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Comment by senko | Hacker News Reader

I've got a Xiaomi phone (Mi 10 Lite) and am pretty happy with it.

Hardware is great. Software (MIUI) is adware crap, which I knew when I was buying. I tweaked privacy settings as much was possible, and I use almost none of the builtin apps. Instead I use Firefox Focus+Mobile for browsing, Amaze for file management, Dropbox for file storage and PDF view, etc.

Overall the entire experience is comparable (for me) to a Samsung or Apple phone at 3x the price. The most annoying things are still Google and YouTube ToS accept dialogs I get all the time because I'm effectively using an incognito browser, and I'd get those on any phone.

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Most of the Xiaomi phones are supported by LineageOS. If you have an hour to spare, you can easily unlock the bootloader and install it to get a stock Android experience (even skip out Google Services if you want).

I have the Poco F1, cost me about $230 for SD845 + 8GB RAM + 4000mAh + 256GB storage. It's a pretty good deal after installing LineageOS on it.

Back when I last looked you had to register an account, use a Windows application and wait a few weeks before being allowed to unlock the phone. Has that been changed then?

Wow, we've had very different experiences with LineageOS.

I don't think that's lineageOS, it's for unlocking the bootloader on Xiaomi phones

Windows application is still required, but loader unlock was granted instantly after creation of a new Xiaomi account last time I tried it (last Friday for Xiaomi Pocophone F1).

The waiting is kinda random really. I didn't have to wait at all, as the unlock code was available instantly. Regarding the account, I just used a spare throwaway SIM and a Windows VM for that. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Though most of the brands (except Nokia and Samsung) seem to have pretty reasonable terms for unlocking the bootloader and aren't as ass-backwards as Xiaomi's.

I'm using a Xiaomi Redmi Note 5 ('whyred') from 2019. The first thing I did was get that unlock code (it took ~3 days) and unlock it. For the latter I used MiUnlockTool [1], a Java program which ran OK on Linux - no Windows needed. The tools seems to work on more recent models from what I gather at the related XDA thread [2].

[1] https://xiaomitool.com/MiUnlockTool

[2] https://forum.xda-developers.com/t/tool-win-lin-mac-miunlock...

That's not required on A series phones, which ship with a mostly stock Android as opposed to the custom MIUI.

The last one they released is the Mi A3 in July 2019. They discontinued the line and never released the A4

A tragedy.

Xiaomi once conducted a poll on Twitter which OS users prefer - MIUI or Stock. 80 % or so voted for Stock Android hence Xiaomi deleted the poll.

Wow, unlocking a Xperia is super easy.

The downside is that you lose DRM-enabled content. For example, it's a hassle to use Netflix at 720p/1080p, and what's more important to my use case for example, is Spotify. It's _possible_ in theory, but it's extremely hacky.

I personally went the Google route w/ a Pixel 4a, so I get a simple, zero non-sense UI, with no forced ads or anything, just a smooth experience, at a slight premium (not that much to be completely fair ...)

I have LineageOS on my Xiaomi phone and the only hassle is contactless payment. Spotify works fine and I did not try Netflix.

Try it, it works. Parent probably tried a very old version of LineageOS.

That is true. Can you please point me to a guide to get it working ? Thanks in advance !

Well, I installed it in a Samsung S10, but here is a guide for your phone:

https://wiki.lineageos.org/devices/sunfish/

I was happy with my Pixel 4A until I left it in my jacket pocket during heavy rain. The resulting humidity was enough to definitely kill it. I get that it has no IP rating at all so it's entirely my fault but still it's the first time this has ever happened to me in fifteen years of owning a mobile phone. The 4A is just extremely not waterproof.

After that, I'm never buying another cheap Pixel again.

> it has no IP rating at all

Just wtf. I had a $130 phone with Lineage die on me the same way recently. No IP on that machine, but if you pay for a Pixel you should definitely have it.

And camera isn't that great anymore.. You can't use the drm drivers anymore.

An hour to spare after waiting a week for Xiaomi to authorize unlocking of the bootloader. I bought a Poco X3 Pro yesterday, the phone is awesome for it's asking price (R$ 1800), but I'll keep using my current one (Redmi Note 4) until next week. Im not sure if I'm going to wipe it and install another ROM or just install root and use Titanium Backup to freeze most of Google and Xiaomi's stuff.

I don't suppose any of them allow setting a custom root of trust though, right?

I haven't managed to find anything other than the Pixels that have it.

The Xiaomi Mi A2 supports relocking the bootloader with a custom key, but only on older versions of the bootloader (MIUI 9 / Android 8.1, or earlier):

https://gitlab.com/CalyxOS/calyxos/-/issues/88

https://review.calyxos.org/c/CalyxOS/calyxos.org/+/2904/4/pa...

Not sure about other Xiaomi phones.

Interesting. Thank you, I'll check it out.

Another manufacturer that supports relocking the bootloader with a custom key is OnePlus:

https://forum.xda-developers.com/t/guide-re-locking-the-boot...

None of the operating systems that are designed to be used with a relocked bootloader (e.g. CalyxOS, GrapheneOS, RattlesnakeOS) support OnePlus phones at the moment, so you'll need to build LineageOS, AOSP, or some other Android variant manually to use it on a OnePlus phone with a relocked bootloader.

There might be more device models with this kind of support. Search for "avb_custom_key" with the model name to see whether anyone has commented on this.

>The most annoying things are still Google and YouTube ToS accept dialogs I get all the time because I'm effectively using an incognito browser, and I'd get those on any phone.

You may be able to add a list to uBlock which blocks cookie popups.

https://www.i-dont-care-about-cookies.eu/

Thanks! I didn't know about that one.

Sadly Firefox Focus on Android doesn't seem to support extensions or manually loading block lists, but as I do mainly browse from private mode on desktop as well, the extension will help there.

try unlocking the bootloader (annoying that you have to wait like other have noted) and use the MIUI EU distro. It's pretty much standard Android (might not even include gapps, I don't remember), plus the core MIUI and their international version of the apps (ones that don't link to Chinese online services). Best of both words.

For example I use their Music app for playing Youtube in the background without ads, I didn't even install the Youtube app.

Just got my hands in the 10T Lite 5G, it's a pretty good phone, must admit. Toying with the xiaomi.eu rom until it's properly supported by Lineageos. The UI is growing on me, no adware that I can see and I have frozen most of the google apps.

The camera is mediocre, I am hoping for a gcam port.

Is it possible to easily install LineageOS and still have everything working ?

I'm running LineageOS on Mi 10T Pro and everything works fine, but it wasn't the case until a couple of weeks ago.

Xiaomi sells a few phones with the "Android One" label, meaning it's mostly standard Android and mine let me uninstall basically all the typical useless apps. Only the Play Store and one or two others can't be removed.

Not perfect and LineageOS would still be a bit better, but close enough for me. I don't enjoy using smartphones either way.

AFAIK Android One is barely supported at this point and phones are old. I used to be a supporter of Android One and bought two phones myself, but I wouldn't recommend it now. Google failed this program like it failed numerous programs before. The only reliable way to get standard android without unlocking and tinkering seems to be buying Google Pixel nowadays.

Nokia is close to stock to the Pixel https://dontkillmyapp.com/

I bought a Nokia 3.4 released late last year. Cheap and Android One. Really great phone for the price point. I absolutely hate any manufacturer version of Android. Pixel is great, but only occasionally is a cheaper model available. I break and lose phones so I buy functional but cheaper (buying second hand is risky). https://www.gsmarena.com/nokia_3_4-10404.php

I previously had a different Android One Nokia Phone which was great and well supported.

AFAIK you won't get proper camera support. For example my Poco F1 has two cameras on the back, but with LineageOS only one is used.

Whether everything works ends up depending a bit on how you use your phone.

Their software wasn't always this bad.

I had an Mi3 and I thought the UI was better that what stock Android was offering at that time. But overtime they kept adding more and more crapware.

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