Is there a way to get rid of MIUI android? - Xiaomi Mi CC9 / Mi 9 Lite Questions & Answers

Hi,
Is there any way to get rid of this cancer and get a lineageos rom that is stable for the recent Xiaomi Mi CC9 Pro?
Or is this not adviced. I would like to get 10hrs of SOT if possible don't want MIUI bullcrap. The phone itself the hardware and quality is really good. It's just the damn Chinese mutated android
I don't want there crappy software iPhone x clone crap.

As an Android purist I absolutely agree that the only thing holding back an otherwise perfect phone (for the price) is the software. I know there are many MIUI fans out there, and I'll never understand why as it's a bloated, cartoony mess that's trying too hard to be IOS with its obnoxious animations and blur effects. If this were an Android One device I'm sure it'd sell like hotcakes.
That being said, there are many custom ROMs available in these very forums, including unofficial LineageOS and Pixel Experience builds and they seem stable enough. Personally I'm holding out for MIUI12 just to test it for a few days, then I'll probably flash one of those.

SpaceDye said:
As an Android purist I absolutely agree that the only thing holding back an otherwise perfect phone (for the price) is the software. I know there are many MIUI fans out there, and I'll never understand why as it's a bloated, cartoony mess that's trying too hard to be IOS with its obnoxious animations and blur effects. If this were an Android One device I'm sure it'd sell like hotcakes.
That being said, there are many custom ROMs available in these very forums, including unofficial LineageOS and Pixel Experience builds and they seem stable enough. Personally I'm holding out for MIUI12 just to test it for a few days, then I'll probably flash one of those.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I completely agree. Not saying that all user interfaces are bad but just the way you describe it iOS clone etc, I feel the same about it. If I want an iPhone I will buy one, money is not the problem.. Not to forget that Xiaomi was banned by Google several times and I had one of the first Xiaomi devices released, it was not even for sale here in the stores. I did order it online from some dropshipper on the slow boat. Flashed a fresh official international rom and modem and hooked it up to my man-in-the-middle machine, when I looked at the traffic with wireshark oh my god... The rom was bloated to hell official Xiaomi rom and never seen something like this I mean multiple spyware and bloatware !! I patched all dirty **** away but quickly switched back to stock because the patches introduced bugs (what the hell can you except when its so bad, with no source code and private sign keys, had to unlock bootloader and flash with TWRP...). I mean most cellphone brands do or did this. Nothing new but this was just next level. Had to remove so many spyware, bloatware.. Just the amount of cancer that was introduced, I would rather live with bugs instead of a bloated phone. I remember my first bloated phone was a HTC with the Carrier IQ spyware. Also I loved HTC so much, right? Nooo, only the hardware!! The phone was out of the box so full of themes and ****ing garbage that it was slowed down to an almost unusable state... Obviously I quickly found out that Cyanogenmod was back in the days. A clean Android version that had great features and was way nicer with the CPU and thus saving the battery also no crappy themes that made your device go slow, laggy and drain the battery.
In case of Xiaomi I really think they have their ROI in cellphone sales = based on data that they mine big data by MIUI Android. Can't be otherwise, why else is the phone so cheap and now new feature introduced that you can't rollback firmware update? :laugh::fingers-crossed:
Obviously now we don't have lag anymore because most SoCs are super fast and can even handle demanding games. But yeah, I don't care about games and themes, just want a solid phone near stock Android with no bull**** added to it. I have searched for phones, again I am back to Motorola, Lenovo phones seems to have moved away from large batteries so. I would like to buy the Motorola Edge+ but it's only 999 US dollars.. Also don't want to go that crazy, I don't need a high end device. Mid range is fine, >= 170.000 Antutu 4+gb ram, amoled display and big battery decent camera & no MTK soc. Really hard to find with stock android or near stock on it. I believe that there are only like 3 phones.. Regarding amoled burn in, really not a big deal. I really watch a lot of movies on my phone or when I travel. After 4 years I can see a little burn in, and some times I have had 300gb bandwidth because of streaming and SOT of 12+ hours. So people really should shut up with bs, the burn in is no issue. LCD technology looks so nasty and it's bad for the eyes...
Will have to think about it, unofficial LineageOS/CM is a long time ago for me.. I actually want a stable phone for daily use don't really want to flash my phone 2 times a week anymore like I did back in the days..

NiTrOwow said:
I completely agree. Not saying that all user interfaces are bad but just the way you describe it iOS clone etc, I feel the same about it. If I want an iPhone I will buy one, money is not the problem.. Not to forget that Xiaomi was banned by Google several times and I had one of the first Xiaomi devices released, it was not even for sale here in the stores. I did order it online from some dropshipper on the slow boat. Flashed a fresh official international rom and modem and hooked it up to my man-in-the-middle machine, when I looked at the traffic with wireshark oh my god... The rom was bloated to hell official Xiaomi rom and never seen something like this I mean multiple spyware and bloatware !! I patched all dirty **** away but quickly switched back to stock because the patches introduced bugs (what the hell can you except when its so bad, with no source code and private sign keys, had to unlock bootloader and flash with TWRP...). I mean most cellphone brands do or did this. Nothing new but this was just next level. Had to remove so many spyware, bloatware.. Just the amount of cancer that was introduced, I would rather live with bugs instead of a bloated phone. I remember my first bloated phone was a HTC with the Carrier IQ spyware. Also I loved HTC so much, right? Nooo, only the hardware!! The phone was out of the box so full of themes and ****ing garbage that it was slowed down to an almost unusable state... Obviously I quickly found out that Cyanogenmod was back in the days. A clean Android version that had great features and was way nicer with the CPU and thus saving the battery also no crappy themes that made your device go slow, laggy and drain the battery.
In case of Xiaomi I really think they have their ROI in cellphone sales = based on data that they mine big data by MIUI Android. Can't be otherwise, why else is the phone so cheap and now new feature introduced that you can't rollback firmware update? :laugh::fingers-crossed:
Obviously now we don't have lag anymore because most SoCs are super fast and can even handle demanding games. But yeah, I don't care about games and themes, just want a solid phone near stock Android with no bull**** added to it. I have searched for phones, again I am back to Motorola, Lenovo phones seems to have moved away from large batteries so. I would like to buy the Motorola Edge+ but it's only 999 US dollars.. Also don't want to go that crazy, I don't need a high end device. Mid range is fine, >= 170.000 Antutu 4+gb ram, amoled display and big battery decent camera & no MTK soc. Really hard to find with stock android or near stock on it. I believe that there are only like 3 phones.. Regarding amoled burn in, really not a big deal. I really watch a lot of movies on my phone or when I travel. After 4 years I can see a little burn in, and some times I have had 300gb bandwidth because of streaming and SOT of 12+ hours. So people really should shut up with bs, the burn in is no issue. LCD technology looks so nasty and it's bad for the eyes...
Will have to think about it, unofficial LineageOS/CM is a long time ago for me.. I actually want a stable phone for daily use don't really want to flash my phone 2 times a week anymore like I did back in the days..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's literally Xiaomi's business model; they make little to no profit on the phones they sell, relying instead on the revenue they make from their apps and services. That's why even their most fundamental apps like the music player and file manager serves ads. The ads can supposedly be turned off, but some still slip through the cracks and who knows what user data is being uploaded to their servers. MIUI is literally SaaS.
Don't get me wrong, I really do love this phone. I too don't like spending too much on phones as I don't really need most flagship features on my device, and spending upwards of $1000 for a device that's going to be outdated in a couple of years seems absurd to me. If I wanted a status symbol I'd go out and buy a Rolex instead.
I absolutely agree about AMOLED screens. I swore off LCD screens on phones after my first AMOLED device (Galaxy S3 Neo). I'll take deep blacks, vivid colors and better battery life over the small risk of burn-in after a few years of use any day. Besides, the panels of today are way more resilient than the older generations.
I grabbed the Mi 9 Lite after my trusty OnePlus X finally died on me after 5 years. The build quality and screen were the biggest factors in my decision. It just seemed like a much better proposition than the plasticky midrangers with crappy screens in this price bracket, even though I was almost tempted by Nokia and Motorola with their Android One phones. If OnePlus had released another device around 250-300€ I'd absolutely get that, but until they do this phone is the midranger to beat as long as you flash an AOSP based ROM

Related

Bye Nexus 5, Bye Google. Hello Apple.

Almost 3 years being with Google - Coming from a Nokia -
Only if the LG Phone Nexus 5 was builtt as good or better than ****, but it was so flimsy, in spite of being well taken care of all the components kept breaking -
And then there is the android system, I like Android (Oh and thanks god for Cataclysm ROM it made the nexus experience even better) , I like the new Android M too, but inconsistency, bugs that got in the way of your productive such as the memory leak in the android kitkat, and then the wifi drain in Android M. But I did not actually experience the Android M Wifi battery drain (I don't think I did); but I still experienced WiFi using a lot of battery, maybe another bug maybe not.
But the main reason I leave google's nexus line (the only line I would consider for staying with google): Cheaply built phones, that don't last, that have all kinds of hardware problem. Whether its Huwaie, or LG (disgusting). I remember my nexus 5 started to have problems 5 days before the warranty expired, I was busy and called immediately the day after it expired but neither google or lg were willing to help. And then after replacing part after part on my nexus 5, other hardware problems just eventually gave in - a phone barely lasted 2.5 years, without me applying thermal paste and replacing other components.
Now I am with iPhone and I have to say - well built, clean software, not as customizable YES, but, it does not get in the way of my productivity, specially with hardware problems. It's time for Android fans to start criticizing google, and it's cheap phones, I want Google to be able to compete with Apple, but at this moment, Apple is superior to google, seriously.
> phone barely lasted 2.5 years
Apple isn't going to be any different unfortunately. Good news is that their eco-system is well constructed and the scenarios that they do support, work very well.
Best of luck. I just came to Nexus 5 after leaving Windows Phone, where I couldn't stand the "coming soon". Honestly the fact that the Nexus 5 is still running strong was the primary motivation for me to move.
PFFF I have both F***& Apple biggest POS I have ever used
It's your choice!
I'l see u back on this forum after a couple of years when google gets his stuff together!
What parts did you have to constantly replace?
"so flimsy, in spite of being well taken care of"
Really? Seriously? Did you leave it in a drawer? Things just don't break.
It's always sad to see someone go over to the technologically-illiterate side. Apple's hardware & software may be well-made and well-integrated, but you never actually own your iDevice - you just rent it. If you jailbreak it they feel entitled to brick it, I've heard. Naturally I haven't got concrete evidence with my own eyes, because their ethos is so utterly repellent to me that I could never give them a cent.
"neither google or lg were willing to help". Really? When my own N5's radio stopped working after 18 months after the battery ran down to zero (which I appreciate sort of conflicts with my first statement, but bear with me), supposedly outside warranty, Google replaced it without a murmur. I got a "refurbished" phone which was to my eyes absolutely new, and which is still working perfectly with Marshmallow 6.0.1.
I know full well that this is a pointless and stupid argument. You like Apple or you don't. I don't. Marmite/Vegemite. But to proclaim in an Android forum that your Android experience isn't as good as your new Apple experience (after how much time, I wonder...?) is a particularly pointless waste of time.
So I'll stop wasting mine now.
Was it necessary to let us know that you switched to a different phone?
Good for you.
Beat it.
What's the point?
This was kind of "If you need me I'll be jogging for the next hour", "but I didn't ask" "Well, just in case you wanted to know, I'm running" "Um... I didn't want to know"
I like my iPhone fine, but I wouldn't stick my neck out in an Android forum to point that out unless I was spoiling for a trolling.
Sent from my LG-D852 using XDA Forums
I prefer android myself and have found the build quality on the nexus 5 not very good, but you get what you pay for i guess.
I dont like the apple OS but they make great hardware for sure, their stuff just shouts quality , however im sure you could find similar quality in some android phones too, htc etc
Well, my experience with Apple wasn't good... Bought all the models until 5c (couldn't afford 5) and have to tell that Apple throws a way their models leaving the behind with a ios that does not work properly (last ios for each model)... And as well lot of hardware problems still have some where a 4s and a 5c somewhere at home... Good luck and save a lot to buy their "New product"
I agree about one thing pretty much all Android phones have had so-so build quality over the years. Now that has changed as more and more start to build in metal. Now this does not account for actual better quality but the perception of quality is much greater. I know I will never buy a plastic phone again they just feel cheep no matter whay. Only Nokia has basically been able to make plastic feel good in the past with the Lumia line.
At the moment I have a Huawei Mate S, iPhone 6S Plus and a Nokia Lumia 1520. Out of these three, I hold the Mate S as the superior build. It just feels best in the hand. As big screen as the iPhone but a lot smaller in the hand and it looks even better. An impressive piece of engineering indeed.
However this leads me to your trouble. (somethat) Only the Huawei has it's small issues from time to time with wakelocks. This has almost been the case for me with most Androids I've had over the years (and I've had a lot). Android has had these kind of battery draining bugs for so long it's sickening. Something I never experience on either Windows Mobile/Phone nor iOS. Specially iOS feels more polished than anything else on the market, albeit limited in comparison.
That being said, I use my Mate S as a daily driver now, which has the "mobile radio active" bug that's in Lollipop but for me it thankfully does not seem to affect battery life when it happens (daily), it's just a statistical error. Knowing it's there the system feels inferior in use. I have to worry about my usage at times when I'm not on WIFI. With my other phones I feel more at ease.
Each system has their strenghts and weaknesses. I'm no fanboy in either way and having three mobile OS's to chose from at any given day feels great. Something more people should adapt. Stop defending one system so much just because you own it at the moment. Just enjoy what is out there! But do not necessarily speak open about it like this because not many will care. Nature of people is that they get offended and enter defensive mode.
OP, congratulations on your new phone and hope it is everything you are looking for.
Now before this turns into an Apple vs Android thread (which we have had many over the years) going to close this.
Thanks
FNM

How awful is EMUI, and can it be made more stock-like?

Hi guys,
Happy New Year to all! Seems like my first resolution for 2017 will be to get a new phone as my LG G3 decided to die a few days after Christmas while on vacation... lovely, as it was to be my only way of taking pictures! Anyway, I'm looking for a cost-effective replacement phone (I'm in Australia for reference). My preference would have been a Pixel phone, but they retail north of 1000 AUD for the entry-level 32GB non-XL Pixel here, which is just too expensive for my liking. Alternatively I would have considered the S7/S7 Edge, but just a few months before release of the S8 I'm not willing to pay full price for it.
This brings me to the P9, which is currently on sale here bringing its price to roughly half of the Pixel/S7 Edge (600 AUD), and given a major point for me is camera/picture quality, it is a serious contender. My main concern however is the rather heavy-handed EMUI skin. Are there any P9 users around here who generally prefer stock-ish Android and who have switched to the P9? What's your feeling around EMUI? As long-term users, did you get accustomed to it? Things like the notifications shade and the recent apps are making me cringe a little, partly because they seem much less practical than the default implementation in Android, and partly because.... they look like an iPhone
Are there any apps available to make EMUI look more like stock? I'd unlock the bootloader and root this thing if I buy it, so I'm thinking things like xposed modules? I'd also be fine flashing a stock-based custom ROM, but would rather avoid stock-based/CM/Lineage ROM as I'd like to keep full camera functionality.
Also - unrelated question, but are people generally happy with battery life on the P9? I'm a light/medium user and the 2 hours of screen on time I'd routinely get on the G3 would be okay most days, but obviously short for days of heavy use. I seem to be reading that 4-4.5 hours of SOT is standard, is that what people experience?
My fallback plan would be to get a ZUK Z2 to tide me over until this year's phones.
Thanks for reading!
I got a zuk z2 pro after initially moving from Windows Lumia 950. The hardware for price was awesome but the software on it was a nightmare so I sold it and switched to P9.
First I used Nova launcher which was great as Emui didn't have an app draw.
Now I am beta testing Nougat Emui 5 which is a lot better and closer to stock although still stuck with the Icons.
Currently Nova crashes with my widgets so until that is fixed I am keeping with standard launcher, actually now I am used to it I may just stay using it.
Sent from my Hauwai P9 EVA-L09 using Tapatalk
I used a Nexus 5 for 2 years , S6 for 1 year and now I have a P9 (HTC 10 for some weeks,other phones only a few days).
Emui is something new . For me,it feels like a new, fresh experience.
I'm done with stock android. If I buy a flagship device,i want some features . The phone is fast (feels faster than HTC 10,S6,etc) .
For me ,it's better than stock android. S6 had the features,but it was laggy (s7 is the same). P9 has the features but it's also fast.
For me it's BAD, but not the EMUI by itself. It's bad because it's poorly made. No double tap to wake up the screen, no wave to wake up but there are ton of other useless motion controls.. Even Knuckle gestures that pretty sure no one is using (or 5 people at most)... Notes app doesn't sync with Gmail. No Reminders app. Don't like the colors, even in the Nougat update. Black with dark blue is so ugly (to me) that if I knew this would be enough to skip this phone. One of my biggest problems - can't turn off the haptic feedback, everytime I am using google search the phone vibrates and drives me crazy, and of course is draining battery. The worst part of the Phone is the updates, mine is still with 1 September security patch, it's January now... Flagship not getting monthly security patches in 2016-2017 is a joke, especially with the raising virus attacks. Took them too long to update to Nougat - another flaw. Everything else - Screen, build quality, camera is pretty damn good. Battery is pretty good to 5 hours without any problem and on Nougat most people get 6 and more hours.. Software is the biggest flaw.
Yes you can make it more Stock like - take a look at the themes here that some good people are making. No need of another Launcher. They are great and make the phone at least look better. And they will be released for EMUI 5 too. I won't suggest installing launchers, at least I had really bad experience, my phone started lagging so much I had to factory reset it. And I asked many people, they had the same problem after installing another launcher. This is my opinion and my experience. To be honest, if I knew how I will feel with this phone, I was going to get me S7. My advice is just wait for S8... Or LG G5 right now is on great price in most countries, great phone, would take it everyday instead of Huawei... It's your money and your decision after all.
Thanks guys for all the valuable feedback. I gave it a good thinking and eventually went to buy the P9 last weekend. I'll be writing up some more thorough thoughts about it when I get a chance, but so far I'm quite satisfied. It's very fluid overall, and I have 61% battery left as I write this with 1.5 hours of screen on time - at this stage my G3, also with a 3000mah battery, would be close to throwing in the towel already!
Two noticeable drawbacks, the lack of OIS for a phone supposedly focused on photography is annoying, and the 3D performance is definitely very middling. I did know this going in though so it certainly is no big surprise.
Hi
Battery life on the P9 is way better than the G3 (I had one that sadly died as well). P9 is also much smoother and doesn't heat as much as the G3 did.
EMUI is OK. Takes a bit more time the first day to set things up, because some things are buried a bit deeper in the settings. If you're worried about the look... There's a good theming community with some really good "stock android" themes available. Pair that with something like Nova launcher and you won't even notice it's there.
The camera is indeed excellent.
I also came from the G3 to this phone. I am loving it. I was ready to unlock/root/custom after reading all the professional reviews slamming EMUI. It took a bit of getting used to, but 7 months later this remains the first Android phone I have not rooted. I haven't even given it a factory rest to combat slow-down, and battery life remains excellent.
There is a customer skin in this: (https://forum.xda-developers.com/p9/themes/theme-material-vui-t3429075) thread which provides a nice stock look to icons and notification bar. I missed the app drawer for about 2 days then just got a folder page set up and organised. On balance it doesn't take me any longer to get to where I want to go.
About my only complaint is that even with my White-list protecting certain apps from being killed, they still do not seem to perform as they did on the G3. These are automation apps like IFTTT which I used to auto arm/disarm my home security when I arrive leave.
cooldoud said:
Hi guys,
Happy New Year to all! Seems like my first resolution for 2017 will be to get a new phone as my LG G3 decided to die a few days after Christmas while on vacation... lovely, as it was to be my only way of taking pictures! Anyway, I'm looking for a cost-effective replacement phone (I'm in Australia for reference). My preference would have been a Pixel phone, but they retail north of 1000 AUD for the entry-level 32GB non-XL Pixel here, which is just too expensive for my liking. Alternatively I would have considered the S7/S7 Edge, but just a few months before release of the S8 I'm not willing to pay full price for it.
This brings me to the P9, which is currently on sale here bringing its price to roughly half of the Pixel/S7 Edge (600 AUD), and given a major point for me is camera/picture quality, it is a serious contender. My main concern however is the rather heavy-handed EMUI skin. Are there any P9 users around here who generally prefer stock-ish Android and who have switched to the P9? What's your feeling around EMUI? As long-term users, did you get accustomed to it? Things like the notifications shade and the recent apps are making me cringe a little, partly because they seem much less practical than the default implementation in Android, and partly because.... they look like an iPhone
Are there any apps available to make EMUI look more like stock? I'd unlock the bootloader and root this thing if I buy it, so I'm thinking things like xposed modules? I'd also be fine flashing a stock-based custom ROM, but would rather avoid stock-based/CM/Lineage ROM as I'd like to keep full camera functionality.
Also - unrelated question, but are people generally happy with battery life on the P9? I'm a light/medium user and the 2 hours of screen on time I'd routinely get on the G3 would be okay most days, but obviously short for days of heavy use. I seem to be reading that 4-4.5 hours of SOT is standard, is that what people experience?
My fallback plan would be to get a ZUK Z2 to tide me over until this year's phones.
Thanks for reading!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Using Nougat Beta I find EMUI 5.0 to be much more tolerable, as it is much closer to stock than 4.x, but also resembles iOS more than before which isn't great.
My biggest annoyance is its cloning of MiUI which, while understandable for a Chinese brand, is impractical. MiUI wastes very large amounts of screen space due to its obsessive "Top half=graphic, bottom half=details" design. Lots of screens have trivial graphics that have only a small amount of useful information, yet they're expanded to take the whole top half of the screen.
My only real annoyance is the stock features it replaces with versions that have fewer features. Case in point, the data usage monitor. Instead of taking the stock version and improving it, it seems Huawei built it from scratch because it can't do several things the stock version can do. Its interface in 4.x is ugly, in my opinion (also very MiUI), but even in 5.0 where it resembles stock, it isn't stock. You can't, for instance, check data usage for the previous month. You also cannot change the day of the month on which the monthly counter resets.
Considering it has the ability to cut off after you surpass a limit, it's clearly still designed with managing bills in mind, like its stock counterpart, yet they assume everyone's billing period resets on the 1st of the month.

Thinking of getting this phone, have a few questions before I do..

1. How often do OP update their phones, do the older model get ignored compared to the new ones ?
2. How easy is it to unlock/flash new roms on this phone, since this will be my primary focus ?
3. How bad is touchscreen latency and camera performance with latest update ?
4. Should I be worried about bad after-sales here in UK ?
Please feel free to mention any other points about this phone that might help me in making my decision.
Cheers
_ray_ said:
1. How often do OP update their phones, do the older model get ignored compared to the new ones ?
2. How easy is it to unlock/flash new roms on this phone, since this will be my primary focus ?
3. How bad is touchscreen latency and camera performance with latest update ?
4. Should I be worried about bad after-sales here in UK ?
Please feel free to mention any other points about this phone that might help me in making my decision.
Cheers
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
1. i had an OPO and i guess it not supported anymore, but i installed a custom ROM the first day i got it and custom ROM support is amazing, there is still a big community. Guess there wont be many other devices being better off.
2. couldnt be easier. All u need to do is just follow the instruction given for the ROM. Support in this forum is also given.
3. For me the latency is the same as it feels with my gf's pixel phone. Camera i cant say much cuz the only fotos i do is about documents and writings. But these are super easy to read. I have no idea thogh how beautiful pictures will get.
4. what do u mean? there wont be any sales on the phone
I came from the D855 (G3) was a huge step i was going to wait for SD835 smartphone but my phone died, so i wanted something super fast, and unlocked, when i mean unlocked is a company that gives you acess to the hardware this is bootloader unlock, as many companys do NOT, the phone is tremendous fast, fingerprinting in 0.2sec it opens before you blink, the screen looks way better than my G3 which was the first 2k screen, its vivid and bright, dash charging is awesome it charge your phone way to fast xD, its the first phone that i dont need to let it in charger over night, 3.4A battery is more than enought, 8h+ of SOT? i had at must 1.5 to 2h of sot on my D855, huge huge difference, for the moment this is by a large margin the best device you can buy, as for the cameras or any other features i dont care, they do the work just fine, i have a mirrorless camera for photography so i dont care about the camera, its still packs a 16MP on front camera which get you a very sharp face if you are a selfie person, anyother i just got this phone by its hardware, super fast and cheap for a flagship? i spent 439 + karbon case this phone worth every penny, so go for it it feels very nice in the hand, and the metal its of nice quality! it even comes with a screen protector by default thats a nice touch from them! oneplus is a great company you wont Regret it!
1. How often do OP update their phones, do the older model get ignored compared to the new ones ?
OnePlus does a decent job but don't expect Nexus-grade updates. You'll mostly be relying on the XDA community.
2. How easy is it to unlock/flash new roms on this phone, since this will be my primary focus ?
Very Easy. Unlock bootloader from bootloader menu, flash twrp via fastboot, flash a custom rom and that's it.
3. How bad is touchscreen latency and camera performance with latest update ?
Touchscreen latency was never THAT bad unless you're a pretentious user. You shouldn't worry this because most custom kernels improve it, and at some point it will be fixed completely by OnePlus. Camera is decent, the sensor is the same as the one in V20. It's the processing that sucks compared to other phones, so don't expect much.
4. Should I be worried about bad after-sales here in UK ?
Not sure what you mean. But i'm certain you will be satisfied of the phone for the price paid.
xhitm3n said:
I came from the D855 (G3) was a huge step i was going to wait for SD835 smartphone but my phone died, so i wanted something super fast, and unlocked, when i mean unlocked is a company that gives you acess to the hardware this is bootloader unlock, as many companys do NOT, the phone is tremendous fast, fingerprinting in 0.2sec it opens before you blink, the screen looks way better than my G3 which was the first 2k screen, its vivid and bright, dash charging is awesome it charge your phone way to fast xD, its the first phone that i dont need to let it in charger over night, 3.4A battery is more than enought, 8h+ of SOT? i had at must 1.5 to 2h of sot on my D855, huge huge difference, for the moment this is by a large margin the best device you can buy, as for the cameras or any other features i dont care, they do the work just fine, i have a mirrorless camera for photography so i dont care about the camera, its still packs a 16MP on front camera which get you a very sharp face if you are a selfie person, anyother i just got this phone by its hardware, super fast and cheap for a flagship? i spent 439 + karbon case this phone worth every penny, so go for it it feels very nice in the hand, and the metal its of nice quality! it even comes with a screen protector by default thats a nice touch from them! oneplus is a great company you wont Regret it!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I was on exactly same situation last week. [emoji2]
_ray_ said:
1. How often do OP update their phones, do the older model get ignored compared to the new ones ?
2. How easy is it to unlock/flash new roms on this phone, since this will be my primary focus ?
3. How bad is touchscreen latency and camera performance with latest update ?
4. Should I be worried about bad after-sales here in UK ?
Please feel free to mention any other points about this phone that might help me in making my decision.
Cheers
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
HI,
Note: I had the op3 and now i am using the op3t from dec.
1. Updates on the op are fairly quick, as of now we have an open beta for 7.1.1 with march security patch. We will be getting the full update sometime in this month.
2.This is where the op devices shine the most.The op community is great,you will get the community app installed on the device. you can find all required the guides for unlocking,roms and troubleshooting there.The op3t has support for all the popular custom roms so you can get the updates asap.
3.The touch latency issue is still there but it is not that bad.The camera is not bad at all.Its a great camera for the price and takes great pics in good light conditions but the low light photos are not that great.If you are a serious camera buff you might be disappointed.
4.After sales is bad here in India. Its handled by a company called servify. Had the op3 and i broke it in 3 weeks of purchase. I had got their one year "accidental damage protection" thingy so i went to the service center fairly optimistic . After looking at the phone they said "the back of your is damaged and we do not cover cosmetic parts under our insurance, we will fix the screen for free". I was angry but agreed to get it fixed any way. After that they say if you want to go through our insurance you have to open a claim via the op app,we cannot do it here. I returned home did what they said and after two days i got a call from some shady insurance company refusing my claim saying there is something wrong with my paperwork.Even after doing all the things they said they still refused it. But I loved my phone so tried to get it repaired any way. Here op3 costs 28k. After making a claim they told me i have to pay 12k for the screen,10k for the back and 1k for repair . Thats 23k,roughly 83% of what i paid for the phone in the first place.
Alek123 said:
1. How often do OP update their phones, do the older model get ignored compared to the new ones ?
OnePlus does a decent job but don't expect Nexus-grade updates. You'll mostly be relying on the XDA community.
2. How easy is it to unlock/flash new roms on this phone, since this will be my primary focus ?
Very Easy. Unlock bootloader from bootloader menu, flash twrp via fastboot, flash a custom rom and that's it.
3. How bad is touchscreen latency and camera performance with latest update ?
Touchscreen latency was never THAT bad unless you're a pretentious user. You shouldn't worry this because most custom kernels improve it, and at some point it will be fixed completely by OnePlus. Camera is decent, the sensor is the same as the one in V20. It's the processing that sucks compared to other phones, so don't expect much.
4. Should I be worried about bad after-sales here in UK ?
Not sure what you mean. But i'm certain you will be satisfied of the phone for the price paid.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I was having same issue last week but now OK.
Thanks for the replies everyone.
One thing i am quite worried about is that like most companies the older models of OP have been not getting any updates from OP at all, e.g Android 7.0. Also custom ROM development on older models seems to be very slow and most major Dev have moved on to newer models unlike older Nexus which is still supported after all those years. I know I can get Nougat support via custom ROMs but support for old devices is one of the main things I am looking for, since I am planning to keep my phone for at least 2 years.
I think i am going to hold on to my G3 for a bit longer and see what other options are available later on during this year.
_ray_ said:
Thanks for the replies everyone.
One thing i am quite worried about is that like most companies the older models of OP have been not getting any updates from OP at all, e.g Android 7.0. Also custom ROM development on older models seems to be very slow and most major Dev have moved on to newer models unlike older Nexus which is still supported after all those years. I know I can get Nougat support via custom ROMs but support for old devices is one of the main things I am looking for, since I am planning to keep my phone for at least 2 years.
I think i am going to hold on to my G3 for a bit longer and see what other options are available later on during this year.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Edit: just look at the first OnePlus model and the 7.1.1 roms and kernels that are available and beeing actively supported, this is a 3 year old phone.
If you`re always looking for the next big thing or latest technology you can never ever buy a phone again. There will always be new devices that will be released throughout the year I ordered mine (coming from a iPhone 7 Plus) because i think and according to the reviews its a solid phone for a descent price.

Seriously thinking of taking the plunge and buying

Hello I have been looking into buying this beautiful phone since I first seen it. I am in the US and will be buying it online to use on T-Mobile, I would like to know if anyone is here also using it and how is the reception? Do you get LTE? Also I've read in the roms section about a lithium and hydrogen version? Are they from different regions, what makes them different? I'm using a Mate 9 but am ready to own this phone.
sent from my rotary phone
This is phone ONLY ment for Chinese market.
I had it and here in Europe, I am on T Mobile as well but without LTE connection, and I had various problems with it, mostly about not localised and optimised software, very bad camera, handling (very slippery)...etc.About Roms, there are global roms and other roms and I found them pretty unstabile.
Literary, if you speak Chinese, then this is phone for you, if not, from my experiance, for that money better buy Samsung S8+.It is more serious product.
Before you start using Mi Mix you need to create MIUI account which is bounded with your phone number,so eventual reselling is another problem.
Anyway....it is beautiful device but for costs of a lot of headaches.
Here are the specs: http://www.mi.com/en/mix/specs/
The Network Bands supported are:
FDD-LTE: B1,B2,B3,B4,B5,B7,B8
TD-LTE: B38,B39,B40,B41
TD-SCDMA: B34,B39
WCDMA: B1,B2,B5,B8
GSM: B2,B3,B5,B8
CDMA1X/EVDO: BC0
Does your carrier support these?
The official Global Rom has all the languages, so no problem with the language (and it includes Google Play and it doesn't include any chinese-only apps)
There is a also a port of the LineageOS Rom and the RESURRECTION REMIX Rom.
The biggest problem is that you will not have any warranty, no service, no spare parts. If you are willing to resign from these for the best looking device, go ahead!
I can't speak for Tmo, but att I rarely get LTE but it is available, mostly HSPA+ though
The camera is a disappointment, but I was coming from a galaxy s6 so I was a little spoiled
If you are comfortable with flashing roms, I'm really enjoying the resurrection remix rom
It's a big usability improvement coming from the chinese stable rom
I have TMobile I get 4G I'm in NY my camera takes good pics I'm on the global stock MIUI rom and get insurance thru 3 party
jr313 said:
Hello I have been looking into buying this beautiful phone since I first seen it. I am in the US and will be buying it online to use on T-Mobile, I would like to know if anyone is here also using it and how is the reception? Do you get LTE? Also I've read in the roms section about a lithium and hydrogen version? Are they from different regions, what makes them different? I'm using a Mate 9 but am ready to own this phone.
sent from my rotary phone
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm using this on MetroPCS and for the most part it has been very very solid for me. MetroPCS is basically the same network as Tmobile. On EpicRom I have LTE and my calls work just fine. Also, the version of Epic ROM I used had VoLTe support. Not even 100% on what it does but the option was checked off.
If you don't believe me just go to willmyphonework.net and type in Xiaomi Mi Mix and it will tell you exactly what carriers will work.
tin2404 said:
This is phone ONLY ment for Chinese market.
I had it and here in Europe, I am on T Mobile as well but without LTE connection, and I had various problems with it, mostly about not localised and optimised software, very bad camera, handling (very slippery)...etc.About Roms, there are global roms and other roms and I found them pretty unstabile.
Literary, if you speak Chinese, then this is phone for you, if not, from my experiance, for that money better buy Samsung S8+.It is more serious product.
Before you start using Mi Mix you need to create MIUI account which is bounded with your phone number,so eventual reselling is another problem.
Anyway....it is beautiful device but for costs of a lot of headaches.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
THIS GUY AGAIN, seriously though I actually have this phone on T-Mobile US, South Carolina Upstate area. It connects at 4G LTE in almost every place my wifes Samsung S7 Edge does. Durability wise you have to keep in mind its slippery and needs a case if for anything else to keep a grip on it. Screens fantastic, connections on par with US models and the storage /ram is unequalled currently. Had a mate 9 just before it and there really worlds apart. Now the camera is MEH, be prepared for that - its not bad just MEH. Everything else is really good, bonus it has built in equalizer for head phone playback [which means I didn't need to root it to put viper on].
I use the shipped Chinese official, google apps all installed with no issues. You can buy the S8+ if you want to step down in storage, ram and over all screen to phone. Personally the S8+ and the LG 6 are basically the same compromised high price devices. But its your money, both break fast when dropped also.
Haven't had a single head ache out of the Mi Mix or the MIUI [been using it on other devices for years]. Shoot me questions if you want.
Thank you all for your posts they have been helpful. I definitely wouldn't buy another Samesung ever again. I do love rooting and romming my phones, I have been following the ROM section and yesterday when I checked up on it I seen the additions of lineage and RR both I ran on my Nexus 6P and OnePlus 3T. Those were a big deciding factor for me because I can't live without my aosp, and now with the reassurance of LTE working I think I will be jumping in on this beast.
sent from my rotary phone
Nicolfa said:
THIS GUY AGAIN, seriously though I actually have this phone on T-Mobile US, South Carolina Upstate area. It connects at 4G LTE in almost every place my wifes Samsung S7 Edge does. Durability wise you have to keep in mind its slippery and needs a case if for anything else to keep a grip on it. Screens fantastic, connections on par with US models and the storage /ram is unequalled currently. Had a mate 9 just before it and there really worlds apart. Now the camera is MEH, be prepared for that - its not bad just MEH. Everything else is really good, bonus it has built in equalizer for head phone playback [which means I didn't need to root it to put viper on].
I use the shipped Chinese official, google apps all installed with no issues. You can buy the S8+ if you want to step down in storage, ram and over all screen to phone. Personally the S8+ and the LG 6 are basically the same compromised high price devices. But its your money, both break fast when dropped also.
Haven't had a single head ache out of the Mi Mix or the MIUI [been using it on other devices for years]. Shoot me questions if you want.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Indeed.
But good for you...wait when he try to enter to VR world with Fiit vr2s as I did.
I hope and I am sure he will "understand" all "boxes and houses" and content inside.
tin2404 said:
This is phone ONLY ment for Chinese market.
I had it and here in Europe, I am on T Mobile as well but without LTE connection, and I had various problems with it, mostly about not localised and optimised software, very bad camera, handling (very slippery)...etc.About Roms, there are global roms and other roms and I found them pretty unstabile.
Literary, if you speak Chinese, then this is phone for you, if not, from my experiance, for that money better buy Samsung S8+.It is more serious product.
Before you start using Mi Mix you need to create MIUI account which is bounded with your phone number,so eventual reselling is another problem.
Anyway....it is beautiful device but for costs of a lot of headaches.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Oh you're back. Good.
Yeah he's back lol.
jr313 said:
Hello I have been looking into buying this beautiful phone since I first seen it. I am in the US and will be buying it online to use on T-Mobile, I would like to know if anyone is here also using it and how is the reception? Do you get LTE? Also I've read in the roms section about a lithium and hydrogen version? Are they from different regions, what makes them different? I'm using a Mate 9 but am ready to own this phone.
sent from my rotary phone
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Go for it. It's one of the best device I've ever owned.
Don't worry about it when people say that they are having trouble with softwares that are not "localised or optimised". They don't know what they are talking about. The ROM is not really an issue at all, just flash to third party ROM like EPIC Rom, or you can use Xiaomi's Global Rom.
And don't be misguided, you don't need a MI account to use any Xiaomi device, that includes the MI MIX.
This is my second Xiaomi phone and I'm running off the stock Chinese Rom which I have no issue with. There's no need to create a MI account to use this phone.
Here is my opinion->
- The phone is great in build quality with the most premium material(ceramic);
- It has huge amount of storage(I have 256GB);
- It has a lot of RAM(6GB for me);
- It has the best Android iteration - MIUI;
- It has quite some innovations brought at once in terms of tech;
- It has great battery life;
- It is too big;
- It has the worst camera I've had for quite some time;
I will stick to mine for the good reasons, but really regret for the camera.
Make your math and good luck.
P.S.
If you buy one, install Camera FV or some other app. You will get far better shots.
P.S.2
Don't mind the comments about that this is for chinese market only, or the MIUI account is bad....etc. The phone works perfectly on most places(but still do a check for your country) and MIUI is great performer with lot's of cool stuff. I am using their system since my Samsung Galaxy Nexus
The problem with MIUI is not that it doesn't perform well.
It may still be on Android 6 and it is missing the enhancements of API 24 and API 25 but it has other additional features that compensate for this.
The problem is that it is closed source and you cannot know what the code does in the background, and whether it sends data back home. But thank god, there are now ports of LINEAGE and RESSURECTION REMIX roms. So no reason not to get the device from a software perspective.
Well, you got a lot ppl here telling you some good, some, but here my 2 cents. I love the phone! I love the big screen, I dont use the camera so I dont care, I like the call quality. Its cool being that there is no earpiece yet, you can still hear the ppl youre talking to. You may have to turn the volume all the way up in certain situations, but its fine. I love the fluidity, moving around the phone is very snappy, I never have any issues. I do play Pokemon Go, a lot, and that isnt as smooth as it is on the iPhone, but its not bad. It did freeze on me when I dropped a lucky egg and went through to try and evolve as many Pokemon as I could. The battery life is the BEST IVE EVER HAD on a phone before... well, maybe the battery life on the Nokia Lumia 1520 was better, but I cant recall. Now, EMUI as a whole isnt bad, it really isnt! I am currently using stock, chinese ROM. and as far as I know, im on the latest firmware. But, as soon as I get my hands on a Windows based computer, im going to root it and install a custom ROM. Ive heard Epic is supposed to be the best, but im the type of guy that will flash a few ROM's before I settle. I could go on and on about this phone as a daily driver, but, I really do like it. If you have any specifics, hit me up and id be more than willing to answer your questions. But long story short, I love the phone.
Don't do it!
You're gonna get addicted, especially to the screen and build materials! Have seen tear-down videos, and even the inside is beautiful! I rotate to different phones often and you will find yourself wanting when using phones after this one. Questions will subconsciously creep into your head when you go back to a different phone; ie. "why is there a bar at the top of this phone?""why does the back of this phone scratch so easily?" Its like seeing a slice of the future in a dream and then waking up to a disappointing reality as you grab that iOS or Pixel device. You've been warned.
...
I recently picked one up, I have the Chinese Rom version, 256gb 6gig of ram. I've been using it for a month now in CA and NY and I can say without a shadow of a doubt that this is the best device I have ever owned, hands down, nothing comes close. I honestly haven't had a issue with the camera but I don't take many shots with the phone so I don't care. As for MIUI I really like it, as a 1st time user of it, it has a very different feel and look to regular stock android which is very refreshing to me. You end up purchasing one, you will not regret it.
I've also had the phone great phone but I'm one of those people who likes to change phones every few months.
MIUI was great to use and if you get board just us a different launcher, now only thing you need to know if your staying on Chinese build is disabling a few power saving features to get push notifications like what's app, email etc
My only issue letting it go was I wanted the 7.0 to use 2 app support and I really didn't like the notification tray, tried exposed but couldn't change it the way I wanted. Again this will probably not bother you but overall it's a great phone once you fiddle around the software.
Sent from my MHA-L09 using Tapatalk
Pros and cons
I've had my Mi Mix (International stock rom, 6gb, 256gb) for a few days. I got it on sale on Gearbest for $606! Here's some pros and cons so far:
Pros:
-I'm on AT&T and I get 4g LTE all the time in my area.
-Insane amount of storage. I can't imagine ever maxing this thing out.
-A very good screen (though not as colorful or as sharp as what you'll find on Samsung's new phones).
-Excellent performance (though again, not quite as snappy as the S8+, which my wife owns).
-The most beautiful device I have ever held! Pictures do not do it justice. It is simply exquisite.
-The camera is plenty good for my purposes (taking pictures of my kids when we're on outdoor adventures).
-Watching videos and playing games on that bezel-free screen is awesome!
Cons:
-MIUI does have a bit of a learning curve.
-You have to change battery and notification settings quite a bit to get push notifications working properly (though this only takes 15 minutes to do).
-I had issues with text messages for a couple days before I found a fix. Now they work perfectly.
-The phone is very slippery.
-Ceramic, while very scratch resistant, shatters easily. (I'm using the provided leather case most of the time.)
-Despite the tiny bezels, the phone is still big and heavy. There's no way to make a 6.4 inch screen feel small in the hand.
-Call quality, while adequate, is nowhere near as clear as on my Moto Z or my wife's S8+. It sounds like the other person is on speaker phone.
-The camera, while fine for me, would never be good enough for my wife (she has a blog and needs professional-quality images, which she really can get with her S8+).
All in all, the pros definitely outweigh the cons FOR ME. But they might not for everyone. I hope this helps.

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.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
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.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
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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Click to collapse
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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Click to collapse
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?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
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

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