Buying a second S4 Mini for Pie! Opengapps or microG? Good AliExpress vendors? - Galaxy S 4 Mini Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

Hello folks,
My I9195 has performed beautifully for the last couple of years, running CM and LOS. The phone is currently running the last official 14.1 build and works superbly well - honestly, I have no complaints! Thank you so much for your incredible work @arco68!
However, I'm keen to get back to trying the latest roms, and to also experiment with microG - perhaps this combination will allow even better battery life than I'm currently experiencing with LOS 14.1 + opengapps?
While my S4 Mini's hardware is still working well, it's a little battered and bruised from being dropped so many times. The screen is more-or-less perfect (one minor scratch), however the back case and silver edge surround is pretty badly chipped, revealing the gray plastic underneath. Rather than attempt to source spare parts and refurbish the device myself, I'm planning to simply purchase a second S4 Mini from AliExpress, and use this as a test device - maybe a daily driver once it improves.
I have a couple of questions:
- Is it still necessary to flash opengapps (nano being my preference) after flashing the OS (perhaps in order to get through installation without crashing?) - even if I intend to use gapps?
- Has anyone purchased an S4 Mini from AliExpress recently? If so, how much did you pay, and which vendor did you use?
- Am I crazy to consider buying another ~5 year old phone? Are there seriously no other compact devices with active rom development?
Thanks in advance!
James
x

Ciao James,
do you want to buy a S4 mini on aliexpress? How? I can see only spare parts, I think the production finished 4 years ago.
I'm also looking for a small android phone, not low quality, I think the only possibility is offered by sony and xperia compact serie.

Thank you for your reply.
Yes, AliExpress vendors sell plenty of spare parts, but there are also vendors selling complete phones:
https://www.aliexpress.com/premium/...Text=samsung+s4+mini&CatId=5090301&isrefine=y
I expect these are refurbished devices, rather than being brand new, however the S4 Mini I purchased from AliExpress a few years ago arrived in perfect condition - it looked like it had never been touched. If I can receive the same level of quality again, I will be very happy!
As you note, it seems only Sony is continuing to produce compact phones with good specifications. Before purchasing the S4 Mini, I strongly considered a Z3 Compact. The Sony has superior specs, but is a little bulkier than the Samsung. The recently discontinued iPhone SE is/was the perfect size and spec for me, however unfortunately it runs iOS instead of Android. :/
Cheers,
James
x

I've just swithed nougat to oreo. MicroG. I see no visible improvement. Only reason was continue of security updates.
There is no need to Flash GApps. Yesterday i tried flashing a S5 with GApps. Oh my GOD! Google did a complete take-over. I did a clean wipe in the middle of that update orgy. If you are used to GApps, the microG phone will feel naked for you. I recommend first steps with a second hand phone and Lineage4microG nougat.
Alternative to S4 mini, I only see Sony Z1 compact at the moment. MSe1969 does a good job in keeping security level of lolypop rom high.

Thanks for the reply!
Yeah, I guess I could try Lineage for microG first, as it would be the same Nougat rom I’m currently using, and therefore a good way to compare vs gapps. Could I just directly flash it over the top of my current LOS14.1 install...would it automatically remove/disable the opengapps?
Interesting that you reverted back to Nougat from Oreo. I read that Pie offers some performance improvements over previous versions, but perhaps that is not the case?
The other query I had was how app updates work with microG. Do you still receive notifications and prompts to update apps as they are released?
Cheers,
James
x

Just scrollred up. You would try microG for battery saving? I don't think that's worth the trouble. Only real benefit of leaving GApps is privacy.
A dirty flash is no good idea. Even if it would work: you keep your spyware setup.
There are many possible setups without GApps. Alternative or patched app sores have update mechanisms.
Performance plus of new androids? I update only to get security patches.

kurtn said:
Just scrollred up. You would try microG for battery saving? I don't think that's worth the trouble. Only real benefit of leaving GApps is privacy.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Interesting comment. It was my understanding that the low-memory, minimalist footprint of microG was well-suited to older devices such as the S4 Mini. Noticeably improved battery life would be the goal.
kurtn said:
A dirty flash is no good idea. Even if it would work: you keep your spyware setup.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There are some scripts to uninstall the existing Gapps.
Thanks!
James
x

Related

S4 Mini: where to (re-)start after CyanogenMod 11

I just totalled my S4 Mini (i9195). The phone is alive but the LCD is totally smashed.
Been running CyanogenMod 11 for a couple of years. Once the ROM got stable I've been really happy with the hardware and software.
My question is what to do now.
Fix the phone and just carry on with CyanogenMod 11
Fix the phone and upgrade the ROM -- what's everyone using for day-to-day use; is it LineageOS? I like CyanogenMod 11 because it's not tied to Google, PrivacyGuard and LED notifications, otherwise fairly minimal. I don't want really want to go back to the unstability I remember of the early CyanogenMod 11 milestones.
Upgrade the phone to a new one. I'm not sure one is suitable; my main criteria are small size and switchable battery, custom ROM.
I'm fairly technical but new to posting on XDA. Hoping you can help me past some of the jargon and codenames. What are people using their S4 Mini day to day (not experimenting) doing?
Thanks -- Mark
wheelsofsteel said:
I just totalled my S4 Mini (i9195). The phone is alive but the LCD is totally smashed.
Been running CyanogenMod 11 for a couple of years. Once the ROM got stable I've been really happy with the hardware and software.
My question is what to do now.
Fix the phone and just carry on with CyanogenMod 11
Fix the phone and upgrade the ROM -- what's everyone using for day-to-day use; is it LineageOS? I like CyanogenMod 11 because it's not tied to Google, PrivacyGuard and LED notifications, otherwise fairly minimal. I don't want really want to go back to the unstability I remember of the early CyanogenMod 11 milestones.
Upgrade the phone to a new one. I'm not sure one is suitable; my main criteria are small size and switchable battery, custom ROM.
I'm fairly technical but new to posting on XDA. Hoping you can help me past some of the jargon and codenames. What are people using their S4 Mini day to day (not experimenting) doing?
Thanks -- Mark
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you are going to keep your phone it sounds like CM13 would be best for you as it is very stable and you will get much newer security patches (though it looks like Arco will not be updating it any further for now). It has Privacy Guard and you can flash a smaller Open GApps package to keep Google to a minimum .....
LinageOS is already very stable but there are a few small bugs (maybe a big one with the dialer as some people have reported in last few days having no audio on calls) as you would expect on a "TEST" ROM, but some are using for daily driver with no real problems. Maybe give it a look once it's gone "official".
It's almost impossible to get a new phone with good spec and small size now especially one that has such a great custom ROM's available.
It's almost impossible to get a new phone with good spec and small size now especially one that has such a great custom ROM's available.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I just came across the S5 Mini.. Seems like it might be the last phone that fulfill my hardware requirements and it won't cost me much more to upgrade than to repair my current phone. Did all the S4 Mini crowd move to the S5 Mini or is there good reason to stick with the old? For example, worse support for the hardware.
Thanks for the ROM tips, I will definitely try version 13 once I have a working phone just to see. If I really don't like it I can always consider going back to 11.
wheelsofsteel said:
I just came across the S5 Mini.. Seems like it might be the last phone that fulfill my hardware requirements and it won't cost me much more to upgrade than to repair my current phone. Did all the S4 Mini crowd move to the S5 Mini or is there good reason to stick with the old? For example, worse support for the hardware.
Thanks for the ROM tips, I will definitely try version 13 once I have a working phone just to see. If I really don't like it I can always consider going back to 11.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, S5 Mini will probably be a good choice, though not as much development by the looks of it, but we S4 Mini owners have been spoilt. Don't think that many people upgraded to it, but I don't really know.
IronRoo said:
but we S4 Mini owners have been spoilt.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yup I think I have, and until now took it for granted that most of the phones were reverse engineered to the same level.
I made a decision and ordered the parts to repair my S4 Mini, that will be my day-to-day phone. When I get it I might spin up CM13 for a test. As for a 'new' phone that will have to wait. Thanks for the advice.
wheelsofsteel said:
Yup I think I have, and until now took it for granted that most of the phones were reverse engineered to the same level.
I made a decision and ordered the parts to repair my S4 Mini, that will be my day-to-day phone. When I get it I might spin up CM13 for a test. As for a 'new' phone that will have to wait. Thanks for the advice.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Take the Lineage OS 14.1 build from arco68. and TWRP 3.03 from neozone75 Much more performance,longer battery life,and my s4 mini boots packed with a lot apps in under 1min. when flashed, don't miss to set the preferrred network type in Mobile radio networks- if you have no LTE contract set it to 3G . good luck for repair

Question about Z5 Premium in 2018

How's the phone holding now?
i'm planning to get this one just for normal usage like streaming , chat, browsing, etc
and how's the heat during those kind of usage?
considering xperia design is totally to my liking, and the battery is above 3k mAh, kinda want to downgrade? into this phone from mi5, as the docomo dumps are quite cheap here
Thanks in advance !
I'm pretty happy with the phone. Heat is not so much of an issue.
seilent said:
How's the phone holding now?
i'm planning to get this one just for normal usage like streaming , chat, browsing, etc
and how's the heat during those kind of usage?
considering xperia design is totally to my liking, and the battery is above 3k mAh, kinda want to downgrade? into this phone from mi5, as the docomo dumps are quite cheap here
Thanks in advance !
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
if you are getting on good price ( 50% of the price since 2015) then go for it
Z5p is a gem!
How can I unlock bootloader and install TWRP, any guide?
i am also a user of z5P dual variant e6833, currently it has stock android 7.1.1, could anyone share the link of any post where i can find the list of all stable custom roms for z5p phone? unfortunately there is no linage rom available for this phone
After having this phone for 3 years, the first thing you will need to realize is stock battery even left in storage will have degraded past the stock level of battery, with little to no use over that time you'd be lucky to get even a stock unopened z5p with more than 60% of its original battery life.
The main issue with heat I've experienced has been during GPS use especially on warmer days.
The camera after unlocking and using non stock ROMs (even with DRM saved) as non stock ROMs don't use the DRM enhancements camera quality is noticeably less quality. So if you want to keep DRM quality you need to keep to stock roms, even custom stock ROMs need those enhancements enabled to be functional.
The overall speed, performance, battery life and functions of the phone are all good.
One thing to note also is latest official ROM is 7.1.2 so no Oreo, no project treble and no future proofing of the software. We also have a very, very quiet rom development.
You may enjoy the looks of Sony phones. But they don't support their hardware long enough for them to truely shine. We got 2 major ROM updates, with fixes in between that was what they reported as what they'll support.
This happened over a 16 month period. They dropped support for the phone as soon as Oreo came out, because they wanted everyone to upgrade to the ZX range.
Meaning a lot of us here that paid 1000+ dollars for their handset got less than 2 years of support from the manufacturer.
Companies like Samsung, Motorola and apple have put over 5 years support into most of their handsets. Software support is important due to app updates needing later OS versions to work. Meaning at some point the Z5 range will fall off the wagon even in terms of unofficial support.
Either way I hope you choose well a new device. Even though I like my phone, and will stand by my choice to purchase it, I would not recommend it to anyone else and urge them to find a better device with better software support.

Suggestion for the next phone after Zuk Z2 Plus

There was a small discussion in the AEX 6.7 thread started by @mcalistri asking for a suggestion to replace his Zuk Z2 Plus with another one. His suggestion was Pixel 3A and Nokia 7.2. I too asked if the OnePlus 6T is a good option. @selvarajrajkanna and @GopalKaul answered both of us and suggested K20 Pro and Pixel 3A. Since it is not good to discuss this in AEX thread I'm continuing that discussion here.
My suggestions and the summary of the discussion:
- OnePlus 7 (but the development is not in a good position; I read a few threads there. Also the 7T is on the way so buying a new one would not be a better idea I think)
- OnePlus 6T (if you want to stay on stock rom because oxygen os is good. - suggested by selvarajrajkanna. I found a few pre-owned 6Ts and also my friend has one, that's why I suggested it)
- Pixel 3A (have better camera and if camera is the only priority - suggested by selvarajrajkanna and mcalistri)
- Redmi K20 Pro (suggested by GopalKaul and selvarajrajkanna because it has latest chipset, 3.5mm jack, bigger battery, etc.)
- Nokia 7.2 (suggested by mcalistri)
- Poco F1 (if on a tight budget - suggested by GopalKaul)
Also please tell if you have any other good options or suggestions in this list. I'll update this post if anything relevant is posted. Our Z2 Plus started with 6.0 and went through 7.0, 8.0 and 9.0 without any serious performance issues. So I think Android Q will also work flawlessly. But if any Z2 Plus owner who like to replace it with another one and also expect a legend like Z2 this post may/should help. Thanks for taking the time to read this long post. ?
niyonsv said:
There was a small discussion in the AEX 6.7 thread started by @mcalistri asking for a suggestion to replace his Zuk Z2 Plus with another one. His suggestion was Pixel 3A and Nokia 7.2. I too asked if the OnePlus 6T is a good option. @selvarajrajkanna and @GopalKaul answered both of us and suggested K20 Pro and Pixel 3A. Since it is not good to discuss this in AEX thread I'm continuing that discussion here.
My suggestions and the summary of the discussion:
- OnePlus 7 (but the development is not in a good position; I read a few threads there. Also the 7T is on the way so buying a new one would not be a better idea I think)
- OnePlus 6T (if you want to stay on stock rom because oxygen os is good. - suggested by selvarajrajkanna. I found a few pre-owned 6Ts and also my friend has one, that's why I suggested it)
- Pixel 3A (have better camera and if camera is the only priority - suggested by selvarajrajkanna and mcalistri)
- Redmi K20 Pro (suggested by GopalKaul and selvarajrajkanna because it has latest chipset, 3.5mm jack, bigger battery, etc.)
- Nokia 7.2 (suggested by mcalistri)
- Poco F1 (if on a tight budget - suggested by GopalKaul)
Also please tell if you have any other good options or suggestions in this list. I'll update this post if anything relevant is posted. Our Z2 Plus started with 6.0 and went through 7.0, 8.0 and 9.0 without any serious performance issues. So I think Android Q will also work flawlessly. But if any Z2 Plus owner who like to replace it with another one and also expect a legend like Z2 this post may/should help. Thanks for taking the time to read this long post. ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
In reality I have not suggested any devices ?
Nokia could be a good choice for what I remember about its Zeiss Camera lenses, I could appreciate it on my Nokia Lumia which now it's gone to paradise.
I honestly am tempted to take the pixel 3a but I live in Brazil and here it is more expensive due to the importation taxes.
The K20 if I'm not wrong, is a bit strange to my eyes because it has a lifting camera jumping from the outside of the chassis.
The choice is not so easy also because the old Zuk-Z2 is working extremely well
niyonsv said:
There was a small discussion in the AEX 6.7 thread started by @mcalistri asking for a suggestion to replace his Zuk Z2 Plus with another one. His suggestion was Pixel 3A and Nokia 7.2. I too asked if the OnePlus 6T is a good option. @selvarajrajkanna and @GopalKaul answered both of us and suggested K20 Pro and Pixel 3A. Since it is not good to discuss this in AEX thread I'm continuing that discussion here.
My suggestions and the summary of the discussion:
- OnePlus 7 (but the development is not in a good position; I read a few threads there. Also the 7T is on the way so buying a new one would not be a better idea I think)
- OnePlus 6T (if you want to stay on stock rom because oxygen os is good. - suggested by selvarajrajkanna. I found a few pre-owned 6Ts and also my friend has one, that's why I suggested it)
- Pixel 3A (have better camera and if camera is the only priority - suggested by selvarajrajkanna and mcalistri)
- Redmi K20 Pro (suggested by GopalKaul and selvarajrajkanna because it has latest chipset, 3.5mm jack, bigger battery, etc.)
- Nokia 7.2 (suggested by mcalistri)
- Poco F1 (if on a tight budget - suggested by GopalKaul)
Also please tell if you have any other good options or suggestions in this list. I'll update this post if anything relevant is posted. Our Z2 Plus started with 6.0 and went through 7.0, 8.0 and 9.0 without any serious performance issues. So I think Android Q will also work flawlessly. But if any Z2 Plus owner who like to replace it with another one and also expect a legend like Z2 this post may/should help. Thanks for taking the time to read this long post. ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you want to try a new phone after the Zuk Z2, try buying either Pixel 3, or even 7 is a very good option[seeing the development of other one plus phones, 7's development should soon emerge]
akshay pro said:
If you want to try a new phone after the Zuk Z2, try buying either Pixel 3, or even 7 is a very good option[seeing the development of other one plus phones, 7's development should soon emerge]
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
IMHO we should consider first the device as it we find it from the factory, with its default software and O.S., I mean we should consider if it can or can't be ROM customized as second requirement.
For example, for my personal user case, I purchased my ZukZ2 with Chinese ROM, than the decision to flash a custom ROM on it has been almost mandatory.
akshay pro said:
If you want to try a new phone after the Zuk Z2, try buying either Pixel 3, or even 7 is a very good option[seeing the development of other one plus phones, 7's development should soon emerge]
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks. I can get a OnePlus 6T phone (pre-owned, 6-128, still in warranty) for about 75% of that of a new OnePlus 7's price. So, which one would be better? OnePlus 6T or 7? Or any other?
mcalistri said:
IMHO we should consider first the device as it we find it from the factory, with its default software and O.S., I mean we should consider if it can or can't be ROM customized as second requirement.
For example, for my personal user case, I purchased my ZukZ2 with Chinese ROM, than the decision to flash a custom ROM on it has been almost mandatory.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks. My thought is just opposite. I like almost-stock-ROMs with additional features and the factory OSs never attracted me except for some of their features or something. I flashed the custom ROM the day I got Z2. Before buying it I searched about many devices in XDA which had better custom ROM development support. Also Z2 was a device with almost high-end spec then and I got a huge discount then. That's why I'm looking for a device identical to Z2 of that time.
I would defenately go to k20 pro
niyonsv said:
Thanks. My thought is just opposite. I like almost-stock-ROMs with additional features and the factory OSs never attracted me except for some of their features or something. I flashed the custom ROM the day I got Z2. Before buying it I searched about many devices in XDA which had better custom ROM development support. Also Z2 was a device with almost high-end spec then and I got a huge discount then. That's why I'm looking for a device identical to Z2 of that time.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Stock OS as the pure Android running on a Google Pixel phone, from what I've heard have everything we need to forget about custom ROM.
Our device, thanks to its hardware is still pretty good to offer brilliant service for years to come.
The maior lacks, I IMHO can resume for Z2 are:
1 - A not superlative camera, beside its hw specs which are not the top of the market, probably has not been achieved the very best in terms of firmware and software to manage it at a better level.
2 - A not superlative sound in terms of loudness
Regards,
I don't see any reason to change the device.
Charge the ROM, chahe the screen guard and change the cover or add a skin.
That's the new device for you.
manishgkasera said:
I don't see any reason to change the device.
Charge the ROM, chahe the screen guard and change the cover or add a skin.
That's the new device for you.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
:laugh:
-Deleted-
manishgkasera said:
I don't see any reason to change the device.
Charge the ROM, chahe the screen guard and change the cover or add a skin.
That's the new device for you.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's how I used my Z2 bro. It has a unique design (all phones where curved then) and it always stayed different from others. But there's one thing that I changed thrice and it was a bit more costly - battery. Also my phone is becoming slow and slow each day. Tried different ROMs, reduced number of apps. The phone is not performing well too. It is taking ages to click a photo. Also the earpiece speaker now started distorting, I've to use headset always for talking. There are other reasons here and there, so I think it is better to change my phone. That's why I asked for suggestion.
I'm also looking for an upgrade to this phone. I bought the ZUK about 3 years ago with the intention of only keeping it for under 12 months. But I ended up sticking with it since I couldn't find a suitable upgrade at the time. After a lot of use it seems the ZUK is starting to show signs of slowing down. It's taking time to open apps and the storage is incredibly slow as prooven by benchmark testing.
Unfortunately my choice for a replacement is limited because I get eyestrain and headaches when looking at AMOLED screens with PWM flickering. The Asus Zenfone 6 looks perfect with an IPS panel, but it is too expensive at £450 here in the UK. The upcoming Realme 5 Pro seems good with SD712, 6GB RAM and 128GB UFS 2.1 storage for a much more reasonable £190. But I worry about whether this phone will recieve good custom ROM support. There's also the Redmi Note 7 Pro with SD675 but it has a horrible ugly U-shaped notch. Maybe the upcoming Redmi Note 8 will also be decent.
I'm a bit surprised about hear some buddies have the need to replace the battery in their ZukZ2.
My battery, after years of usage looks like brand new, it doesn't presents any sign of longevity.
Furthermore I can't understand how the device appears running slower! We have not any mechanical disk inside it, neither a Windows XP is running here! If your device is slow then try to clean flash after performing a factory reset.
Sirs, are you violenting yours smartphones? Are you using it extensively with gaming and repetitive charging during usage?
May be you should have been more respectful and conservative using the phone now you have to pay the bill!
P650SE said:
I'm also looking for an upgrade to this phone. I bought the ZUK about 3 years ago with the intention of only keeping it for under 12 months. But I ended up sticking with it since I couldn't find a suitable upgrade at the time. After a lot of use it seems the ZUK is starting to show signs of slowing down. It's taking time to open apps and the storage is incredibly slow as prooven by benchmark testing.
Unfortunately my choice for a replacement is limited because I get eyestrain and headaches when looking at AMOLED screens with PWM flickering. The Asus Zenfone 6 looks perfect with an IPS panel, but it is too expensive at £450 here in the UK. The upcoming Realme 5 Pro seems good with SD712, 6GB RAM and 128GB UFS 2.1 storage for a much more reasonable £190. But I worry about whether this phone will recieve good custom ROM support. There's also the Redmi Note 7 Pro with SD675 but it has a horrible ugly U-shaped notch. Maybe the upcoming Redmi Note 8 will also be decent.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I haven't heard of this AMOLED flickering issue till now. Is it a serious issue to consider?
mcalistri said:
I'm a bit surprised about hear some buddies have the need to replace the battery in their ZukZ2.
My battery, after years of usage looks like brand new, it doesn't presents any sign of longevity.
Furthermore I can't understand how the device appears running slower! We have not any mechanical disk inside it, neither a Windows XP is running here! If your device is slow then try to clean flash after performing a factory reset.
Sirs, are you violenting yours smartphones? Are you using it extensively with gaming and repetitive charging during usage?
May be you should have been more respectful and conservative using the phone now you have to pay the bill!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
But I changed the batteries thrice, all from Lenovo official service center. I always go to stock ROM between each ROM changes, and clean flash between each updates. It's a bit time consuming sometimes but I know its better. Only a very few times I dirty flashed.
I used it for gaming only in the first year of purchase, now I'm not interest in that, that's why. Also I was always respectful to my phone, since it is the only device I have.
The phone is speedier with old stock ROMs and nougat ROMs, but not that speedier than then. So if I need to use newer version of ROMs and apps I should switch to a newer phone rather forcing Z2 to do all new stuffs.
I remember only a few phone models were capable of taking photos with GCams and Z2 was there in the list right after getting camera2API. Also it took and processed photos very fast. But now it is taking a lot of time even to click a photo.
niyonsv said:
I haven't heard of this AMOLED flickering issue till now. Is it a serious issue to consider?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well it only affects a small minority of people, I heard about 10% of users can experience these symptoms with AMOLED panels. It just means you are more sensitive to the flickering than other people. Sadly, the only way to find out is to purchase an AMOLED phone and try it for yourself. That's what happened with me.
mcalistri said:
I'm a bit surprised about hear some buddies have the need to replace the battery in their ZukZ2.
My battery, after years of usage looks like brand new, it doesn't presents any sign of longevity.
Furthermore I can't understand how the device appears running slower! We have not any mechanical disk inside it, neither a Windows XP is running here! If your device is slow then try to clean flash after performing a factory reset.
Sirs, are you violenting yours smartphones? Are you using it extensively with gaming and repetitive charging during usage?
May be you should have been more respectful and conservative using the phone now you have to pay the bill!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I was of the understanding that flash storage can degrade over time in smartphones. I probably didn't do mine any favours by constantly flashing ROMs and copying files to it over the course of 3 years. I did some storage benchmarks and I'm only getting 33MB/s sequential write speeds. Random write 4K is even worse at 1.3MB/s average. Surely that's not normal.
https://files.catbox.moe/e1wu3r.png
Can anyone compare against my scores? The app is called CPDT Benchmark in the Play Store.
In regards to battery performance, mine still gives about 4 hours of SOT but that is disappointing when it used to last for 7 hours and 30 minutes. I always allow my phone to run completely out of battery which I heard isn't good for for in the long-term. So perhaps bad charging habits have caused more degradation.
niyonsv said:
But I changed the batteries thrice, all from Lenovo official service center. I always go to stock ROM between each ROM changes, and clean flash between each updates. It's a bit time consuming sometimes but I know its better. Only a very few times I dirty flashed.
I used it for gaming only in the first year of purchase, now I'm not interest in that, that's why. Also I was always respectful to my phone, since it is the only device I have.
The phone is speedier with old stock ROMs and nougat ROMs, but not that speedier than then. So if I need to use newer version of ROMs and apps I should switch to a newer phone rather forcing Z2 to do all new stuffs.
I remember only a few phone models were capable of taking photos with GCams and Z2 was there in the list right after getting camera2API. Also it took and processed photos very fast. But now it is taking a lot of time even to click a photo.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I really don't know why you had to replace your battery trice, I think it is a very seldom occurrence, nor I can say it happened due your usage, most likely it could be due you purchased a defective device.
About slowing down after time, I agree about the SSD consideration made by our buddy participating to this discussion because I recently red something about SSD since I'm going to replace my laptop HDD but also this kind of issue I believe it's happening seldom in smartphones.
I won't to cause frustrations writing that I've not noticed any slowness on my Zuk Z2 so far, just a little bit when I flashed Nameless kernel which was an EAS kernel.
Now on AEX 6.7 I'm using the default kernel which is giving to the Z2 an extremely fast responsiveness and smooth usability too.
I think I will try to run the SSD performance test suggested by our buddy (sorry I didn't wrote your name to mention it but you sent interesting comments indeed).
I'm sure that there are not many users affected by problems you are facing about slowness and battery, or better, it would be interesting to make a survey here on XDA to know how many people have such problems on their ZukZ2.
Best regards,
---------- Post added at 01:05 PM ---------- Previous post was at 12:54 PM ----------
P650SE said:
Well it only affects a small minority of people, I heard about 10% of users can experience these symptoms with AMOLED panels. It just means you are more sensitive to the flickering than other people. Sadly, the only way to find out is to purchase an AMOLED phone and try it for yourself. That's what happened with me.
I was of the understanding that flash storage can degrade over time in smartphones. I probably didn't do mine any favours by constantly flashing ROMs and copying files to it over the course of 3 years. I did some storage benchmarks and I'm only getting 33MB/s sequential write speeds. Random write 4K is even worse at 1.3MB/s average. Surely that's not normal.
https://files.catbox.moe/e1wu3r.png
Can anyone compare against my scores? The app is called CPDT Benchmark in the Play Store.
In regards to battery performance, mine still gives about 4 hours of SOT but that is disappointing when it used to last for 7 hours and 30 minutes. I always allow my phone to run completely out of battery which I heard isn't good for for in the long-term. So perhaps bad charging habits have caused more degradation.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Very much interesting comments!
I think I will try to run the SSD benchmark but before I would like to ask you why you say that your results are bad?
Did you compared with another ZukZ2 user running similar environment?
About the battery we also have to take in account the adjustment we could have done to applications (running in background or not) the screen stby after X seconds, the charger we use, in fact there are plenty of chargers around that are not good for our battery but that are being used normally.
In any case your SOT looks very normal to me.
Regards,
P650SE said:
I was of the understanding that flash storage can degrade over time in smartphones. I probably didn't do mine any favours by constantly flashing ROMs and copying files to it over the course of 3 years. I did some storage benchmarks and I'm only getting 33MB/s sequential write speeds. Random write 4K is even worse at 1.3MB/s average. Surely that's not normal.
https://files.catbox.moe/e1wu3r.png
Can anyone compare against my scores? The app is called CPDT Benchmark in the Play Store.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Here is my CPDT benchmark result which looks quite aligned with your, so I think that SSD performance has nothing to do with the slowness of the responsiveness of your Zuk Z2.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.Saplin.CPDT
Regards,
mcalistri said:
Here is my CPDT benchmark result which looks quite aligned with your, so I think that SSD performance has nothing to do with the slowness of the responsiveness of your Zuk Z2.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.Saplin.CPDT
Regards,
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sorry, the result of my benchmark is not visible externally so I'm attaching the screenshot here.
Regards,

Moto G5 (XT1676) in 2020

Hello everybody.
I'm looking to buy this phone (new) as a daily driver. I know its kinda old, so I would like to ask is it still worth it to buy this phone? I don't use much apps and use my phone for texting, browsing, reddit, calls etc...
I see that there are a lot of roms for this phone, so i would like to ask are they reliable and up-to-date? Or have they been abandoned? I would like to buy a phone and be set with it for next 5+ years.
I would like to buy a phone with removable battery so my other option is Samsung xcover 4s.
Thanks in advance.
crocodilehun said:
Hello everybody.
I'm looking to buy this phone (new) as a daily driver. I know its kinda old, so I would like to ask is it still worth it to buy this phone? I don't use much apps and use my phone for texting, browsing, reddit, calls etc...
I see that there are a lot of roms for this phone, so i would like to ask are they reliable and up-to-date? Or have they been abandoned? I would like to buy a phone and be set with it for next 5+ years.
I would like to buy a phone with removable battery so my other option is Samsung xcover 4s.
Thanks in advance.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you buy an 3GB RAM model, I think you're OK.
crocodilehun said:
Hello everybody.
I'm looking to buy this phone (new) as a daily driver. I know its kinda old, so I would like to ask is it still worth it to buy this phone? I don't use much apps and use my phone for texting, browsing, reddit, calls etc...
I see that there are a lot of roms for this phone, so i would like to ask are they reliable and up-to-date? Or have they been abandoned? I would like to buy a phone and be set with it for next 5+ years.
I would like to buy a phone with removable battery so my other option is Samsung xcover 4s.
Thanks in advance.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Custom 64bit roms for this device currently have a bug with the camera
If you can get your hands on one look at the Moto g7 play on ebay
It's updatable to stock android 10 and probably just as cheap as this device second hand or refurbished
TheFixItMan said:
Custom 64bit roms for this device currently have a bug with the camera
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If I may ask. Does this bug affect 3rd party cameras?
R1ffR4ff said:
If I may ask. Does this bug affect 3rd party cameras?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Effects any camera app
May have slight green tint in photos
May only be be able to take a certain amount of photos before phone/app needs restarting
Video recording may not work in some apps or may not save file correctly
QR code scanning may not work correctly
The above list is a rough bug list and may vary on a device by device basis & rom version & apps being used
TheFixItMan said:
Effects any camera app
May have slight green tint in photos
May only be be able to take a certain amount of photos before phone/app needs restarting
Video recording may not work in some apps or may not save file correctly
QR code scanning may not work correctly
The above list is a rough bug list and may vary on a device by device basis & rom version & apps being used
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you for the excellent reply. I'm quite happy at the moment with the Stock Oreo on my G5 which I recently got A-grade refurbished at a decent price as my old Moto G3 is getting a bit tatty. It seems that my old G3 is better supported at the moment as I'm running 3 different Android 10 Custom roms all working good(Floko/crDroid/Havoc).
It's a shame that crDroid seem to only cover the G5 Potter and Sanders
https://crdroid.net/dl.php
TheFixItMan said:
Custom 64bit roms for this device currently have a bug with the camera
If you can get your hands on one look at the Moto g7 play on ebay
It's updatable to stock android 10 and probably just as cheap as this device second hand or refurbished
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
nift4 said:
If you buy an 3GB RAM model, I think you're OK.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you guys. Moto G7 is a bit too large for me as i would like something below 5.5. All the other phones that i've looked at are upgradeable to Oreo or Pie at best. Xcover 4s is upgreadable to Android 10, so i think ill go with that one. And all of the custom roms for other smartphones i've looked at, like LG G3 or G5 seem to have some bugs, or they are not up to date. I don't know is there a point in installing something like LineageOS 14, if that rom is out dated and has security holes in it.
crocodilehun said:
Thank you guys. Moto G7 is a bit too large for me as i would like something below 5.5. All the other phones that i've looked at are upgradeable to Oreo or Pie at best. Xcover 4s is upgreadable to Android 10, so i think ill go with that one. And all of the custom roms for other smartphones i've looked at, like LG G3 or G5 seem to have some bugs, or they are not up to date. I don't know is there a point in installing something like LineageOS 14, if that rom is out dated and has security holes in it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Moto g7 play screen is 5.7 Inch but probably worth the extra screen size compared with other options
LineageOS 14.1 for this device (along with stock rom) is only 32bit so you are limited to only arm-eabi armv7 apps as apposed to later devices which are armv8 and support arm64 (64 bit) out the box
TheFixItMan said:
Moto g7 play screen is 5.7 Inch but probably worth the extra screen size compared with other options
LineageOS 14.1 for this device (along with stock rom) is only 32bit so you are limited to only arm-eabi armv7 apps as apposed to later devices which are armv8 and support arm64 (64 bit) out the box
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've done some research and G7 for European market does not have removable battery, and there aren't any i can buy locally. I would like to buy locally because the shipping adds to the price. What about LG G5, would you recomend it if i put some stable and official rom on it?
Thanks in advance.
crocodilehun said:
I've done some research and G7 for European market does not have removable battery, and there aren't any i can buy locally. I would like to buy locally because the shipping adds to the price. What about LG G5, would you recomend it if i put some stable and official rom on it?
Thanks in advance.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Never used it so can't comment - have a read of reviews etc

Does anyone use this OS as their daily driver? What are your experiences and thoughts with the OS?

My Samsung A3 is almost 5 years old and I still use it as my daily driver, I'm thinking about flashing Lineage OS to the device and I'm wondering what anybody's experiences were with using the OS as their daily driver. I will use it mostly for calling, texting and journaling. I also listen to music quite frequently. I don't intend on installing any of the popular apps.
I've been using LineageOS and Cyanogenmod forever. It works wonderfully and I do anything I can with the stock OS and more.
I run LineageOS on my Samsung Galaxy S5 Duos and use it as my daily driver. It's running Lineage 17.1 which is Android 10 (18.1/11 has just become available too) - not bad for a phone launched in February 2014, which is now over 7 years ago!
If it wasn't for this phone only having 2GB of RAM onboard a lay person probably wouldn't notice much difference compared to a more modern mid range phone.
With LineageOS there's a lot less bloat so Storage, RAM, CPU Performance, and Battery Life are all improved.
I went the whole way and the phone is rooted as well and to be honest I wouldn't look back. I bought this phone all those years ago specifically to do this and it's really paid off.
But remember the LineageOS ROMs are specific for each phone. So the first thing to do is to find the support thread here for your particular model and read through it for points relative to your specific device.
I really like the freedom that LineageOS and Root gives me to do whatever I like with my phone, all while getting monthly updates and having a support thread of like minded users (well actually many of them are way more power users than me). Daily driver performance is excellent.
When I buy a new phone it will again be a model that can run LineageOS and be rooted. And I'll do this immediately after purchasing the device. These days that also makes some chinese model phones a good option as they often have a good hardware to price value ratio, but terrible support and updates. So it's possible to use this good value hardware but combined with an excellent LineageOS ROM, support, and updates instead.
Hope that helps
eu7tFeTyT7vfPy said:
My Samsung A3 is almost 5 years old and I still use it as my daily driver, I'm thinking about flashing Lineage OS to the device and I'm wondering what anybody's experiences were with using the OS as their daily driver. I will use it mostly for calling, texting and journaling. I also listen to music quite frequently. I don't intend on installing any of the popular apps.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's OK if you have A3 2016. But what's your motivation? Playing around? Avoiding Google spying? Impressing friends with new android version?
kurtn said:
It's OK if you have A3 2016. But what's your motivation? Playing around? Avoiding Google spying? Impressing friends with new android version?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Avoiding google spying No friends to impress lol!
jmh2002 said:
I run LineageOS on my Samsung Galaxy S5 Duos and use it as my daily driver. It's running Lineage 17.1 which is Android 10 (18.1/11 has just become available too) - not bad for a phone launched in February 2014, which is now over 7 years ago!
If it wasn't for this phone only having 2GB of RAM onboard a lay person probably wouldn't notice much difference compared to a more modern mid range phone.
With LineageOS there's a lot less bloat so Storage, RAM, CPU Performance, and Battery Life are all improved.
I went the whole way and the phone is rooted as well and to be honest I wouldn't look back. I bought this phone all those years ago specifically to do this and it's really paid off.
But remember the LineageOS ROMs are specific for each phone. So the first thing to do is to find the support thread here for your particular model and read through it for points relative to your specific device.
I really like the freedom that LineageOS and Root gives me to do whatever I like with my phone, all while getting monthly updates and having a support thread of like minded users (well actually many of them are way more power users than me). Daily driver performance is excellent.
When I buy a new phone it will again be a model that can run LineageOS and be rooted. And I'll do this immediately after purchasing the device. These days that also makes some chinese model phones a good option as they often have a good hardware to price value ratio, but terrible support and updates. So it's possible to use this good value hardware but combined with an excellent LineageOS ROM, support, and updates instead.
Hope that helps
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you for the detailed response, and for reminding me to check the support thread for my model! I also noticed that the less popular Chinese model phones had better price to hardware ratios and the only thing stopping me was exactly what you mentioned, though I'm doing this to an A3 I'll probably consider buying something of the sort in the future for when I want an upgrade. From your response, Lineage is looking hopeful!

Categories

Resources