rootable budget phone /compare - General Questions and Answers

hi,
is there any website where we can compare majority of phones ?
or perhaps there is a forum thread/website better suited for this topic?
i am looking for a low cost phone with below requirements.
alot of phones do meet these specs but especially when looking for a rootable device its becomes a pita ;
alot (indy?) sites have a "how to root" guide that look more like click bait as very few other sources confirm this.
thanks,
<required>
rootable android phone
(any) camera
microphone jack
video: >=720p
expansion : (µSD) card slot
ram : >=2Gb
lowcost (<150E)
for sale in EU
<bonus >
custom OS available
2nd sim slot
removable battery

If you are looking to save some cash, the POCO X3 is best choice, IMO. It's easy to unlock, and there's a healthy modding community for Xiaomi devices that makes it a great choice.

jwoegerbauer said:
If you are looking to save some cash, the POCO X3 is best choice, IMO. It's easy to unlock, and there's a healthy modding community for Xiaomi devices that makes it a great choice.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
thanks, this one is a bit above the foreseen budget but will check it out

nuggetty said:
hi,
is there any website where we can compare majority of phones ?
or perhaps there is a forum thread/website better suited for this topic?
i am looking for a low cost phone with below requirements.
alot of phones do meet these specs but especially when looking for a rootable device its becomes a pita ;
alot (indy?) sites have a "how to root" guide that look more like click bait as very few other sources confirm this.
thanks,
<required>
rootable android phone
(any) camera
microphone jack
video: >=720p
expansion : (µSD) card slot
ram : >=2Gb
lowcost (<150E)
for sale in EU
<bonus >
custom OS available
2nd sim slot
removable battery
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Welcome to XDA!
You can search in here for your desired device, also you can go to pdadb.net for a full comparison between devices.
Enjoy

Related

Jixin X1 Wifi TV Phone => Android?

First post here and hoping one of you XDA gurus will be able to help.
I grabbed a Jixin X1 Wifi TV Phone and I would like to port it to Android. I have found absolute zero in terms of processor details online and all I know is it has enough internal memory to handle Android 2.2 (just!) with 87MB internal memory and support of up to 16GB flash card (which it did read plug-n-play)
The unit is a Java based smartphone that I received in error. They said it wasn't worth it for them to receive it back, so now I have an extra dual sim smartphone...
...So rather than trash it - I thought that if I could get a skeleton of Android running on it, it would be a good backup until I can find a decent Dual-Sim 'real' smartphone.
Any advice on steps to take would be most welcome
To quote Luke Skywalker, "You ask the impossible."
The Jixin X1 is a very simple phone, it is not a "smart phone". It uses an MTK chip. It does not have the processing power to handle android.
Solonomi.com said:
To quote Luke Skywalker, "You ask the impossible."
The Jixin X1 is a very simple phone, it is not a "smart phone". It uses an MTK chip. It does not have the processing power to handle android.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the reply
I've got one of these phones too. Is there anything you can do with them at all in terms of hacking, alternative ROMs etc? It seems like it could be a good phone if the OS wasn't so unbelievably awful.

Best Android handset for hacking?

I am looking to possibly acquire an Android handset to replace my Motorola featurephone and I want something I can play with and hack.
Specs I need:
1.UMTS 2100 and UMTS 900 as thats what my carrier uses.
2.Physical QWERTY keyboard
3.Good hardware specs
4.Readily available on the open market with no carrier lock and all features working including sideload, android market and tethering (I am in Australia if that makes a difference)
5.Running FroYo
6.Easily hackable, rootable and moddable.
I was considering the HTC DeeZire Z but with all the noise about how the G2/DeeZire Z has locks preventing you from changing the system files, it doesnt sound like the right phone (I want one that doesnt fight you every step of the way).
You might wanna shop around. I guess the best way is to find your preferred device/or device you think fits you well and check its development under Android Rom development, check issues being reported, see if you can live with em and make a decision surely noone will tell you mate buy this but you can easily find out all you need by asking device specific questions on the appropriate device thread. Hope that helps.
Motorola droid 2?

[Q] ZTE Nubia Z5S a good choice?

im looking at ZTE Nubia Z5S (NX503A) got some nice specs for 400$ price tag.
5.0 inches, Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 Quad-core 2.3 GHz Krait 400, 2GB ram, 16GB, 13MP camera, andriod 4.2.2 etc..
i have never used android phone before so im hoping u guys can help me. i did some googling and didnt find any roms or any other modifications usually go with a andriod device.
i would like to know if this is a worth buying since this phone only available in china.
jasonx3 said:
im looking at ZTE Nubia Z5S (NX503A) got some nice specs for 400$ price tag.
5.0 inches, Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 Quad-core 2.3 GHz Krait 400, 2GB ram, 16GB, 13MP camera, andriod 4.2.2 etc..
i have never used android phone before so im hoping u guys can help me. i did some googling and didnt find any roms or any other modifications usually go with a andriod device.
i would like to know if this is a worth buying since this phone only available in china.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Is this phone sold in country, or are you going to import it from china? Because if not, I would not recommend you a chinese phone. If it is defective you'll have a hard time returning it (if you can at all) etc.
Btw, if you come from iPhone, I strongly recommend you Google-listed devices (assume you live in the US, it would be HTC One, Nexus 5, SGS4) that come with the stock Android UI. They are updated as soon Google pushes out updates, which is closer what you experience on the iPhone.
Since chinese phones except for Huawei ones are rarely supported in XDA (they lack documentation, source etc) I would not recommend you a chinese phone if you want to try out new ROMs.
If you are ready to take the risks there you go. But as a first time Android user, no way I would go with that phone.
My recommendation for you is the Nexus 5. Hope this helps.
i have to import from china. im a symbian user im sorry i forgot to mentioned where i live. im from sri lanka and no play store available. no way to get a nexus 5. even if somehow managed get my hands on a nexus 5 it would costs me around 550-600$.
jasonx3 said:
i have to import from china. im a symbian user im sorry i forgot to mentioned where i live. im from sri lanka and no play store available. no way to get a nexus 5. even if somehow managed get my hands on a nexus 5 it would costs me around 550-600$.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If it has to be a chinese phone then I suggest you the Xiaomi Mi3. Great User Interface (MIUI), great update support and best hardware for little money. Xiaomi is also highley popular, it is being regarded like Apple in china.
Go straight for Nubia, it has the best specs out there and far away the best price. I just order it btw.
jasonx3 said:
im looking at ZTE Nubia Z5S (NX503A) got some nice specs for 400$ price tag.
5.0 inches, Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 Quad-core 2.3 GHz Krait 400, 2GB ram, 16GB, 13MP camera, andriod 4.2.2 etc..
i have never used android phone before so im hoping u guys can help me. i did some googling and didnt find any roms or any other modifications usually go with a andriod device.
i would like to know if this is a worth buying since this phone only available in china.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Good question, in deed I just got a Nubia z5s 3 weeks ago.
(I used to be a Moto supporter, but got disappointed by Moto's sales policy - however, CDMA users can hardly have so many choices as others. forget HTC, bad quality.)
Somebody mentioned Xiaomi, I don't think it's a good option. Nubia's hardware spec is almost the same as Xiaomi, but Xiaomi's shipment and sales policy will drive you crazy. You have to attend to a luck draw first, then could have a chance to buy one!
Regarding the experience, herein I only talk about my experience.
1. BATTERY:
From 7am to 10pm, medium use, about 75% is consumed.
2. DISPLAY:
Much better than MOTO X :laugh: , 1080p. Also, the color is not so cold as Samsung.
3. VOICE&MESSAGE:
Fairly clear, however the location of Mic is just under USB port. sometimes your finger could swipe it when picking up.
As CM user, very delighted to see vibrate setup in "settings", SMS also designed with popup
4. CAMERA
I didn't test too much. However, the respond speed is satisfying.
5. SOFTWARE
a. I have to acknowledge that the UI design is lower than my expectation, especially the icons. Styles in default apps and system UI are not actually unique. But most Androider will change the launcher at soonest, am I right? (ps. I really hate Samsung's UI and the screen density!)
b. Furthermore, the system compatibility...there's no surprise, also no fetal bugs.
c. Seemed Nubia team learnt a lot from CM team. They just released source CODE on their website.
d. It can be ROOTED easily.
e. Some local team has ported CWM RECOVERY on it. Nice job!
f. It's said MIUI by local team is on the way. Also, some guy is working on its AOSP now.
6. AUDIO
Sorry but I never play songs via cell phone. Somebody has idea?
7. DESIGNING
I spent almost one week to get familiar with the weight - it's too light
8. NETWORK
GSM/TD/CDMA, not sure if it can be used in Verizon network?
In conclusion, it didn't disappoint me. I'd be delighted to see more improvements or 3rd party's works on ROMs in near future.
Guys, is this phone suitable for the dutch network and.if flashed with multi language you can use dutch language?
Sent from my HUAWEI U9508 using Tapatalk
canizares said:
As CM user, very delighted to see vibrate setup in "settings", SMS also designed with popup
In conclusion, it didn't disappoint me. I'd be delighted to see more improvements or 3rd party's works on ROMs in near future.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
thank you. this answered lots of questions i had. specially custom roms.
and im assuming "As a CM user" u meant cyanogenmod? can u provide me with the links. i've been searching google, here and cyanogenmod site for sometime now and all i was able find was how to root it. its it was all in chinese
Guys, is this phone suitable for the dutch network and.if flashed with multi language you can use dutch language?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Z5s supports following bands
2G: GSM 850/900/1800/1900MHz
3G: WCDMA 2100MHz TD-SCDMA BAND 34/39
CDMA2000 1X EVDO: 800MHz
TD-SCDMA: 1900M/2000M
as for the netherland bands depends on which carrier you are using so check them with what frequency they use. below is the list of bands used in your country (source gsmarena)
2G capabilities GSM 900, GSM 1800
3G capabilities UMTS 2100
4G capabilities LTE 800, 1800, 2600
Great news guy's! Get mine this weak bought at liaow ( great service they root it before shipping)
Grtz Ballgear
Sent via Mi2s
how do you root the zte nubia z5s
Hi could you show me how you rooted the zte nubia z5s?
and how you installed clockworkmod on it
thanks
As far as i know there is no cwm for it ( not yet)
To root it search for vroot I
Sent via Nubia 5Zs
ballgear said:
As far as i know there is no cwm for it ( not yet)
To root it search for vroot I
Sent via Nubia 5Zs
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
how is your experience?
and ZTE just released upgraded Z5sn 32GB model
Hey Jasonx3
Its a great phone i think the hardware is a good mix Meizu/Xiaomi
The software/firmware could be beter but thats something Zte is working on, had the phone for a day & there was already a update available ota
The n version is i think the best model of the nubia $600,- ( liaow.com) Must say im very happy with it
Grtz Ballgear
Sent via Nubia Z5S
Hi there,
I just bought mine . But I can't put a CWM recovery into it Does anybody have any ideas...?
Thank you very much!!!!
Ssamf said:
Hi there,
I just bought mine . But I can't put a CWM recovery into it Does anybody have any ideas...?
Thank you very much!!!!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi,
Do you like it? Will you let us know about your experience with the phone? Things like battery usage, performance, camera, gps speed etc etc
Thanks!
Tinus81 said:
Hi,
Do you like it? Will you let us know about your experience with the phone? Things like battery usage, performance, camera, gps speed etc etc
Thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Oh, I do like it I just don't have any idea how to root it ....
As soon as I found it out I will let you know!
Ssamf said:
Oh, I do like it I just don't have any idea how to root it ....
As soon as I found it out I will let you know!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Look for Vroot ore htcui.com, cwm recovery is also available...
Like this phone very much!
Grtz Ballgear
ballgear said:
Look for Vroot ore htcui.com, cwm recovery is also available...
Like this phone very much!
Grtz Ballgear
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
And do you have Play Store installed?
im still waiting for my phone to arrive, but i have seen CWM and Rooting on official Nubia forums. everything is in Chinese. if someone can translate and post here.
Google play works just install gapps 4.2.2 ( you need google framework )
For the Chinese forums use google translate thats how it works 4 me !
The kingnubia rom is recommended it got it all in 1 rom !
Grtzz

Has anyone bought generic unbranded smartphones available on ebay etc?

1) I'm hoping someone can advise pls! I'm a very light user mostly for wsapp and sometimes maps/gps when walking (no gaming and occasionally watch youtube videos) so was hoping to find something £40-£50.
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/M20-Pro-...var=564119885073&_trksid=p2055119.m1438.l2649
There are others I'm looking at but they don't mention anything about the processor (sometimes it'll mention the number of cores but no name)? The specs seem way better than even xiaomi phones for the same money, I know there's gonna be no support updates etc. how important is that? Couldn't I just search for a custom ROM, try to upgrade to higher android version etc? Would it be difficult/impossible to find roms for an unbranded phone?
Also I've read that there's a possibility they could just be sneaky re-brands so potentially could be getting a xiaomi etc. phone for less?
2) I'm also considering paying a bit more if unbranded is a no-go. Xiaomi Redmi 7 3GB/32GB around £100 vs Xiaomi Mi Play 4GB/64GB if it's £6 more?
I like the extra ram and storage for only £6 more but the battery seems better on R7 and larger screen
MTK devices
supashaka said:
1) I'm hoping someone can advise pls! I'm a very light user mostly for wsapp and sometimes maps/gps when walking (no gaming and occasionally watch youtube videos) so was hoping to find something £40-£50.
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/M20-Pro-...var=564119885073&_trksid=p2055119.m1438.l2649
There are others I'm looking at but they don't mention anything about the processor (sometimes it'll mention the number of cores but no name)? The specs seem way better than even xiaomi phones for the same money, I know there's gonna be no support updates etc. how important is that?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've seen some advertisements (on wish.com or Ali Express) for devices with no apparent name brand that mention having 10 core processors, dual sim, Android 9 and more. These are all MTK devices which pose difficulties if you want to flash a ROM into them to upgrade or change something. RCA tablets are MTK devices and I, along with many others have spent a lot of time just trying to gain access to such devices. It's been done. However, it has been more than difficult as of yet to find any compatible ROMs and these devices are extremely picky when it comes to using other ROMs. For those of us that are currently still working on it, we have yet to find anything compatible. That's not saying they are bad devices, they are actually pretty good I've had mine (the RCA Maven, Viking and Galileo) for years with little problems.
Casper Young said:
I've seen some advertisements (on wish.com or Ali Express) for devices with no apparent name brand that mention having 10 core processors, dual sim, Android 9 and more. These are all MTK devices which pose difficulties if you want to flash a ROM into them to upgrade or change something. RCA tablets are MTK devices and I, along with many others have spent a lot of time just trying to gain access to such devices. It's been done. However, it has been more than difficult as of yet to find any compatible ROMs and these devices are extremely picky when it comes to using other ROMs. For those of us that are currently still working on it, we have yet to find anything compatible. That's not saying they are bad devices, they are actually pretty good I've had mine (the RCA Maven, Viking and Galileo) for years with little problems.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the reply. Any MTK processor devices are difficult/unlikey to have custom roms or tweak/upgrade in any way?
MTK devices
supashaka said:
Thanks for the reply. Any MTK processor devices are difficult/unlikey to have custom roms or tweak/upgrade in any way?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Theoretically there should be, but many here would rather work on the newest devices most of which are not MTK (Media Tek). They're not built like Samsungs and if you open one up the whole motherboard is the size of today's phones or roughly one quarter the size of the tablet which could be the reason they're so cheap. The only thing I've been able to flash into mine is the original stock firmware, anything else led to bricking. And recovering from a brick is difficult the SP Flash tool is nothing like the Odin3 we use for Samsungs.
Casper Young said:
Theoretically there should be, but many here would rather work on the newest devices most of which are not MTK (Media Tek). They're not built like Samsungs and if you open one up the whole motherboard is the size of today's phones or roughly one quarter the size of the tablet which could be the reason they're so cheap. The only thing I've been able to flash into mine is the original stock firmware, anything else led to bricking. And recovering from a brick is difficult the SP Flash tool is nothing like the Odin3 we use for Samsungs.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have also bought uhans u300 and took a look at the Development & Support topic here, there's absolutely no way to upgrade it from Android 6.0?

Cheap Chinese phones with good custom ROM support

Hi,
since today there's the big 11.11 sale and I could need a new secondary phone I was looking for a cheaper model (say up to 150€ maybe 200€).
One could get some very nice hardware for this money already, but unfortunately they come with software that I don't trust.
Also I'd like to avoid Xiaomi and their annoying bootloader unlocking process (unless it's Android One).
Do you know any newer phone model or brand in general that has good custom ROM support? I looked at the supported device list of LineageOS but most of the devices are either a bit old or quite expensive. Ulefone, Dogee, Umidigi, Oukitel or how they are all called - I don't care as long as I can install my own software.
Thanks in advance for your recommendations.
simsees said:
Hi,
since today there's the big 11.11 sale and I could need a new secondary phone I was looking for a cheaper model (say up to 150€ maybe 200€).
One could get some very nice hardware for this money already, but unfortunately they come with software that I don't trust.
Also I'd like to avoid Xiaomi and their annoying bootloader unlocking process (unless it's Android One).
Do you know any newer phone model or brand in general that has good custom ROM support? I looked at the supported device list of LineageOS but most of the devices are either a bit old or quite expensive. Ulefone, Dogee, Umidigi, Oukitel or how they are all called - I don't care as long as I can install my own software.
Thanks in advance for your recommendations.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Idk if this offer will be available in your country, but for 204€ you can have a google pixel 3a, it has really good ROM support, easy bootloader unlock, and official Android updates.
Here's the link : https://www.backmarket.fr/google-go...cSYGn2dk7zH0iLe_IMj76LldDMGMtSYRoCnuoQAvD_BwE
Try this one if the other doesn't work with your country :
https://fr.shopping.rakuten.com/mfp...rid=pt|930664584875|m|471167205547|3912771384
In short, Google pixel 3a is a good 2ndary phone
The cheap knock offs state fake specs on the phone and descriptions. Since they are all slightly different you would have to study the product in detail using an app called phone information. https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.inpocketsoftware.andInfo&hl=en_CA&gl=US
The most common processor is the MT65XX. Most of these phones are surprisingly 32bit only. The sellers will never tell you exact specs before you buy, so it's a gamble. I have the Oukitel K9 with a MT6765 that works with Android 12 GSI, but lacks a partition and required some additional magisk setup. Having this knowledge you can look for Oukitel as a model number in the Spec on websites. For instance Mix 4 (knock off) all fake specs but the model is Oukitel and chances are the processor should be Mediatek. If the processor is greater than MT67XX and Ram is 4GB then you will be able to install GSI provided the partitions are standard.

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