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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.

Any chance of custom roms?

As already been know, no custom roms were developed for Kirin proccesor?
Any chance for Honor 8 to receive one?
I like the phone, but not the UI...

We are working directly with Honor to get the proper assets needed for open development. It is a work in progress and we should know a lot more in the coming weeks.

If what the articles on XDA and what @svetius say are true, we should have all the required files to start building custom roms. Question is, with the recent release of N, are the to be provided Honor files going to be for M or N?

If anyone is interested, I have uploaded some documentation about the experience of developing custom roms to prior Kirin devices https://github.com/HiSilicon-Kirin/Documentation
It's pretty basic at the moment but if someone wants to read it you might find it helpful for future development.
COMI80 said:
As already been know, no custom roms were developed for Kirin proccesor?
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Thst's not true https://github.com/P8LiteDev/android_device_huawei_hi6210sft

Ok, my bad and I apologize .... and I rephrase - existing custom roms on previous Kirins are far from being fully functional.
But good news for future development and thanks everybody for replies.
As for the free lesson....

I have to buy a new phone soon as my z3c is experiencing touch problems (I'm out of warranty because i unlocked the bl...) plus there is no good development for it, and this honor 8 would completely meet my needs. but I'll wait first to see if good development for it will really arrive, otherwise will have to buy something else. really hope so though, also considering the amount of good advertising it is receiving in this forum!
i really like recent huawei phones, my gf has one (g8) which is very nice, but I've never got one myself because of the poor development i found for them.. so i hope some good devs will get this one in particular not too late and be able to properly work on it :fingers-crossed:

moly82 said:
I have to buy a new phone soon as my z3c is experiencing touch problems (I'm out of warranty because i unlocked the bl...)
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Not true, European laws state that if your phone is defective and you want to use the warranty, the OEM has to prove the malfunction was caused by your modifications. In most cases, unlocking the bootloader won't void your warranty. At least in Europe.
I've sent a few of my previous phones for repairs after flashing custom ROMs... And never had a problem. At least try, even if you want to buy the H8, your Z3c might be repaired regardless, and you would have a fully functional backup phone

COMI80 said:
Ok, my bad and I apologize .... and I rephrase - existing custom roms on previous Kirins are far from being fully functional.
But good news for future development and thanks everybody for replies.
As for the free lesson....
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There was no big support that's why, but now honor is providing key devs anything they need to make the honor 8 great, let's hope for nougat

Lurdy said:
Not true, European laws state that if your phone is defective and you want to use the warranty, the OEM has to prove the malfunction was caused by your modifications. In most cases, unlocking the bootloader won't void your warranty. At least in Europe.
I've sent a few of my previous phones for repairs after flashing custom ROMs... And never had a problem. At least try, even if you want to buy the H8, your Z3c might be repaired regardless, and you would have a fully functional backup phone
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thanks, I know myself that is clearly true, but I have already tried, and they do not accept the in-warranty reparation, considering I am now blacklisted in their SW as last time I sent it for repair (again for a z3c famous and common defect on the magnetic port coming out, so nothing relevant to unlocking/flashing custom roms etc) they returned my phone not repaired because it was unlocked...

Well, honor 8 should get custom ROMs

moly82 said:
I have to buy a new phone soon as my z3c is experiencing touch problems (I'm out of warranty because i unlocked the bl...) plus there is no good development for it, and this honor 8 would completely meet my needs. but I'll wait first to see if good development for it will really arrive, otherwise will have to buy something else. really hope so though, also considering the amount of good advertising it is receiving in this forum!
i really like recent huawei phones, my gf has one (g8) which is very nice, but I've never got one myself because of the poor development i found for them.. so i hope some good devs will get this one in particular not too late and be able to properly work on it :fingers-crossed:
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If you want to try an honor phone with Great Rom support look no further than the 5X (GR5) >> http://forum.xda-developers.com/honor-5x
Personally I will pass on the Honor 8 because of the smaller screen size and the kirin processor

yeah i did read about it in this forum but i prefer honor 8 because of the smaller screen I'm the opposite, don't like too big phones actually honor 8 would be even a little too big for me, but could buy it anyway and that's really the maximum size allowed for me processor will be fine as long as development will arrive, if not will probably buy a mi5

Can do a custom rom, but first need a firmware.

If I decide to get this phone, and support for custom ROM's becomes a thing, I feel like the best feature in custom ROM's would be tweaks to the Smart Key aka the fingerprint sensor. Just like with my OnePlus X, many custom ROM's let you set the alert slider for silence, vibrate, ring, or the default DND/priority notification toggle. So I feel like instead of only being able to set 3 functions to the Smart Key, tweaks would allow it to have more than 3 and set it for things that the system doesn't normally allow. That would be awesome in my opinion.

Previously till now, Kirin processor is always a deal breaker for me. I own a Honor 4X with CM12.1 installed.
No custom ROM avaliablity meaning only HUAWEI can provide future updates to us, that's not a good news.

honestly, i am also hesitant about the kirin processor.
i went on a mall last sunday to check the p9 which is most likely the same look except for the hardware and i dont know if i can really take something not close to vanilla android.. but im actually hopeful.. im confused.

yes chance for custom roms
we can expect custom roms for honor 8 in near future but developers work in their leisure time to build custom roms so wait until the kernel sources are released by huawei once they are released there will be different AOSP/cyanogen based ROMS for honor 8.
but never ask for ETAs:angel:

sagar emperor said:
we can expect custom roms for honor 8 in near future but developers work in their leisure time to build custom roms so wait until the kernel sources are released by huawei once they are released there will be different AOSP/cyanogen based ROMS for honor 8.
but never ask for ETAs:angel:
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It isn't the kernel source what's needed to build roms (although it's useful), but proper documentation from them.

Huawei nova has SD625, if u not want honor 8

Once they release proper files needed to start development, then we have pretty good devs out there who will start working on ROM immediately.

Why there are no custom projects for our device?

Although the kernel source is available, there aren't any projects, custom roms/kernels, no miui modifications and barely working custom recovery.. I get it the device is new but so are other devices that have so much projects... But why is our device so empty? I bet it has a huge potential for custom teams..

Xiaomi isn't interested in actively supporting independent ROM development for their devices. The reason there is a lot of development for One Plus phones is that One Plus sends free phones to developers. Xiaomi does not do that and wants its customers to use the stock ROM. Official LOS is supposedly in development for the Mix 2S but if you need custom ROMs you bought the wrong phone. In the future you should probably see what the development thread looks like before buying.

What about other Xiaomi devices? They have custom support.

Well the custom recovery is actually working pretty good. You can use the treble roms, rr is daily driver ready... Currently there are people working on aosp for our device, when we have a working aosp other roms will follow based on it

If you look into how many devices were sold, you'll figure out why so little development.

ManicStreetPreacher said:
If you look into how many devices were sold, you'll figure out why so little development.
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I can see that, but it's definitely surprising how few official developer ROMs (zero) have been released since this phone has been in existence. I know it's been stated that developers are working on it, but I haven't seen anything.

The camera is the constraining factor. No point having a good custom ROM if there is no GCam or MIUI camera port because you could have got a much cheaper phone if you don't care about camera.
I really regret buying this buggy device. Last time I buy something that doesn't run stock Android out of the box.

mike freegan said:
The camera is the constraining factor. No point having a good custom ROM if there is no GCam or MIUI camera port because you could have got a much cheaper phone if you don't care about camera.
I really regret buying this buggy device. Last time I buy something that doesn't run stock Android out of the box.
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So you say people buy this phone only because of the good camera?
What cheaper phone could you get with the same performance as 845?
MIUI port already exist, yes for other devices, but it can be made for 2S with a finger snap. Devs just don't have interest in this device, sadly..

pi4a7a said:
So you say people buy this phone only because of the good camera?
What cheaper phone could you get with the same performance as 845?
MIUI port already exist, yes for other devices, but it can be made for 2S with a finger snap. Devs just don't have interest in this device, sadly..
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I do not care about processor. I just wanted full-screen with no notch and a good camera.

why so "less" development ?

as the title says i wonder why there is so "little" development for the i9lite going on
i thought a device with this great specs for such a little price would be very interesting, but when you look at similar devices as the 9t or 9t pro there is a lot more of development
don't get me wrong i really thank all the devs that work on the i9lite right now, but i am a little bit worried as the a2 lite i have right now is also a great device but without much development there are only a few custom roms and and a hardly working twrp for it
my i 9lite is actually on the way to me, but right now i am really afraid that i will get in the same problem as with the a2 lite that there is absolutely no interest for the devs to work for this device.
Maybe the 9t(pro) would have been the better decision regarding this, but i really do not like the front cam of the T devices
I wish i could do a little developing for custom roms myself but i do not have the skills :crying: -
what do you guys think about it or you you have no concerns in this direction and you are really happy with the i9lite an how things are at the moment ?

I'm the same as you, waiting for mine to arrive.
Moving from Moto g5 plus it looks pretty quiet here.
I hope we can get a decent gcam at least

I don't know about other countries but in France the Mi 9 Lite just started becoming available through carriers. It might be that there are just less people equipped with that phone for now. I will also get a Mi 9 lite, there is already Lineage and GSI, so the roms I'm most interested in are there already.

Just reading from telegram group. One developer (coderzs)is ready to make base tree(I'm not sure of the term),also a recognized developer of mia2 lineage and other custom rom fo a2. But they trying to raise fund to get the device. I think it's just a matter of time and we can see a lot custom here in xda. Just follow the telegram group,search for mi9t lite/Cc9 global.

For there to be active development and/or many developers, the device must be widely available and relatively popular. You can't expect all those things to be a fact barely few months after device release. Seeing as it has great specs and is reasonably priced, it's just a matter of time until the device becomes interesting to developers.
Also, a word of advice - nobody likes doing stuff for free for a pushy user base.

shhnedo said:
Also, a word of advice - nobody likes doing stuff for free for a pushy user base.
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that is absolutly clear, also i really apriciate all the work that the devs do in their freetime and for free, my opening post is absolutly not meant in this direction.
i am grateful that there is this great modding community that gives us a lot of opportunities that the manufacturers themselves do not even they get paid for it.
i am only worried as custom roms is the only way to have a long life for the smartphone as you still get new android versions when the manufacturer is only releasing security updates or nothing at all at a certain point.
so i hope you are right and that its only a matter of time
@Kadyo
a that sounds interesting i hope i can find this group as i am not so familiar with this telegram, i would also like to spend a certain amount to get the i9lite for the dev (maybe you can pm me the group if its not against xda's rules)

ilovebytes said:
that is absolutly clear, also i really apriciate all the work that the devs do in their freetime and for free, my opening post is absolutly not meant in this direction.
i am grateful that there is this great modding community that gives us a lot of opportunities that the manufacturers themselves do not even they get paid for it.
i am only worried as custom roms is the only way to have a long life for the smartphone as you still get new android versions when the manufacturer is only releasing security updates or nothing at all at a certain point.
so i hope you are right and that its only a matter of time
@Kadyo
a that sounds interesting i hope i can find this group as i am not so familiar with this telegram, i would also like to spend a certain amount to get the i9lite for the dev (maybe you can pm me the group if its not against xda's rules)
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MOD EDIT: Telegram link removed, read the STICKY!

A huge factor in ROM development is the geographic area in which the device is popular. Most developers for Xiaomi phones are from India which is an incredibly competitive market where, frankly, this phone makes little sense: the Mi 9T with basically the same specs is only marginally more expensive, and the latest Redmi is waaaaaaay cheaper. Now, in Europe the Mi 9 Lite makes more sense for the price bracket it's in, but for some reason the developer scene in European countries is lackluster at best. Fortunately, Russia is another country famously active for Android developing and, apparently, this phone is doing fairly well there.
As someone mentioned early, we're currently trying to buy and send a Mi 9 Lite to a ROM developer, so depending on how this ends we may be able to get this forum moving a bit
In the meantime, my standard response is the usual: if you really can't stand MIUI, give GSIs a shot! They're far better than I thought!

iuliusdeblobbis said:
Most developers for Xiaomi phones are from India which is an incredibly competitive market where, frankly, this phone makes little sense: the Mi 9T with basically the same specs is only marginally more expensive, and the latest Redmi is waaaaaaay cheaper. Now, in Europe the Mi 9 Lite makes more sense for the price bracket it's in
As someone mentioned early, we're currently trying to buy and send a Mi 9 Lite to a ROM developer, so depending on how this ends we may be able to get this forum moving a bit
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It's not yet released in India, is it? That might also be a reason for why there's not a lot going on yet. I do think it is weirdly priced in Europe as well. It's a bit disheartening to see there's not a lot going on (yet, hopefully!) in terms of custom ROMs, but I've never used a custom ROM before on either of my phone and I don't intend to play around with ROMs anyway.
But nice to hear you guys try to get a phone to a ROM developer!

thanks for all your suggestions and opinions so far, will try to get onto telegram this weekend and see how this works.

I've Purchased Mi9Lite About 2 Month Ago(Iran- From Abu Dubai) , Device is Great For Price (350-400$ In My Country! ) in Compare to other devices like RN8P
But development???
There's Even No Ported Gcam For Mi9Lite and Stock Camera Quality is awful
Custom Roms? Hmmn I'd rather to use more stable versions
But there's still a hope, In Russian Forums (4pda) some devs r developing kangaroo kernel for this device
MIUI Rom Are So Smooth but have little bugs and they're annoying like app freezing while using VPN!

amirinjast said:
There's Even No Ported Gcam For Mi9Lite and Stock Camera Quality is awful
Custom Roms? Hmmn I'd rather to use more stable versions
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https://forum.xda-developers.com/mi-cc9/development

we have the basics, which is TWRP and a way to flash GSIs, there's not really any need for anything else tbh, the days of specific devices development are behind

I bought mi 9 lite for 217$ month ago. This is the best choice of Mi9/Mi9T because of its price and card slot.
This smartfon had working LOS 2 months after world release! Now LOS is ebought mature for use it as daily driver. With ported gcam is absolutely amasing. My old xperia z3c waited years for first LOS, and up to 5 years for OFFICIAL version of LOS.
If Mi9 will sell itself very good, we will see many other custom roms.
I will stay with LOS, because is the best for me.

VyktorJonas said:
we have the basics, which is TWRP and a way to flash GSIs, there's not really any need for anything else tbh, the days of specific devices development are behind
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Even with GSI, I could not make the camera work satisfactorily and rom to pass the safetynet, and the statusbar does not display the icons properly ...

I have the mi a3 and I'm looking at the 9 lite for the bigger and more high res screen. But yeah there's definitely more development for the a3 though it was officially launched in September vs July (according to gsmarena). I do hope we get more devs for this phone, because it seems like a good one. I'm already stretching my budget with the 9 lite. I don't want to stretch more with the 9t

It's just not that popular as other devices are right now..
I just purchased it though, looking nice, when I get it first thing I'll do will be unlocking BL.

I think this phone has not released yet (or released very recently) in India, this will boost activity a lot.

Just kinda surprised custom recovery is not at the official twrp site yet.

xzn1 said:
It's not yet released in India, is it? That might also be a reason for why there's not a lot going on yet. I do think it is weirdly priced in Europe as well. It's a bit disheartening to see there's not a lot going on (yet, hopefully!) in terms of custom ROMs, but I've never used a custom ROM before on either of my phone and I don't intend to play around with ROMs anyway.
But nice to hear you guys try to get a phone to a ROM developer!
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Mi Cc9 was released in India 9 months ago or so. The Mi9 Lite is a rebranded CC9. The specs are all the same afaik.
I made a mistake. See the next reply.

Custom ROM support

I'm interested in this phone and wondering what custom ROM support may be like for the device? I had a quick look at the pixel 4 and it's not massively supported but I don't really know how recent or popular it is?
I'm currently using a Xiaomi mi9t with pixel experience+. I know the p4a will be similar if not the same minus the additional features added in the pe+ version, which I quite like tbh.
I know it's early days and probably most can't even get their hands on the phone yet but curious what you might expect based on previous pixel devices?

I would also be interested in this. The 4a's "stock" Android is fine, but there are very few customization options. For example, the setting to hide specific Satus Bar icons is available in Settings but greyed out and inaccessible. I would really love to install LineageOS on this device.
As for popularity, the Pixel 4 was expensive and had poor battery life, so I don't think it had many adopters. The 4a on the otherhand is a steal at $350 and in a post-COVID world, I can see many people who need a new device going for the budget option. I really hope this helps us build a large development community

I plan on staying stock for a few weeks, but rooting and flashing roms is a weekly thing for me. I'm sure there will be plenty fairly quickly. Our codename is "sunfish", right? Much better than my current dumpling.
Sent from my OnePlus 5T using XDA Labs

One of the main developers at DU got one, it's a safe bet ROMs will be available

I would be super shocked if this device does not get any rom support as popular as it is. I believe a couple of devs have said they will start developing roms.