Hey all, I am looking at buying a Zenfone 6 and rooting it and then running a custom rom. Is this relatively easy to do or is it more like Huawei which locks the boot loader causing you to have to contact them to unlock it? Are there any major issues or problems to be on the lookout for when buying a used Zenfone 6 now, will this phone be good as a keeper for another say 3/4 years? How is the modding scene for the Zenfone 6, will I potentially struggle with getting new software in the near future in your opinion? Thank you for all the replies!
Have a look at my thread. It was my first time doing it and I had no problems at all with installation.
Not sure which rom you're considering but in terms of LOS (LineageOS) it feels a bit risky using this phone as a daily driver due to reliability. I still haven't tested this phone to its full extent (haven't even made a call on it yet) but it's on the edge for me so far as to whether LOS is reliable enough on it.
Also if you want to utilize the front (flipped) cam's 60fps, any slow motion etc. WHILE on a custom rom; don't. There isn't a single custom cam for this phone that can do it which was one of the main selling points for me.
The phone still gets LOS nightly (weekly) updates (all LineageOS 17.1 supported phones receive it) to which I haven't been keeping updated with. Possibly the crashes I'm experiencing are fixed but I doubt it. Highly unlikely the phone will see any future main (17.1>18.1) LOS updates also.
Everything else on the custom side is pretty much dead for this phone as it was discontinued very quickly; it's rare and barely known about. No community either so don't rely on getting any help with anything. That said you do still have pretty much everything you need if all goes well and it fits your needs - just a shame about the bugs.
Related
Hello everyone!
I'm looking to make a switch to the Honor 8, which looks fantastic on paper, but I want to know if y'all have experienced any defects, software and hardware quirks, or any other reason for regretting buying the Honor 8.
LoneTempest said:
Hello everyone!
I'm looking to make a switch to the Honor 8, which looks fantastic on paper, but I want to know if y'all have experienced any defects, software and hardware quirks, or any other reason for regretting buying the Honor 8.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Want a bug free (or the closest to that) phone? Get a Sony, Apple, Pixel or a OP. The best SW support either from official or 3rd party developers.
The rest is pointless as good hardware alone is useless when SW is not up to par. Check this forum, especially battery-wise.
H8 is a good phone with bad software support (optimisation and security updates), so you decide.
I'll disagree with Zinko on this one, the battery on Nougat isn't as good as Marshmallow but it's still as good or better than competitors.
Huawei messed up the Nougat release but their 2nd Nougat update has fixed the bugs. I'd absolutely buy this device over again, I recommend it online and in person to everyone.
The things that make the Honor 8 better than anything in the price range:
- The camera is fantastic, normally sub-$300 phones have iffy cameras, this is flagship quality
- The 5.2" screen, normally you have to get bulky 5.5"+ phones to get these features
- Huawei's Nougat update + user themes make the device look close enough to AOSP that I don't feel the need to run Lineage
I believe a combination of the two previous posts makes the most sense:
1. Other companies (Sony, Google, OPO) have lighter skins and the user experience is a bit smoother. However, it's not a deal breaker since the device works well for 98% of what you might need it for.
2. Yes, some users have experienced issues with Nougat, but others haven't. You'll only get forum posts from people with problems. You'll rarely see a thread started entitled, "all good here, nothing to say".
Get the phone because you want it, and don't presume there is some fatal flaw lurking in the forums. That is simply not the case.
If i can tell you my experience, i'll buy the Honor 8 again. I've used this phone in two differents ways: stock and rooted, but at the end i made a factory reset and reinstalled the stock firmware because the system is just good enough that root is not needed so much in my opinion. The OS is smooth, stable and responsive, the hardware is doing well almost all the time and i haven't found any problems, even when playing heavy games. The camera maybe could be better but for this price you can't find a better one. Overall the phone acts good and if i should find a defect, i would probably mention the overheating when using camera after some time. So far is the only thing i found. Everything else is ok
Prior to owning the Honor 8, the LG G4 was the best phone I'd ever owned. This one is definitely better.
It got IR so hell yes it's worth it :victory:
I was very interested in this phone, but it seems to have a lot of issues. Some of which concern me more than others, such as delayed notifications and poor signal strength. UK prices seem inflated currently, leaving the best deals with Chinese sellers, and apparently we don't get the official Nougat upgrade, either.
What are your opinions? Is it still a wise purchase for a UK buyer?
cds80 said:
I was very interested in this phone, but it seems to have a lot of issues. Some of which concern me more than others, such as delayed notifications and poor signal strength. UK prices seem inflated currently, leaving the best deals with Chinese sellers, and apparently we don't get the official Nougat upgrade, either.
What are your opinions? Is it still a wise purchase for a UK buyer?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think this question should have gone under the "Questions" section. However, I'll still answer your questions.
1. In terms of delayed notifications, I can say the only app I've observed to display any notification pushing issue is Whatsapp. TBH, I had a similar issue on my previous phone and I know for sure many people have issues with Whatsapp because so many times you try to call someone and the call doesn't go through. I don't observe this issue with imo or Viber. I use AquaMail for all my emails and I get emails instantly.
2. As for signal strength, this phone is a bit on the weaker side. Not by much compared to others, but it is noticeable in areas with terrible reception.
3. I bought the Chinese model (c72) from China for $220 + $15 DHL shipping from Alibaba (I contacted the seller directly on whatsapp and negotiated). You will get 32GB more of storage space but you will lose Band 20 (if your service provider uses LTE Band 20). As for me, I don't care for 4G because 3G is already fast enough for normal usage and it really doesn't make sense that you get a very fast connection when you're capped at 2GB per month. 4G will only make sense, to me at least, when you're allowed something like 100GB of data per month. It's like paying for fiber internet and you're allowed to download only 50GB per month.
4. Everything else about the phone is very good. The screen is gorgeous, the speaker is loud but suffers from some distortion (I am some sort of an audiophile). The battery life is fantastic and the phone is built very well. The stock ROM is very close to stock Android with some useful features added such as call recording.
Depends what network you're on, which variant you can get hold of and for what price.
For me on the Three network buying the UK variant for £199 made perfect sense.
Works on both their 4G bands and supports their super voice (VOLTE).
Nougat can be installed using an official update file (a further OTA has also just been released).
It's a great phone and I love it. Camera is not amazing but not bad. But as a daily use phone it's great and the battery life if a massive plus for me.
I bought it for £199 because i am already a 3 uk customer. regarding signal and notifications i didnt find any signal problems and for notifications to come through properly their are a couple of settings after which they work perfectly.
The 3 shops which were the only provider in the UK selling the p2 are not selling it anymore and the only place to buy it is from ebay where it is £50 more expensive and i think it is the chinese version but the software can be changed but please be aware iff buying it from gearbest although they are selling it alot cheaper after you purchase they will email you and inform you that their will be extra tax to pay when you recieve the item and it is hard to get a refund from them.
.
Oops, maybe a mod can move this to the correct forum.
Thanks for the replies, guys. I'm on giffgaff, which uses O2's network on Band 20 apparently, so I would lose 4G. I was under the impression that 4G gave better voice quality too, so that would be a bit of a bummer to lose. Is it possible to gain that frequency band via a software mod? I've heard of it on other phones. Although, I was thinking of switching to EE which covers three different 4G bands apparently.
I was thinking of Gearbest, actually. I've ordered random stuff from them before and found them okay, although I worry that I'll get stung for VAT, import duty and a courier/RM admin fee which would bring it close to UK eBay-seller prices.
Also, are we screwed when it comes to warranty claims?
Just get the proper version for Europe from Amazon. If Amazon.co.uk doesn't offer this device, get it from Amazon.de, you can use that website in English anyways. Don't bother ordering from Chinese websites and run into trouble with 4G bands (which can not be modified by software so far) and warranty.
Its a waste phone to buy.
1).weak signal reception in low signal areas.
2). Complete Fastboot flashing is not possible, bootloader voids warranty and can't be locked,
3). Hardware is good, but not developer friendly like REDMI NOTE 4, MOTO G5 plus.
4). Its already too late to buy that. Wait for 630 or 660 phones.
5). I bought bcz of battery, and rest of the hardware. Just bcz owner is lenovo they made this a worst. They must open their devices open to developer community. You check posts in XDA, people with bootloader unlocked, suffer with signal issues. Cant flash full stock using fastboot. It not developer friendly. I don't recommend this and any lenovo phone ever..beware of P2 if you were thinking for better developer community builds.,just bcz it has good hardware. This device Fastboot and bootloader operation is a curse to dev community. Now I find no way to get proper signal in my phone as many on XDA. P2sucks for devs.
pranavateja99 said:
Its a waste phone to buy.
1).weak signal reception in low signal areas.
2). Complete Fastboot flashing is not possible, bootloader voids warranty and can't be locked,
3). Hardware is good, but not developer friendly like REDMI NOTE 4, MOTO G5 plus.
4). Its already too late to buy that. Wait for 630 or 660 phones.
5). I bought bcz of battery, and rest of the hardware. Just bcz owner is lenovo they made this a worst. They must open their devices open to developer community. You check posts in XDA, people with bootloader unlocked, suffer with signal issues. Cant flash full stock using fastboot. It not developer friendly. I don't recommend this and any lenovo phone ever..beware of P2 if you were thinking for better developer community builds.,just bcz it has good hardware. This device Fastboot and bootloader operation is a curse to dev community. Now I find no way to get proper signal in my phone as many on XDA. P2sucks for devs.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just because you saw someone with low signal, doesn't mean it sucks in Dev!
The stock deodexed one is very close to stock and that's the reason why it's bug free. While others are ported ROMs. Without a ROM from scratch it's difficult to find a base ROM for a successful port. Which is why we have a lot of custom ROMs with minor bugs.
You cannot simply say the Dev sucks just because you read just one thread. I've been here for quite sometime and I've seen many bugs resolved, Thanks to some determined devs.
There are devs who're still working on this device. Mike for instance, is working on a complete ROM from scratch. Please don't discourage the work done or being done.
Yes I agree P2's development is slow but certainly DOEA NOT SUCK!
Edit: unlocking the bootloader to root is what I believe, the best way to root. If you don't believe me head over to Redmi Note 3 forum and see the extra steps unofficially rooted (fastboot method) RN3 users have to do to flash a ROM. If they fail , they'll have serious network fluctuations.
The Lenovo P2 is the most underrated phone. It's hardware specs are top class. Camera in daylight is top-class. The screen quality is kick-ass!
For buyers rest is up to your desired use.
Its an underrated phone, the specs they offer at the price is good, it's just the software has some bugs here and there. They updated to nougat and didn't release a bug fix update after that only a security patch update. Hopefully in the future they release because Lenovo switched to stock Android. Fortunately we have devs trying their best to make progress.
Siva Mk said:
Just because you saw someone with low signal, doesn't mean it sucks in Dev!
The stock deodexed one is very close to stock and that's the reason why it's bug free. While others are ported ROMs. Without a ROM from scratch it's difficult to find a base ROM for a successful port. Which is why we have a lot of custom ROMs with minor bugs.
You cannot simply say the Dev sucks just because you read just one thread. I've been here for quite sometime and I've seen many bugs resolved, Thanks to some determined devs.
There are devs who're still working on this device. Mike for instance, is working on a complete ROM from scratch. Please don't discourage the work done or being done.
Yes I agree P2's development is slow but certainly DOEA NOT SUCK!
Edit: unlocking the bootloader to root is what I believe, the best way to root. If you don't believe me head over to Redmi Note 3 forum and see the extra steps unofficially rooted (fastboot method) RN3 users have to do to flash a ROM. If they fail , they'll have serious network fluctuations.
The Lenovo P2 is the most underrated phone. It's hardware specs are top class. Camera in daylight is top-class. The screen quality is kick-ass!
For buyers rest is up to your desired use.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes under rated, that's why I bought it, but Lenovo being the owner of killed every USP of it, that's why Moto m outsold p2 in India, and launch 16999-17999, now selling as low as (12499-11999)+10 percent bank off+ exchange. Selling as if it need to Clear on warehousing costs. Once every stock is over, they don't even bother to release even a security patch. Ya It's under rated and over priced when [email protected],lack of 64gb. But Lenovo phones are worst for developer community and get poor support. Bcz most don't buy these Lenovo.
Why do you think to root without bootloader unlock? On RN3,RN4 fastboot full flash works all time, unlike p2, user can't flash important modem files and thing happens with everyone is baseband missmatch is the reason for signal errors and network bugs. With this work around needed, only way to get it done is through QPST files, which are not available right now. I doubt this can ever get a custom ROM with volte for India. Ya Mike is working, still I had doubts on its radio baseband support. When you can go back to stock irrespective of condition make more devs to try trail and error testing, but here is only 1 way, messup and shut up. Lenovo should make p2 capable of flashing complete fastboot file without any bootloader unlocked restriction. When this happens, phone gets more Mikes to support this.
P2 is Only for stock users who don't unlock bootloader, need extra ordinary battery, average camera. With intention for development community Roms I never recommend Lenovo phones just bcz it is extremely good on paper, incase of p2. Or just launched k8 note.
medwatt said:
4. Everything else about the phone is very good. The screen is gorgeous, the speaker is loud but suffers from some distortion (I am some sort of an audiophile). The battery life is fantastic and the phone is built very well. The stock ROM is very close to stock Android with some useful features added such as call recording.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i can only complay with the WHITE color of the display that is not pure white but a very warm white.... too much warm below 40% of brightness.... it is not a great white and it ruins a little of contrast i think.
and for the speaker yeah it is very clear, with BASS, but on the last 2 steps it has some distortion but it is a great thing because you can increase the volume of the song/film that are recorded very low..... and at 100% volume sound very great! you just have to not use the max volume for everyday music/videos because its volume is very high and can cause distortion.
if lenovo would had put 2 of these speakers in STEREO configuration....... WOW it would have sounded like a real hi-fi :laugh:
Hi guys,
As you could tell from the title; I have an opportunity to buy a nearly-mint condition smaller Pixel, white color, for a pretty good price.
Currently I'm rocking a Galaxy S7 and have been satisfied with it; the only thing I'd change is the software. Being a fan of pure Android, I'd love myself a Pixel; hence the question: would you recommend it as a phone to use for the next year/year and a half?
Also, and maybe more importantly, I'd like to ask you to tell me some of your annoyances with the Pixel - both hardware and maybe software.
Not to take any more of your time; stay well and happy flashing!
harisyks said:
Hi guys,
As you could tell from the title; I have an opportunity to buy a nearly-mint condition smaller Pixel, white color, for a pretty good price.
Currently I'm rocking a Galaxy S7 and have been satisfied with it; the only thing I'd change is the software. Being a fan of pure Android, I'd love myself a Pixel; hence the question: would you recommend it as a phone to use for the next year/year and a half?
Also, and maybe more importantly, I'd like to ask you to tell me some of your annoyances with the Pixel - both hardware and maybe software.
Not to take any more of your time; stay well and happy flashing!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I would go for it. Its pretty easy to develop for and I plan on releasing a couple roms hopefully within a few weeks. It has pretty average battery life I would say. If I'm somewhere with horrible signal and I just play games I fan get 3 hours, which is pretty good. If you have decent signal and don't play a ton of games you will probably get 6hours sot. Also if there is any software issues you can just flash a factory image from google that will return your phone to stock. Camera is obviously great. One annoyance is I would say speakers aren't amazing. They aren't terrible but definitely could be improved. It doesn't get very hot either. The display is great for 1080p. I would say this phone will hold up for a while, its a pretty good phone.
shagbag913 said:
I would go for it. Its pretty easy to develop for and I plan on releasing a couple roms hopefully within a few weeks. It has pretty average battery life I would say. If I'm somewhere with horrible signal and I just play games I fan get 3 hours, which is pretty good. If you have decent signal and don't play a ton of games you will probably get 6hours sot. Also if there is any software issues you can just flash a factory image from google that will return your phone to stock. Camera is obviously great. One annoyance is I would say speakers aren't amazing. They aren't terrible but definitely could be improved. It doesn't get very hot either. The display is great for 1080p. I would say this phone will hold up for a while, its a pretty good phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I got it but I have an amazing issue. Everything was working but then I updated to 8.1.0 March security patch and my microphone and speakers don't work. Calls connect sometimes but the phone often hangs. I've Googled the **** out of everything and no solution. Are you familiar with this?
harisyks said:
I got it but I have an amazing issue. Everything was working but then I updated to 8.1.0 March security patch and my microphone and speakers don't work. Calls connect sometimes but the phone often hangs. I've Googled the **** out of everything and no solution. Are you familiar with this?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That doesn't sound too good. Is there any way you could get logs? Or flash a factory image? Because there was a manufacturing defect in the pixels that caused a crack in the solder joint of the audio codec. Does a reboot fix the issue?
I got a Pixel 6 months ago after years of sony phones. I don't regret it. Like you Im very happy with stock android and I am always on the very latest version. At the moment I'm on 8.1 stock, rooted with twrp, xposed and custom kernel. There are custom roms available on these forums if that's your thing. Unlocking bl is easy, so root is easy. So long as you don't get a verizon in the US or EE in the UK. Unlocking your bl is a problem on pixels on these networks.
The phone itself, whilst not spectacular is very good. After my Sony phones constantly having problems with the screen coming loose Im looking for this pixel to be robust and reliable. So far so good. I've got the 128 gb but do miss an sd card. Makes wiping data so much easier but it's not a big problem.
There are monthly updates from Google and my understanding is the pixel will be supported until October 2019. I'm waiting for android p, the developer version is already available, so should get this in the next couple of months.
Oh and the camera is very very good
Overall would highly recommend. Always being on the latest android is the big plus for me.
Initial experience with the phone was/still is outstanding.
The user experience surpasses any other droid I've used to date (other then the camera quality.)
Screen became unresponsive, new phone will arrive today.
But there's no joy here without a bubbling development community on this beast of a phone.
For that reason the fun factor has dissipated for me & I might have to consider going back to Sony or the likes.
dillalade said:
Initial experience with the phone was/still is outstanding.
The user experience surpasses any other droid I've used to date (other then the camera quality.)
Screen became unresponsive, new phone will arrive today.
But there's no joy here without a bubbling development community on this beast of a phone.
For that reason the fun factor has dissipated for me & I might have to consider going back to Sony or the likes.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I see where you're coming from.
However we have TWRP, Magisk root and a fairly stock-stock rom. Maybe in a year or so when Razer stop development for the Razer phone and we get stuck on Android P I'll regret it a little more
Looks like razer has stopped already they are silent wouldn't respond to anything on the insider forums, case of cheers for your cash and buying a howler of an abandoned ****
You guys can simply use project treble images, i am running aosp rom and its pretty flawless so far. And i am dead sure that treble images will carry on much further than Android p.
Haithamraid said:
You guys can simply use project treble images, i am running aosp rom and its pretty flawless so far. And i am dead sure that treble images will carry on much further than Android p.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
To be honest, I see where he is coming from. Not only is development support seem low, but I kind of expected that with trebel being a thing. However when trying to run a trebel ROM (I've tried AOSP and LineageOS), I run into stability problems and it causes the phone to constantly freeze, crash then randomly reboot. With that plus Razer not offering timely updates since the phone is now 2 months behind on security updates, I feel like it's time to move on also and sell it.
Hey All,
I have been out the scene for a couple of years having historically modded a number of devices from pixels, xiaomi and LG's. I'm ashamed to say I went to the dark side for a while, but am getting frustrated with being told by "the man" what I can and can't do. Mainly in terms of emulation....... therefore I'm hoping to get back into it and was wondering what my best choice of device is.
Relative ease of flashing custom rom's or good compatbility with GSI's
I need to be able to root with magisk, but keep access to banking apps
I want to use a custom rom like lineage, (used to love resurrection) but still retain good camera compatibility with gcam or the manufacturers app, or even a 3rd party app
Not get caught up in things like knox and stay away from devices where the bootloader cannot easly be unlocked (i.e. huawei or LG T-mob).
The latest and greatest isn't important to me, but a good camera potentially with an optical zoom would be ideal. Every device I look at seems to have some caveat. I was looking at the Galaxy s10, but there doesn't seem to be a gcam mod that supports all lenses. I don't have loads of money so newer flagships are out at the moment. I had really bad luck with Pixel 1 and 2 having all sorts of hardware issues, but a 3a was on my radar even if it only has one lens.
I realise this might be pie in the sky but figured I'd ask. Love to hear your thoughts.
Edit: just realised I should have put this in the sticky. Sorry about that...... feel free to delete.