Related
Hi folks,
I just dropped my Samsung S4 and cracked the screen. :crying: It still works, but it's time to move on. I never buy new / latest devices; instead I wait and buy last year's model from Swappa or the like, selling my old phone to partially subsidize the purchase. Looks like my S4 is going to the Boneyard.
What I've been looking for is a 2014 model, 5.5" screen, rootable/unlocked bootloader (I like custom ROMs :good: ), phone with a multicolor notification light and good battery. Was thinking to go up to Nexus 6 but it's just too big for me.
The LG G3 looks just about perfect. I've spent the last hour reading up on it. The T-Mo version should work fine for my AT&T service, and it comes unlocked, both SIM and Bootloader. Can any ATT users attest to the phone working well on that network? (EDIT: I googled a bit and found it works fine)
There seems to be plenty of development, though surprisingly I don't see a plain vanilla GPE 5.1.1 ROM out there. Most of the development I see seems to be around AOSP (I'm a fan of SlimROMs and have had good experiences with Dirty Unicorns too, been considering Bliss on other devices). Have I missed a very plain GPE (at least 5.1) compiled for the G3? Doing my research it looks like the latest OTA is still 20G (5.0.1), and it sounds like Marshmallow will eventually come out (I'm not sure I want it...). Would love to hear what the most plain GPE like 5.1 ROM is.
I'd love to hear any experience or recommendations... anybody get a G3 recently and wish they got something else, instead? Or is this a device we can all love for another year or so?
Thanks. I'm itching to pull the trigger and just need some encouragement, or possibly a conk on the head to look into some other phone.
One last question: how intense is the vibrate function on the G3? My S4 isn't strong enough vibrating, and I often miss calls and stuff when I'm in silent/vibrate mode. Looking for something a bit more attention getting if possible!
Marc
I dropped my note 3 for thus phone. Although it's rootable the g3 seems to be fragile when it comes to flashing roms if you don't know what you are doing. Not worse than the note 3 though ( ATT murdered that phone).
Thanks for the reply!
I've gone ahead and purchased the D851. It should arrive today, and I should have it set up later this week. Looking forward to it. I've bought an iCarez 0.2mm screen protector for it and am looking into bumpers/wraps to keep it minty.
I'm a bit concerned since there's no 5.1(.1) GPE ROM available, but many of the Dev'ed ROM options look attractive. I'm going to start by rooting the thing and subtracting bloatware. After that, we'll see... On the S4, the T-Mo boot animation was reason enough to flash a ROM. Loud and annoying.
I'm curious, are you stock, or have you flashed something (if so, which ROM)?
Again, thank you. I appreciate your reply.
I was practically in the same boat. I had a GS4 , but cracked the display, the actual display not the glass, and bought a G3. I replaced the front glass twice before that, its a very fragile phone. But otherwise I loved the S4 for the screen, the plain design, ROMs, expandable storage, and removable battery.
The G3 is very comparable to the S4, the screen I'd say is slight upgrade. You can barely notice 1440p vs 1080p, and I'd say its viewing angles aren't as good, but I still like it over my S4. I'm running paranoid android 5.1.1 on it now. Its similar to AOSP. If you liked the GS4 you'd probably like the G3 but it wasn't that great an upgrade. Still though, its logical to get the G3 if your S4 is broken as its pretty much an S4 with more up to date components and an LG logo on it.
Thanks for the input ! I did buy a G3 and will set it up this weekend. I will look into the ROM you mentioned too.
Sent from my SHIELD Tablet using Tapatalk
I wish I'd seen this sooner. I'd have steered you clear of the G3. Biggest piece of garbage unless you're running boring stock. Even the CM team can't figure out how to make a stable ROM for it... And they've been at it for over a year! Bluetooth audio will never be right, Bluetooth LE will stop working altogether and you'll experience major network connectivity issues... All on day one and with any of the custom ROMs out there. It seems that the LG is so proprietary that nothing can control it aside from the boring, bloated, ugly and battery eating stock.
Aalendi said:
I wish I'd seen this sooner. I'd have steered you clear of the G3. Biggest piece of garbage unless you're running boring stock. Even the CM team can't figure out how to make a stable ROM for it... And they've been at it for over a year! Bluetooth audio will never be right, Bluetooth LE will stop working altogether and you'll experience major network connectivity issues... All on day one and with any of the custom ROMs out there. It seems that the LG is so proprietary that nothing can control it aside from the boring, bloated, ugly and battery eating stock.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the opinion, but I have to say I'm loving my D851.
I rooted it and installed TWRP straight out of the gate, so that I could make some changes I wanted to (such as uninstalling T-Mobile specific system apps, not needed for me on ATT), but I never even needed to change out the ROM. The phone works great on the stock ROM (minus a few things I manually debloated), and doesn't feel bloated or laggy. I didn't even bother to install the Cloudy ROM (debloated stock).
I did install the Google Now launcher, because I wasn't a fan of the stock UI. I like the things Google Now brings to the table and it cleaned up the UI.
After the first few days I stopped playing around with the phone because everything works great. Bluetooth to my car, no problem, great WIFI antenna and Cell receptivity as compared to my Galaxy S4. Nice screen, battery life is outstanding...
Loving the phone.
Can't disagree with Aalendi more. I've had the 851 for almost 18 months and running SR Lolly V6 - Final on it for the past 6 months. Works perfectly and even though I'm tempted from time to time to "upgrade" to another phone, I cannot find enough differences out there to warrant it. Android 6 is already emerging and I'm waiting to upgrade the ROM when I feel its almost glitch-free (which it's not at the moment. I think you made a fine decision. JM2C
Manual debloat?
I am sorta/kinda new to the ROM party and am able to install TWRP and flash/root my D851. However, I went back to the stock ROM because of Wi-Fi calling and more stable network connectivity than 3rd-party ROMS. My question to you is what do you mean by 'manual debloat'? Is that a function of TWRP or simply removing/disabling apps? Thanks.
Manual de-bloat refers to you being able to remove programs that carriers or manufacturers install on your phone when you first purchase it. Rooting your phone allows you to do this yourself.
So I finally broke my Galaxy S4 last night, and I'm thinking about buying an LG G4 to replace it. However, the LG UI "improvements" look awful, and I bet I would be changing the firmware pretty soon if I get it. So with that in mind, I'm wondering if I should be buying the phone. Is CM13 or other roms stable enough that replacing the stock rom a good idea on a new phone?
I'm also considering any any other phone in the same price range, including the Moto X Style (Pure).
Unless you're looking to get the T-Mobile (811) or the International EU (815) version, there is no way to install custom roms. Those are the only two unlockable variants.
The other versions are rootable if you stay on 5.1.1 LP, but if you want 6.0 MM, you'll be stuck with the T-Mobile or EU Int version. There is no way to root all the other variants on 6.0
Luckily, I would be getting the 815 version.
As far as I can tell the ROMs based on stock are very stable. You won't even notice the difference. CM and CM based ROMs are the usual. Stable but have a few annoying bugs. I haven't really tried any AOSP so I won't speak for those
Heres my opinion.i have a tmobile version and if i flasha custom rom it seems to drop the bands as i cannot get signal in places where i can on stock based custom roms or pure stock rom.it does not switch between towers properly and i lose the ability to make or recieve calls.when i check phone info on aosp or cm based roms it shows it uses only 4 of the 12 bands i have.
Overlord Yuri said:
So I finally broke my Galaxy S4 last night, and I'm thinking about buying an LG G4 to replace it. However, the LG UI "improvements" look awful, and I bet I would be changing the firmware pretty soon if I get it. So with that in mind, I'm wondering if I should be buying the phone. Is CM13 or other roms stable enough that replacing the stock rom a good idea on a new phone?
I'm also considering any any other phone in the same price range, including the Moto X Style (Pure).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I made the same transition; from Galaxy S4 to Lg G4.
I'm running stock with Xposed. The G4 Tweaksbox app has a themes option and I've got a stock android one applied. It's really stable (I always expect themes to go crazy). The only other thing is the settings. You can get a stock settings mod but I don't really see the point. It works well enough for me and settings isn't really something you'd aim to be going on everyday anyway.
The clip tray is annoying but can be disabled. Add nova launcher and Google keyboard and it's all good. This is a much better solution than a custom ROM. You'll never get this kind of stability. Not forgetting that your camera app and fm radio and others will also be gone.
EDIT:
When buying, make sure the serial number starts with 601 or 602 603... These phones were manufactured this year so hopefully won't have the bootloop bug. If buying 2nd hand, ask the seller for the serial. If they can't provide it, ask for the IMEI and look up the serial number using https://imeidata.net/warranty/lg
There are too many references for 6XX bootloop issues, so I wouldn't recommend LG G4 at all , for custom theming,roms etc. Even after replacing motherboards of 5xx to 6xx, the bootloops are something more common than I used to believe...
personally am very happy with g4(601). best combo for me is Genisys Rom 4.2 + SimpleGX KERNEL (then Tweaksbox, xposed & nova launcher). very stable, no lags, speedy, good battery, amazing camera/lg app. downsides are unlocking bootloader voids warranty & the body corner feels painfully sharp after a while in the hand.
I am happy with the G4 too, 601 as well , but unfortunately that doesn't change the fact that there are many issues with the phone! I hope the OP can enjoy and proceed at his own risk of course!
Thanks for the replies guys! At the moment I think I'm leaning towards the Moto X Style, and will probably order it (at pretty much the same price as the G4) tomorrow unless someone talks me out of it.
Overlord Yuri said:
Thanks for the replies guys! At the moment I think I'm leaning towards the Moto X Style, and will probably order it (at pretty much the same price as the G4) tomorrow unless someone talks me out of it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'll be honest with you.....my mom has this phone and has massive battery drain issues, where as I have none. If your going for good battery and fast updates than Motorola will be your best bud, but if you don't mind mediocre battery but a kick ass camera then the G4 will be your best bud. PS it's as good as point and shoot this is coming from someone that does photography for a living.
Sent from my LG-H812 using XDA Free mobile app
I also have little to no faith in LG anymore. Moving on to bigger better things but will ride it out until my upgrade is eligible.
Going back to Samsung, Motorola, Huawei or HTC.
Sent from my VS986 using Tapatalk
Going to repeat this over and over again, i don't understand those people who after unboxing immediately install custom ROM (What!? you know what you're buying, you support OEM in this case LG, you support their firmware, skin and now you throwing out your money for something else in many cases worse, facepalm) if you want pure Android you buy Nexus, Motorola maybe, that's it, as Google says "Be together not the same". Installing custom ROM's it's like putting BMW rims on Toyota's car... beside that, G4 don't need a custom ROM, just imagine what your going to deal with custom ROM, awful camera, sound issue, lost functionalities, bugs, strange battery drains, degradation in overall battery life and everything for stock Android look? for latest security patches? themes? it's not worth it atleast now, IMO custom ROM's comes in handy when OEM stop's supporting your device with the latest firmware so if i done calculations right you should look for CM for LG G4 when Android 8-9 comes out. All you need is a root and good kernel then comes a good stuff, long story short, CM is a cancer for latest devices, flagships, believe me and don't think i'm condemning CM.
Frant1c said:
Going to repeat this over and over again, i don't understand those people who after unboxing immediately install custom ROM (What!? you know what you're buying, you support OEM in this case LG, you support their firmware, skin and now you throwing out your money for something else in many cases worse, facepalm) if you want pure Android you buy Nexus, Motorola maybe, that's it, as Google says "Be together not the same". Installing custom ROM's it's like putting BMW rims on Toyota's car... beside that, G4 don't need a custom ROM, just imagine what your going to deal with custom ROM, awful camera, sound issue, lost functionalities, bugs, strange battery drains, degradation in overall battery life and everything for stock Android look? for latest security patches? themes? it's not worth it atleast now, IMO custom ROM's comes in handy when OEM stop's supporting your device with the latest firmware so if i done calculations right you should look for CM for LG G4 when Android 8-9 comes out. All you need is a root and good kernel then comes a good stuff, long story short, CM is a cancer for latest devices, flagships, believe me and don't think i'm condemning CM.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
+1
I used to be one of those who buys a flagship device, then immediately look for bootloader unlock, root and flash. But after having LG G4 for 3 weeks now, stock MM latest, installed with my needed apps and games, I lost the feel of flashing custom ROMs.
G4 is great as it is, although optimizations can be done, a little upgrade here and there. As long as LG supports G4 with updates and with their accessories, then I'll stay with LG as manufacturer. Of they abandon us (like what they did with G PRO), then I'll switch devices.
LG has been my favorite since 2013.
Overlord Yuri said:
Luckily, I would be getting the 815 version.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Be extremely cautious where you get your 815 from. I bought one from Value basket that was advertised as a European Variant for the express purpose of developing a CFW- When it came it wasn't and they refused to exchange it. I've got an email trail as long as your arm trying to get the thing exchanged but they're just con-merchants.
But it's still an awesome phone....
Frant1c said:
if you want pure Android you buy Nexus, Motorola maybe, that's it, as Google says "Be together not the same". Installing custom ROM's it's like putting BMW rims on Toyota's car... beside that, G4 don't need a custom ROM, just imagine what your going to deal with custom ROM, awful camera, sound issue, lost functionalities, bugs, strange battery drains, degradation in overall battery life and everything for stock Android look?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I do get your point. Buying the G4 would have been a compromise to get some good hardware for a low price, and I hoped to to sweeten that deal even more by customizing the firmware to my liking. However, I ended up getting a second-hand Nexus 6P instead. :victory:
Overlord Yuri said:
I do get your point. Buying the G4 would have been a compromise to get some good hardware for a low price, and I hoped to to sweeten that deal even more by customizing the firmware to my liking. However, I ended up getting a second-hand Nexus 6P instead. :victory:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Smartest move you could have ever made. LG has left me with a bitter taste in my mouth. Ever since I got my phone back with a new circuit board it feels like a ticking time bomb and I don't use it for anything other than texting, phone use and browsing. How pathetic is that.
Sent from my VS986 using Tapatalk
I was wondering if anyone has experience using the above custom ROM? The homepage is in Russian and I haven't been able to find out much more about it other than the fact that some people really seem to like it.
If anybody is running the ROM I would be interested in opinions. Is it worth flashing instead of using stock MIUI? Any problems using it in English or compatibility issues with US phone service?
I haven't unlocked my bootloader yet but have permission. I'm trying to figure out if there is a custom ROM worth flashing that offers some advantages over stock. My original plan was to flash LOS but some people seem to be experiencing bugs.
Any info on MIUI PRO (or even a different recommendation) would be appreciated.
I can't complain about performance on stock which is blazing fast but I do miss Google Smart Lock.
jhs39 said:
I was wondering if anyone has experience using the above custom ROM? The homepage is in Russian and I haven't been able to find out much more about it other than the fact that some people really seem to like it.
If anybody is running the ROM I would be interested in opinions. Is it worth flashing instead of using stock MIUI? Any problems using it in English or compatibility issues with US phone service?
I haven't unlocked my bootloader yet but have permission. I'm trying to figure out if there is a custom ROM worth flashing that offers some advantages over stock. My original plan was to flash LOS but some people seem to be experiencing bugs.
Any info on MIUI PRO (or even a different recommendation) would be appreciated.
I can't complain about performance on stock which is blazing fast but I do miss Google Smart Lock.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Would actually also appreciate any information on this ROM. I have used LineageOS, MIUI Stable, Developer, Nightly Beta, EpicRom, RR but not this one solely because the site is Russian as you stated. Would love a bit more info...Figured I'd reply to this in hope to revive it.
As for LineageOS, you might as well try it out now. The third release (most recent one) has had a LOT of fixes and optimizations done to it.
I've been using it for more than one Xiaomi phone and I think it's a great rom. Very fast, smooth, without lag and with an excellent battery life. It also has a face unlock and other settings that you can't find in other roms...I try Epic Rom,Xiaomi Eu,Lineage...
I don't know about US phone service because I'm from Europe...not from Russia but I use Miui Pro without problems or fear also if they are from Russia
Try it:good:
3o3ulka76 said:
I've been using it for more than one Xiaomi phone and I think it's a great rom. Very fast, smooth, without lag and with an excellent battery life. It also has a face unlock and other settings that you can't find in other roms...I try Epic Rom,Xiaomi Eu,Lineage...
I don't know about US phone service because I'm from Europe...not from Russia but I use Miui Pro without problems or fear also if they are from Russia
Try it:good:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks! I shall look into it. What kind of modifications/differences are there compared to the stock MIUI?
For example you can encrease at 6 number of toggles... double tap where do you want to wake up or turn off the screen...choose the colour the battery when is 100% or 80%...etc
MIUI Pro has had very bad battery backup for me
I switched to Mi-Globe ROM
Kaji said:
Would actually also appreciate any information on this ROM. I have used LineageOS, MIUI Stable, Developer, Nightly Beta, EpicRom, RR but not this one solely because the site is Russian as you stated. Would love a bit more info...Figured I'd reply to this in hope to revive it.
As for LineageOS, you might as well try it out now. The third release (most recent one) has had a LOT of fixes and optimizations done to it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I tried LOS. I was excited at first to have stock Android back but then I experienced issues with poor call quality and my mobile data reception became erratic so I ended up going back to MIUI Global with the MI Flash tool and not paying close enough attention allowed it to lock my bootloader again.
My skepticism about MIUI PRO goes beyond the Russian website. There is no information about the ROM in English anywhere I could find. The only review on YouTube is in Hindi. None of the Xiaomi threads on XDA, Google+ or Reddit has information about the ROM. I know Xiaomi phones are primarily sold in China and India but that doesn't really explain why there seems to be no information anywhere about the ROM.
But the fact that the ROM is based in Russia does seriously concern me. I had an issue with Kaspersky Anti-virus (which used to be first rate) not flagging Russian malware on my computer. And that happened a full year before Russian hackers helped Trump become president. Using a Russian operating system on a phone just doesn't seem like the smartest idea.
If you try MIUI Pro post what you think of it.
jhs39 said:
I tried LOS. I was excited at first to have stock Android back but then I experienced issues with poor call quality and my mobile data reception became erratic so I ended up going back to MIUI Global with the MI Flash tool and not paying close enough attention allowed it to lock my bootloader again.
My skepticism about MIUI PRO goes beyond the Russian website. There is no information about the ROM in English anywhere I could find. The only review on YouTube is in Hindi. None of the Xiaomi threads on XDA, Google+ or Reddit has information about the ROM. I know Xiaomi phones are primarily sold in China and India but that doesn't really explain why there seems to be no information anywhere about the ROM.
But the fact that the ROM is based in Russia does seriously concern me. I had an issue with Kaspersky Anti-virus (which used to be first rate) not flagging Russian malware on my computer. And that happened a full year before Russian hackers helped Trump become president. Using a Russian operating system on a phone just doesn't seem like the smartest idea.
If you try MIUI Pro post what you think of it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well said my friend, and kudos for using the flash tool....just feels so much more..genuine. Can't say I haven't accidentally locked my bootloader too but that's how we learn.
I found the LOS to be, well, an absolute stock experience. But like you and I'm sure many others, it just isn't at the point where it should be used as a daily driver. I'm currently running the 11th of May beta but honestly has more bugs than LOS at this stage so will be reverting back to the latest official developer ROM from the MIUI site (fastboot ver of course).
Gave this MIUIPro some extra thought and seeing as though it sounds very limited in extras (you can mod the number of toggles in the quick settings with packages already available on XDA if you wished to do so) I'll stick with builds straight from Xiaomi.
Sorry for the let down
Kaji said:
Well said my friend, and kudos for using the flash tool....just feels so much more..genuine. Can't say I haven't accidentally locked my bootloader too but that's how we learn.
I found the LOS to be, well, an absolute stock experience. But like you and I'm sure many others, it just isn't at the point where it should be used as a daily driver. I'm currently running the 11th of May beta but honestly has more bugs than LOS at this stage so will be reverting back to the latest official developer ROM from the MIUI site (fastboot ver of course).
Gave this MIUIPro some extra thought and seeing as though it sounds very limited in extras (you can mod the number of toggles in the quick settings with packages already available on XDA if you wished to do so) I'll stick with builds straight from Xiaomi.
Sorry for the let down
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I was thinking about trying the MIUI Developer ROM. Is it stable enough to use as a daily driver? I looked at posts about the beta but that seemed to be to buggy for me. I value stability since I'm using the Mi Mix 2 as my main phone. That wasn't my original plan but the signal reception is so superior to my Essential PH-1 I couldn't justify using it daily instead even though there are many things that I prefer about that phone.
Maybe LOS for this phone will get better eventually but that was what I kept telling myself when I had an OP5. I hated the stock OS but after trying every custom ROM that existed I found only 1 Nougat ROM (Viper) and 1 Oreo ROM (Phoenix) that I considered good enough to use as a daily driver. I'm not a programmer but I think the quality of custom ROMs has gone down the toilet because they are almost always being made now by people who don't use the phone as their daily driver. The only non-OOS ROM made by a developer who actually used the OP5 daily was Phoenix and you could tell the difference the developer actually using the phone made.
Cyanogenmod was the first custom ROM I ever used that always had bugs, probably because they were trying to be compatible with as many phones as possible. My experience with LOS on 2 previous phones has been exactly the same. I love that they are trying to bring stock Android to phones that don't have it but I wish they were doing a better job.
jhs39 said:
I was thinking about trying the MIUI Developer ROM. Is it stable enough to use as a daily driver? I looked at posts about the beta but that seemed to be to buggy for me. I value stability since I'm using the Mi Mix 2 as my main phone. That wasn't my original plan but the signal reception is so superior to my Essential PH-1 I couldn't justify using it daily instead even though there are many things that I prefer about that phone.
Maybe LOS for this phone will get better eventually but that was what I kept telling myself when I had an OP5. I hated the stock OS but after trying every custom ROM that existed I found only 1 Nougat ROM (Viper) and 1 Oreo ROM (Phoenix) that I considered good enough to use as a daily driver. I'm not a programmer but I think the quality of custom ROMs has gone down the toilet because they are almost always being made now by people who don't use the phone as their daily driver. The only non-OOS ROM made by a developer who actually used the OP5 daily was Phoenix and you could tell the difference the developer actually using the phone made.
Cyanogenmod was the first custom ROM I ever used that always had bugs, probably because they were trying to be compatible with as many phones as possible. My experience with LOS on 2 previous phones has been exactly the same. I love that they are trying to bring stock Android to phones that don't have it but I wish they were doing a better job.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hey man. I had been using Developer builds up until now and I can tell you they are easily stable enough for daily use. I cannot confirm this is 100% correct but I'm fairly sure Developer ROMs are just the in-between ROMs where all the minor adjustments happen. The change logs have all included things like "Improved system stability", "removed unnecessary files for [insert app here]" etc. So you never know, they could actually be more stable than any of the "Stable" releases you've used so far, you'll have to be the judge of that. I don't travel much, nor do I require any very advanced function of Android at this stage so for sure there could be something I've missed but I have never had a force shut-down, lack of signal, graphical bug or force-close of app with any of the developer builds.
I never owned a OP5 but I did have a OP3 and OP3t which I used FreedomOS on both but eventually came around to LineageOS only because they all seemed about as optimized as eachother. I'm all for custom MIUI ROMs if they are going to actually improve on something but at this stage all they do is debloat which can be done by anyone and add a few features which actually make the system less stable and battery hungry. My plan is to try the occasional Beta to see what new features Xiaomi is bringing to the table, stick with the latest developer the rest of the time, and when they finally make a stable I'm happy with then stick with that until the next wave of software upgrades is due.
How is the Essential by the way? Apart from the signal. Never met anyone who owned one.
Kaji said:
Hey man. I had been using Developer builds up until now and I can tell you they are easily stable enough for daily use. I cannot confirm this is 100% correct but I'm fairly sure Developer ROMs are just the in-between ROMs where all the minor adjustments happen. The change logs have all included things like "Improved system stability", "removed unnecessary files for [insert app here]" etc. So you never know, they could actually be more stable than any of the "Stable" releases you've used so far, you'll have to be the judge of that. I don't travel much, nor do I require any very advanced function of Android at this stage so for sure there could be something I've missed but I have never had a force shut-down, lack of signal, graphical bug or force-close of app with any of the developer builds.
I never owned a OP5 but I did have a OP3 and OP3t which I used FreedomOS on both but eventually came around to LineageOS only because they all seemed about as optimized as eachother. I'm all for custom MIUI ROMs if they are going to actually improve on something but at this stage all they do is debloat which can be done by anyone and add a few features which actually make the system less stable and battery hungry. My plan is to try the occasional Beta to see what new features Xiaomi is bringing to the table, stick with the latest developer the rest of the time, and when they finally make a stable I'm happy with then stick with that until the next wave of software upgrades is due.
How is the Essential by the way? Apart from the signal. Never met anyone who owned one.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's a nice looking phone. Great build quality and excellent QHD screen. It's smaller than other phones I've owned over the past 5 years bit doesn't feel like a small screen phone because of the high screen to body ratio. It's much more comfortable to handle than the Mi Mix 2 although I'm getting used to this one. It's not as smooth or snappy as the Mix 2. But the weak signal reception is a big problem. I used it on T-Mobile (erratic signal), AT&T (poor signal), Sprint (poor signal) and Verizon (very good signal). Unfortunately Verizon's MVNO (Straight Talk) is way more expensive than the ones available for T-Mobile so it made more sense to use a different phone than pay a higher cell service bill every month just so I could keep using the Essential. I should have returned it for a refund but fell in love with it which was why I tried every network. I'm just using it as a backup with very cheap T-Mobile. The signal at home is crap but since WiFi calling works it doesn't matter.
Maybe I'll try the dev ROM then. Thanks for the info.
Kaji said:
Hey man. I had been using Developer builds up until now and I can tell you they are easily stable enough for daily use. I cannot confirm this is 100% correct but I'm fairly sure Developer ROMs are just the in-between ROMs where all the minor adjustments happen. The change logs have all included things like "Improved system stability", "removed unnecessary files for [insert app here]" etc. So you never know, they could actually be more stable than any of the "Stable" releases you've used so far, you'll have to be the judge of that. I don't travel much, nor do I require any very advanced function of Android at this stage so for sure there could be something I've missed but I have never had a force shut-down, lack of signal, graphical bug or force-close of app with any of the developer builds.
I never owned a OP5 but I did have a OP3 and OP3t which I used FreedomOS on both but eventually came around to LineageOS only because they all seemed about as optimized as eachother. I'm all for custom MIUI ROMs if they are going to actually improve on something but at this stage all they do is debloat which can be done by anyone and add a few features which actually make the system less stable and battery hungry. My plan is to try the occasional Beta to see what new features Xiaomi is bringing to the table, stick with the latest developer the rest of the time, and when they finally make a stable I'm happy with then stick with that until the next wave of software upgrades is due.
How is the Essential by the way? Apart from the signal. Never met anyone who owned one.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Programming on OnePlus phones has gotten way worse since the OP3/3T days. Oxygen was programmed by a team in Europe back then. But to save money OnePlus fired the European programmers and transferred the ROM to the Hydrogen team in China. That's when the coding started to go completely to hell.
Software engineers in China and India analyzed the OnePlus version of Oreo and reported that a lot of the code was actually Nougat. They also said the coding overall was very sloppy and unprofessional.
If you follow software devs on their Telegram channels (outside of XDA) it doesn't take long to discover that the poor programming on OnePlus phones is a running joke with many of them.
Running a custom ROM doesn't completely fix the problem either because the custom ROMs still need to use OnePlus firmware which is a mess.
OnePlus phones are so poorly programmed there is no way to use TWRP safely unless you decrypt the data on your phone and keep it permanently decrypted.
jhs39 said:
Programming on OnePlus phones has gotten way worse since the OP3/3T days. Oxygen was programmed by a team in Europe back then. But to save money OnePlus fired the European programmers and transferred the ROM to the Hydrogen team in China. That's when the coding started to go completely to hell.
Software engineers in China and India analyzed the OnePlus version of Oreo and reported that a lot of the code was actually Nougat. They also said the coding overall was very sloppy and unprofessional.
If you follow software devs on their Telegram channels (outside of XDA) it doesn't take long to discover that the poor programming on OnePlus phones is a running joke with many of them.
Running a custom ROM doesn't completely fix the problem either because the custom ROMs still need to use OnePlus firmware which is a mess.
OnePlus phones are so poorly programmed there is no way to use TWRP safely unless you decrypt the data on your phone and keep it permanently decrypted.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You make me really appreciate the fact I chose my Mi Mix 2 over the OnePlus 5t. Coming from the OnePlus 3T it was a difficult decision but I'm glad I made the switch.
Honestly this is the first I've heard of this but that's so bad, they are becoming one of the most popular high end smartphone manufacturers and they struggle to make solid, secure advancements in their software which can potentially lead to massive breaches of privacy via exploits.
Actually I remember not too long ago, wasn't there a big issue where users could access root from within the hidden developer settings of the OS? Without even an unlocked bootloader.
Gotta love that this is an entirely different topic from what this thread was made for.
Kaji said:
You make me really appreciate the fact I chose my Mi Mix 2 over the OnePlus 5t. Coming from the OnePlus 3T it was a difficult decision but I'm glad I made the switch.
Honestly this is the first I've heard of this but that's so bad, they are becoming one of the most popular high end smartphone manufacturers and they struggle to make solid, secure advancements in their software which can potentially lead to massive breaches of privacy via exploits.
Actually I remember not too long ago, wasn't there a big issue where users could access root from within the hidden developer settings of the OS? Without even an unlocked bootloader.
Gotta love that this is an entirely different topic from what this thread was made for.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
For whatever reason tech sites in the United States allow themselves to be shills for OnePlus. Reviews for the latest OnePlus device frequently sound more like shameless promotion than honest analysis because they often are. OnePlus solicits reviews in exchange for free phones and places the reviews on accommodating tech sites. I received an invitation to apply for a free OnePlus 6 phone and help to influence tech buyers. To apply OnePlus wanted a full length sample review of a tech product I already owned. The people who submit the most professional sounding reviews get the free phones and send their reviews to OnePlus. OnePlus then cherry picks those submissions and publishes the reviews it likes on various tech sites.
Pretty much the only two places you can get accurate information about OnePlus phones is on Telegram and Reddit.
Here's what happened with spyware in the 8 months I had an OP5. Someone discovered that a system process in Oxygen was secretly transmitting a lot of detailed user information to servers in China. This was separate from the User Experience Program that owners could opt out of.
An explanation of how to disable the spyware process was published and when asked to comment OnePlus promised to remove the spyware.
Nothing was done at all until the next scheduled monthly update. It appeared that OnePlus removed the spyware but it was discovered that OnePlus instead changed the name of the spyware process and that it was still transmitting the same user information to servers in China.
OnePlus apologized again but still left the spyware functioning until the next scheduled monthly update.
Shortly after it was discovered that an app in Oxygen allowed anyone with physical access to a OnePlus phone to unlock and root it by connecting it to a computer. OnePlus claimed that it was a Qualcomm test app that had been accidentally left on the phone. There actually was such an app but when Qualcomm examined the app found on OnePlus phones they said it definitely wasn't theirs.
It took OnePlus two months to remove the app from Oxygen.
Then in December a new type of spyware was discovered in an Oxygen beta build for the OP3/3T--a clipboard app that was transmitting contents to a server in China. OnePlus insisted that the clipboard app wasn't spyware but was actually a feature intended for its Chinese customers even though OnePlus sells virtually no phones in China.
Also in mid November OnePlus started to receive reports that customers who used their credit cards to make purchases on the official OnePlus site were seeing unidentified charges on their accounts. OnePlus didn't shut down credit card processing on its website until January. By that time over 40,000 OnePlus customers had their credit card information stolen.
OnePlus is not a good company so the fact that American tech sites continue to shill for them is nauseating.
I'm definitely much happier with my Mix 2 than I was with the OP5. This isn't a perfect phone but it's very good for the cost. The OP5 had crummy build quality and felt like cheap junk.
I tried MIUI Pro for a couple days. I wasn't all that impressed with it. MIUI Pro is less smooth and fluid than the latest official Global Dev Build despite having almost all of the Xiaomi MIUI apps removed.
The default keyboard is from Sony Experia for some reason. The only added feature than I personally found worthwhile was the expanded boot menu.
These are the other differences I noticed:
1) There is a smart network function that allows you to choose a specific type of network connectivity when making or receiving phone calls. You can have the phone switch to a specific network type and also automatically shut off WiFi, data or Bluetooth when on a call.
2) Menu options to change the system font and animations and their speed.
3) Built in charging alarm that would have been way more useful if you could customize the low charge/full charge values.
4) Option to use LTE instead of 4G in status bar as well as more options to disable/enable icons that appear there.
5) Three status bar settings (stock, aosp & IOS) that sound promising but all they did was change the arrangement of the status bar icons.
I'm sure there's more I'm forgetting. The Google Play Store comes pre-installed but nothing else--not even the Google app. That makes setting up Google Assistant with voice commands much more of a hassle but it's doable--the menus to make that happen in MIUI Pro aren't intuitive but that's probably because it's based on the China ROM.
It's also more of a hassle to get Google apps working properly in MIUI Pro compared with Official Global because you need to download everything from the Play Store and also manually grant the permissions for each app.
Since there are very few pre-installed apps you do have more free storage but I expected the ROM to be way faster and smoother since it's so stripped down. Performance of the ROM definitely isn't bad but for some reason it's inferior to stock.
Even though I chose English as the install language a couple of notifications came up in Russian. What they said I don't know.
I also don't know if any spyware or malware was written into the OS.
I missed stock after using MIUI Pro for just a few hours but ran it for 2 days anyway to give the ROM a fair chance.
I could see someone running MIUI Pro on a device where there was no official global ROM but it didn't do much for me.
My Samsung A3 is almost 5 years old and I still use it as my daily driver, I'm thinking about flashing Lineage OS to the device and I'm wondering what anybody's experiences were with using the OS as their daily driver. I will use it mostly for calling, texting and journaling. I also listen to music quite frequently. I don't intend on installing any of the popular apps.
I've been using LineageOS and Cyanogenmod forever. It works wonderfully and I do anything I can with the stock OS and more.
I run LineageOS on my Samsung Galaxy S5 Duos and use it as my daily driver. It's running Lineage 17.1 which is Android 10 (18.1/11 has just become available too) - not bad for a phone launched in February 2014, which is now over 7 years ago!
If it wasn't for this phone only having 2GB of RAM onboard a lay person probably wouldn't notice much difference compared to a more modern mid range phone.
With LineageOS there's a lot less bloat so Storage, RAM, CPU Performance, and Battery Life are all improved.
I went the whole way and the phone is rooted as well and to be honest I wouldn't look back. I bought this phone all those years ago specifically to do this and it's really paid off.
But remember the LineageOS ROMs are specific for each phone. So the first thing to do is to find the support thread here for your particular model and read through it for points relative to your specific device.
I really like the freedom that LineageOS and Root gives me to do whatever I like with my phone, all while getting monthly updates and having a support thread of like minded users (well actually many of them are way more power users than me). Daily driver performance is excellent.
When I buy a new phone it will again be a model that can run LineageOS and be rooted. And I'll do this immediately after purchasing the device. These days that also makes some chinese model phones a good option as they often have a good hardware to price value ratio, but terrible support and updates. So it's possible to use this good value hardware but combined with an excellent LineageOS ROM, support, and updates instead.
Hope that helps
eu7tFeTyT7vfPy said:
My Samsung A3 is almost 5 years old and I still use it as my daily driver, I'm thinking about flashing Lineage OS to the device and I'm wondering what anybody's experiences were with using the OS as their daily driver. I will use it mostly for calling, texting and journaling. I also listen to music quite frequently. I don't intend on installing any of the popular apps.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's OK if you have A3 2016. But what's your motivation? Playing around? Avoiding Google spying? Impressing friends with new android version?
kurtn said:
It's OK if you have A3 2016. But what's your motivation? Playing around? Avoiding Google spying? Impressing friends with new android version?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Avoiding google spying No friends to impress lol!
jmh2002 said:
I run LineageOS on my Samsung Galaxy S5 Duos and use it as my daily driver. It's running Lineage 17.1 which is Android 10 (18.1/11 has just become available too) - not bad for a phone launched in February 2014, which is now over 7 years ago!
If it wasn't for this phone only having 2GB of RAM onboard a lay person probably wouldn't notice much difference compared to a more modern mid range phone.
With LineageOS there's a lot less bloat so Storage, RAM, CPU Performance, and Battery Life are all improved.
I went the whole way and the phone is rooted as well and to be honest I wouldn't look back. I bought this phone all those years ago specifically to do this and it's really paid off.
But remember the LineageOS ROMs are specific for each phone. So the first thing to do is to find the support thread here for your particular model and read through it for points relative to your specific device.
I really like the freedom that LineageOS and Root gives me to do whatever I like with my phone, all while getting monthly updates and having a support thread of like minded users (well actually many of them are way more power users than me). Daily driver performance is excellent.
When I buy a new phone it will again be a model that can run LineageOS and be rooted. And I'll do this immediately after purchasing the device. These days that also makes some chinese model phones a good option as they often have a good hardware to price value ratio, but terrible support and updates. So it's possible to use this good value hardware but combined with an excellent LineageOS ROM, support, and updates instead.
Hope that helps
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you for the detailed response, and for reminding me to check the support thread for my model! I also noticed that the less popular Chinese model phones had better price to hardware ratios and the only thing stopping me was exactly what you mentioned, though I'm doing this to an A3 I'll probably consider buying something of the sort in the future for when I want an upgrade. From your response, Lineage is looking hopeful!
Old users planning to keep few more years leave your feedbacks.
Fahmid Islam Soumya said:
Old users planning to keep few more years leave your feedbacks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think it is, especially if you're into custom ROMs and rooting and so forth, as the 10 Pro scene hasn't gotten to that point as of this writing; there's lots of fretting and hand-wringing in the 10 Pro forum about it. I picked up a refurbished one last month from Amazon and am tickled pink with it (I'm keeping my trusty 7 Pro as a backup). In fact, the first thing I did was load my custom-built LineageOS fork (which I had already built in anticipation) onto it, as there was no way I was going to stay on OxygenOS beyond using it to OEM unlock the phone.
Hey guys,
Just received a used 9 Pro LE2123 and I got it without any battery juice.
I am using the warp charger that is from this model and I noticed that the charging is super slow.
It came with Android C61 and I let it update to C62, if this plays any role.
Any ideas about what is happening?
Download OOS 11 Firmware from Oneplus Website and Flash it using Local Update App and format the device. Then upgrade into newest Version via OTA.
abhijithpyd said:
Download OOS 11 Firmware from Oneplus Website and Flash it using Local Update App and format the device. Then upgrade into newest Version via OTA.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Why to do this?
The device was factory resetted when I got it.
Because you've literally no idea what the last user had flashed to it, or had messed around with.
MJPollard said:
I think it is, especially if you're into custom ROMs and rooting and so forth, as the 10 Pro scene hasn't gotten to that point as of this writing; there's lots of fretting and hand-wringing in the 10 Pro forum about it. I picked up a refurbished one last month from Amazon and am tickled pink with it (I'm keeping my trusty 7 Pro as a backup). In fact, the first thing I did was load my custom-built LineageOS fork (which I had already built in anticipation) onto it, as there was no way I was going to stay on OxygenOS beyond using it to OEM unlock the phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Making Custom ROMs isn't my issue. The problem with 10 pro for me is not be able recover if got hardbricked (which I will do eventually) . We don't have any official stores in our country. And online services isn't really my thing. 10 Pro is 10$+ then 9 pro here. Still want to buy 9 pro over 10 pro cz of MSM mostly.
ghostofcain said:
Because you've literally no idea what the last user had flashed to it, or had messed around with.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I guess after unlocking the bootloader and the full erase of data it should be fine.
op9pro could be a good phone for people living on social-media (nowadays the street-price is half of official price)
if you are flashotic or privacy-caring it's better thinking a bifferent device
Had mine for around 15 months, LE2123 it took a major hit when it went from a11 to a12. I'm completely stock and not modified in anyway. Overall I have been happy with the phone, I know it was expensive near launch but it's managed well so far. I've blocked all advertising by putting all my traffic through pihole and it's been good. Played a few games on boost mode and it's incredibly slick. I've seen in the latest version c62 you can use storage as ram also. Really love the camera, it has t's fault but most settings can be disabled ( like AI etc) and I am tempted to move to gcam.
AndyC76 said:
Had mine for around 15 months, LE2123 it took a major hit when it went from a11 to a12. I'm completely stock and not modified in anyway. Overall I have been happy with the phone, I know it was expensive near launch but it's managed well so far. I've blocked all advertising by putting all my traffic through pihole and it's been good. Played a few games on boost mode and it's incredibly slick. I've seen in the latest version c62 you can use storage as ram also. Really love the camera, it has t's fault but most settings can be disabled ( like AI etc) and I am tempted to move to gcam.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
what's your current device & did you sold your 9 pro ?
Fahmid Islam Soumya said:
what's your current device & did you sold your 9 pro ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Current device is still OnePlus 9Pro 8gb. LE2123 c62. (UK)
Finally rooted and cloned all my 146 apps from my previous OP6 phone and everything runs flawlessly.
Battery is great, the phone is super fast and it has a very good and fast camera.
My only concern is that some notifications are not coming up on time, so some apps need further check to fix this issue.
RASTAVIPER said:
Finally rooted and cloned all my 146 apps from my previous OP6 phone and everything runs flawlessly.
Battery is great, the phone is super fast and it has a very good and fast camera.
My only concern is that some notifications are not coming up on time, so some apps need further check to fix this issue.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Don't use Gmail app. I personally use Sugar mail and never missed any emails.
The 9 Pro continues to hold its own! Actually it's still pretty popular!
Personally in the US its one of the few options left available for those who like to really customize their devices. With spectacular battery life on customs (I've had mine about a month and get 8h SOT with some light gaming casually). I mean it doesn't get much better than this! Sure during heavy tasks it can get a little hot but that is slightly improving with OOS12 firmware. It will still reach those peak temps but seemingly not as fast. I got mine from Amazon as well for about $750 USD quite the deal! Using this device has be quite the pleasure. I'm definitely happy on Crdroid with BluSpark kernel. And since OOS has dropped the ball it means that OOS12 based custom roms will get nice custom kernel support which isn't normally there for a long time. Looking forward to the future of this phone!
No, stick with a phone that has good stock firmware. Oos is buggy af and is getting more and more like chinese bloat.
I would suggest a pixel over it (maybe 7?)
davidfarah2003 said:
No, stick with a phone that has good stock firmware. Oos is buggy af and is getting more and more like chinese bloat.
I would suggest a pixel over it (maybe 7?)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Except that Pixel phones have a lot of problems of their own, including the firmware, and there's no reason to believe that the 7 series will be any different given Google's recent track record. Pixel vs 9 Pro is just one set of issues versus another at this point. But, if one wants to delve into custom ROMs, both are good in that department (disclaimer: I don't follow the custom ROM scene for Pixel phones so I'm not as familiar with it as I am the OnePlus line).
MJPollard said:
Except that Pixel phones have a lot of problems of their own, including the firmware, and there's no reason to believe that the 7 series will be any different given Google's recent track record. Pixel vs 9 Pro is just one set of issues versus another at this point. But, if one wants to delve into custom ROMs, both are good in that department (disclaimer: I don't follow the custom ROM scene for Pixel phones so I'm not as familiar with it as I am the OnePlus line).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Pixels have lacking support compared to what it used to be with the Nexus line up. There is some interest but it's mostly unofficial support that doesn't last for long and its nothing that you can rely on like with the OnePlus phones
MJPollard said:
Except that Pixel phones have a lot of problems of their own, including the firmware, and there's no reason to believe that the 7 series will be any different given Google's recent track record. Pixel vs 9 Pro is just one set of issues versus another at this point. But, if one wants to delve into custom ROMs, both are good in that department (disclaimer: I don't follow the custom ROM scene for Pixel phones so I'm not as familiar with it as I am the OnePlus line).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The biggest problem that puts people off the Pixels right now is the Samsung SoC and modem. Stupid decision on Google's part.