Chinese Android Phones 2 - Read First Post!

corkie

beans wrote: »

Nice links.

That guide mentions that vendor ROMs can't unlock bootloader. I've just started the process of requesting the unlock code from Xiaomi... Since my ROM appears to be vendor (8.0.5.0.0 MBECNDG), should I abandon this method?

You will need to flash an official rom first (by EDL mode if your device supports it). Once an official rom is on your device and logged in to the same account as the one you got permission for, you should then be able to unlock it.

antodeco

Hi guys, looking for my next phone. Have had the P9000 and Maya max.

Requirements:
- At least 3GB RAM and 32GB ROM
- Good battery that I can get up to 2 days out of (maya max achieved this)
- At least 5.5 inch screen
- Good camera both day and at night
- NFC, accelerometer, GPS, usuals
- Full 3G/4G support (have had coverage issues with the maya max)

Thanks

Bahanaman

Following the thread for a good while now and just lately there have been lots of contributors with problems with their phones. It's beginning to make me wonder if it's worth the risk getting a Chinese brand mobile?

Digital Solitude

Pays off well, has been worth it in my experiences.

pcasso

Just a heads up for anyone using Xiaomi products,
One of the recent official updates seems to have caused rapid battery drain across most if not all their devices.
I had hoped that the latest update might fix the issue but it doesn't seem to have improved matters in any way.
It's a shame as the battery life was super.
Loads of complaints about it on the official forum.
I am on MIUI 8 7.1.12 so people on an older version might like to consider not updating for the moment

Kavrocks

Digital Solitude wrote: »

Any change in the colour? Try it on different parts of the screen

Has no effect during normal use. In recovery mode you can see a rainbow effect.

Euphoriasean wrote: »

Thanks Kavrocks. Am i right in saying that i will need to unlock the bootloader and thus android pay with not work. Not a huge issue just wondering.

No. The bootloader only needs to be unlocked to put software that has a different signature on, like CyanogenMod. All official software from Xiaomi can be installed on a Xiaomi phone with a locked bootloader. The easiest method is to use the software update app on the phone and the instructions are in the link I previously provided.

beans wrote: »

Nice links.

That guide mentions that vendor ROMs can't unlock bootloader. I've just started the process of requesting the unlock code from Xiaomi... Since my ROM appears to be vendor (8.0.5.0.0 MBECNDG), should I abandon this method?

I've no idea what you are asking but think you may have been confused by a previous post. I think what I've said above applies to your case too.

Bahanaman wrote: »

Following the thread for a good while now and just lately there have been lots of contributors with problems with their phones. It's beginning to make me wonder if it's worth the risk getting a Chinese brand mobile?

It's always going to be a risk because you don't have Irish or EU consumer law to fall back on. You can be lucky and unlucky. I've bought three phones from China, two arrived perfectly and worked flawlessly. One I've had issues with and will have to chase them up.

TMJM96

pcasso wrote: »

Just a heads up for anyone using Xiaomi products,
One of the recent official updates seems to have caused rapid battery drain across most if not all their devices.
I had hoped that the latest update might fix the issue but it doesn't seem to have improved matters in any way.
It's a shame as the battery life was super.
Loads of complaints about it on the official forum.
I am on MIUI 8 7.1.12 so people on an older version might like to consider not updating for the moment

Well, that explains it. Updated my phone last night before I went to bed and thought it was off how bad my battery was when I wasn't using it (dropped about 20% during 8 hours when at work). Really annoyed, main reason I got this phone was the battery life

pcasso

TMJM96 wrote: »

Well, that explains it. Updated my phone last night before I went to bed and thought it was off how bad my battery was when I wasn't using it (dropped about 20% during 8 hours when at work). Really annoyed, main reason I got this phone was the battery life

There is an expectation on the official forums that it will be fixed with an upcoming update.
Lets hope so and the sooner the better

corkie

Bahanaman wrote: »

Following the thread for a good while now and just lately there have been lots of contributors with problems with their phones. It's beginning to make me wonder if it's worth the risk getting a Chinese brand mobile?

There is risks involved with going the Chinese way. People reporting problems didn't probably do research beforehand and went with unreliable sellers, hence vendor roms etc.

People come to these forums to complain, very rarely you see post about devices working fine and no problems. I got my Redmi Note 3 in July and have had no problems with it.

pcasso wrote: »

Just a heads up for anyone using Xiaomi products,
One of the recent official updates seems to have caused rapid battery drain across most if not all their devices.
I had hoped that the latest update might fix the issue but it doesn't seem to have improved matters in any way.
It's a shame as the battery life was super.
Loads of complaints about it on the official forum.
I am on MIUI 8 7.1.12 so people on an older version might like to consider not updating for the moment

I must be lucky with xiaomi.eu 7.1.12 rom (based on china developer rom).

Battery performance for me: -

RN3 (Kenzo): - 1d 5h 30mins - SOT 1h 45mins - 61% Battery remaining.

Edit: Got 2 days - SOT 3 hours - 35% battery remaining!


For people using xposed/suhide miui beta roms since 7.1.5 have included security patches that requires xposed v87 and makes suhide outdated. Will result in failure to boot if used.

Thargor

Bahanaman wrote: »

Following the thread for a good while now and just lately there have been lots of contributors with problems with their phones. It's beginning to make me wonder if it's worth the risk getting a Chinese brand mobile?

Thats because only the people with problems come back and post. Have a look at the Samsung forums or any other major brand and you'd never touch them again.

TMJM96

Bahanaman wrote: »

Following the thread for a good while now and just lately there have been lots of contributors with problems with their phones. It's beginning to make me wonder if it's worth the risk getting a Chinese brand mobile?

If you do your research you should be fine. I have had my Xiomai phone three weeks now and there are no issues. I looked into how to get a reliable seller, what bands work for 4G in Ireland and so on. As long as you do that you'd be fine, everyone in this forum was so helpful to me when I asked questions anyway.

Only issue is if you want to install a ROM but there so many tutorials online it really isn't that difficult.

Bahanaman

Thx for all the replies. Excuse my lack of knowledge but what is a rom!

corkie

Bahanaman wrote: »

Thx for all the replies. Excuse my lack of knowledge but what is a rom!

Basically the operating system (OS) of the device!

So, what is a custom ROM?

jozi

Redmi 4 prime here, other than having to install a rom to get rid of vendor crap I've had no issues. How Xiaomi deals with Barry saving is a bit extreme but turning off some things and I'm getting notifications and my alarm works as it should.

Expecting my mi5 to arrive in the next day or two, redmi going to girlfriend, which will probably get cyanogen/lineage

mikeoneilly

The xiaomis are quality phones -they don't give any more trouble than any other good brand

rickyjb

This post will be well timed considering the previous one...
I have a Xiaomi Mi 5 which completely stopped working on Friday, used it in the morning and when I got to work it had switched itself off. No response from power button (or any combo of vol & power buttons). I tried a few different chargers and sometimes the green light came on dimly and flickered before going off again but the phone still wouldn't turn on. It's not recognised if i plug it into a PC. Now the green light doesn't come on at all.
I bought it from Oppomart, contacted them and they said that due to the cost of shipping they'd prefer if I got it fixed locally and they'd refund the repair cost! Seems an odd approach to me, has anybody else had this suggestion from a seller?
Second question is has anybody any experience of getting a chinese brand phone repaired in the Dublin area (Swords preferrably) and can you recommend anyone?
Thanks.

Edit: I should mention also that the phone (purchased from Oppomart) came with a crappy vendor ROM which had really annoying adware that surfaced after using the phone for about 2 weeks. I managed to disable by force stopping the included browser (can't be uninstalled). I then went to the trouble of unlocking the bootloader by contacting Xiaomi (what a ridiculous process that is) but for some reason just could not flash a different ROM, tried multiple methods over a number of days and eventually gave up.

Definitely wouldn't use Oppomart again!

Kavrocks

rickyjb wrote: »

I bought it from Oppomart, contacted them and they said that due to the cost of shipping they'd prefer if I got it fixed locally and they'd refund the repair cost! Seems an odd approach to me, has anybody else had this suggestion from a seller?

I'd get them to pay you before you get it repaired. I highly doubt Oppomart would actually refund you the cost of repair from what I've heard about them.

fixXxer

You'll do well to find someone who will repair a Chinese phone at a reasonable rate.

EoinMcLovin

rickyjb wrote: »

This post will be well timed considering the previous one...
I have a Xiaomi Mi 5 which completely stopped working on Friday, used it in the morning and when I got to work it had switched itself off. No response from power button (or any combo of vol & power buttons). I tried a few different chargers and sometimes the green light came on dimly and flickered before going off again but the phone still wouldn't turn on. It's not recognised if i plug it into a PC. Now the green light doesn't come on at all.
I bought it from Oppomart, contacted them and they said that due to the cost of shipping they'd prefer if I got it fixed locally and they'd refund the repair cost! Seems an odd approach to me, has anybody else had this suggestion from a seller?
Second question is has anybody any experience of getting a chinese brand phone repaired in the Dublin area (Swords preferrably) and can you recommend anyone?
Thanks.

Edit: I should mention also that the phone (purchased from Oppomart) came with a crappy vendor ROM which had really annoying adware that surfaced after using the phone for about 2 weeks. I managed to disable by force stopping the included browser (can't be uninstalled). I then went to the trouble of unlocking the bootloader by contacting Xiaomi (what a ridiculous process that is) but for some reason just could not flash a different ROM, tried multiple methods over a number of days and eventually gave up.

Definitely wouldn't use Oppomart again!

My redmi note 3 that I bought from oppomart had the headphone jack stop working. As it was still under warranty with them I could send it back but had to pay for postage. Sent it via registered post on 26th October and they didn't receive it till 14th of November. Took them two weeks to actually get it fixed and send it back via dhl which took one week. Got phone back but without the sim tray so couldn't use phone at all. Sent me replacement but they sent it to my old address (luckily its my home place ) . Totally agree don't go near oppomart. Next time I get a Chinese phone I'm going for place that has a European repair centre. Also it had a vendor rom but I've had no issue flashing a custom rom. Never got the bootloader unlocked.

rickyjb

How did you manage to flash a custom ROM without unlocking the bootloader? I really struggled with it, as mentioned I tried three different guides, none of which worked. Saw some posts from other people who were unable to change from the particular ROM I had also.

I fully intend to get a quote from whoever I can find that will repair it and get payment from Oppomart up front, no way would I trust them to reimburse me. Luckily I have another phone I can use in the meantime so I can wait a week or two.

Anyone else have any recommendations for a good repair centre?

EoinMcLovin

rickyjb wrote: »

How did you manage to flash a custom ROM without unlocking the bootloader? I really struggled with it, as mentioned I tried three different guides, none of which worked. Saw some posts from other people who were unable to change from the particular ROM I had also.

I fully intend to get a quote from whoever I can find that will repair it and get payment from Oppomart up front, no way would I trust them to reimburse me. Luckily I have another phone I can use in the meantime so I can wait a week or two.

Anyone else have any recommendations for a good repair centre?

I used Flash SP Tools to flash the custom rom. Some roms even make the phone rooted. I used the miui forums to find a custom rom

BamesJond

Lads help needed,
Posted here a week or so ago about suggestions but I'm still lost. Ive no idea where to be looking for a good mobile. Not gone on Aliexpress due to long delivery times so please let me know where is ideal to buy from. Links and reviews very welcome. Need something with:
Large screen,
Great battery,
Little bloatware,
Something that's able to cope ie. Fast
Android,
Good camera,
If possible wireless charging and fingerprint security.

All extras welcomed. I'm looking for a decent phone so don't want something that will be outdated next month.
Obviously on a budget but willing to listen to all opions regardless of price.
As I said lads I'm badly stuck so need your help. Links definitely appreciated with your own reviews!

deadanonymau5

BamesJond wrote: »

Lads help needed,
Posted here a week or so ago about suggestions but I'm still lost. Ive no idea where to be looking for a good mobile. Not gone on Aliexpress due to long delivery times so please let me know where is ideal to buy from. Links and reviews very welcome. Need something with:
Large screen,
Great battery,
Little bloatware,
Something that's able to cope ie. Fast
Android,
Good camera,
If possible wireless charging and fingerprint security.

All extras welcomed. I'm looking for a decent phone so don't want something that will be outdated next month.
Obviously on a budget but willing to listen to all opions regardless of price.
As I said lads I'm badly stuck so need your help. Links definitely appreciated with your own reviews!

It's not so obvious what your budget is.... that would be useful for suggestions

BamesJond

deadanonymau5 wrote: »

It's not so obvious what your budget is.... that would be useful for suggestions

Sorry, should have gave a figure. As stated budget doesn't bother me too much. Would like to keep it under the 300 mark but would look at options over this price if recommended.
Just would like to get a phone that's not outdated anytime soon so need help from people who know what to look for.

rickyjb

rickyjb wrote: »

This post will be well timed considering the previous one...
I have a Xiaomi Mi 5 which completely stopped working on Friday, used it in the morning and when I got to work it had switched itself off. No response from power button (or any combo of vol & power buttons). I tried a few different chargers and sometimes the green light came on dimly and flickered before going off again but the phone still wouldn't turn on. It's not recognised if i plug it into a PC. Now the green light doesn't come on at all.
I bought it from Oppomart, contacted them and they said that due to the cost of shipping they'd prefer if I got it fixed locally and they'd refund the repair cost! Seems an odd approach to me, has anybody else had this suggestion from a seller?
Second question is has anybody any experience of getting a chinese brand phone repaired in the Dublin area (Swords preferrably) and can you recommend anyone?
Thanks.

Edit: I should mention also that the phone (purchased from Oppomart) came with a crappy vendor ROM which had really annoying adware that surfaced after using the phone for about 2 weeks. I managed to disable by force stopping the included browser (can't be uninstalled). I then went to the trouble of unlocking the bootloader by contacting Xiaomi (what a ridiculous process that is) but for some reason just could not flash a different ROM, tried multiple methods over a number of days and eventually gave up.

Definitely wouldn't use Oppomart again!

Update: So after talking to a couple of shops who said it that it could be the motherboard and they weren't certain where to get a new (genuine) one if that was the issue I'm going to send it back to Oppomart, which should be fun. I'm afraid that if a shop opens it up and can't fix it, then if I did send it back Oppomart would say that the warranty is void as it's been opened. Which might have been their plan all along, who knows.

I'll update on progress as things happen, I'm sure some people on here will be interested.

abarkie

EoinMcLovin wrote: »

I used Flash SP Tools to flash the custom rom. Some roms even make the phone rooted. I used the miui forums to find a custom rom

Can you link to the rom you used please and a guide on how to use Flash SP Tools as i have the same issue - i think - on my Redmi Note 3 Pro

EoinMcLovin

abarkie wrote: »

Can you link to the rom you used please and a guide on how to use Flash SP Tools as i have the same issue - i think - on my Redmi Note 3 Pro

There are different custom roms for Mediatek and snapdragon models. The pro is snapdragon and actually has better support for custom roms.

http://en.miui.com/type-86-679.html

For custom roms for redmi note 3 pro look for ones with Kenzo in the name.

Flash sp seems to be used only for mediatek models.

BamesJond

Anyone have any input on :

Xiaomi Mi 5s plus
Xiaomi Mi Max

Also any other options people would have and where would be a good place to buy them from.
Looking to get a new phone asap so any input as to reasons for or against would be greatly appreciated.

corkie

BamesJond wrote: »

Anyone have any input on :

Xiaomi Mi 5s plus
Xiaomi Mi Max

Also any other options people would have and where would be a good place to buy them from.
Looking to get a new phone asap so any input as to reasons for or against would be greatly appreciated.

Have a read of this thread on reddit regarding the Mi 5s, people are recommending just the Mi 5 (without the "s").

BamesJond

So excluding the plus for now unless anyone can offer a differing opinion. Anything to be said for the Mi Max? I like the look of it. Anyine have any ideas of a reputable place to buy with good delivery times?