced. This one is not.
I can hardly think of any cons for this device.
16gb storage is a negative point depending on your usage. If you are an average user then even that shouldn't bother you.
Performance is superb
Camera is awesome. I have taken hundred's of pics to test it. Some people will say that low light photography is not that good. Show me one camera phone that takes awesome pics in low light and i will gift you that awesome phone. Maybe they are good or ok but nothing when compared to pics under normal daylight or lighting conditions. Have tested iphone5S, iphone 4, s3, s4 etc and plenty other phones. Low light pics in reviews are under certain amount of low light and taken at a particular angle and depends on light source and plenty other factors. And even the distance from the objects. I pretty sure that you will never take such low light pics. In practical every smartphone camera fails(relatively) in low light.
One again this phone has awesome camera you won't regret it.
Gps locks pretty fast.
Battery backup is unbelievable. I still check the battery left in my dad's phone when he come home and i still can't believe that how can it give such an awesome backup. My dad makes ton's of calls and is always using his phone is free time experimenting as this is his first smartphone. Sometimes he switches on bluetooth, gps, wifi etc on and it stays on the whole day until i notice it when he comes back home. And its been a month and till now it has never ran out of battery in a single day. Can easily last full day even if you use it heavily.
Screen is not. Amoled but its still awesome
Phone feels premium.
I showed it to some of my friends and asked them to guess the price. Everyone guessed over 30-35k and wanted the phone. But if you tell them its Chinese first then they are like it ok..not that good.... Its all in the mind. Not every Chinese stuff is bad. My sis and mom were even sure that it's metallic. Lol
Very light and thin phone. U suggest you buy cover for it to add some weight and thickness. Otherwise to me all these slim phones feels like they will slip off my hands and break.
It has fallen few times now from bed...table... From my dad's hand and no damage so far. So build quality is also good. Although i would advice you not to test it yourself. Because sometimes phone might not break from 10m height but it will break from 1m. Its all just luck (or you can call it angle of impact, place of impact, density of the material that it had impact with, temperature of the phone/surrounding at the moment etc. Which in short i call luck)
So don't test your luck until and unless you can afford a bad luck.

It is from their site and most of the countries it sells in are not really known for enforcing gpl or copyright laws.
Now I know it seems like I hate the company or have a personal issue with them. Quit the opposite really. I want them to become a contender in the mobile world, but they have to do it right or they will be another fly by night OEM.

zelendel said:
It is from their site and most of the countries it sells in are not really known for enforcing gpl or copyright laws.
Now I know it seems like I hate the company or have a personal issue with them. Quit the opposite really. I want them to become a contender in the mobile world, but they have to do it right or they will be another fly by night OEM.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
will they ever release kernel source..as they have for mi2 as far as i knw maybe wrong..

Hugo Barra has promised a late 2014 kernel source release.
As for the phone, its awesome, but don't expect wonders from the camera, as it does struggle with low light, its much worse than a galaxy s3, believe me, I tested it.
Also consider the difficulty to get warranty if you need it. Many legit stores but a lot of ifs in warranty declarations from them, beware.
For the price, I took the risk, didn't regret it yet
Lack of ROM alternatives has bugged me for a while but now that is changing, and I really learned to appreciate miui and their fast update cycles..
Sent from my MI 3W using XDA Free mobile app

I DONT WANNA TALK ABOUT THE GOOD POINTS cos I all of them can be found everywhere about how good the Mi3 is. So heres the bad points:
1. (Pretty obvious) No kernel source. And just like what the guy here said "No AOSP ROMS"
2. Appearance. Gotta tell you this, the phone is really extremely nice to hold the phone potrait due to its curved sides. But when in landscape mode, especially when gaming, the edges of the Mi3 simply digs into your palm and it really hurts my hand. Other than that its pretty okay, well build. A replacement case can solve this.
3. Storage. Xiaomi Mi3 actually comes in 16GB and 64GB. Sadly, Mi3s with S800 comes with 16GB and the Tegra 4 version comes with 64GB and thats sold in China with China networks.
4. MIUI. Its okay at first. After while, you feel like having Stock Android launcher, Trebuchet. That too can be solved with a 3rd party launcher so its minor. But MIUI is heavily skinned and it effect the RAM usage of the device. With CPU-Z, the device has 1.8GB of RAM. But with MIUI here, it cant get more than 1GB of RAM even with the RAM Cleaner button. Its always left with about 700-800MB of RAM available.
5. The speakers. It sounds very funny. Idk how to describe it. Maybe im wrong though. But the speaker is not big enough and loud for my use. If you're using the Mi3 now. Try playing some music and look at the bottom of the phone. Use your thumb and cover the speaker grill furthest from the MicroUSB slot hole. Yea, the sound got blocked and the remaining holes aren't playing any sound. Abit of lies there.
I guess thats all I have to say though cheers
Via the Internet

Dwarre1 said:
Plenty devs use Windows/OSX/iOS although it lacks kernel source code and is closed source.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I agree with the rest of your post, but just wanted to chime in. OSX does have publicly available kernel source.

You should give a try. If you want bully quality test MI4.. I am very proud with MI2s with Mokee 444.
Sent from my MI 2S using Tapatalk

Xiaomi mi5 a good budget phone ?

Im thinking buying a mi 5 ?But overall the mi 5 is a good phone?

Well, there are tens of reviews on internet if you want more specific information.
I don't think Mi5 is a budget phone. More than that it is a flagship phone with surprisingly low price. Great design, camera, display etc. I can't find anything better with that money.
Only weak thing in my opinion is MIUI and locked bootloader. I personally don't like it too much. But as long as custom rom development is good, you can fix it. Of course you need a little effort to unlock the phone and install custom rom.
Apart from MIUI I would suggest this phone to anyone who wants not too big display. Now I suggest this phone to anyone who is ready to put a little extra effort and time to make it even better.

Been using MI5 for over a month now. I even unlocked bootloader and custom roms and went back to stock. Snapdragon 820 spec and cheap price, you wont go wrong, though u must consider if network bands in ur area is compatible with this devce

If you can get it at the advertised price or close then there is nothing better at that price point. You really are getting a flagship phone at a budget price.
I like MIUI v8. It is a huge improvement over the previous versions and very stable as I have never had any issues (stock stable China ROM). Lots of useful features, nice theme. Updates every couple of months to include latest fixes and security patches. Nougat will arrive soon I hope. Also have your choice of China, EU, or Global rom.
SD820 is still one of the best around. Battery life is excellent. Build quality is very nice but slippery. Lovely display. Nice size for me. Has an IR blaster that I find useful now and again when traveling. Dual-sim works perfectly and unlike a lot of other flagship phones, it works with 4G/LTE and 3G at the same time which is tremendously useful if traveling to countries that have no 2G network.
Only slight negative is that the camera isn't up there with the best of the best (Apple and Samsung), it's just good.

how are you getting on with your p20 pro? is it all you expected?

Just wanted to get a feel for how people are with their p20 pros
Personally I want to change very little.about it, I'm rooted and have my normal rooted apps, adaway, titanium, 1 magisk module swap torpedo (kills the swap file, not needed for 6GB of RAM)
Other than that, the theme, the signal location, the camera, it's all pretty amazing.
I expected more from the battery but I can live with it.
The only thing I think that will annoy me is the lack of ROMs, but it's hurting a lot less than it did on other odd devices I've bought:
Sony Z1
Note 4
I think if Huawei would have flooded the globe with one variant with Google esq updates, it would have been one of those phones that alter a generation , kind of like the HD2 and Nexus devices did and Oneplus devices are.
Instead we've got several variants with a completely insane and i mean insane after market development scene, it's like everyone got the memo but me lol.
How have you found yours for the time youve had it?

I love it.
The battery is immense, and because I regularly have days with 8hrs plus SoT, it's a godsend.
I knew the camera was good, but it's better than I hoped, so much so that I got rid of my compact camera and my DSLR gets much less use these days.
I don't understand what you mean by lack of apps?
Sent from my CLT-L29 using Tapatalk

Lack of US supports hurts. I really like the p20 pro but if the p30 pro next year doesn't support tmobile band 71 then this will be my last Huawei device.

orangecroc said:
I love it.
The battery is immense, and because I regularly have days with 8hrs plus SoT, it's a godsend.
I knew the camera was good, but it's better than I hoped, so much so that I got rid of my compact camera and my DSLR gets much less use these days.
I don't understand what you mean by lack of apps?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sorry pal I meant lack of ROMs.
8 hours? Not bad but consider if it was as well optimized as hear vanilla phones.
Oneplus 5 835 - No limits ROM. 14 hours 30 minutes.
Battery size is 3400 Vs the Huawei having 4000
Lol I expected more
We should be clearing 10 hours daily

worldsoutro said:
Lack of US supports hurts. I really like the p20 pro but if the p30 pro next year doesn't support tmobile band 71 then this will be my last Huawei device.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Think that decision has been made.
I think they're missing a massive part of the market tbh.
I got they reconsider, I really do.
1 model
1 target audience
Quick updates
Bootloader unlocking
That is all I need.
= A healthy community.
Bare in mind, were the people who or families and friends ask when they want to buy a phone.
I can't recommend Huawei anymore.
I wish I could.

dladz said:
Just wanted to get a feel for how people are with their p20 pros
Personally I want to change very little.about it, I'm rooted and have my normal rooted apps, adaway, titanium, 1 magisk module swap torpedo (kills the swap file, not needed for 6GB of RAM)
Other than that, the theme, the signal location, the camera, it's all pretty amazing.
I expected more from the battery but I can live with it.
The only thing I think that will annoy me is the lack of ROMs, but it's hurting a lot less than it did on other odd devices I've bought:
Sony Z1
Note 4
I think if Huawei would have flooded the globe with one variant with Google esq updates, it would have been one of those phones that alter a generation , kind of like the HD2 and Nexus devices did and Oneplus devices are.
Instead we've got several variants with a completely insane and i mean insane after market development scene, it's like everyone got the memo but me lol.
How have you found yours for the time youve had it?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think you should go out on a Friday night..... you're looking for something to amuse you. I've had to stop in and have a drink.
I'm quite into this phone apart from the complete lack of updates (I have the UK model)
I don't modify much these days unless I can't utilise the full screen because of onscreen navigation buttons but, luckily, this device has the perfect solution. [emoji3]
I must admit, I loved my HTC desire days....the customisations we could do then....Leedroid...my hero.
Sent from my [device_name] using XDA-Developers Legacy app

dladz said:
Think that decision has been made.
I think they're missing a massive part of the market tbh.
I got they reconsider, I really do.
1 model
1 target audience
Quick updates
Bootloader unlocking
That is all I need.
= A healthy community.
Bare in mind, were the people who or families and friends ask when they want to buy a phone.
I can't recommend Huawei anymore.
I wish I could.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That decision was made for them by the US government. I am not sure what the whole story is behind it but no Carriers in the US want anything to do with Huawei now.
With carrier support and good advertising they could have made a decent splash in the US overtime.
Even if they support band 71 it's a tough sell to spend so much on a phone that won't have any US warranty backing.

worldsoutro said:
That decision was made for them by the US government. I am not sure what the whole story is behind it but no Carriers in the US want anything to do with Huawei now.
With carrier support and good advertising they could have made a decent splash in the US overtime.
Even if they support band 71 it's a tough sell to spend so much on a phone that won't have any US warranty backing.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
All I know is, Oneplus have come and dominated.
They've provided for everyone.
Bootloader? So so easy.
Speed? The one thing parents and kids need when you hand your phone down to them.
Oneplus stands alone.
Huawei have the know how to be technically and globally dominant, but theyve missed out ingredients that matter.
I'll never buy another huawei, as much as I love it and I did I couldn't commit over £1,000 to a company that gives so much then breaks it with poor policies, awful selling tactics (models) and ridiculed hardware.
Maybe it'll be different one day but ive had this conversation before about a giant (HTC) and they never recovered,.
I'm curious to see how Huawei do next year, I have a feeling that they'll be reversing their decision very soon.
I just fear it'll be too late.
PS I really really wanted the p20 pro to succeed or even has suede hdmi via USB is superb.
They did swerve the bootloader decision and release a firmware for vanilla Android.
Completely blow every other phone out the water.

bobsie41 said:
I think you should go out on a Friday night..... you're looking for something to amuse you. I've had to stop in and have a drink.
I'm quite into this phone apart from the complete lack of updates (I have the UK model)
I don't modify much these days unless I can't utilise the full screen because of onscreen navigation buttons but, luckily, this device has the perfect solution. [emoji3]
I must admit, I loved my HTC desire days....the customisations we could do then....Leedroid...my hero.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Slightly presumptuous. ,,l, :laugh:
I've lost more hours of life from nights out than I imagine you've lived my friend.
I'm also in the UK, take my guide it helps.
Gets you on 432
Then 131 is close by.
You can't miss, of course , back up.
I totally love that single's button navigation, I couldn't live without it now

dladz said:
All I know is, Oneplus have come and dominated.
They've provided for everyone.
Bootloader? So so easy.
Speed? The one thing parents and kids need when you hand your phone down to them.
Oneplus stands alone.
Huawei have the know how to be technically and globally dominant, but theyve missed out ingredients that matter.
I'll never buy another huawei, as much as I love it and I did I couldn't commit over £1,000 to a company that gives so much then breaks it with poor policies, awful selling tactics (models) and ridiculed hardware.
Maybe it'll be different one day but ive had this conversation before about a giant (HTC) and they never recovered,.
I'm curious to see how Huawei do next year, I have a feeling that they'll be reversing their decision very soon.
I just fear it'll be too late.
PS I really really wanted the p20 pro to succeed or even has suede hdmi via USB is superb.
They did swerve the bootloader decision and release a firmware for vanilla Android.
Completely blow every other phone out the water.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah for people that like to tinker, oneplus is one of the best options. I just hope they keep improving the camera, o6 is a good start.
Yeah I don't know what Huawei was thinking with so many different varriants. Oneplus did it right they only have two hydrogen os for the Chinese market and oxygen for the rest. The hardware is the same as well.

worldsoutro said:
Yeah for people that like to tinker, oneplus is one of the best options. I just hope they keep improving the camera, o6 is a good start.
Yeah I don't know what Huawei was thinking with so many different varriants. Oneplus did it right they only have two hydrogen os for the Chinese market and oxygen for the rest. The hardware is the same as well.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Which is superb
Not sure I'd buy the op6 tho.. it wouldn't last as long as the op5.
But I agree with you pal.

The camera, battery, design, screen, storage space, are all far above my expectations. Well done huawei. I'm very glad I did the change from oneplus and Samsung.
Sent from my CLT-L29 using Tapatalk

dladz said:
Slightly presumptuous. ,,l, [emoji23]
I've lost more hours of life from nights out than I imagine you've lived my friend.
I'm also in the UK, take my guide it helps.
Gets you on 432
Then 131 is close by.
You can't miss, of course , back up.
I totally love that single's button navigation, I couldn't live without it now
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Wow.
That makes you at least seventy.
Sent from my [device_name] using XDA-Developers Legacy app

dladz said:
Which is superb
Not sure I'd buy the op6 tho.. it wouldn't last as long as the op5.
But I agree with you pal.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think op held back on the battery and going to improve it for o6t

Sold mine. The software update situation was just a joke and frustrated me more than the benefits the rest of the device brought to me.
Shame but learnt my lesson now. Pixel or OnePlus devices for me going forward.

I'm having mixed feelings about the device. I have bought it twice, as I wasn't happy, so I could compare and find out if the problem is the device or me.
So far, I'm very happy with build quality, usability, design, screen and functionality. The camera of my second device is better than the one of the first, but I'm struggling to get good battery life with both. 3 hours DOT, maybe four if I'm lucky. I think that's not really good, and as both devices behave like this, the problem must be me. Not really sure what I'm doing wrong, as even my old rusty iPhone 6 can give me 3 hours of DOT, so I expected a lot more in this aspect. Other than that, I really like this device.

It's amazing
The missing notifications from some apps is a problem, wish someone could do a guide about how to fix that
Also, battery drains pretty fast, i can't get a full-day through it
Are VoLTE and VoWIFI draining the battery faster, any thoughts on that?

Best phoned I ever had. Slow at getting upgrades but can live without it. Battery, camera, performance are fantastic. How people can complain about the battery life? I am a heavy user and and can't kill the battery in one day

I get 3 hours SOT. I don‘t think that‘s stellar.

I switched from Samsung to p20 pro and thats the best ive ever done.
I love the p20 pro, its amazing, the screen, the smotheness, the SOT and so on.....
Greetz

Update Android, Keep Root, Keep Fingerprint Reader, Keep T-Mobile US Wifi Calling/Vo-LTE... please help

Hi there. I've been out of the loop for a while. Still rocking the XZ1 compact (until Sony or someone else comes out with something small, sleek, and square again). Because of my general lack of knowledge and fear of losing any of the things mentioned in the title of post... I haven't done any updates. I'm still using Android 8.0.0
As many of you likely know the US version shipped with the fingerprint reader disabled, requiring use of non-us firmware to enable it. However in order to take advantage of Vo-LTE/Wi-Fi Calling/T-Mobile band 12... you basically had to combine a couple different firmware together to both keep the fingerprint reader and have the calling features simultaneously.
Obviously if there is a way of retaining root, wifi calling (as well as Vo-LTE and band 12 support) for T-mobile USA, and functioning fingerprint reader... I would love to update this device. I'm even open to third party ROMs provided I don't lose any device functionality.
Any assistance would be greatly appreciated. I'm not terribly well versed in all of this but have been able to root every one of my devices and unlock their fullest potential with the help of individuals at XDA.
Thanks in advance.

I am pretty sure i saw mention in one or more of the custom rom threads here specificlly mention a version for volte on the forum here u could check those threads see if someone else have had a simaller qeustions in the past.
also look for mention of the fingerprint scanner is working or not.
Sorry i am pretty new at this mysellf i am sure u will find what your looking for there.

Same thoughts here. I moved onto another phone but was thinking about updating this one to Lineage and using it again, which would require flashing a new firmware. But mine is on 8.0 with everything working (T-mobile VoLTE and wifi calling, fingerprint reader, camera via DRM patch, and Magisk with safetynet passing and Google Pay working). It's been a while but I remember having to jump through some hoops to make that all work and would hate to mess any of it up.

jrbmed08 said:
Same thoughts here. I moved onto another phone but was thinking about updating this one to Lineage and using it again, which would require flashing a new firmware. But mine is on 8.0 with everything working (T-mobile VoLTE and wifi calling, fingerprint reader, camera via DRM patch, and Magisk with safetynet passing and Google Pay working). It's been a while but I remember having to jump through some hoops to make that all work and would hate to mess any of it up.
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Yeah I love this phone (or rather I hate the look/shape/size of all the phones out today) so I'm afraid to jeopardize anything. I've debated buying another one for tinkering with.

POMF2K said:
Yeah I love this phone (or rather I hate the look/shape/size of all the phones out today) so I'm afraid to jeopardize anything. I've debated buying another one for tinkering with.
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I just can't handle the size of almost anything out there today, plus I refuse to buy anything without a headphone jack until there are no more options for me. I actually dislike the square shape because it's more uncomforable to hold though. I switched from the XZ1c to a Pixel 2 because my husband got a cheap phone when we switched carriers, but I never should have given up the XZ1c. Ended up hating the dongle life and traded in the Pixel 2 for an S10e. I love everything about the S10e except it's just too big. Lately the S10e's battery has been going downhill, and I ended up getting an iphone 12 mini for work and loving the size, so I've been thinking about switching back to the XZ1c. But I tried for a few days and had a few issues with the older version of Android...and that brings me to why I'm here in the same boat with you. Hope we can figure it out.
Edit: Specifically I'm hoping to upgrade to Lineage because it seems to be the most up to date of the available ROMs. From what I'm reading, I *think* all we need is an international firmware and the ROM. Not sure if we still need to swap a file in the firmware with the US one.

jrbmed08 said:
I just can't handle the size of almost anything out there today, plus I refuse to buy anything without a headphone jack until there are no more options for me. I actually dislike the square shape because it's more uncomforable to hold though. I switched from the XZ1c to a Pixel 2 because my husband got a cheap phone when we switched carriers, but I never should have given up the XZ1c. Ended up hating the dongle life and traded in the Pixel 2 for an S10e. I love everything about the S10e except it's just too big. Lately the S10e's battery has been going downhill, and I ended up getting an iphone 12 mini for work and loving the size, so I've been thinking about switching back to the XZ1c. But I tried for a few days and had a few issues with the older version of Android...and that brings me to why I'm here in the same boat with you. Hope we can figure it out.
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I've never been a fan of Samsung build quality. But there's something to be said for the development community on more popular devices.
Sony is supposed to be bringing back the compact line. I don't know if it will have the same clean lines but I think they learned their lesson with the "soap bar" look of the xz2. That might work for other manufacturers but I think it's safe so assume the Japanese aesthetic is what keeps Sony fans loyal to the brand.
What do you think of the iphone 12 mini? From a software standpoint I hate all things apple but I've always been impressed with apply build quality. I actually got my girlfriend one of those SE models last summer to replace her dying 7 or 8. Figured it was small and pocketable, better pics than most android phones, and with a nice small screen the battery life would be great. I even thought I might grab one for myself to play around with. Total miss on Apple's behalf. Took it back in less than a week for horrible battery life. And she is much less picky about battery life than I am.
Honestly that's why I'm still using the 3 or 4 year old Sony. I don't like phones that don't fit in my pocket, don't like overly effeminate round edges, I don't want to pay $1000 for a phone, and I really can't stand batteries that die quickly. At this point I don't even know what brands to look at. I always thought about one plus, but those are huge. Pixels are pretty ugly. So I'm sitting here with an outdated phone... but love the look and it gets the job done.

@POMF2K
Like ur reading my mind hahaha love the compact series sadlly the xz1 compact is the last of its kind.
It also saddens me how there barelly any life here this part of the forum when i see other pieces of **** phones with a gazillion pages and hundred difrent roms.
Thinking we will never see anything like this again and that rumor a couple of months ago about a new compact had a leak and looks more like there budget serie L.

Don't know how everyone feels about xiaomi but it seems the MI 11 mini is happening. If I read it right, it's still going to be close to a pixel 3/5 in size. I bought a MI pad 4 and couldn't be bothered with the MI UI but it seems most xiaomi have a ton of development support and mine even came with an unlocked bootloader(on MSM Xtended now).
I'm currently using Bliss on my xz1c and it hits all the boxes for me. Great battery life, great performance and tons of customizations. Fingerprint works and I'm rooted but I don't use Google Pay and don't have volte on my plan(Cricket) so I can't help you there.

AlexKarimov said:
Don't know how everyone feels about xiaomi but it seems the MI 11 mini is happening. If I read it right, it's still going to be close to a pixel 3/5 in size. I bought a MI pad 4 and couldn't be bothered with the MI UI but it seems most xiaomi have a ton of development support and mine even came with an unlocked bootloader(on MSM Xtended now).
I'm currently using Bliss on my xz1c and it hits all the boxes for me. Great battery life, great performance and tons of customizations. Fingerprint works and I'm rooted but I don't use Google Pay and don't have volte on my plan(Cricket) so I can't help you there.
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Yeah dont support china how people stil do is beyond me (this is not a race thing)
Bliss really that good ? have you happend to also tried other roms if yes what did u think of those?

Wish I could use Xiaomi but they never have US LTE bands. It's a shame because they make some nice devices and have good community support. I hate that they would call a phone of that size "mini" though, since the Pixel form factor is still too big. Kinda feels insulting to those of us who want an actually mini phone.
@POMF2K I adore the form factor of the iphone 12 mini. The combination of square sides with rounded corners looks unisex to me (although I'm a woman and wouldn't mind a slightly feminine look). The screen is small enough for me to reach all corners with one hand even without bezels. Gestures on iOS are pretty easy to learn and use. Dislike the notch but it's not a dealbreaker. I upgraded from my work iphone 8 and miss the fingerprint reader but otherwise prefer it for being slightly smaller (especially narrower), and the low-bezel look is quite pretty. Battery life kind of sucks. I'd say it's on par with the SE. But since it's not my primary device, I don't sweat it too much.
S10e as my daily driver has generally been good for me except slightly too big, mediocre battery life, and I can't root it. But at the same time I've come to appreciate the amount of customization possible with Samsung's UI and their own apps (Good Lock etc.). I *almost* don't miss rooting (although I miss having better control over wakelocks, apps that run at boot, etc.). So currently my plan if nothing else works out is to replace the battery and run that phone into the ground before I finally have to decide what to get next. Hard decision between the next mini iphone (if there is one) which has the form factor I want but I'd be giving up Android, fingerprint scanner, headphone jack, SD card, etc....and whatever the smallest Android phone I can find is.

mstrnemo said:
Bliss really that good ? have you happend to also tried other roms if yes what did u think of those?
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I really like it but we might have different priorities. The things that drew me to it were the GPS(was a big concern for work) and the customization. Bliss uses SODP based GPS and it works just as good as stock but faster. The ROM is also very smooth and fast and there are instructions for VOLTE users in the first few posts.
CONS: It hasn't been updated since September so I'm sitting on the 9/5/20 security patch but I don't know if that should bother me. Also, I have a UI freeze every so often if I open a text message from the lock screen but a quick UI restart from the power menu fixes it. Since changing the text app to open a quick reply instead of the full app, the freeze is so seldom I usually forget about it.
I have a second xz1c that I got a deal on so I mainly use it to test any ROM before I use it on my main, so I have that option without jeopardizing my existing setup(cheating, I know). That being said, I have used quite a few of the ROMs.
Tested extensively:
AEX Pie and Q: Q was my favorite ROM until updates stopped and the last build didn't have functioning GPS. I loved everything else about it. Stable, fast and enough customizations to satisfy me. When it stopped, I rolled back to AEX Pie and loved it as much. GPS works great and plenty of customizations. Only con with it is cell signal drops every now and then and has to be rebooted one to several times.
Crdroid Pie: was my first custom ROM. Great ROM. No complaints on this one other than I jumped on the wagon and wanted to try the new Q ROMs(didn't have 2nd phone then).
Crdroid Q: Haven't tested as a daily driver but it seems to be a very stable ROM.
CONS: I might put all Q(except Bliss) in this. There is a modem notification that activates on start up. Data won't connect if preferred is LTE but 3G works fine. There's a work around in the settings to connect in 3g on boot and automatically switch over to LTE but it hasn't been reliable for me. I'm on Cricket Wireless in western US so maybe that has something to do with it.
Havoc Q: Great ROM here as well. More customizations, very stable and great battery life. Fingerprint worked on all Q ROMs so far but Pie was so long ago, I don't remember.
Haven't tested extensively:
Lineage 16 and 17: Tried 17 briefly when I was desperate for a GPS solution. It was smooth and stable but not to my taste so I didn't stay with it.
11 ROMs: All are still on first or 2nd version. Enough draw backs that I'm not moving to them yet.
I hope that was helpful. Sorry I can't answer some of the more important questions(VOLTE, WIFI calling and data bands) but if you asked in the ROM threads, you'd probably get the exact answers you're looking for.

This person on Reddit found the proper mix of .sin files to get FP, VOLTE, Wifi calling and MMS working for the XZ1C. Its the guide I used and everything works fine. I used the US Android 9 image from Xperifirm and the 'custom UK' image for vendor and system sin files.
https://www.reddit.com/r/SonyXperia/comments/7433id/_/dnvum20