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[Q] Rom compatibility on regional s6 variants?

I am planning to buy the s6, my country has the 920I model. My question is will there be enough rom support for this variant? As I see the 920F is the global variant, and it will get major support from rom developers. Will the 920F roms run on the 920I version too? I read somewhere that the Roms for the F version can be flashed on the I version by modifying the updater script. Most s5 and Note 4 users follow the updater script technique. How safe is it ? Will there be support from roms like (Liquidsmooth, Temasek, Crdroid, Beanstalk, Slim, DirtyUnicorns, Euphoria)? Any input is appreciated

You will find support limited at best. Most developers will not developer for Samsung devices unless they have the Qualcomm chip which we all know the S6 doesn't. So you may get some support but I know almost for sure that DU won't support it.

zelendel said:
You will find support limited at best. Most developers will not developer for Samsung devices unless they have the Qualcomm chip which we all know the S6 doesn't. So you may get some support but I know almost for sure that DU won't support it.
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Lol. I had a s3, exynos chip and DU supported it although I do not like DU. Well, the good thing is that there is no snapdragon variant, so ROM support will be universal. The question is the global version is 920F, and there will be a 920I version in my country. Will the F version roms be install friendly on the I version? I saw the note 4 forums and some people were able to flash roms by changing the updater script.

Siddheshpatil said:
Lol. I had a s3, exynos chip and DU supported it although I do not like DU. Well, the good thing is that there is no snapdragon variant, so ROM support will be universal. The question is the global version is 920F, and there will be a 920I version in my country. Will the F version roms be install friendly on the I version? I saw the note 4 forums and some people were able to flash roms by changing the updater script.
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That was when people trusted Samsung. Once They lied to people about offering the Documentation on the device so roms would work properly people walked away from them.
Will they be universal? No one can say for sure until they start getting the devices. The updater script works but you run a huge risk when doing something like that.

zelendel said:
That was when people trusted Samsung. Once They lied to people about offering the Documentation on the device so roms would work properly people walked away from them.
Will they be universal? No one can say for sure until they start getting the devices. The updater script works but you run a huge risk when doing something like that.
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well, Looks like I dont have many options then. I cannot have my Nexus 6 because of Uneven display, I can buy the one plus one but it is a year old. There are no good developer friendly phones out there

Siddheshpatil said:
well, [emoji14] Looks like I dont have many options then. I cannot have my Nexus 6 because of Uneven display, I can buy the one plus one but it is a year old. There are no good developer friendly phones out there
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So what if it is year old? The hardware is still good. Heck my 2 devices are 3 and 4 years old.
There are many great developers devices still out there. The newest device is not always the best device. But if your looking for a device that will most likely see lots of development then you could look at the m9.

zelendel said:
So what if it is year old? The hardware is still good. Heck my 2 devices are 3 and 4 years old.
There are many great developers devices still out there. The newest device is not always the best device. But if your looking for a device that will most likely see lots of development then you could look at the m9.
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Naah, not htc. You do have a point, even if it's a year old it is still a good device and reasonably priced almost half that of n6 with double storage capacity. I heard rumors of oneplus two coming this april. I dont know how true those are but looks like opo is the best option to go with right now, it has a lot of rom development going on.

Siddheshpatil said:
Naah, not htc. You do have a point, even if it's a year old it is still a good device and reasonably priced almost half that of n6 with double storage capacity. I heard rumors of oneplus two coming this april. I dont know how true those are but looks like opo is the best option to go with right now, it has a lot of rom development going on.
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I heard it is as well. I have been keeping an eye on them for a while and almost bought one but after they got some of the PA team to work on the rom I changed my mind.

your experiences with alcatel phones?

I am planning to buy this awesome phone
But I want to hear some user experiences, because I never have had an Alcatel before.
So....
- How is the service of Alcatel? Especially when it comes down to warranty
- Is this phone future proof? (talking bout the idol 3 5,5'')
- How about the support on XDA? ROMS, kernels, ability to root, unlock bootloader....
- Last but not least, if you had an Alcatel before, how was your experience with it?

Rene_ajax said:
- How is the service of Alcatel? Especially when it comes down to warranty
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Don't know it, sorry. It's my first Alcatel too.
- Is this phone future proof? (talking bout the idol 3 5,5'')
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No, I dont' believe. I may mistake.
- How about the support on XDA? ROMS, kernels, ability to root, unlock bootloader....
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Very good.
Root and TWRP available, bootloader unlocked. Few custom Rom (only 1) for the moment, but source code delivered juste some day ago, so... I do think the phone should get a intersting rom development.
- Last but not least, if you had an Alcatel before, how was your experience with it?
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Not concerned personnaly

I've owned an Idol 3 for about five weeks now (got it for $200 on Amazon Prime Day). It's everything I need in a handset, and I give props to Alcatel for making a prompt firmware update (in the U. S. anyway) available that addressed the Stagefright issue and significant bugs involving Google Voice and native SMS. I hope to get further updates to 5.1/Marshmallow, but even if that doesn't happen I'm more than satisfied.
I'm on T-Mobile in New Orleans, BTW.

so, at this point it is not sure if it gets updated to Android M?

Can you explain what you mean by "future proof" ? This phone has a 64 bit , Octa core, ARMv8 chip . In that respect, it has quite the latest hardware. The software it is running today - is clearly under-performing. But there is no guarantee that in future , a custom ROM (or a future Android version) , will not be able to take advantage of the latest instruction set, 64 bit architecture, and all 8 cores running simultaneously.

I think the key with considering a purchase of this phone is to keep expectations in check. It's not comparable to a flagship from one of the big name companies. The Nexus 6 I'm using has its faults, but it's way faster and smoother. It feels more solid. Plus it has the advantage of the enormous dev community and user base for ROMs, kernels, fellow users, all kinds of things. A phone like the Idol 3 is not likely to ever have more than a tiny fraction of that.
The Idol 3 is light, thin and has great whites and natural colors. Blacks aren't as deep as on some displays, but it's all tradeoffs. That light weight is worth something, too. It's one of my favorite features of the device. The sound from the speakers is surprisingly decent. I like the near stock Android ROM. Now that TWRP is available, it's simple to root. It's also plain, plasticky, occasionally sluggish. What the company's plans are as far as updating to 5.1.1 or M is anyone's guess. Same for whether or not there'll be ROMs, kernels and such.
It's a very nice phone for the money that should be usable for most as a daily driver. Just don't expect it to be something it's not.

maigre said:
I think the key with considering a purchase of this phone is to keep expectations in check. It's not comparable to a flagship from one of the big name companies. The Nexus 6 I'm using has its faults, but it's way faster and smoother. It feels more solid. Plus it has the advantage of the enormous dev community and user base for ROMs, kernels, fellow users, all kinds of things. A phone like the Idol 3 is not likely to ever have more than a tiny fraction of that.
The Idol 3 is light, thin and has great whites and natural colors. Blacks aren't as deep as on some displays, but it's all tradeoffs. That light weight is worth something, too. It's one of my favorite features of the device. The sound from the speakers is surprisingly decent. I like the near stock Android ROM. Now that TWRP is available, it's simple to root. It's also plain, plasticky, occasionally sluggish. What the company's plans are as far as updating to 5.1.1 or M is anyone's guess. Same for whether or not there'll be ROMs, kernels and such.
It's a very nice phone for the money that should be usable for most as a daily driver. Just don't expect it to be something it's not.
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Very good post and very true. It is a solid entry into the market at a good price. Re: upgrades... I emailed Alcatel and was told there are no plans to update to 5.1 OR 6. Not that they can't change their minds, but I'd say assume this is EOL for the phone's OS. That said, it's a good phone if you like 5.0 and can live with its bugs.
Sent from my secret lair in a hidden mountainside.

Mate 9 and custom Roms?

I was thinking of getting Mate 9, and i just noticed that there are not much development of custom roms like other devices such as LG and samsung, is there a reason or just the mate series not getting much attention?

Shady282 said:
I was thinking of getting Mate 9, and i just noticed that there are not much development of custom roms like other devices such as LG and samsung, is there a reason or just the mate series not getting much attention?
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First and second both.
Reason - You can build working boot from kernel sources. But camera will not work.
And Mate 9 has not much developers.
But in defense of phone I can say that it is great device. We are able to root and Magisk, install every stock ROM, rebrand between localizations, use Xposed. Stock ROMs are good, quick and have many useful functions.

5[Strogino] said:
First and second both.
Reason - You can build working boot from kernel sources. But camera will not work.
And Mate 9 has not much developers.
But in defense of phone I can say that it is great device. We are able to root and Magisk, install every stock ROM, rebrand between localizations, use Xposed. Stock ROMs are good, quick and have many useful functions.
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Oh thank you for your reply. :good:
can please explain what does the "rebrand between localizations" means? because i ve been reading it everywhere but not able to understand what does it mean and its purpose? and does that void warranty?
Also, someone told me on a forum that if you bought huawei from a specific region like Europe and you are using it outside of europe, as in not european simcard, you will not receive updates ? only until you use a sim related to where you bought the phone from? is this related to the "rebrand between localizations" ?

You are correct there is a few variants, Chinese normally get update faster believe it's running beta 8.0 atm
I have had many flagships in past 5 years, all oneplus, s7, s8, LG g5, 6p,
Pixel is my backup phone.
If you can get the mate 9 at a good price I swapped mine for an iPhone 7, as don't like Apple and prefer big screens.
It's a cracking phone.
The os is on par with oxygen imo.
Screen is great 1080p,
Battery life is exceptional 7hours sot out and about.
Rooted and using magisk for Android pay.
Ohhh and has stereo speakers

sutty86 said:
You are correct there is a few variants, Chinese normally get update faster believe it's running beta 8.0 atm
I have had many flagships in past 5 years, all oneplus, s7, s8, LG g5, 6p,
Pixel is my backup phone.
If you can get the mate 9 at a good price I swapped mine for an iPhone 7, as don't like Apple and prefer big screens.
It's a cracking phone.
The os is on par with oxygen imo.
Screen is great 1080p,
Battery life is exceptional 7hours sot out and about.
Rooted and using magisk for Android pay.
Ohhh and has stereo speakers
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Absolutely fantastic battery life and fast phone! ?

grinch247 said:
Absolutely fantastic battery life and fast phone!
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+1 Great phone! I am running stock longer than any rom in 10 years! Think about all the things you can do in your life without constantly tinkering with a phone :laugh:

Shady282 said:
Oh thank you for your reply. :good:
can please explain what does the "rebrand between localizations" means? because i ve been reading it everywhere but not able to understand what does it mean and its purpose? and does that void warranty?
Also, someone told me on a forum that if you bought huawei from a specific region like Europe and you are using it outside of europe, as in not european simcard, you will not receive updates ? only until you use a sim related to where you bought the phone from? is this related to the "rebrand between localizations" ?
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Click to collapse
Rebrand between localizations means that you are able to buy Chinese model MHA-AL00 with Chinese ROM and rebrand to world ROM and vice versa.
Models are same by hardware.
About sim and updates - yeah, problem still exists. To get updates quickly after they released need phone with proper region/localization and proper sim.
So, I live in Russia and have Russian operator's sim. I bought European Mate 9 cause Huawei doesn't sell Mate's series in Russia (Russia is C10 in Huawei customization). My chances to get update on my MHA-L29C432 faster than European owners are very small. Fortunately, it is not problem to me.
P.s. I told that chances are small but they are not null. Huawei rolls on some ROMs to all after some time (about month)

sutty86 said:
You are correct there is a few variants, Chinese normally get update faster believe it's running beta 8.0 atm
I have had many flagships in past 5 years, all oneplus, s7, s8, LG g5, 6p,
Pixel is my backup phone.
If you can get the mate 9 at a good price I swapped mine for an iPhone 7, as don't like Apple and prefer big screens.
It's a cracking phone.
The os is on par with oxygen imo.
Screen is great 1080p,
Battery life is exceptional 7hours sot out and about.
Rooted and using magisk for Android pay.
Ohhh and has stereo speakers
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Oh but a lot of users reported that huawei does not have a good customer support in case of issues with the phone and such. is it true?
What about updates? do you expect getting oero and so on OS ? since there are not a lot of custom roms?
tho i didn't like the fact the regional update lock based on the sim card region you are using.
but i love the good SOT.

p20 pro overrated?

Hello.
I've had this phone for 6 weeks now and I must admit that when I got it I had very high expectations.
All the reviews made this phone look like the best phone, both performance wise and camera wise.
Now, I can't really complain but I must admit that it's overrated: the camera quality is great but I don't think the phone deserves the "Best smartphone camera" title simply because some pictures lack detail/when you zoom in on a normal picture it's always slightly blurry (something I noticed in every Huawei phone).
Performance wise I can't really complain, the phone is smooooth!
And before you say anything, yes, I've used every camera mode and messed around with all the settings (pro mode/raw is very useful).
Last but not least, it seems like not a lot of people own this phone? The forums seem a bit quiet.

MrGiovanni said:
Hello.
The forums seem a bit quiet.
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Yep, development is pretty dead since Huawei stopped unlocking bootloaders and the average cost is now £30 to unlock it. There is also a lot of controversy around the kernel released to the public and the actual one used by the company. They are not a good company.
For me, the phone was a mistake, I should have stayed with OnePlus and their open approach to developers and users.

maddoguk said:
Yep, development is pretty dead since Huawei stopped unlocking bootloaders and the average cost is now £30 to unlock it. There is also a lot of controversy around the kernel released to the public and the actual one used by the company. They are not a good company.
For me, the phone was a mistake, I should have stayed with OnePlus and their open approach to developers and users.
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I wholeheartedly agree and I wish I checked better before getting it - especially since I'm paying it monthly (I mean, it's €15 a month but still).

maddoguk said:
Yep, development is pretty dead since Huawei stopped unlocking bootloaders and the average cost is now £30 to unlock it.
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It's a factor indeed but I don't think this is the only explanation for lack pf development. Every phone that hasn't been officially released in US has much worse development section. Moreover xda development used tp be a lot better in the past in general. My old HTC legend didn't have unlocked bootloader,. no soff possibility either.. Still we got fully worked cyanogenmod 7. Just an example.
Today only few devices can be really proud of its development section = Oneplus, pixel, pocophone, maybe htc (du to soff) For me personally neither of them is the option. Pixel is overpriced and offers only 4gb of ram. Pocophone lacks nfc anf its camera is mediocre. Oneplus lacks support for usb otg, notification/charging led, no video output, has mono farting speaker, worse camera than P20 Pro. P20 pro has its flaws indeed but for me it was still te best option in the August 2018. Today i'd probably choose sth else.

Add me to the list. The camera is awesome but the rest is pretty average. It also doesn't feel special to look at or hold and this is where other manufacturers like Samsung/Apple/Sony shine.
This is my first phone away from Samsung and I don't know how Huawei have managed to fool everyone into thinking this is more than a mid range phone with a decent camera setup.

Yes, I agree. Camera is great, battery is good but i think rest is awful. I cant even play Pubg on high settings. A lot of apps too laggy.
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I think everything is pretty good... Except kirin 970.

I think it is a decent Phone with a fantastic camera. I think there's no doubt about the camera quality especially in comparison to other phone models available.
But I can't comment on development issues, that's where the expert can evaluate its worth better.

erdignss said:
Yes, I agree. Camera is great, battery is good but i think rest is awful. I cant even play Pubg on high settings. A lot of apps too laggy.
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am quite surprise that you had problem with PUBG,
What firmware version are you on ? Is it got GPU Turbo enabled already ?

forever_lol said:
I think everything is pretty good... Except kirin 970.
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Yeah the Mali inside it is a turd (even on the 980) and the frequency of updates stink.
Every Month the P20 Pro is dropping in price by £50 and judging by how the Chinese are flooding the market with newer phones it will be sub 200 by the middle of next Year. Oh and I would be pizzed if I had paid It's launch price of £799 for it to be worth £200 a year later.

Coming from iPhone X and pixel 2, I also feel cheated by reviewers. Its front camera is terrible and my phone is too laggy even with nova launcher and emui 9

tenchu_712 said:
Coming from iPhone X and pixel 2, I also feel cheated by reviewers. Its front camera is terrible and my phone is too laggy even with nova launcher and emui 9
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EMUI is unfortunately choppy UI.
I hope AOSP will get stable soon.

Phone on paper isn't bad, I was worried about the chipset but it's been decent. Ppsspp runs perfectly, GameCube / dolphin runs perfectly which is no mean feat.
Development is odd, but not totally dead, plus you can flash treble and honor view 10 ROMs.
I'm currently on AOSIP and it's stupidly smooth,, EMUI is horrific IMHO.
Now root is available on pie so things will certainly pick up.
Personally wouldn't buy it now but it's not a bad phone overall and development hopefully will pick up.

I bought this phone on a upgrade from the s8 plus on the basis of the camera. Never used emui before and never owned a Huawei before. The camera(S) have earned me some money so I cannot complain. To get the best out of it you have to know its limitations. As a phone in general, I wasn't assed about the chipset. It does a great job. My phone is very responsive, but does have a random pause once in the blue moon. It runs everything without a hiccup and I am very happy with it still. I am in no rush to upgrade, but when I do, I'm goin.. Goin.. Back.. Back.. To.. Sammie.. Sammie..
Sent from my CLT-L09 using Tapatalk

I don't agree.
The camera is awesome. EMUI is nothing bad, I would never buy an aosp phone without for example the desktop mode.
Updates are coming fast.
Unlocking bootloader is the only problem, I personally don't care, but I know that this is a real problem.
My next phone will be huawei.

I'm very satisfied with the P20 Pro. The battery is awesome, the design is great, no lag at all, I don't have any problem with Emui. And most important, I know the limitations of a mobile camera.
Enviado desde mi CLT-L09 mediante Tapatalk

forever_lol said:
EMUI is unfortunately choppy UI.
I hope AOSP will get stable soon.
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Check out AOSIP for the Honor view 10. Works on the p20 pro.
NFC and stereo are the only two things not working.
The treble p20 camera in the treble forum works with gallery, the speed is sublime.
I can't go back to emui now.

dladz said:
Check out AOSIP for the Honor view 10. Works on the p20 pro.
NFC and stereo are the only two things not working.
The treble p20 camera in the treble forum works with gallery, the speed is sublime.
I can't go back to emui now.
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its kind a pitty about NFC
i need it in my country for easier highway payment

After pie update, phone becomes worse..

otonieru said:
am quite surprise that you had problem with PUBG,
What firmware version are you on ? Is it got GPU Turbo enabled already ?
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Click to collapse
I am on 161 now. It s disabled but does it really matter? It shouldnt be laggy anyways.
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Why is development so slow for realme 5 pro?

I mean it is a great device with cool specs, so what gives?
I was actually thinking of buying it. But lack of development really discourages me.

sssaini007 said:
I mean it is a great device with cool specs, so what gives?
I was actually thinking of buying it. But lack of development really discourages me.
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Maybe it's because ColorOS is different from other Android, especially security. Ported ROM, OS or other apps are not as easy as other brands of Android, there must be customization of scrips, drivers, etc.
Another factor is that more and more new devices are appearing at lower prices and better specifications make developers choose other brands.
there are many other factors that make developing this device feel slow.
but there is good news that there are developers like @BluBlu and other developers are starting to manage the Device tree, meaning that soon a stable custom rom version will appear specifically for Realme 5 Pro.

faisalxp said:
Maybe it's because ColorOS is different from other Android, especially security. Ported ROM, OS or other apps are not as easy as other brands of Android, there must be customization of scrips, drivers, etc.
Another factor is that more and more new devices are appearing at lower prices and better specifications make developers choose other brands.
there are many other factors that make developing this device feel slow.
but there is good news that there are developers like @BluBlu and other developers are starting to manage the Device tree, meaning that soon a stable custom rom version will appear specifically for Realme 5 Pro.
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Thank you for the reply. Can we expect a stable miui build for it?
And if you're using the device, what can you say about it's camera, performance, battery, charging and miscellaneous stuff? Should i buy it?

Another factor is that bootloader is not unlockable for EU version users.

sssaini007 said:
Thank you for the reply. Can we expect a stable miui build for it?
And if you're using the device, what can you say about it's camera, performance, battery, charging and miscellaneous stuff? Should i buy it?
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Click to collapse
yeah, i heard in several groups that someone has tried ported MUI Rom but it's not stable yet, there are still a lot of bugs. I think if there is already a stable OS version, the others will start to catch up. related to the camera is very good I have never gotten a quality as good as this device for the same price especially when using gcam. The performance is a little lag, but with a little tweak or using a custom ROM, the problem is resolved. battery is very economical if it is not rooted, if root only lasts a day depending on your activities. very fast charging using VOOC and miscellaneous may be related to privacy / security better than other brands.
tonibm19 said:
Another factor is that bootloader is not unlockable for EU version users.
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If using Msmdownload and equalizing the partition size with other Region (which can Unlock Bootloader). can't the Flash Stock Rom Region do and unlock? or maybe even can flash vbmeta and TWRP?

Well in my opinion, the reasons for the slow development could be
- the amount of to be supported devices:
Currently there are ~18 devices which need maintenance and support. This is a huge task for such a new company. And there are more devices to come.
- Support request from "unsupported" regions: Realme devices are being sold in Europe "official" in Belgium, France, Luxembourg, Netherlands, and Portugal. But you can buy the devices e.g in Germany by ordering over Ebay or Amazon and inofficial resellers. These user might have problems with current "locked" features, like VoLTE/VoWifi in Germany and request support from realme which might leads to a "support flood".
- maybe small developer team?