Question about a potential Mi 10t Camera Mod (Hardware) - Xiaomi Mi 10T / 10T Pro Questions & Answers

Hey there folks!
Please do forgive me if this comes under the 'stupid question' category, but I can't seem to find an answer one way or another online.
I'm getting the Mi 10t (already shipping - no regrets about that so far) however I got curious about the differences between the 10t and the 10t Pro as I'm curious whether or not the camera modules could simply be 'swapped'. The reason for this thought is because, at face value, the 10t and the 10t Pro look to be identical, except for the main camera. That said - I assume due to how new these are - I've not seen any schematics of the internals, just the Xiaomi's official teardown of the 10t Pro (though I can't find anything on the 10t non-pro).
So, turning to XDA and the awesome people here, I'm curious if anyone has any information on the possibility or requirements of simply changing the camera module.
As for requirements, I've got these down so far:
The motherboard needs to be identical
The actual camera modules need to be an identical size
I'd need the 10t Pro's camera drivers - perhaps the full 10t Pro's ROM.
Some calibration may be needed (if so potentially risky) for things like power to camera etc.
Would there be any more/have I forgotten anything?
And what are your thoughts on the feasibility of this?
Note: This comes entirely from my own interest in taking things apart and messing with them on a hardware level. I do that with laptops/PC's quite a lot - however, I've never given much thought about it for a phone as usually there are rather obvious differences (SOC/motherboards, module sizes, software limitations, power delivery, etc). I have however opened up a fair few phones to replace like-for-like parts and find that rather enjoyable, so I'm wondering what criteria would be needed for this to work here.
Also, please do forgive me for mixing up any terminology, phones are not my strongest area, but I would very much like to start somewhere!

EvilMonkey231 said:
Hey there folks!
Please do forgive me if this comes under the 'stupid question' category, but I can't seem to find an answer one way or another online.
I'm getting the Mi 10t (already shipping - no regrets about that so far) however I got curious about the differences between the 10t and the 10t Pro as I'm curious whether or not the camera modules could simply be 'swapped'. The reason for this thought is because, at face value, the 10t and the 10t Pro look to be identical, except for the main camera. That said - I assume due to how new these are - I've not seen any schematics of the internals, just the Xiaomi's official teardown of the 10t Pro (though I can't find anything on the 10t non-pro).
So, turning to XDA and the awesome people here, I'm curious if anyone has any information on the possibility or requirements of simply changing the camera module.
As for requirements, I've got these down so far:
The motherboard needs to be identical
The actual camera modules need to be an identical size
I'd need the 10t Pro's camera drivers - perhaps the full 10t Pro's ROM.
Some calibration may be needed (if so potentially risky) for things like power to camera etc.
Would there be any more/have I forgotten anything?
And what are your thoughts on the feasibility of this?
Note: This comes entirely from my own interest in taking things apart and messing with them on a hardware level. I do that with laptops/PC's quite a lot - however, I've never given much thought about it for a phone as usually there are rather obvious differences (SOC/motherboards, module sizes, software limitations, power delivery, etc). I have however opened up a fair few phones to replace like-for-like parts and find that rather enjoyable, so I'm wondering what criteria would be needed for this to work here.
Also, please do forgive me for mixing up any terminology, phones are not my strongest area, but I would very much like to start somewhere!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have tried it, ois does not work, and the rom somehow recognizes it is still a 10t and not 10t pro. there is some hardware difference that we are not aware of.

Related

pixel camera and unlocking bands

Heya guys, I was wondering when the pixel camera will be ported to the mi5s? Can someone tell me what we will need first and the likelihood of it happening out of 10? also what is the chance of unlocking the mi5s's bands if/when the mi5's bands are unlocked out of 10? I'm still wondering if I should purchase this phone or wait for the mi6. The main reason for wanting this phone is the pixels camera and the cheap price tag which i don't think the mi6 will beat. but I would also like to have a device that I could develop on, putting new roms and whatnot. SOOoooo what do you guys suggest? Thanks in advance
Dont buy it! Dont buy it! Dont buy it!
Ok. I'm joking, but its hopeless to wait for Mi 5s to support band 20, but the rest might already work.
I'm also waiting for pixel camera, currently. Don't expect too much, I never knew I can only have lowest iso at 100! Google pixel definitely can have 50 I think. I was naive and thought everything would be solved by software updating, but currently no 3rd party app can make iso lower than 50. Since it's not open sourced yet, I doubt CM or AOSP would have iso 50, even they have, I'm concerned that they won't have as good quality. The preview of Mi 5s in manual mode never changes while changing exposing time (shutter speed). This never happened in my previous phones, and I was wondering why there was only one guy mentioned this (and whenever I brought this up, nobody replied)
forgivemypoorEN said:
Dont buy it! Dont buy it! Dont buy it!
Ok. I'm joking, but its hopeless to wait for Mi 5s to support band 20, but the rest might already work.
I'm also waiting for pixel camera, currently. Don't expect too much, I never knew I can only have lowest iso at 100! Google pixel definitely can have 50 I think. I was naive and thought everything would be solved by software updating, but currently no 3rd party app can make iso lower than 50. Since it's not open sourced yet, I doubt CM or AOSP would have iso 50, even they have, I'm concerned that they won't have as good quality. The preview of Mi 5s in manual mode never changes while changing exposing time (shutter speed). This never happened in my previous phones, and I was wondering why there was only one guy mentioned this (and whenever I brought this up, nobody replied)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So the camera can't be fully ported? İt's got the exact same hardware though so I see no reason for it not to be fully ported. Can someone else shed some light on this?
Only in Cam2 API can you see a live preview, you can use snap cam or FreeDcam for that. Also using manual cam 1 api on FreeDcam you can achieve 0 ISO, using long exposure. It would be nice to have HDR+ but what we got is just as good when you become used to using it.
bozy09 said:
So the camera can't be fully ported? İt's got the exact same hardware though so I see no reason for it not to be fully ported. Can someone else shed some light on this?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I had the same idea when I got this phone, but nothing magic happened. Maybe in the future. There are two strange things, firstly Google camera hdr+ hasn't been port to any non Nexus device, by the way MI5s simply fc on 3.x versions,and the working version only has basic functions. Secondly, no camera can lower iso to below 100, so there's definitely difference between pixel and mi 5s I don't know if this can be fixed by replacing libs. The eis should also be different, at least you need system driver and service to use gryo during taking photos
bozy09 said:
Heya guys, I was wondering when the pixel camera will be ported to the mi5s? Can someone tell me what we will need first and the likelihood of it happening out of 10? also what is the chance of unlocking the mi5s's bands if/when the mi5's bands are unlocked out of 10? I'm still wondering if I should purchase this phone or wait for the mi6. The main reason for wanting this phone is the pixels camera and the cheap price tag which i don't think the mi6 will beat. but I would also like to have a device that I could develop on, putting new roms and whatnot. SOOoooo what do you guys suggest? Thanks in advance
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Regarding the pixel camera on Mi5S . This is just wishful thinking, it will never happen.
That's a real bummer, I guess I won't buy it :/ I appreciate your comments so thanks

[Question]About to buy the phone, could you give me a few tips?

Hello!, I'm about to buy the Zuk Z2 phone tomorrow, it's the Aliexpress one that comes with multilang ROM (I think there's only one seller so I don't have anything to add about it). Anyone tested this ROM? Never flashed a phone so don't know if should I or not.
Main features I liked from the phone are the U-Touch swipping thing, front fingerprint sensor and camera, but looking at the forums, custom ROMs has less features on the camera (and I think they also get worse quality), also viewed a review that said that after 3 months of use, the fingerprint sensor started failing to recognize his fingerprint at the first two or three tries. Does the problems get solved with those ROMs? What about the camera? It gets really worse? Are there custom ROMs with the great performance, battery life, qc3 enabled and also stock camera or there's not such a perfect one yet?
Thank you a lot!
I think I can explain the fingerprint problem. When you use the U-Touch button often, the sensor gets dirty and needs to be cleaned before it can recognize a print. Someone on the forum said putting tape on the sensor helps, but that just made fingerprints stop working for me completely. What I did was disable U-Touch entirely and use the software nav keys. I mapped the U-Touch functions to other stuff - like double tapping the home button to open the dialer and stuff. Stock ROM doesn't let you do that, but some custom ROMs (I use AEX 4.5) do.
Camera isn't really that great. I don't need a camera so I don't mind, but I've seen better stuff for the price.
Also, I don't think QC3 works on any ROM, although I'd love to be corrected on that.
Hey, see if the Xiaomi A1 is available to buy instead for a similar price - IMO it's a much more well-rounded phone, and I've seen a Snapdragon 625 phone (Redmi Note 4), and it's about on par with the Zuk Z2 in performance, IMO. You get better benchmarks on the Zuk, but actual usage is 100% the same. Mi A1 has official updates from Google and a better camera too.
NSDCars5 said:
I think I can explain the fingerprint problem. When you use the U-Touch button often, the sensor gets dirty and needs to be cleaned before it can recognize a print. Someone on the forum said putting tape on the sensor helps, but that just made fingerprints stop working for me completely. What I did was disable U-Touch entirely and use the software nav keys. I mapped the U-Touch functions to other stuff - like double tapping the home button to open the dialer and stuff. Stock ROM doesn't let you do that, but some custom ROMs (I use AEX 4.5) do.
Camera isn't really that great. I don't need a camera so I don't mind, but I've seen better stuff for the price.
Also, I don't think QC3 works on any ROM, although I'd love to be corrected on that.
Hey, see if the Xiaomi A1 is available to buy instead for a similar price - IMO it's a much more well-rounded phone, and I've seen a Snapdragon 625 phone (Redmi Note 4), and it's about on par with the Zuk Z2 in performance, IMO. You get better benchmarks on the Zuk, but actual usage is 100% the same. Mi A1 has official updates from Google and a better camera too.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm also torn between A1 and Z2 (lol funny names). The main feature (for me) that the Z2 has is the smaller 5" screen. I prefer a compact form factor plus the z2 also has a 500mah bigger battery. I just hope that some kind soul ports the latest and greatest of android to the z2.
btw, does volte (jio) work proper on custom roms?
blueman24 said:
I'm also torn between A1 and Z2 (lol funny names). The main feature (for me) that the Z2 has is the smaller 5" screen. I prefer a compact form factor plus the z2 also has a 500mah bigger battery. I just hope that some kind soul ports the latest and greatest of android to the z2.
btw, does volte (jio) work proper on custom roms?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think so? Not sure because I don't have Jio personally, but a lot of ROMs advertise VoLTE.
I can confirm that the battery on the Z2 is excellent - I get anywhere from 6-8 hours of SoT and I didn't even do any tweaks after installing the ROM. About the form factor though, you're not going to notice a huge difference - I hold a Z2 Plus and a Redmi Note 4 side to side, they're not really that different. Where the RN4 is wider, the Z2 Plus is thicker. I'd imagine the same would carry for the Mi A1.
NSDCars5 said:
I think so? Not sure because I don't have Jio personally, but a lot of ROMs advertise VoLTE.
I can confirm that the battery on the Z2 is excellent - I get anywhere from 6-8 hours of SoT and I didn't even do any tweaks after installing the ROM. About the form factor though, you're not going to notice a huge difference - I hold a Z2 Plus and a Redmi Note 4 side to side, they're not really that different. Where the RN4 is wider, the Z2 Plus is thicker. I'd imagine the same would carry for the Mi A1.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, I brought a Z2. The A1 is good but the updates aren't handled by Google. If those Android One phones would get updated the same day along with nexus and pixel then maybe i would have given it a second thought. Even now, its launching with Nougat and they "promise" that it would be updated to O in 3-4 months. In three months, most phones get custom roms ready so no use of buying the xiaomi a1. I also don't sign up to the dual camera gimmick. If i even buy a phone for the camera, it would be the pixel or nothing. On the Z2, i couldn't care less. i can just carry my dedicated camera.
Now i just hope that VoLTE works nicely cause i use jio as my primary carrier and as you know, they don't have 2g/3g fallback.
I wouldn't buy this phone if given a chance again. Even with custom ROMs performance is below par.
n00b_dr0id said:
I wouldn't buy this phone if given a chance again. Even with custom ROMs performance is below par.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Care to elaborate?
blueman24 said:
Yeah, I brought a Z2. The A1 is good but the updates aren't handled by Google. If those Android One phones would get updated the same day along with nexus and pixel then maybe i would have given it a second thought. Even now, its launching with Nougat and they "promise" that it would be updated to O in 3-4 months. In three months, most phones get custom roms ready so no use of buying the xiaomi a1. I also don't sign up to the dual camera gimmick. If i even buy a phone for the camera, it would be the pixel or nothing. On the Z2, i couldn't care less. i can just carry my dedicated camera.
Now i just hope that VoLTE works nicely cause i use jio as my primary carrier and as you know, they don't have 2g/3g fallback.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sure, that's cool. Have fun with your new device!
- my phone is now on AEX 4.6
- Jio is working without any issues. I can make calls from it even without turning on the LTE data.
- I use U-Touch single tap for 'back' and long touch for 'Google Now on Tap', and left and right swipe for one-handed mode. I don't like the sound when pressing that button, so never use that.
- so for 'recents' and 'home', I use 'Swipe Navigation' by Suphi : https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.suphi.swipenavigation . I even purchased the full version. This is one of the better phones to use this app since there's no button (even capacitive) other than U-Touch. It has many customisations like long swipe for last app, dock, etc. More than that, it consumes only ~8mb of RAM.
- installed >300 apps, LTE mobile data always on, location (battery saving) always on, adaptive brightness (on day) browsing, chatting, gaming, watching videos,.. and still get 5-6 hours of SoT
- I don't care about the camera that much. So can't say anything about that, but I'm very happy with the results.
- for my smaller hands, 5" phones are good. And I love large screens if they're bezel-less (but these are expensive )

Suggestion for the next phone after Zuk Z2 Plus

There was a small discussion in the AEX 6.7 thread started by @mcalistri asking for a suggestion to replace his Zuk Z2 Plus with another one. His suggestion was Pixel 3A and Nokia 7.2. I too asked if the OnePlus 6T is a good option. @selvarajrajkanna and @GopalKaul answered both of us and suggested K20 Pro and Pixel 3A. Since it is not good to discuss this in AEX thread I'm continuing that discussion here.
My suggestions and the summary of the discussion:
- OnePlus 7 (but the development is not in a good position; I read a few threads there. Also the 7T is on the way so buying a new one would not be a better idea I think)
- OnePlus 6T (if you want to stay on stock rom because oxygen os is good. - suggested by selvarajrajkanna. I found a few pre-owned 6Ts and also my friend has one, that's why I suggested it)
- Pixel 3A (have better camera and if camera is the only priority - suggested by selvarajrajkanna and mcalistri)
- Redmi K20 Pro (suggested by GopalKaul and selvarajrajkanna because it has latest chipset, 3.5mm jack, bigger battery, etc.)
- Nokia 7.2 (suggested by mcalistri)
- Poco F1 (if on a tight budget - suggested by GopalKaul)
Also please tell if you have any other good options or suggestions in this list. I'll update this post if anything relevant is posted. Our Z2 Plus started with 6.0 and went through 7.0, 8.0 and 9.0 without any serious performance issues. So I think Android Q will also work flawlessly. But if any Z2 Plus owner who like to replace it with another one and also expect a legend like Z2 this post may/should help. Thanks for taking the time to read this long post. ?
niyonsv said:
There was a small discussion in the AEX 6.7 thread started by @mcalistri asking for a suggestion to replace his Zuk Z2 Plus with another one. His suggestion was Pixel 3A and Nokia 7.2. I too asked if the OnePlus 6T is a good option. @selvarajrajkanna and @GopalKaul answered both of us and suggested K20 Pro and Pixel 3A. Since it is not good to discuss this in AEX thread I'm continuing that discussion here.
My suggestions and the summary of the discussion:
- OnePlus 7 (but the development is not in a good position; I read a few threads there. Also the 7T is on the way so buying a new one would not be a better idea I think)
- OnePlus 6T (if you want to stay on stock rom because oxygen os is good. - suggested by selvarajrajkanna. I found a few pre-owned 6Ts and also my friend has one, that's why I suggested it)
- Pixel 3A (have better camera and if camera is the only priority - suggested by selvarajrajkanna and mcalistri)
- Redmi K20 Pro (suggested by GopalKaul and selvarajrajkanna because it has latest chipset, 3.5mm jack, bigger battery, etc.)
- Nokia 7.2 (suggested by mcalistri)
- Poco F1 (if on a tight budget - suggested by GopalKaul)
Also please tell if you have any other good options or suggestions in this list. I'll update this post if anything relevant is posted. Our Z2 Plus started with 6.0 and went through 7.0, 8.0 and 9.0 without any serious performance issues. So I think Android Q will also work flawlessly. But if any Z2 Plus owner who like to replace it with another one and also expect a legend like Z2 this post may/should help. Thanks for taking the time to read this long post. ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
In reality I have not suggested any devices ?
Nokia could be a good choice for what I remember about its Zeiss Camera lenses, I could appreciate it on my Nokia Lumia which now it's gone to paradise.
I honestly am tempted to take the pixel 3a but I live in Brazil and here it is more expensive due to the importation taxes.
The K20 if I'm not wrong, is a bit strange to my eyes because it has a lifting camera jumping from the outside of the chassis.
The choice is not so easy also because the old Zuk-Z2 is working extremely well
niyonsv said:
There was a small discussion in the AEX 6.7 thread started by @mcalistri asking for a suggestion to replace his Zuk Z2 Plus with another one. His suggestion was Pixel 3A and Nokia 7.2. I too asked if the OnePlus 6T is a good option. @selvarajrajkanna and @GopalKaul answered both of us and suggested K20 Pro and Pixel 3A. Since it is not good to discuss this in AEX thread I'm continuing that discussion here.
My suggestions and the summary of the discussion:
- OnePlus 7 (but the development is not in a good position; I read a few threads there. Also the 7T is on the way so buying a new one would not be a better idea I think)
- OnePlus 6T (if you want to stay on stock rom because oxygen os is good. - suggested by selvarajrajkanna. I found a few pre-owned 6Ts and also my friend has one, that's why I suggested it)
- Pixel 3A (have better camera and if camera is the only priority - suggested by selvarajrajkanna and mcalistri)
- Redmi K20 Pro (suggested by GopalKaul and selvarajrajkanna because it has latest chipset, 3.5mm jack, bigger battery, etc.)
- Nokia 7.2 (suggested by mcalistri)
- Poco F1 (if on a tight budget - suggested by GopalKaul)
Also please tell if you have any other good options or suggestions in this list. I'll update this post if anything relevant is posted. Our Z2 Plus started with 6.0 and went through 7.0, 8.0 and 9.0 without any serious performance issues. So I think Android Q will also work flawlessly. But if any Z2 Plus owner who like to replace it with another one and also expect a legend like Z2 this post may/should help. Thanks for taking the time to read this long post. ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you want to try a new phone after the Zuk Z2, try buying either Pixel 3, or even 7 is a very good option[seeing the development of other one plus phones, 7's development should soon emerge]
akshay pro said:
If you want to try a new phone after the Zuk Z2, try buying either Pixel 3, or even 7 is a very good option[seeing the development of other one plus phones, 7's development should soon emerge]
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
IMHO we should consider first the device as it we find it from the factory, with its default software and O.S., I mean we should consider if it can or can't be ROM customized as second requirement.
For example, for my personal user case, I purchased my ZukZ2 with Chinese ROM, than the decision to flash a custom ROM on it has been almost mandatory.
akshay pro said:
If you want to try a new phone after the Zuk Z2, try buying either Pixel 3, or even 7 is a very good option[seeing the development of other one plus phones, 7's development should soon emerge]
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks. I can get a OnePlus 6T phone (pre-owned, 6-128, still in warranty) for about 75% of that of a new OnePlus 7's price. So, which one would be better? OnePlus 6T or 7? Or any other?
mcalistri said:
IMHO we should consider first the device as it we find it from the factory, with its default software and O.S., I mean we should consider if it can or can't be ROM customized as second requirement.
For example, for my personal user case, I purchased my ZukZ2 with Chinese ROM, than the decision to flash a custom ROM on it has been almost mandatory.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks. My thought is just opposite. I like almost-stock-ROMs with additional features and the factory OSs never attracted me except for some of their features or something. I flashed the custom ROM the day I got Z2. Before buying it I searched about many devices in XDA which had better custom ROM development support. Also Z2 was a device with almost high-end spec then and I got a huge discount then. That's why I'm looking for a device identical to Z2 of that time.
I would defenately go to k20 pro
niyonsv said:
Thanks. My thought is just opposite. I like almost-stock-ROMs with additional features and the factory OSs never attracted me except for some of their features or something. I flashed the custom ROM the day I got Z2. Before buying it I searched about many devices in XDA which had better custom ROM development support. Also Z2 was a device with almost high-end spec then and I got a huge discount then. That's why I'm looking for a device identical to Z2 of that time.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Stock OS as the pure Android running on a Google Pixel phone, from what I've heard have everything we need to forget about custom ROM.
Our device, thanks to its hardware is still pretty good to offer brilliant service for years to come.
The maior lacks, I IMHO can resume for Z2 are:
1 - A not superlative camera, beside its hw specs which are not the top of the market, probably has not been achieved the very best in terms of firmware and software to manage it at a better level.
2 - A not superlative sound in terms of loudness
Regards,
I don't see any reason to change the device.
Charge the ROM, chahe the screen guard and change the cover or add a skin.
That's the new device for you.
manishgkasera said:
I don't see any reason to change the device.
Charge the ROM, chahe the screen guard and change the cover or add a skin.
That's the new device for you.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
:laugh:
-Deleted-
manishgkasera said:
I don't see any reason to change the device.
Charge the ROM, chahe the screen guard and change the cover or add a skin.
That's the new device for you.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's how I used my Z2 bro. It has a unique design (all phones where curved then) and it always stayed different from others. But there's one thing that I changed thrice and it was a bit more costly - battery. Also my phone is becoming slow and slow each day. Tried different ROMs, reduced number of apps. The phone is not performing well too. It is taking ages to click a photo. Also the earpiece speaker now started distorting, I've to use headset always for talking. There are other reasons here and there, so I think it is better to change my phone. That's why I asked for suggestion.
I'm also looking for an upgrade to this phone. I bought the ZUK about 3 years ago with the intention of only keeping it for under 12 months. But I ended up sticking with it since I couldn't find a suitable upgrade at the time. After a lot of use it seems the ZUK is starting to show signs of slowing down. It's taking time to open apps and the storage is incredibly slow as prooven by benchmark testing.
Unfortunately my choice for a replacement is limited because I get eyestrain and headaches when looking at AMOLED screens with PWM flickering. The Asus Zenfone 6 looks perfect with an IPS panel, but it is too expensive at £450 here in the UK. The upcoming Realme 5 Pro seems good with SD712, 6GB RAM and 128GB UFS 2.1 storage for a much more reasonable £190. But I worry about whether this phone will recieve good custom ROM support. There's also the Redmi Note 7 Pro with SD675 but it has a horrible ugly U-shaped notch. Maybe the upcoming Redmi Note 8 will also be decent.
I'm a bit surprised about hear some buddies have the need to replace the battery in their ZukZ2.
My battery, after years of usage looks like brand new, it doesn't presents any sign of longevity.
Furthermore I can't understand how the device appears running slower! We have not any mechanical disk inside it, neither a Windows XP is running here! If your device is slow then try to clean flash after performing a factory reset.
Sirs, are you violenting yours smartphones? Are you using it extensively with gaming and repetitive charging during usage?
May be you should have been more respectful and conservative using the phone now you have to pay the bill!
P650SE said:
I'm also looking for an upgrade to this phone. I bought the ZUK about 3 years ago with the intention of only keeping it for under 12 months. But I ended up sticking with it since I couldn't find a suitable upgrade at the time. After a lot of use it seems the ZUK is starting to show signs of slowing down. It's taking time to open apps and the storage is incredibly slow as prooven by benchmark testing.
Unfortunately my choice for a replacement is limited because I get eyestrain and headaches when looking at AMOLED screens with PWM flickering. The Asus Zenfone 6 looks perfect with an IPS panel, but it is too expensive at £450 here in the UK. The upcoming Realme 5 Pro seems good with SD712, 6GB RAM and 128GB UFS 2.1 storage for a much more reasonable £190. But I worry about whether this phone will recieve good custom ROM support. There's also the Redmi Note 7 Pro with SD675 but it has a horrible ugly U-shaped notch. Maybe the upcoming Redmi Note 8 will also be decent.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I haven't heard of this AMOLED flickering issue till now. Is it a serious issue to consider?
mcalistri said:
I'm a bit surprised about hear some buddies have the need to replace the battery in their ZukZ2.
My battery, after years of usage looks like brand new, it doesn't presents any sign of longevity.
Furthermore I can't understand how the device appears running slower! We have not any mechanical disk inside it, neither a Windows XP is running here! If your device is slow then try to clean flash after performing a factory reset.
Sirs, are you violenting yours smartphones? Are you using it extensively with gaming and repetitive charging during usage?
May be you should have been more respectful and conservative using the phone now you have to pay the bill!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
But I changed the batteries thrice, all from Lenovo official service center. I always go to stock ROM between each ROM changes, and clean flash between each updates. It's a bit time consuming sometimes but I know its better. Only a very few times I dirty flashed.
I used it for gaming only in the first year of purchase, now I'm not interest in that, that's why. Also I was always respectful to my phone, since it is the only device I have.
The phone is speedier with old stock ROMs and nougat ROMs, but not that speedier than then. So if I need to use newer version of ROMs and apps I should switch to a newer phone rather forcing Z2 to do all new stuffs.
I remember only a few phone models were capable of taking photos with GCams and Z2 was there in the list right after getting camera2API. Also it took and processed photos very fast. But now it is taking a lot of time even to click a photo.
niyonsv said:
I haven't heard of this AMOLED flickering issue till now. Is it a serious issue to consider?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well it only affects a small minority of people, I heard about 10% of users can experience these symptoms with AMOLED panels. It just means you are more sensitive to the flickering than other people. Sadly, the only way to find out is to purchase an AMOLED phone and try it for yourself. That's what happened with me.
mcalistri said:
I'm a bit surprised about hear some buddies have the need to replace the battery in their ZukZ2.
My battery, after years of usage looks like brand new, it doesn't presents any sign of longevity.
Furthermore I can't understand how the device appears running slower! We have not any mechanical disk inside it, neither a Windows XP is running here! If your device is slow then try to clean flash after performing a factory reset.
Sirs, are you violenting yours smartphones? Are you using it extensively with gaming and repetitive charging during usage?
May be you should have been more respectful and conservative using the phone now you have to pay the bill!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I was of the understanding that flash storage can degrade over time in smartphones. I probably didn't do mine any favours by constantly flashing ROMs and copying files to it over the course of 3 years. I did some storage benchmarks and I'm only getting 33MB/s sequential write speeds. Random write 4K is even worse at 1.3MB/s average. Surely that's not normal.
https://files.catbox.moe/e1wu3r.png
Can anyone compare against my scores? The app is called CPDT Benchmark in the Play Store.
In regards to battery performance, mine still gives about 4 hours of SOT but that is disappointing when it used to last for 7 hours and 30 minutes. I always allow my phone to run completely out of battery which I heard isn't good for for in the long-term. So perhaps bad charging habits have caused more degradation.
niyonsv said:
But I changed the batteries thrice, all from Lenovo official service center. I always go to stock ROM between each ROM changes, and clean flash between each updates. It's a bit time consuming sometimes but I know its better. Only a very few times I dirty flashed.
I used it for gaming only in the first year of purchase, now I'm not interest in that, that's why. Also I was always respectful to my phone, since it is the only device I have.
The phone is speedier with old stock ROMs and nougat ROMs, but not that speedier than then. So if I need to use newer version of ROMs and apps I should switch to a newer phone rather forcing Z2 to do all new stuffs.
I remember only a few phone models were capable of taking photos with GCams and Z2 was there in the list right after getting camera2API. Also it took and processed photos very fast. But now it is taking a lot of time even to click a photo.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I really don't know why you had to replace your battery trice, I think it is a very seldom occurrence, nor I can say it happened due your usage, most likely it could be due you purchased a defective device.
About slowing down after time, I agree about the SSD consideration made by our buddy participating to this discussion because I recently red something about SSD since I'm going to replace my laptop HDD but also this kind of issue I believe it's happening seldom in smartphones.
I won't to cause frustrations writing that I've not noticed any slowness on my Zuk Z2 so far, just a little bit when I flashed Nameless kernel which was an EAS kernel.
Now on AEX 6.7 I'm using the default kernel which is giving to the Z2 an extremely fast responsiveness and smooth usability too.
I think I will try to run the SSD performance test suggested by our buddy (sorry I didn't wrote your name to mention it but you sent interesting comments indeed).
I'm sure that there are not many users affected by problems you are facing about slowness and battery, or better, it would be interesting to make a survey here on XDA to know how many people have such problems on their ZukZ2.
Best regards,
---------- Post added at 01:05 PM ---------- Previous post was at 12:54 PM ----------
P650SE said:
Well it only affects a small minority of people, I heard about 10% of users can experience these symptoms with AMOLED panels. It just means you are more sensitive to the flickering than other people. Sadly, the only way to find out is to purchase an AMOLED phone and try it for yourself. That's what happened with me.
I was of the understanding that flash storage can degrade over time in smartphones. I probably didn't do mine any favours by constantly flashing ROMs and copying files to it over the course of 3 years. I did some storage benchmarks and I'm only getting 33MB/s sequential write speeds. Random write 4K is even worse at 1.3MB/s average. Surely that's not normal.
https://files.catbox.moe/e1wu3r.png
Can anyone compare against my scores? The app is called CPDT Benchmark in the Play Store.
In regards to battery performance, mine still gives about 4 hours of SOT but that is disappointing when it used to last for 7 hours and 30 minutes. I always allow my phone to run completely out of battery which I heard isn't good for for in the long-term. So perhaps bad charging habits have caused more degradation.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Very much interesting comments!
I think I will try to run the SSD benchmark but before I would like to ask you why you say that your results are bad?
Did you compared with another ZukZ2 user running similar environment?
About the battery we also have to take in account the adjustment we could have done to applications (running in background or not) the screen stby after X seconds, the charger we use, in fact there are plenty of chargers around that are not good for our battery but that are being used normally.
In any case your SOT looks very normal to me.
Regards,
P650SE said:
I was of the understanding that flash storage can degrade over time in smartphones. I probably didn't do mine any favours by constantly flashing ROMs and copying files to it over the course of 3 years. I did some storage benchmarks and I'm only getting 33MB/s sequential write speeds. Random write 4K is even worse at 1.3MB/s average. Surely that's not normal.
https://files.catbox.moe/e1wu3r.png
Can anyone compare against my scores? The app is called CPDT Benchmark in the Play Store.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Here is my CPDT benchmark result which looks quite aligned with your, so I think that SSD performance has nothing to do with the slowness of the responsiveness of your Zuk Z2.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.Saplin.CPDT
Regards,
mcalistri said:
Here is my CPDT benchmark result which looks quite aligned with your, so I think that SSD performance has nothing to do with the slowness of the responsiveness of your Zuk Z2.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.Saplin.CPDT
Regards,
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sorry, the result of my benchmark is not visible externally so I'm attaching the screenshot here.
Regards,

General advice on buying this phone

So, I'm in a market for a new phone, and my current best bet is the xiaomi mi 10T pro. Now, since it's locked on my local telecom provider network, I can get it with a new 2 year contract, so no returns possible. Reading tons of reviews, and user experiences, I came to conclusion that it's a great hardware phone with a really crappy sowtware. The phone I cvan get has a MIUI12 version, but they can't say is it 12.0 or 12.5.
What are my concerns? I see that the biggest issues is car bluetooth connectivity, and WiFi connectivity. Both major issues for me.
I have a 2012 renault Scenic that doesn't use android auto, but a proprietary (arkamys and tomtom) system. If the phone comes with android 10, and I don't install any updates until a less buggy version of android 11 MIUI comes out.. should I be ok? Or if the system is android 11 out of the box.. Should I expect constant problems and simply avoid the phone? Are all xiaomi phones running MIUI12.5.1. affected?
Custom ROMs are not an option because that would void the 2 year warranty.
thank you
The Mi10T Pro is an excellent choice that gets better with every update.
I actually hated this phone a lot when I bought it due to the auto screen dimming being too harsh, so I also bought a Samsung Galaxy 20 FE 5G, then a P30 Pro, then a Poco F2 Pro and finally a Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra (& I tested them all equally) What I found was I hate under screen fingerprint sensors (the side mounted fingerprint sensor detection on the Mi10T Pro is instant) and despite the camera arrays on all the other phones being 'on paper' better I found the Xiaomi phone 'on average' took better shots. Also video recording is night and day better than all the other phones I tested with very little shimmer and balance correction/focus when the light started to get low.
As for MIUI I have never had an issue apart from the woefully lacking security updates but hopefully now I've manually updated to 12.5.5 (I was on Jan 2020 update waiting for an EU 12.5.1 from 12.1.1) updates should come quicker (& it's very stable)
As for connectivity I have not encountered any issues with Bluetooth streaming or connecting to headphones but I do not have the accessories you connect to.
Lastly the prices for these phones should drop like a stone as they have just announced the Mi11T & Pro so you may find it cheaper to buy one used after the Mi11T & Pro is released.
So.. you say I should go for it...Current price is around 270$.. Don't believe it will drop that much... more likely it will get taken out of the offer.
the main negative aspect of this phone is the camera... i came from lg v20 because it was the latest flagship phone with the infrared feature. a five years old phone still takes better pictures then the 10t pro... you rarely use the 108mp cam because the software sucks. so you are stuck with 13mp... also, this phone is missing some basic features like you cant plug and play using type-c to hdmi output....but for the price, is definitely a nice cheap phone to have for work maybe lol. or use it as a universal remote haha
I came from a huawei P7 phone...gone to samsung A30... Anything is better than A30. I don't need any special bells and whistles.. just that the bluetooth connectivity works, and GPS signal is stable..
paul999 said:
the main negative aspect of this phone is the camera... i came from lg v20 because it was the latest flagship phone with the infrared feature. a five years old phone still takes better pictures then the 10t pro... you rarely use the 108mp cam because the software sucks. so you are stuck with 13mp... also, this phone is missing some basic features like you cant plug and play using type-c to hdmi output....but for the price, is definitely a nice cheap phone to have for work maybe lol. or use it as a universal remote haha
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Change the Format to 3:4 in the drop down menu in Miui camera to have the pixel binned 27MP resolution.
So...I'm not getting any viable information here. If I get this phone, and keep it on android 10, ignoring updates, will the Bluetooth and WiFi work normally, and glitch free?
creborn said:
So...I'm not getting any viable information here. If I get this phone, and keep it on android 10, ignoring updates, will the Bluetooth and WiFi work normally, and glitch free?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The wifi and Bluetooth are basic things that will work just right but it depends also on the devices which they connect to.

Is the Sony Xperia XZ1 Compact Still Worth Buying in 2023?

I'm contemplating purchasing the Sony Xperia XZ1 Compact in 2023, but I have some concerns about its outdated Android 9 OS and the inability to install custom ROMs on the DOCOMO SO-02K VARIANT due to the locked bootloader. I would greatly appreciate your insights and advice on whether this device is still worth considering. Here are a few factors I'm considering:
Performance: Despite being released a few years ago, the Xperia XZ1 Compact boasts a powerful Snapdragon 835 processor and 4GB of RAM. Can it still handle everyday tasks smoothly, or does it struggle with more demanding apps and games?
Software Support: Android 9 seems outdated, especially with newer versions available. Is it still receiving security updates, and is there any indication of an official update to a more recent Android version? Additionally, are there any reliable custom ROMs that can breathe new life into this device, despite the locked bootloader?
Camera Quality: The Xperia XZ1 Compact's 19 MP rear camera was highly praised at its release. However, with the rapid advancements in smartphone photography, does it still hold up? Are there any notable limitations or issues I should be aware of?
Battery Life: How does the battery hold up in 2023? Does it still provide a decent day of usage, or does it drain quickly?
Alternative Options: Considering the limitations of the Xperia XZ1 Compact, are there any other compact-sized smartphones with better software support and customization options that you would recommend?
I understand that technology moves quickly, and the Xperia XZ1 Compact may not be the latest and greatest. However, I'm particularly drawn to its compact size, robust build, and Sony's reputation for durability. I value the opinions and experiences of the XDA community, so any insights you can provide would be immensely helpful.
Thanks in advance for your input, and I look forward to your responses!
Best regards.
Hi and welcome! That's a lot of questions - and a lot of very subjective information. I'll try my best to answer where I can. For context, I still use mine as my daily driver.
Performance: That all depends on what you want to do. Can it handle the most demanding modern games? Probably not, but what do you really want to play? It's a compact phone that's 5 years old. It wasn't the strongest for games at the time. Can it run most apps just fine? Yes. I've not run into much that have a problem, but I'm also not doing anything too intense, and I know that. Of course, phone processors have largely been commoditized by now, despite what manufacturers would like you to believe.
Battery: Again, it's all about what you do with it. What are you running? It of course won't last the whole day playing video with the screen on full brightness. But no phone will. Battery is more tied to screen size than anything else. Your particular mileage may vary depending on whether your device is used, and how well the previous owner treated it in terms of charge cycles and limiting. Mine easily lasts a day, but I don't tend to use it super heavily. Draining quickly is usually a sign of greedy apps or a busted battery.
Camera: I don't personally have strong opinions on cameras, so can't really comment on whether you like the quality - people have very different requirements. It's perfectly adequate for my needs. Will it be as good as modern phone cameras? Certainly not. Most modern phones have multiple sensors with different kinds of lenses - which drastically changes what's possible. Do you care about that? Only you can answer.
Stock Software. I can say with 99.999% certainty that Sony is never going to release an official update. Don't hold your breath. It's 5 years old, and very outdated. I don't believe there are any more security updates, and again do not expect any.
Custom Software: Let's be 100% clear. There's a locked bootloader, that you have the ability to unlock - but not re-lock. If you don't unlock it, you cannot install a custom rom. Full stop. That's the case for every phone. If you unlock it ... then you can do whatever you want. There are many custom roms available (check out that subforum here), including to the most recent version of Android 13 (via Lineage OS 20). But you'll have to do a little bit of work. If you do unlock it, I recommend doing the pre-work to back up your TA partition, since it will help a little with the camera should you decide to go back to stock.
Alternatives: Again, lots of opinion here. What do you define as "compact"? I'd argue that there are no comparable modern phones that are anywhere near this size, other than the iPhone mini ... and I don't like Apple/iOS. Maybe you don't mind that. Maybe you're willing to go up an inch in screen size, and that's still small enough for you. It also depends on what other features you need/want - like a SD card slot, headphone jack, 5G, etc. To me, there's nothing better, which is why I still use my XZ1c. I know other people that swear by some of the Pixels, Zenphones, or even a few of the smaller Samsung phones.
Finally, you mention the DOCOMO SO-02K version. I don't know where you live, but it runs different firmware (Japanese) and a different set of apps. I think the OS version is even older, and has fewer updates. It's missing NFC (and I think some other sensor), and some of the wireless bands. And as you say cannot be unlocked - though I vaguely recall a post of someone saying they were able to.
Unless you know what you're doing, I would not advise getting that version. The standard G8441 version is a better and more flexible buy unless you live in Japan (and are OK with the lock) or know what you're doing. If you're serious about the phone, it's worth paying a little extra to be sure about what you're getting.
I hope that helps! And remember that this is all just the opinion of one member, but I've at least tired to be as impartial as I can.
tonsofquestions said:
Hi and welcome! That's a lot of questions - and a lot of very subjective information. I'll try my best to answer where I can. For context, I still use mine as my daily driver.
Performance: That all depends on what you want to do. Can it handle the most demanding modern games? Probably not, but what do you really want to play? It's a compact phone that's 5 years old. It wasn't the strongest for games at the time. Can it run most apps just fine? Yes. I've not run into much that have a problem, but I'm also not doing anything too intense, and I know that. Of course, phone processors have largely been commoditized by now, despite what manufacturers would like you to believe.
Battery: Again, it's all about what you do with it. What are you running? It of course won't last the whole day playing video with the screen on full brightness. But no phone will. Battery is more tied to screen size than anything else. Your particular mileage may vary depending on whether your device is used, and how well the previous owner treated it in terms of charge cycles and limiting. Mine easily lasts a day, but I don't tend to use it super heavily. Draining quickly is usually a sign of greedy apps or a busted battery.
Camera: I don't personally have strong opinions on cameras, so can't really comment on whether you like the quality - people have very different requirements. It's perfectly adequate for my needs. Will it be as good as modern phone cameras? Certainly not. Most modern phones have multiple sensors with different kinds of lenses - which drastically changes what's possible. Do you care about that? Only you can answer.
Stock Software. I can say with 99.999% certainty that Sony is never going to release an official update. Don't hold your breath. It's 5 years old, and very outdated. I don't believe there are any more security updates, and again do not expect any.
Custom Software: Let's be 100% clear. There's a locked bootloader, that you have the ability to unlock - but not re-lock. If you don't unlock it, you cannot install a custom rom. Full stop. That's the case for every phone. If you unlock it ... then you can do whatever you want. There are many custom roms available (check out that subforum here), including to the most recent version of Android 13 (via Lineage OS 20). But you'll have to do a little bit of work. If you do unlock it, I recommend doing the pre-work to back up your TA partition, since it will help a little with the camera should you decide to go back to stock.
Alternatives: Again, lots of opinion here. What do you define as "compact"? I'd argue that there are no comparable modern phones that are anywhere near this size, other than the iPhone mini ... and I don't like Apple/iOS. Maybe you don't mind that. Maybe you're willing to go up an inch in screen size, and that's still small enough for you. It also depends on what other features you need/want - like a SD card slot, headphone jack, 5G, etc. To me, there's nothing better, which is why I still use my XZ1c. I know other people that swear by some of the Pixels, Zenphones, or even a few of the smaller Samsung phones.
Finally, you mention the DOCOMO SO-02K version. I don't know where you live, but it runs different firmware (Japanese) and a different set of apps. I think the OS version is even older, and has fewer updates. It's missing NFC (and I think some other sensor), and some of the wireless bands. And as you say cannot be unlocked - though I vaguely recall a post of someone saying they were able to.
Unless you know what you're doing, I would not advise getting that version. The standard G8441 version is a better and more flexible buy unless you live in Japan (and are OK with the lock) or know what you're doing. If you're serious about the phone, it's worth paying a little extra to be sure about what you're getting.
I hope that helps! And remember that this is all just the opinion of one member, but I've at least tired to be as impartial as I can.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am in India and only the Japanese Docomo version is available here, the XZ1 Compact was never officially launched here but now many refurbished phone sellers are selling the Japanese imported variant.
As I said, the answer is different based on where you are and what's available.
I don't know the quality of the refurbishers there, which means (in particular) the battery life of the phones is less certain.
I'm sure it's possible to order from places online, but I can't tell you the difference in price, or whether that's worth the extra expense to you.
The Docomo version has slightly different hardware and cell bands. I don't know if you care about the NFC chip, and you're on your own to figure out if it will work with your local service providers.
A quick search on XDA shows that it's possible to still unlock the SO-02k model:
Can XZ1 Compact SO-02K run Custom ROMs?
I have successfully unlocked the bootloader for my SO-02K. Can I flash Lineage OS on it or are those only meant for G8441? Are there Custom ROMs for SO-02K? Thank you in advance.
forum.xda-developers.com
Xz1 compact Docomo unlock status
I have an xz1 compact Docomo. The bootloader status is No. however I can use my operator's sim. Is there any way to change bootloader status to YES? Sent from my [device_name] using XDA-Developers Legacy app
forum.xda-developers.com
Guide to "using" Docomo XZ1C?
I have a Japanese/SO-02K XZ1C, What is the process to get TWRP/custom ROM/root onto here? Is it worthwhile? (I understand it will lose NFC, will the battery still be usable?) Or should I just use ADB to debloat the phone and be content with...
forum.xda-developers.com
But you will have to pay extra in order to do it - probably around 2000 INR (give or take). Is that worth it over another phone? Again, I cannot make that decision for you. Only you can decide how "compact" is compact enough for you.
And this thread about battery drain might be worth keeping in mind in case you run into it:
[SOLVED] Battery drain on custom ROMs running on SO-02K(Japanese docomo model)
I'm using Xperia XZ1 Compact SO-02K (Japanese docomo model) unlocked bootloader via qUnlockTool. I installed some custom ROMs like LineageOS 18.1, Havoc OS 4.8, 3.11. Any ROMs doesn't go to deep sleep so the battery drain is so bad. I installed...
forum.xda-developers.com
tonsofquestions said:
As I said, the answer is different based on where you are and what's available.
I don't know the quality of the refurbishers there, which means (in particular) the battery life of the phones is less certain.
I'm sure it's possible to order from places online, but I can't tell you the difference in price, or whether that's worth the extra expense to you.
The Docomo version has slightly different hardware and cell bands. I don't know if you care about the NFC chip, and you're on your own to figure out if it will work with your local service providers.
A quick search on XDA shows that it's possible to still unlock the SO-02k model:
Can XZ1 Compact SO-02K run Custom ROMs?
I have successfully unlocked the bootloader for my SO-02K. Can I flash Lineage OS on it or are those only meant for G8441? Are there Custom ROMs for SO-02K? Thank you in advance.
forum.xda-developers.com
Xz1 compact Docomo unlock status
I have an xz1 compact Docomo. The bootloader status is No. however I can use my operator's sim. Is there any way to change bootloader status to YES? Sent from my [device_name] using XDA-Developers Legacy app
forum.xda-developers.com
Guide to "using" Docomo XZ1C?
I have a Japanese/SO-02K XZ1C, What is the process to get TWRP/custom ROM/root onto here? Is it worthwhile? (I understand it will lose NFC, will the battery still be usable?) Or should I just use ADB to debloat the phone and be content with...
forum.xda-developers.com
But you will have to pay extra in order to do it - probably around 2000 INR (give or take). Is that worth it over another phone? Again, I cannot make that decision for you. Only you can decide how "compact" is compact enough for you.
And this thread about battery drain might be worth keeping in mind in case you run into it:
[SOLVED] Battery drain on custom ROMs running on SO-02K(Japanese docomo model)
I'm using Xperia XZ1 Compact SO-02K (Japanese docomo model) unlocked bootloader via qUnlockTool. I installed some custom ROMs like LineageOS 18.1, Havoc OS 4.8, 3.11. Any ROMs doesn't go to deep sleep so the battery drain is so bad. I installed...
forum.xda-developers.com
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, I don't think it's worth spending an extra 2000 rupees just to unlock the bootloader of a now 6-year-old phone, to be honest. I believe it would be better for me to get a phone like the Redmi Note 9, which is 3 years old, to use as a secondary device. It's easier to unlock the bootloader and install custom ROMs on it, which was my initial motive that led me to consider the XZ1C. Of course, I won't have the small form factor or the premium metallic build of the XZ1C, but it seems like there's simply no other alternative in this price range.
It's possible I did the currency conversion wrong. I don't know how much the phone would cost refurbished - I would have guessed somewhere around 10,000 rupees, if not more.
Maybe I'm misunderstanding the price range for you.
How important is the compact to you? I would happily pay a 10-15% premium for that if it were an option.
But price might be more important factor for you than size, and there's no shame in that.
Or you could try the Stock version and re-sell it if you don't like it. I know it has a bunch of bloatware you can disable via ADB, but I'm not sure if the camera software is as good as the Sony one - which also impacts part of your question.
As I said in my first post, there just simply any other alternatives at this size anymore, and you're going to have to compromise somewhere. You either have to go Apple - and iOS, the XZ1c - with it's older hardware and potentially higher price, or a different Android phone - and compromise on the size. Only you can decide which option is the right one for you.
tonsofquestions said:
It's possible I did the currency conversion wrong. I don't know how much the phone would cost refurbished - I would have guessed somewhere around 10,000 rupees, if not more.
Maybe I'm misunderstanding the price range for you.
How important is the compact to you? I would happily pay a 10-15% premium for that if it were an option.
But price might be more important factor for you than size, and there's no shame in that.
Or you could try the Stock version and re-sell it if you don't like it. I know it has a bunch of bloatware you can disable via ADB, but I'm not sure if the camera software is as good as the Sony one - which also impacts part of your question.
As I said in my first post, there just simply any other alternatives at this size anymore, and you're going to have to compromise somewhere. You either have to go Apple - and iOS, the XZ1c - with it's older hardware and potentially higher price, or a different Android phone - and compromise on the size. Only you can decide which option is the right one for you.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Can't afford to spend more than 8000 rupees; yeah, you guessed it right. For me, price is greater than size in this context. The XZ1C Docomo variant is going for 6000-7900 here right now.
Well, at 6000, plus an unlock for 2000, you're just inside your budget. But I realize that's pushing it.
But you should do some looking around and price-checking yourself. I only followed the first link in one of the threads. There might be cheaper options, and you could see if they'd give a discount to you in another country, or for a significantly older phone. It never hurts to ask.
Or maybe you can find a refurbished one that's already unlocked - though that's probably not too likely.
If it's just a secondary device, then perhaps the compact-ness is less crucial to you. But the Redmi Note 9 is a good cm wider, not to mention a lot taller and more than 25% heavier. But I have heard good things.
I suspect once they're unlocked, they're equally easy to install custom ROMs on.

Categories

Resources