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GooApple V5 issues list

Hello everyone!
First of all sorry for my bad English. I represent smartphones distributor from Kiev, Ukraine. We have contacted with GooApple sales director and have got GooApple V5 sample phone for tests before bulk orders.
All I can say: it's just not ready for international market at the moment and unfortunately they are not very much interested in positive firmware or hardware changes.
They have made firmware ios_11.12.08 for our last recall but non of our issues have been resolved + one added: it doesn't react on first home button push after lock screen, it only shows unlock screen after the second home button push or fast twice push.
Here is our issues list:
Phone's battery draining, runs out too fast!!! After full charge it runs out 75% battery life for 4 hours of usage: 1 call during 5 min., video watch during 8 min., music during 6 min, looking thought photos during 5 min., taking 3 pictures with the camera. 1,5 hour is just for walkthrough over the interface, settings, lock/unlock. 3,5 min. video takes about 5-6% of battery life. And it's without any gaming, internet surfing, making videos. Other time it's just holding.
Screen has some lightness flickering. Backlight blinking, flashing a little bit from the sides and left top corner.
Connect button (in putting Wi-Fi password mode) doesn't work. Just can't connect to any locked Wi-Fi network.
Bad Wi-Fi catch signal even with a close to phone router.
Doesn't remember icons location on springboard bar after moving around and reboot the phone.
Showing the last called phone number in background when sending USSD commands (checking balance or any anything else).
The input keyboard should be the same as iOS with working English and Russian (now it doesn't work) and customization ability in the General folder in Settings.
Booting animation should be the same as iOS with Apple logo only.
Creating folders (put in and put out icons) and moving icons around doesn't work properly.
The font in Calendar, Time, Dial is not the same as iOS.
The sim card pin code enter should be the same as iOS.
How to delete apps like Call Log, PowerOff... chinese QQ and others?
Reminders, Maps, Weather Stocks iReader apps should be in English.
Browser app should be renamed to Safari.
Gallery app should be renamed to Photos.
Phone key at dialpad should be renamed to Keypad.
Must speed up fake iOS usage response, performance.
Must speed up screen rotation/orientation response.
Must replace red ! (exclamation) to the Sending progress bar when sending messages/SMS.
Must replace chinese word to english word Call at the dial pad.
Make possibility of adding your own ringtones in the Settings.
Make double tap or pres hold the home button for multitask, running apps view like on iOS with appear at the bottom of the screen.
Make possibility of completely close/kill apps taking up memory and running in the background.
Make dialing numbers sound quieter (it's set to max by default).
Make lock/unlock sound quieter (it's set to max by default but should be possible to customize).
Make full-screen camera mode when taking photos.
Correct + - add sound mode when playing video, music (quiet sound from 2 to 6 bars and after 6 bars it's big increase in sound).
Remake Videos app (it should redirect/open phone's gallery instead of SDcard content).
Remake YouTube app (it should be in English or redirect/open youtube.com).
WLAN folder in Settings should be renamed to Wi-Fi.
Phone warms up when gaming, talking, videos.
It doesn't recognize sim card enter when ON.
Word Wednesday comes out of the Calendar app icon.
Power On/Off button dangles, swing around with sound.
Upper background part can be seen when charging.
While start pinching any picture from the center it zooms in with imprecision to the side of the picture.
Battery life doesn't shows properly on lock screen (it shows all empty when screen corner shows less of 20% battery life).
It Reboots by itself few times during the day when locking the screen.
If you know any other issues please add them by numbers 39, 40....
Or if you have solutions for any of the issues please also add it by the 1-38 numbers.
I hope we can make it better together!

Possible Solutions to Gooapple V5 issues.
Generally speaking, I don't think that all these reasons are real for every V5 phone around. Did you wipe out every data BEFORE flashing the new rom? If not, certain applications may have been running multiple times (i.e.: Maps in my case when I did that). I am using the android rom (not the iOS one) and I have not all these problems whatsoever.
Possible solutions:
1. Try and see if you have data enabled or GPS is on. This device has a hardcoded (R) Roaming on (i.e. you can't turn it off) plus it's not (yet) capable of 3G data. Turn both of them off while not needing them helps A LOT.
2. Not an issue here with newest android build; maybe your screen has issues. I've had some friends with original iPhones having the same flickering as yours. Turned out to be their retina display.
3. Not true. I'm connecting on both my wifi spots at home both Wep and WAP/PSK. Wifi is low powered though and need you to be NEAR the wifi router / spot (see below).
4. True! Just 5 meters away and a mid-wall makes the difference. They really need to boost their receiver.
5.Try reinstalling AFTER you've made a complete wipe data/factory reset. THEN install the rom. This might fix the issue.
6.I'd really like to see a list of USSD commands if you have one available for this phone... (pm me??? )
7.Same for Greek keyboard. I've overcame the problem by installing Greek Input Method from the market.
8.Heh. +1
9.It works for me for both android and iOS roms.
10,11.I agree.
12.You'll have to be 'root' to do so. The only way I've found to do so is the program superoneclick (google it). After rooting the V5, download from market 'Root Uninstaller'. Works perfectly even with the 'protected apps' like the one you mentioned. I know that you don't have 'market' on iOS rom so here's what I did:
I've had a factory reset first, then installed Android rom and THEN the iOS rom. I've also installed a program called 'Go Launcer EX'. This pops up when unlocking the device asking you what launcher you prefer, this way you have the best of both worlds.
13-16: Agree.
17 & 18: The problem is the retina display with the slow (relatively) 650MHz MTK6573 processor. The G3 (previous model) had a smaller screen that the cpu was able to handle. On android rom things are better though...
19 & 20: Agree.
21: On android you can do so by adding your custom ringtones on a folder called /alarms, /ringtones etc on your sd card. Should work for us too (didn't try it yet).
22. Agree.
23. I am using an app from market called: Advanced Task Manager does the trick.
24-31. Agree.
32. I didn't go that far!!! I guess you're right.
33 & 34. Yep.
35 & 36. I haven't got such a problem. Consider the retina screen of yours has a problem / issue?
37&38. Nope. Works alright here.
Finally another issue with no solution:
39. GPS lock. The GPS won't operate properly in EU (Greece) where I live. Takes forever to find satellites and it won't lock to a fix point even if you wait 10 mins. This is what I'm after right now and if I have a proper solution I'll post it here.
Thanks for putting up this thread Cyber_dude. If you need anything I'll be more than glad to help!

Thanks for your reply.
We have talked with GooApple for about a week now and sure I have made all needed such as wipe data before firmware update. That's because you are basically using Android ROM. Customers buying phones like this one because they just want iPhone for less and want everybody else think they got an iPhone. So using Android on any iPhone replica is just not right. It should run fake iOS and should be at least 60% of the original one. This phone costs $300 icnl. shipping at resellers (price of used iPhone 4 on eBay) and I think user interface should be well polished and flawless for that money.
Yes, Maps on last gooapple_ios_11.12.08 works in English now. But after resolving one problem they made two others, like it doesn't react on first home button push after lock screen, it only shows unlock screen after the second home button push or fast twice push.
1. That's not a solution! Sure I have turned everything like wi-fi, gps... off. But customers want it to be fully functional phone, without thinking: "ohh., have I turned my phone's wi-fi and gps off to kepp the battery alive?" It's shouldn't be like that!
They have you used so low capacity 1050mAh battery. (but we think it's even less). The original iPhone's has 1420mAh. And there are even 2200-2430mAh on the market today. They have changed screen, ram, cpu but keep the same battery. It's just stupid. And it's smaller then iPhone's battery so you just can't replace it. It works maximum up to 3 hours in active usage mode without gaming. (with full brightness on, because turning it less on this screen is just sacrilege).
That's they have answered about that: "when making a phone, we have to consider a lot of things, especially the cost, when everything is as great as iphone 4, the price will be too..."
2. Yes, it's old issue, it resolves after reinstall.
3. It's true. It works on you because your wep password is large then 8 characters. It doesn't work with less passwords like mac or iPhone.
5. Yes, new firmware resolved that.
6. I mean USSD commands for checking balance.
But here is a command to enter EngineerMode: *#67876#*
7. Stock keyboard is a crap. I use Smart Keyboard Pro.
8. I can change robot with apple booting animation but can't change gooapple name at the beginning. I think it's logo.img at the rom zip file. I have tried to delete it and make other changes to the rom but can't sign it. It's always shows sign error at the install.
9. It works but it works very-very badly. Then you are trying to move icon to other position it creates a folder with other icon, it's so annoying.
12. I have also made the root with the SuperOneClick. And delete Chinese apps with Root Explorer.
Thanks for Go Launcer EX advise. What else it can help us with?
17 & 18. They used MTK6513 it's cuted MTK6573 without 3G. It's not the best one anyway.
21. Yes, I also want to try to add custom ringtone to media directory folder.
23. Yes, I also use Advanced Task Killer Pro on gooapple_ios_11.11.30 but they have added double tap home button like iPhone to kill running apps on gooapple_ios_11.12.08
35 & 36. These issues are real and haven't resolved on new roms. That's not screen problem, I can make a screenshot if needed.
37. This one is also real. Can also make a screenshot.
38. Haven't seen this issue on gooapple_ios_11.11.30
39. Maybe you should try to test it in EngineerMode Have you tried to use any other GPS third-party application?
I didn't know about this issue because I haven't tried GPS, no need with this battery.
Do you know how to replace chinese word (Call) to english word Call at the dial pad? Because it's immediately catches the eye when using. I have decompiled the Phone.apk with APK Edit program but all image files are normal over where, chinese word is not an image file. I don't know how to change it.
Just lets keep this thread go by adding new issues and how to solutions.

Got my V5 about 2 weeks ago. Been playing with it for a while - tried both the newer roms and currently running the ios version that is made available about 10 days ago. Been working fine for me, except I may gps is very slow (can take up to 10 minutes for it to find me), and the built in FM Transmitter does not work. I also have various chinese apps which I was not able to delete. I will try the latest rom to see what improvemements it has.
Question, how did you root the phone? I downloaded superoneclick, but keep getting hung on the "waiting for device". I have usb debuggin on, and tried it both with "usb connect" on and off (the setting in the phone to establish a usb connection to a PC). Instead of using this "usb connect" feature, do I need to download some type of usb driver for this phone? If so, can you provide details? I've tried various usb drivers for MT6513 but nothing yet works - even tried something called PDANet which installed some type of software oin the phone and said it was connected, but still the superoneclick failed. Any ideas?
Oh, by the way I found a vending.apk that works on the ios rom. See link below
http://www.mediafire.com/?khpvzmzwwaqyxdm
Thanks

I have uploaded the drivers for GooApple V5, here is the link: http://www.mediafire.com/?h6hr1ckrf3sc7cj
How to root your GooApple V5:
Make sure you use Win XP.
Download drivers file from the link above and unzip it.
Phone Settings -> Applications -> Unknown sources, on
Phone Settings -> Applications -> Development -> USB debugging, on
Phone Settings -> Applications -> Development -> to keep awake, on
Phone Settings -> Applications -> Development -> Allow analog location, on
Connect the data cable, turn on USB storage in the phone.
In the Windows Device Manager (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Device_Manager) find your phone, open properties and install or update the drivers from the unzipped folder.
Reboot your computer.
Now download the SuperOneClick from here: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=803682 If you run XP, install .NET Framework v2.0 or above.
Shut down your antivirus/firewall.
Turn off USB storage in the phone. Make sure you do not mount the sd card.
Run the SuperOneClick BOOT process. If it's not success from the first time try it again.
After that install the Root Explorer to your phone, go system/app, push Mount R/W button and delete any app you want.
Thanks for the vending.apk, here are also some tips for it: http://www.addictivetips.com/mobile/how-to-install-new-android-market-2-2-6-on-your-device/

Cyber_Dude, thanks for the engineering mode code. You've done a nice job on the rooting info. Just for the story: I've done it on W7, 32bit and worked alright too. Newest superoneclick has the ability to forcibly ask for Admin privileges. Drivers have to be installed manually though.
I've found out into the Engineering menu that there's a CPU Frequency test that reports a high of 806MHz. THAT would be awesome to have when needed. Do you have any *working* utility that is able to over clock the MTK6573 CPU of it? I've tried some from the market but with no luck whatsoever.
Some info on the WiFi boosting would be helpful too. I've been digging into the /etc directory and found out several conf files that may, or may not do the job. I'd rather not alter the values on my own though...
Ah, finally another addition:
There seems to be an issue importing/exporting my contacts from the phone to google.com. Plus the Account and Sync options on the settings menu isn't reporting the respective field (i.e.: only Picassa, books and gmail is able to sync. Contacts is not on the list).
Thanks.

Cyber_dude - thanks for the rooting details. Got my V5 rooted today, and it worked from my vista laptop (didn't need a xp PC). I deleted the 9 chinese apps no problem including the chinese market app.
The vending.apk I provided works whether you root or not - however now that I'm rooted I will keep your instructions in mind if I want to upgrade to a different market version.
I'm still on the Dec1/2011 ios rom - anyone know what the newer ios rom (Dec10/2011) has to offer? I have tons of apps and settings personalized, so I'm not really wanting to wipe the phone to load the latest ios rom unless I know it will have some improvements.
Only problems I still have, which I would appreciate feedback on, are:
1) gps is very slow to find my location (can take up to 30 minutes). Funy thing is that as I scroll on the map it refreshes fast, and I can find addresses and streets, but it just can not find my location?
2) ther built in FM Transmitter does not work - would love to get this working since I do not have bluetooth stereo in the car. FYI - found other fmtransmiiter.apk apps on the net - can I just replace my existing same app on systems/bin to make it work?
Thanks

Have you tried it with the 'new' Android UI ROM? How does it perform? I'd really like to see some videos - youtube only has 13 and I've seen them all ..

DanADaMan said:
Only problems I still have, which I would appreciate feedback on, are:
1) gps is very slow to find my location (can take up to 30 minutes). Funy thing is that as I scroll on the map it refreshes fast, and I can find addresses and streets, but it just can not find my location?
2) ther built in FM Transmitter does not work - would love to get this working since I do not have bluetooth stereo in the car. FYI - found other fmtransmiiter.apk apps on the net - can I just replace my existing same app on systems/bin to make it work?
Thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
1) Same thing here. From the data sheet (from Mediatek) of the MTK6573 (which this phone has) the update location should be as fast as 10ms (that's 1/100 of a second) so something is DEFINITELY wrong.
2) I think you'll have to 'sign' it somehow. There are some apps that are supposed to provide 'signed' apps but never got to work with one; so I have no experience.
Cheers

macsga, DanADaMan, you are welcome.
I think cpu overclocking is not in time now and it also can make even worse. But we'll be glad if you can find any good, stable working app for that and test it. The only thing need to be overclocked now is the iOS UI, it should have to be polished well to match the original one.
For WiFi boosting, have you tried Wifi Fixer or Wifi Analyzer, you can change your WiFi channels with it.
GPS chipset is very bad. It's just a copy, fake phone, so they have used the cheapest hardware parts for it, we should reconcile to it. Unless they somehow fix it in new firmware, but I don't think it's gonna happen in near future. The main market for this phone is China, so they don't hasten with any international changes. As GooApple sales director said to me: "we sold more then 500pcs aday, should this problem happend to every phone, i think all the phone should return to us". So maybe chinese people are just not as demanding as we are, and they are happy with the phone? Anyway, I think with a good administrative force all listed issues can be resolved in just one week.
By the way, as I know they are planning to produce new phone in January with the 3G support. No info about any other new hardware at the moment.
Meantime we have to add new issues to the list:
39. GPS is very slow to find my location (can take up to 30 minutes).
40. Built in FM Transmitter does not work.
41. Importing/exporting my contacts from the phone to google.com. Plus the Account and Sync options on the settings menu isn't reporting the respective field (i.e.: only Picassa, books and gmail is able to sync. Contacts is not on the list).
42. In last gooapple_ios_11.12.08 firmware it doesn't react on first home button push after lock screen, it only shows unlock screen after the second home button push or fast twice push.
Updates in the last gooapple_ios_11.12.08 firmware:
Increase in task manager.
Blocking state to increase unread text message reminder.
Debug chinese QQ picture upside down.
Some Google applications added (en maps, gmail, voice..)
Task Manager.
Standby SMS prompts.
Double-click the home button shows running/standby apps and kill possibility like in original iOS.
Plus issue 42 added.
I haven't tried all new features in gooapple_ios_11.12.08 I don't want to use it because of the 42 issue. Now I'm using previous gooapple_ios_11.11.30 version. If anyone already installed and running the gooapple_ios_11.12.08 please give us your feedback.
DanADaMan, maybe you should try to make the data backup in stock recovery mode first and install firmware update after that? Maybe this should keep all your apps in and give you the new firmware? (haven't tried by myself)
jontelang, Sure, Android UI works much better with it, but I personally don't want to use it on this phone, it would be too simple and means you gave up making iOS UI ROM better.

As a side note, I've noticed that the phone is able to provide extraordinary 2D & 3D performance. I don't agree with the comment "It's just a copy, fake phone, so they have used the cheapest hardware parts for it, we should reconcile to it." you posted earlier Cyber_Dude, because I've seen cheap devices and this is nothing like it.
I do believe that the dev team has issues supporting the phone chipset due to the novelty that presents at the current time. This processor came out only at the end of June 2011 (fairly new).
News about MTK MT6573 Processor
Monday, June 13, 2011 3:25:26 AM America/Los_Angeles
Since the release MTK MT6516 processor, there is lots of Android phones in the market, which support GSM network and dual SIM card smartphone. But later, when Qualcomm, Broadcom and other smartphone processor manufacturer access into the field, mtk's dimmed. MTK MT6573 is the only hope in the future.
The end of June, 2011, we will share the latest trends with you, with the following new star.
Time: the first smartphone with MT6573 processor has been assembled, the major integrators, solution providers have had contact with, the reaction generally very good, have begun to prepare the relevant program models. As far as know, next month the first smartphone with MT6573 processor will unveiled.
Performance: As MT6573 is positioned in the low-end smartphone, we should not expect performance of deification, but the actual test performance to facilitate more than Qualcomm MSM7227, while MT6573 with the 3D acceleration in the multimedia DSP will give you a surprise. Currently sent to the integrators, solution providers of 3G features are still several prototype debugging.
Programs: MT6573 and MT6516 share same pins, and the both chips can be exchange without any hardware change, this will save cost on design for smartphone manufacturers.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Via: http://android-sale.com/blog/news-mtk-mt6573/

macsga, But have you test it side by side with the iPhone 4 (not talking about 4S)?
Sure if comparing with other copies it's a winner. It's the best choice if you want to buy an iPhone replica for the price of the used iPhone 4 and you're not too picky. But it's a huge contrast with the original iPhone 4 UI performance, speed and hardware. And at the present time it's not totally ready for the wide international market due to the all listed issues. That's why I have started this thread, all together we can make it better. Unfortunately GooApple's dev team/engineers do nothing for it, local market and the new phone's version is their main goal at the moment. I know that because I've contacted with the GooApple sales director for the last 3 weeks.
As I have posted before they used MTK6513 it's cut MTK6573 without 3G support. It's good but not the best one. Anyway CPU is not the main problem of GooApple V5. The low capacity battery is much bigger failure. The android-sale.com is just a reseller, they can write anything they want to sell the phones more efficiently.

Hehe, I do have a 4s and (you're right) side by side there's nothing like it. That's why I gave up on iOS UI and turned to the android native one. I do believe that it's a perfect android testbed though. And for 230 Eur (retail price) that the 32Gb model cost me; well I can't really complain.
So; I totally agree! Let's try and make it better
The UI might be faster if you lower the resolution (i.e.: draw @ 480x320 and not the retina native resolution this phone has). It's zoom capabilities should cover the gap and reduce choppiness. Of course, this is just a crazy thought of mine...

macsga, Where have you got it for 230 EURO for 32GB? Official resellers like android-sale.com and rofen.net selling 32GB model for $319.99 (245 EURO) without shipping cost.
How could you lower the resolution? And why? If you want lower resolution you just should buy cheaper GooApple 3G version and it has faster UI response: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WqAevweocKs

Cyber_Dude said:
macsga, Where have you got it for 230 EURO for 32GB? Official resellers like android-sale.com and rofen.net selling 32GB model for $319.99 (245 EURO) without shipping cost.
How could you lower the resolution? And why? If you want lower resolution you just should buy cheaper GooApple 3G version and it has faster UI response: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WqAevweocKs
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I got it before the EUR/USD was at 1/1.29 which is what you just calculated . The lower resolution (magnified) would in my opinion give the fast and smooth feeling the 3G has.
As per why I didn't go for the 3G, I did not, because of the retina display the V5 has. The official replacement for a retina display from Apple goes up to 390EUR+pnp, where I got the whole phone for 230 (OK plus 11$ shipping). In the meanwhile I have an android phone to play with (apart from my 4s). Fair deal.

I just wiped the phone and tried to load the ios 12-08-11 rom. Got an error something about not being a signed rom. I reinstalled the ios 12-01-11 ios rom no problem.
Anyone else have problems loading the latest ios rom?
Thanks

is this real?
i have heard that the Gooapple v5 is very good, and it is the same display as the real iphone 4, and can exchange with the iphone 4 display, does this ture?

DanADaMan said:
I just wiped the phone and tried to load the ios 12-08-11 rom. Got an error something about not being a signed rom. I reinstalled the ios 12-01-11 ios rom no problem.
Anyone else have problems loading the latest ios rom?
Thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There are newer ones from 2011.12.10 on http://rom.gooapple.com use those. Hopefully you won't have the same issues. Correction: Unfortunately the new Android one is not signed- The iOS though works OK
---------- Post added at 05:07 PM ---------- Previous post was at 05:01 PM ----------
lovebargaining said:
is this real?
i have heard that the Gooapple v5 is very good, and it is the same display as the real iphone 4, and can exchange with the iphone 4 display, does this ture?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, it's real. You can watch exchanging one another, on youtube here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=s7nUkSdzOqo

The flickering at the corners of the screen is annoying on mine, has this developed from the latest ROM or did you guys see it in previous? I've only had it a few days and updated straight away. I've resorted to the android UI cos the IOS one was sluggish but am more than happy to swap back to help?!
What I did find was GTA III kills this phone. On launch the intro plays but as the game launches the screen goes black and the phone will not respond to any button pressing for an hour, then I think it kills the process and the phone comes back. Just don't try, unless someone can tell me otherwise?
Mine responds on one click of the home button right now but Wireless is pants and so is GPS!
---------- Post added at 09:48 PM ---------- Previous post was at 09:35 PM ----------
How do I tell if I loaded 2011-12-08 or 2011-12-11?
I downloaded them on the 15th and loaded the Android one without any complaints of it being unsigned? Did it over the top of the version it came with though so not fresh install...
EDIT:
Thought it was worth adding how to get into engineers menu:
Dial “*#67876#*”
Is there a way to turn WiFi Tx from 20 to 40 or even more?
I need to root mine still

I never noticed flickering and I have to say that the latest 'iOS' rom is a bit faster on my device resulting in a rather good imitation while the previous was very choppy.
The only drawback is that the UI crashes every now and then. I do like the 'long press' function of the home button that is able to kill apps in the 'official' iOS mode plus I think for the 1st time since I owned this phone that I like more the iOS UI to the android one.
I do have to offer a couple of tips that I found through my xda search:
1. Using a program like Root Explorer (root) you may want to make the following directories as Read Only: /data/tombstones and /data/system/dropbox
This has as a result, that the phone won't be able to log into the main phone memory thus trimming down your available space.
2. *IF* you're using the iOS UI version of the rom you can safely(?) remove the following apps (I state them as bloatware) via Root Uninstaller (root):
-QQ input method and keyboard
-Chinese market
-Chinese Youtube (Yuku)
-Chinese Maps
-Chinese Weather (3 entries, remove all three)
-Chinese iBooks (Google books does the job)
3. Add the following app: Locale Select from the Market and choose your language of choice.
4. If you search the xda site you will be able to find signed Google Apps that (most of them) work with this phone.
Ah, one last thing: I found the best player for playing p0r... erm, Movies, MoboPlayer with the additional ArmV7VFP3 plugin. Supports almost every codec and srt file out there and respective char encodings. Please ignore the message: This program is not compatible with your device. Works like a charm, I swear.
Cheers.

Mediapad x2

I've falling in love with the mediapad x2.
But before I buy anything, I have some questions that I hope you guys can help me with.
Which version should I buy GEM-702L or GEM-703L, and do you know where I can get them in EU ?.
Is it possible to remove the factory installed apps on the GEM-703L ?, and lastly What's your experience using the mediapad x2 ? Is it possible to install apps on the SD-card ? is the picture taken with the camera stored internally or is it possible to store them in the external SD-card? Will the homescreen rotate vertically and horizontally like other tablets, or will it stay vertially like a phone ?
Thanks alot.

I have bought x2 a couple of weeks ago. I love it, it's perfect. The size has not been an issue a single time. And everything else is also very good - thought the camera might be better.
1. 702 or 703, or even 701 - make sure you purchase the right model for the radios in your region. Search this forum for more info - you will find it. There are endless list of distributors where you can buy them, and even more shops on the internet. And remember - there is no actual support for software for 701 and 702 - it is still on B003 firmware, though 703 had many updates, and is even announced to have update to android 6
2. No, mostly you can not remove preinstalled apps without root, but there are not many - so don't bother about it
3. My experience is a joy
4. Installing apps on sd card is not related to X2. It is related to the certain app. For example, google has forbidden installing it's apps to sd card since android 4.something. So, unless the author of the app allows you to, you can not install/move an app to sd card.
Read more here - good explained article:
http://phonetipz.com/android-why-is-the-move-to-sd-card-option-grayed-out-on-some-apps/
Though you can do it if you root your device and put some effort. You will find info how to do it if you google
4. Homescreen does not rotate, but the menus and certain apps do rotate - depends on the app I guess

I have the 702L. I didn't root mine... It came with Google Play Store and most of the Google suite pre-installed. I have no bloat ware as far as Chinese apps go... My Home screen doesn't rotate... I am definitely not a techie but will try to answer any questions you have about the 702L. I am not sure what the story is on the software updates. I am bummed that I haven't gotten any software updates...
Sent from my GEM-702L using Tapatalk

703 is the only model which has updates - other two don't
Sorry for misleading you about rotating home screen - I use nova launcher and there is an option for enabling home screen rotation. I tried, It works, I now use it. And there are more reasons for using nova, I say you give it a try

Thanks every1 for your feedback, I'm waiting for my Gem-702L from spain. It cost me 260euro which is pretty good.

[Q] Comparison between Chinese, International and Euro versions

Hi. Like many others, I'm quite interested in the Chinese version of the Mate 9 because of the option of 6GB ram and 128GB memory. As I would set language to English on phone I was wondering if Chinese characters still appear on various screens, like in settings or apps, even though the English language is selected? Is that the case with the International or Euro versions as well? If possible, could folks, with language set to English, show some screen shots to compare what appears on the screen using different models?
The other thing I was wondering is how does having 6GB of ram help improve performance. Is it noticeably better than the 4GB versions? Is the multitasking better? Maybe folks can compare how many apps can be run without the OS killing them off.
Appreciate you comments as it will help me decide which model to buy. Thanks!

If you set the language to English, things showing in Chinese characters will not be a big problem. There are some Chinese language apps included with the Chinese version, but you probably won't use them, except one time to set up Google.
I only have the Chinese version, but there are a couple of people on this forum that have both. Hopefully they can answer your other questions.

duraaraa said:
If you set the language to English, things showing in Chinese characters will not be a big problem. There are some Chinese language apps included with the Chinese version, but you probably won't use them, except one time to set up Google.
I only have the Chinese version, but there are a couple of people on this forum that have both. Hopefully they can answer your other questions.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for your comments and your efforts here! I guess it would provide an opportunity to learn some Chinese! Do you notice any improvement with multitasking due to having 6GB ram? For example, I have a Note Edge and it has 3GB RAM. Once I start running about 5 or 6 apps the OS will kill some to make room for the next I run. About how many apps can you run in background without the OS killing an app. How Android handles multitasking has always been an issue for me. Although I hear it's better with MM or N as it does a better job of saving changes/settings when it does kill an app now. One more thing. Has the Chinese version received the recent update? Be nice to know how noticeable the camera improvements are. Thanks again!

I'm not able to answer the multitasking part as I only have the 4GB Ram versions of both the international one and the chinese one, although I've never had any slow down nor do I notice any issues swapping between apps but I dare say I don't pay as much attention to it as you do.
The chinese version has received B136 recently, this included the notification updates like the international B126 but also enables the Google Framwork to be re-installed. I do notice some differences, the chinese phone dialer is annoying with it's Yellow Pages lookup - if you start entering numbers you get loads of suggestions appear in chinese. The other big difference is contacts, by default you cannot sync your Google contacts with the phone. I'm not sure if an app on the Huawei app store fixes this though as I've not looked yet. The other difference that I notice is the keyboard, when you enter a password, a different (password only?) keyboard is used which is not part of any keyboard you install (Swype, Swiftkey etc). I think that keyboard is part of their additional security suite installed on the chinese one.
With that said, I'm keeping the chinese one as it's in Mocha gold and I'm going to sell the international one as it's in champagne gold and I prefer Mocha

gnasher666 said:
I'm not able to answer the multitasking part as I only have the 4GB Ram versions of both the international one and the chinese one, although I've never had any slow down nor do I notice any issues swapping between apps but I dare say I don't pay as much attention to it as you do.
The chinese version has received B136 recently, this included the notification updates like the international B126 but also enables the Google Framwork to be re-installed. I do notice some differences, the chinese phone dialer is annoying with it's Yellow Pages lookup - if you start entering numbers you get loads of suggestions appear in chinese. The other big difference is contacts, by default you cannot sync your Google contacts with the phone. I'm not sure if an app on the Huawei app store fixes this though as I've not looked yet. The other difference that I notice is the keyboard, when you enter a password, a different (password only?) keyboard is used which is not part of any keyboard you install (Swype, Swiftkey etc). I think that keyboard is part of their additional security suite installed on the chinese one.
With that said, I'm keeping the chinese one as it's in Mocha gold and I'm going to sell the international one as it's in champagne gold and I prefer Mocha
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for your input! From what I can see the GMS installer fixes the contacts issue and presumably the phone dialler issue. Perhaps someone else can confirm.
In regards to multitasking, my experience was that if I put a file editor like Office Suite in background and run several apps and then return to the editor I found that my edits were not always saved. But I think android does a better better job of this in newer versions.
Wondering why you like the champagne gold more than the mocha gold. Is the champagne too glitzy? Just asking as I've never seen either up close. Thanks again!

Well, call me crazy. I bought the Chinese one!

Just got the Chinese version MHA-L00 4/64 in mocha gold. Upgraded to B135 and installed GMS installer. Now be able to use google apps without issues except Google Now, which despite multiple downloading attempts cannot replace the default HUAWEI HOME launcher. Quite frustrating... Contacts and dialer fine.

Seventhwave said:
Just got the Chinese version MHA-L00 4/64 in mocha gold. Upgraded to B135 and installed GMS installer. Now be able to use google apps without issues except Google Now, which despite multiple downloading attempts cannot replace the default HUAWEI HOME launcher. Quite frustrating... Contacts and dialer fine.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi. Sorry to hear you can't replace launcher. I've been using Total Launcher on my Note Edge for quite awhile. Takes a little work but I like how I can customize screen with it. Hope it will work. I've also ordered mocha gold. If you are in US can you comment which carrier you are on and data speeds? I'm on T-mobile and it appears that the phone has correct bands. But you never know!

If certain launchers aren't working for you, use Nova Launcher. It has a lot of Google's Nougat style implementations.

mscion said:
Hi. Sorry to hear you can't replace launcher. I've been using Total Launcher on my Note Edge for quite awhile. Takes a little work but I like how I can customize screen with it. Hope it will work. I've also ordered mocha gold. If you are in US can you comment which carrier you are on and data speeds? I'm on T-mobile and it appears that the phone has correct bands. But you never know!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes I am in the States and I use H2O service which is a MVNO of ATT. The signal and speed are very satisfactory. Will post a speed test result later.
---------- Post added at 07:10 PM ---------- Previous post was at 07:06 PM ----------
opasha said:
If certain launchers aren't working for you, use Nova Launcher. It has a lot of Google's Nougat style implementations.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the advice. Just downloaded Nova launcher and trying it. Somehow I found the phone tends to automatically switche default launcher back to HUAWEI HOME for some reason. Do not it is just mine or generally so...

Seventhwave said:
Yes I am in the States and I use H2O service which is a MVNO of ATT. The signal and speed are very satisfactory. Will post a speed test result later.
---------- Post added at 07:10 PM ---------- Previous post was at 07:06 PM ----------
Thanks for the advice. Just downloaded Nova launcher and trying it. Somehow I found the phone tends to automatically switche default launcher back to HUAWEI HOME for some reason. Do not it is just mine or generally so...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks! Very encouraging. Looking forward to the speed test. I can switch to at&t if speeds aren't that great on tmobile.
In regards to the launcher, did you check in settings whether you can set what the default launcher is?

mscion said:
Thanks! Very encouraging. Looking forward to the speed test. I can switch to at&t if speeds aren't that great on tmobile.
In regards to the launcher, did you check in settings whether you can set what the default launcher is?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Tested at two different locations and the results were relatively consistent.
Yes I can see my default launcher options in the setting but somehow it automatically switches back after I chose Nova... really weird.

mscion said:
Thanks! Very encouraging. Looking forward to the speed test. I can switch to at&t if speeds aren't that great on tmobile.
In regards to the launcher, did you check in settings whether you can set what the default launcher is?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Now I can stably use Nova as my default launcher, but seems that I do not have something like the Now cards from Google Now, which is exactly the reason why I want to use Google Now launcher... need to play with the Nova launcher a little more.

Seventhwave said:
Now I can stably use Nova as my default launcher, but seems that I do not have something like the Now cards from Google Now, which is exactly the reason why I want to use Google Now launcher... need to play with the Nova launcher a little more.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Go into Gestures - Swipe Up - GOOGLE NOW - works like a charm and much faster. Also, if you hold the home button on any screen you or on, it will google search the most significant thing on the screen. It's highly customizable. That's why many of us have been using it for some time.
Also, thanks for the AT&T speed results. That is really comforting to see!

opasha said:
Go into Gestures - Swipe Up - GOOGLE NOW - works like a charm and much faster. Also, if you hold the home button on any screen you or on, it will google search the most significant thing on the screen. It's highly customizable. That's why many of us have been using it for some time.
Also, thanks for the AT&T speed results. That is really comforting to see!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
thanks. Worked for me to get Google now cards afte upgrading to premium. Will try the search trick.

Seventhwave said:
thanks. Worked for me to get Google now cards afte upgrading to premium. Will try the search trick.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You are most welcome. Glad to hear it.

Seventhwave said:
Tested at two different locations and the results were relatively consistent.
Yes I can see my default launcher options in the setting but somehow it automatically switches back after I chose Nova... really weird.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks! This result is quite encouraging! Wonder if folks can do better around the US. I live just north of DC and can get a little more than 40mbps download speeds on tmobile using a Note Edge. Of course depends on location. Once I get my Mate 9 I'll post speeds.

Hi I just ordered Chinese version MHA-L00 6GB/128GB is there anyway you can test and let me know if you are getting an LTE connection in US, since based on my research Chinese version is not compatible with us LTE bands.
thank you in advance.

I have both US and Chinese mate 9. There are some differences.
1. US version has perfect google play service. All the google apps work fine. Chinese version requires the GMS to be installed by GMS installer. But google play store doesn't download sometimes until reboot. The google now launcher can't be set as default launcher, but after install the google now launcher, my google now app started to work. I believe system updates will fix everything.
2. Chinese version only allows Wechat and QQ to have 2 accounts, but international version allows facebook I believe.
3. Chinese version has more bloatware installed, US version is cleaner.
4. Chinese version has some super useful app like buddy help (remote control other huawei device), skytone (connect to 4G internationally without local sim card, etc). This is the main reason I use chinese model since I travel a lot.
In terms of color, Chinese has more choices. I am using gold chinese phone. My US model is black. I prefer black way more than gold.
In terms of connectivity, they are exactly the same.

Awesome, thanks!

I have a nex with the Global (India) ROM - happy to answer ?'s and one of my one ..

Sold my NEX S from China on ebay and got my hands on a Nex from India with the Global ROM. Happy to answer any questions people have about the global rom. I do have one question that someone might be able to help me with. I am trying to access the smart unlock settings so i can have i stay unlocked when i'm home. When i setup my car for Bluetooth, i got the page asking me if i want to setup smart unlock and did so but now that i want to go back and add a location I can't find it on any settings menu. YouTube and a few other searches had instructions on how to create a settings shortcut to get to the android security menu, but that doesn't work with the NEX. You can setup the shortcut, but it tries to open and immediately closes. I haven't found any way to get to the "Smart Unlock" menu - weird.
Other than that, the phone setup is pretty typical android with all the regular google stuff. You can create a vivo account with just an email verification (no china cell required) and even that's not required. Crazy that the settings section doesn't have a search bar - you have to poke around for everything. The other weird thing I've found so far is even though i selected google gboard as my primary keyboard, for some menus (mostly those related to settings or otherwise data entry points from the OS), it still brings up the default vivo menu (in English). more an annoyance than anything.
Want to make this my daily driver. The only real bummer so far is no NFC; relying on the Samsung pay capability of my gear S3 instead.
No issue changing the default launcher - switched to nova in a few seconds.

Mixed with Edge gestures and funtocuh OS gesture... it's wonderfull

TGUY25 said:
Sold my NEX S from China on ebay and got my hands on a Nex from India with the Global ROM. Happy to answer any questions people have about the global rom. I do have one question that someone might be able to help me with. I am trying to access the smart unlock settings so i can have i stay unlocked when i'm home. When i setup my car for Bluetooth, i got the page asking me if i want to setup smart unlock and did so but now that i want to go back and add a location I can't find it on any settings menu. YouTube and a few other searches had instructions on how to create a settings shortcut to get to the android security menu, but that doesn't work with the NEX. You can setup the shortcut, but it tries to open and immediately closes. I haven't found any way to get to the "Smart Unlock" menu - weird.
Other than that, the phone setup is pretty typical android with all the regular google stuff. You can create a vivo account with just an email verification (no china cell required) and even that's not required. Crazy that the settings section doesn't have a search bar - you have to poke around for everything. The other weird thing I've found so far is even though i selected google gboard as my primary keyboard, for some menus (mostly those related to settings or otherwise data entry points from the OS), it still brings up the default vivo menu (in English). more an annoyance than anything.
Want to make this my daily driver. The only real bummer so far is no NFC; relying on the Samsung pay capability of my gear S3 instead.
No issue changing the default launcher - switched to nova in a few seconds.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you. That's been very kind of as many people like me are reluctant to try Vivo especially due to that os and spending 45k Rs is a but risky.
1. Launcher setting- So no problems at all setting nova launcher as default launcher so that you can press home key and go straight to nova launcher home page right ? Have you tried any other launcher like Microsoft launcher?
2. Software - So far how many software updates you got. Generally how is the Vivo os updates ? Am not expecting crazy fast updates like OnePlus but still how is it ? Is there any chance that we get core Android updates to Android Pie and Q especially as other companies guarantee ? What about app to app transition and software os lags present after 1 month of usage ? How is th Ui ? Is it irritating? I like rich os like emui or miui rather than stock os.
3. I have seen in Oppo that enabling developer section under settings for changing Ppi or animation speed causes a red or yellow strip to blink across the status bar. Have you checked that ?
4. Display- In specs page , it said Nex has 338 ppi. How is the display ? Not expecting Samsung quality but can we get near to OnePlus 6 display quality in terms of color accuracy and sharpness or clarity ?
5. Audio quality- Have you tried audio via headphone Jack ? Vivo Nex is only the true competitor against LG V and G series in terms of audio and this is the primary sole reason to buy Vivo Nex. How about the loud speaker output ?
6. Call quality and reception- which network you are using here in India ? Does Vivo Nex picks network range pretty well or is it shabby like LG ? Also since no ear piece speaker but peizoelectric vibrating display how is the call volume ? Is it muffled ? Can it be heard in noisy environment ?
7. How is the charging speed ?
Sorry to ask much but too much curious and anxious about Vivo Nex

Answers to your questions (as best I can) below after each question
ben cherian said:
Thank you. That's been very kind of as many people like me are reluctant to try Vivo especially due to that os and spending 45k Rs is a but risky.
1. Launcher setting- So no problems at all setting nova launcher as default launcher so that you can press home key and go straight to nova launcher home page right ? Have you tried any other launcher like Microsoft launcher? Changing default launcher was no problem. I'm using Nova launcher and it functions exactly as it does on other phones
2. Software - So far how many software updates you got. Generally how is the Vivo os updates ? Am not expecting crazy fast updates like OnePlus but still how is it ? Is there any chance that we get core Android updates to Android Pie and Q especially as other companies guarantee ? What about app to app transition and software os lags present after 1 month of usage ? How is th Ui ? Is it irritating? I like rich os like emui or miui rather than stock os. I've gotten two updates so far. The launcher isn't as clean or neat as others and still have some Chinese type features - Jovi, no search under settings and a very few places where bits and pieces of the Chinese rom still poke through. Overall, though, nothing terribly annoying except that the option for smart unlock is hidden and you can't access it.
3. I have seen in Oppo that enabling developer section under settings for changing Ppi or animation speed causes a red or yellow strip to blink across the status bar. Have you checked that ? Crazy, ugly red stripe across the top of the screen when developer options are on. Doesn't affect performance as far as I can tell - just not pretty. Anyone smart enough to enable them knows what they are getting into and don't need a huge red bar across the top as a reminder
4. Display- In specs page , it said Nex has 338 ppi. How is the display ? Not expecting Samsung quality but can we get near to OnePlus 6 display quality in terms of color accuracy and sharpness or clarity ? I think the display is excellent
5. Audio quality- Have you tried audio via headphone Jack ? Vivo Nex is only the true competitor against LG V and G series in terms of audio and this is the primary sole reason to buy Vivo Nex. How about the loud speaker output ? Haven't used headphones yet. phone speaker is very loud and clear
yet
ll quality and reception- which network you are using here in India ? Does Vivo Nex picks network range pretty well or is it shabby like LG ? Also since no ear piece speaker but peizoelectric vibrating display how is the call volume ? Is it muffled ? Can it be heard in noisy environment ? All good here
7. How is the charging speed ? pretty typical - neither very fast or very slow
Overall I like the phone. swipe gestures like iPhone work well - i only wish there was a quick access button for settings. No NFC also stinks. I was using it as a daily driver but stopped as I use NFC a lot If it had NFC I would still be using it as my daily driver
Sorry to ask much but too much curious and anxious about Vivo Nex
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

hi thanks for your help first.
Could you please check does it has a Turkish language in supported languages ?

mdb1903 said:
hi thanks for your help first.
Could you please check does it has a Turkish language in supported languages ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Turkish is not supported.

To turn off the "secure" keyboard when entering data go to Settings\More settings\Input method\Security Input. Turn off Security input.

i am wondering if the India build Nex suffers from loose buttons? i saw one with the three buttons loose and not as solid as the Chinese 256
to be fair the version i used was pretty abused with dust filling every space

No issue with buttons.

So are these 3 versions that we know of now:
1- Chinese
2- Indian
3- International - Hong Kong .....?
Are the Hong Kong and Indian versions the same with the same pre-installed Play Store and "ok google" working?

crusht said:
So are these 3 versions that we know of now:
1- Chinese
2- Indian
3- International - Hong Kong .....?
Are the Hong Kong and Indian versions the same with the same pre-installed Play Store and "ok google" working?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yes three versions, my HK version is on the way

Hello,
I have several questions for you and hope you have an answer for me. I have a Nex S with global rom, and I am wanting to remove a lot of the bloatware. I have noticed that when I go into applications that there are 2 "messages" apps but, only one that is accessible. Do you know the propper commands to remove this one? Also, do you know the commands to remove the following:
1. Google Lens.
2. ARCore.
3. Google Play Movies etc.
4. Google Duo

Phaze1585 said:
Hello,
I have several questions for you and hope you have an answer for me. I have a Nex S with global rom, and I am wanting to remove a lot of the bloatware. I have noticed that when I go into applications that there are 2 "messages" apps but, only one that is accessible. Do you know the propper commands to remove this one? Also, do you know the commands to remove the following:
1. Google Lens.
2. ARCore.
3. Google Play Movies etc.
4. Google Duo
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
ADB is your friend and same basic pc knowledge
Follow this guide and you are ready
https://forum.xda-developers.com/nex/how-to/guide-vivo-nex-s-apps-safe-to-uninstall-t3813308
Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk Pro

Screen Sound Casting
TGUY25 said:
Sold my NEX S from China on ebay and got my hands on a Nex from India with the Global ROM. Happy to answer any questions people have about the global rom. I do have one question that someone might be able to help me with. I am trying to access the smart unlock settings so i can have i stay unlocked when i'm home. When i setup my car for Bluetooth, i got the page asking me if i want to setup smart unlock and did so but now that i want to go back and add a location I can't find it on any settings menu. YouTube and a few other searches had instructions on how to create a settings shortcut to get to the android security menu, but that doesn't work with the NEX. You can setup the shortcut, but it tries to open and immediately closes. I haven't found any way to get to the "Smart Unlock" menu - weird.
Other than that, the phone setup is pretty typical android with all the regular google stuff. You can create a vivo account with just an email verification (no china cell required) and even that's not required. Crazy that the settings section doesn't have a search bar - you have to poke around for everything. The other weird thing I've found so far is even though i selected google gboard as my primary keyboard, for some menus (mostly those related to settings or otherwise data entry points from the OS), it still brings up the default vivo menu (in English). more an annoyance than anything.
Want to make this my daily driver. The only real bummer so far is no NFC; relying on the Samsung pay capability of my gear S3 instead.
No issue changing the default launcher - switched to nova in a few seconds.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi,
How is the screen sound casting when you are calling someone and when you are watching youtube/videos or while video calling someone, it will be great if you compare it with you previous phone or samsung/Iphone.
So, can you please share your experience with gear S3 connecting and usability as compare with samsung galaxy S8
Thanks

Taking the plunge.

I have ordered a Xiaomi Mi 10 Ultra and am now waiting for it to be despatched and delivered. I wish I had found this forum earlier and I might have ordered from a different (recommended) seller. I'm told that despatch will be no later than Friday 4th December - we shall see.
I have ordered the Chinese version and have bookmarked a web page which explains how to access the appropriate settings, not being able to read Chinese, by using icons. I'm hoping that I can get through that to convert to English otherwise I'm stuck. I see that unlocking the bootloader is pretty straightforward so I shall start that process as soon as I receive the 'phone.
I have flashed custom ROMs and rooted most of my previous 'phones although now that I'm 84 I have to work from a printed list of instructions in order that I don't forget something. Bad memory comes with age. I haven't yet decided whether or not to flash the European ROM.
I have seen, on the web two differing opinions regarding the Chinese ROM camera and the European ROM camera. I am buying this phone because of its camera and I have seen remarks that infer that the camera in the European ROM is not as good as the one in the Chinese ROM so I am wary of flashing the EU ROM. Does anyone have any knowledge of this?
Now I just have to wait.

If your device is pristine, at first boot you will be prompted to choose the language.
Some sellers wight do that for you, so you could receive your device already in English and even with google play store installed.
This way or another, you will have to wait 1 week in order to unlock bootloader. Plenty of time for playing with stock rom.
From what I realized, I could be easily staying with stock rom. But now I am sure that switching to EU rom is the only way to go. I moved to EU rom right after unlocking and never looked back.
As for camera question - I am enjoying EU rom camera, nothing bad so far.

batareikin51 said:
If your device is pristine, at first boot you will be prompted to choose the language.
Some sellers wight do that for you, so you could receive your device already in English and even with google play store installed.
This way or another, you will have to wait 1 week in order to unlock bootloader. Plenty of time for playing with stock rom.
From what I realized, I could be easily staying with stock rom. But now I am sure that switching to EU rom is the only way to go. I moved to EU rom right after unlocking and never looked back.
As for camera question - I am enjoying EU rom camera, nothing bad so far.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am supposed to be getting a sealed box which means that nothing extra will have been installed. If I do get a language prompt on first boot then that will make things easy. I haven't seen anyone mention specific camera problems i.e. exposure, contrast, tonal range etc so I've really no idea what these problems might be.

BarrySamuels said:
I haven't seen anyone mention specific camera problems i.e. exposure, contrast, tonal range etc so I've really no idea what these problems might be.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just think about it like this "Who in the world would want to create from the scratch an alternative cam application for a very sophisticated cam if this app can be ported from Chinese rom in a snap of fingers?" There is no alternative cam app for Mi 10 ultra. It is the same app. So it is buggy at the same extent as stock rom cam app. As one of devs elaborated on this issue "there might be numerous factors contributing to bad image quality on a particular device. but that not necessarily means that camera app is buggy"

batareikin51 said:
Just think about it like this "Who in the world would want to create from the scratch an alternative cam application for a very sophisticated cam if this app can be ported from Chinese rom in a snap of fingers?" There is no alternative cam app for Mi 10 ultra. It is the same app. So it is buggy at the same extent as stock rom cam app. As one of devs elaborated on this issue "there might be numerous factors contributing to bad image quality on a particular device. but that not necessarily means that camera app is buggy"
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I see your point. So there is really no reason to not install the EU ROM. Thank you for your reply.

This has now become purely theoretical as I have just discovered that my local service here in rural Wales depends on Band 20 which this phone doesn't have.
I have cancelled my order which is a great pity as I was looking forward to using this device. Quite a disappointment.

BarrySamuels said:
I have cancelled my order which is a great pity as I was looking forward to using this device. Quite a disappointment.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, that is its Achilles heel
Luckily in my area band 20 is of less significance.
Ultra is a true legend, but there are Mi 11 series' devices coming in pipeline.

I understand that Xiaomi said that they wouldn't produce an international version of Mi 10 Ultra but perhaps that is because one of the new Mi 11 range will have similar specifications. Here's hoping.

I'm in South Wales and have the Ultra on the way, it was despatched a few days ago. When you mentioned band 20, I'd that only for 5g? If it is I've no problem missing out on that as 4g is plenty fast enough for me plus I have unlimited data on the 3 network.

potsykate said:
I'm in South Wales and have the Ultra on the way, it was despatched a few days ago. When you mentioned band 20, I'd that only for 5g? If it is I've no problem missing out on that as 4g is plenty fast enough for me plus I have unlimited data on the 3 network.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No bro. Band 20 is for 4g. But 3g would be pretty fast too.

sunilstark 1 said:
No bro. Band 20 is for 4g. But 3g would be pretty fast too.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for that, if I'm reading write it'll support 5g over here though and 5g is being rolled out in my area.
Xiaomi Mi 10 Ultra: Price, specs and best deals
As with the vast majority of Xiaomi phones, the Mi 10 Ultra does not go unnoticed far from it. It has the well-known Snapdragon 865 that we can combine with 8GB, 12GB or 16GB of RAM and a storage capacity that has its ceiling at 512GB. With this data, the AnTuTu score reaches 589,000 points...
www.kimovil.com

If you are in UK then go onto sim that uses EE network which predominantly uses band 3 & 7 for 4G.
I use Three network and not had any issues with 4G. I live in the North East UK

Nobody asked but I am using EE here in Essex and my Ultra gets 5G... giffgaff gets 4G.
By the way, I have never flashed custom ROMs or rooted any of my devices and to be honest I am still comfortable with the Chinese ROM despite the annoying notifications in Chinese. I haven't had the chance to try everything tho, I received my device a week ago.
What do you guys think? Should I aim to flash the European ROM anyway? I think that the warranty is void if the phone is flashed or rooted.

It's up to you if you want to change to EU or not. Yes gifgaf is based on O2, so no band 20 as you have found out. I'm the same too with Sky and EE.
I did move over to the EU ROM as it gives you full GMS over the hacked version installed by the seller but also for the great additional extras to the ROM and the support from the Xiaomi EU forum.
If you've not done any modifications or flashed ROMs it can be daunting but with this phone and it ability to access fastboot, you can practically never brick it. There is always a way of getting back to a working phone. You will need to unlock your bootloader and wait a further 168 hours to do anything but I have produced a guide that takes you through all this if you want and I'm here if you need help, just message me. I have in the past even helped over Skype and remote pc for some.
As all the most recent ROMs are now twrp compatible, you only need your pc to push twrp from fastboot to replace your stock recovery, then install your first EU ROM by twrp. After that you can just use the inbuilt updater to update. Of course it's your preference. If you don't like it, you can always go back stock Chinese, this will remove twrp and you can lock your bootloader again ( can't do this while on EU ROM) and you will be back to how you were. My only advise as you will get your phone formatted when you unlock after 168 hour wait and you must if you change ROM branches too, so make a good off phone back up so you can restore your data.

Here is a list of the EU ROM extras...
Based on China Stable / Weekly builds
Enabled search gesture (swipe up) on the desktop
3way reboot menu (in dev settings)
Dark Mode (Night Mode) for all devices
Removed ads in MIUI system apps
MIUI Dialer and Messages apps
Face Unlock for all devices
Vertical clock widget on lockscreen
Steps counter in Assistant screen
More shortcuts on left lockscreen
Wake up gestures for all devices
AI preloading option in MIUI Lab for all devices
Fullscreen gestures for all devices
Option to auto-expand first notification
Notifications priority settings
More edit options in Gallery app
Enabled MiDrive in File Explorer
Added landscape mode for SMS app
Sunrise/Sunset in the weather app
Google apps support integrated
Removed 5GHz region restrictions
Confirm dials from call logs
Morning report on alarm at morning
More apps supported for AOD notifications
More styles for AOD screen
Raise to wake gesture
AOD notification received animation
Default volume control stream toggle
Tap fingerprint sensor to wake toggle
More Camera features
Double tap to lock screen
Battery AI scenes
Allowed disabling specific system apps
Importing theme .mtz from zhuti.xiaomi.com via ThemeManager
No useless Chinese bloatware apps
More free RAM due to less background processes
Unified flat style app icons for both system and 3rd party apps
Advanced menu with color icons
No any Chinese character under the full system
Mi Video, Mi Music, Mi Browser: No any useless Chinese content
No possibility to re-lock bootloader accidentally with flash any xiaomi.eu release
Added real 27 languages translation made by Official MIUI Fansites and MIUI Fans
Added EU T9 dialer support
Added charging sound switch
Added Screen-OFF animation
Optimized GPS settings for EU
Optimized Battery consumption
Optimized RAM consumption
Added 3D Touch to MI5S 3GB RAM version
Added GSMalphabet into SMS app options
Added more icons grid layout 4x5, 4x6, 4x7, 5x5, 5x6, 5x7 (depends on device)
SafetyNet passed (Google Pay)
Play Store Certified
Deodexed
Added automated tasks in Security app
Added game speed booster
Added erase module (magic elimination) to Gallery photo edit options
Fixed low volume sound via headphone
Charging screen for all devices
Widevine L1 (for supported devices)
And more, and more made by our 9 years MIUI mods experience.

Hey, thanks for that and the document, really appreciate it!
I am still thinking about having giffgaff as my main SIM despite getting 4G. I have 5G with EE on my Ultra but the problem with EE is its signal indoors. For any reason it is pretty bad, even when I am in Central London, while giffgaff runs smoothly. I don't know how many calls I have missed due to that, and apparently I am not the only one with this issue.
This has been happening with my Redmi Note 4 in the last 3+ years and now happens with my Ultra as well, so defo the problem is the network not the phone. I also use giffgaff for international calls, EE tariffs are 5x or more expensive for int'l calls to the same country... crazy!
Regarding the EU ROM procedure, I will try doing so in the next days following your instructions and I will write down my experience here. I reckon I am a bit scared to do so, it's first time I spend that much money on buying a flagship phone (and on any electronics I think) and don't wanna mess it up. However I will post any issues I encounter.
Cheers!

Good luck if you do make the plunge to go EU. As I said, you can always go back if you want to.
Just make sure you have an off phone back up before you start and you have the new ROM ready to copy over from your PC or usb stick. This way you can use fastboot to push twrp, then reboot straight to recovery (twrp) and flash your ROM. There is a good chance the twrp may be in Chinese, so you will need to change it to English. Once done, format data and reboot. Then wait as it will take ages but as long as you see 5G and miui then it will be fine. If you need any support, message me.