Database Users

[Q] About to buy a used Nexus 4.

I'm about to buy a used Nexus 4 off of craigslist to use in Taiwan and Japan and possibly through T-mobile in the US later this year. It should work for all of those, right?
Anything in particular I should inspect when I meet up with the person? Stuff unique to Nexus 4 maybe, but also stuff in general, since I've never bought a used phone before!
Thanks a bunch guys!

To be hones, stay away from the N4. Before I bought the N4 I had a Nexus S and was happy with it.
In my opinion there is no "perfect" phone, but the N4 has critical bug: e.g. the N4 will stuck in "deep-sleep"-mode over night if you don't plug in the charger, ALTHOUGH it was fully charged.
I had this bug not only over night. Sometimes it happened when I had this phone in my pocket.
This is DEADLY when you are using the phone as a alarm glock and have exams and I am not the only one with this problem.
I also had other problems like bootloops after random reboots. I tried stock and custom roms and kernels.
I don't know if the N5 has similar problems. If not (I hope so), I would recommend you the N5.
# EDIT: About 2 month ago, I changed the SIM-Card and configured it. After I finished configuring the SIM-Card I put my old back on my N4 -> got stuck in booloop again.

Check for dead spots and ghost touches, its a pretty common on the 2nd edition of of the G4's.
My Nexus 4 is currently facing these problems.

Krazhil said:
To be hones, stay away from the N4. Before I bought the N4 I had a Nexus S and was happy with it.
In my opinion there is no "perfect" phone, but the N4 has critical bug: e.g. the N4 will stuck in "deep-sleep"-mode over night if you don't plug in the charger, ALTHOUGH it was fully charged.
I had this bug not only over night. Sometimes it happened when I had this phone in my pocket.
This is DEADLY when you are using the phone as a alarm glock and have exams and I am not the only one with this problem.
I also had other problems like bootloops after random reboots. I tried stock and custom roms and kernels.
I don't know if the N5 has similar problems. If not (I hope so), I would recommend you the N5.
# EDIT: About 2 month ago, I changed the SIM-Card and configured it. After I finished configuring the SIM-Card I put my old back on my N4 -> got stuck in booloop again.
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Click to collapse
Unfortunately, my budget won't allow for a Nexus 5, so Nexus 4 is where it's at for me. I'm going to be buying the N4 for $150, so the N5 would be almost double of that.
Looking around on google, I can find some, but not too many people with the deep sleep freezing bug. I wonder how common it is.

The deep freeze bug isn't that common, nor is it something I've ever had a personal problem with.
One thing to watch out for: as you can see by this board the Nexus is a very customizable device. Make sure you understand what you're getting and if it is truly stock or if the seller installed any custom kernels, patches, etc. Mine for example is running the stock ROM but is rooted w/ custom recovery and has Franco's kernel, an old modem to enable LTE, and the Dalvik optimization patches. The extras aren't apparent at first glance. Asking for an assurance that the phone is truly stock or that seller lists any changes isn't unreasonable. Getting a screen cap of the setup/phone screen might be useful too or at least a look at it if you pick up locally.
For hardware, it's an all glass phone so watch for scratches and cracks. The power button takes abuse so make sure it works properly. Camera is a common complaint so maybe snap a photo of two with it. Finally, you want a clean IMEI so for a Craigslist sale I'd want to see the phone working on a network before I took possession. Ideally seller will have it working, you check it, then they remove their SIM and factory reset it in front of you.
I bought my N4 used off of eBay for under $200 and couldn't be happier. Good luck.

chronostorm said:
I'm about to buy a used Nexus 4 off of craigslist to use in Taiwan and Japan and possibly through T-mobile in the US later this year. It should work for all of those, right?
Anything in particular I should inspect when I meet up with the person? Stuff unique to Nexus 4 maybe, but also stuff in general, since I've never bought a used phone before!
Thanks a bunch guys!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
First, I am going to say I agree with everything @rhavasy said... That being said, my honest opinion for the price of used Nexus 4, you may want to consider the Moto G 16GB GPE (Google Play Edition) for $199, you will also have a warranty and no worries that it has been modified or abused significantly (I once knew a guy that bragged he had overclocked his phone to the point it nearly burned his hand, then he restored it and sold it as "stock")
At first glance it looks inferior to the N4 in most respects, and technically speaking for the most part that is correct, but my son needed a new phone recently and the N5 and other GPE models were way out of his budget at the time, and Moto G was so well reviewed we got one, and it is amazing... it is on par with the N4 in all real world uses, including gaming, plus the battery life is easily double my N4.
If you really are set on a N4, be careful, otherwise, consider the Moto G... Plus the "water resistant" feature of G makes it a pretty amazing phone, check out some of the Moto G water test videos on Youtube from reputable review sites, 30 minutes immersion in water well powered up and no ill effects.

There are many horror stories with used N4s. Because it was a pretty highend phone for a low price at the time many people who bought it didn't take proper care of it so the market is flooded with damaged units with some very nasty scratches. I saw one once, mint condition with its original box and everything yet the screen looked as if someone had taken a fork to it, with a hammer.
Still an excellent phone which should work for you for years:good:

If the guy has the phone insured he can always claim it stolen after he sells it to you and then you'll have a barred phone, a danger with buying any 2nd hand phone privately.

I've had my nexus 4 for 16months and is still perfect, buy the phone and enjoy it
Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk

I still love my N4. I have had it for about a year, and rooted and installed a LOT of stuff, absolutely NO problems. I don't see anything wrong. You should get it.

I've had my N4 for about 2 years. It's the best phone I've ever had.

yes, nothing wrong with nexus 4.excellent phone.
Sent from my Nexus 4 using xda premium

New to the Note 4

I just purchased my Note 4 (waiting on shipping lol) and was wondering if there are any bugs/glitches I should know about I'm going to be using metropcs's service since it's GSM and unlocked.

Hey there!
Well, I suppose the biggest and baddest thing you should be aware of is that the Note 4 is really, really prone to having the internal eMMC chip fail prematurely. If you're not afraid of that, your new phone is a truly awesome li'l device.
What's this eMMC brick bug? It begins with small lag spikes and ever-increasing delays in response to user input. Then come the random reboots, after which you usually have to remove the battery to get the device back up. The end result is always the same - your phone will be stuck in Odin mode with the mmc_read failed error message. This issue is probably due to a bad batch of eMMC 5.1 chips whose cells seem to age and fail way too fast, and the only permanent fix is a complete motherboard replacement.
Don't get me wrong, chances are that this isn't going to happen to your device - mine is still running smooth and so is almost every other Note 4 on this wonderful little subforum. Congratulations on your purchase and welcome to the community!
-odd

oddbehreif said:
Hey there!
Well, I suppose the biggest and baddest thing you should be aware of is that the Note 4 is really, really prone to having the internal eMMC chip fail prematurely. If you're not afraid of that, your new phone is a truly awesome li'l device.
What's this eMMC brick bug? It begins with small lag spikes and ever-increasing delays in response to user input. Then come the random reboots, after which you usually have to remove the battery to get the device back up. The end result is always the same - your phone will be stuck in Odin mode with the mmc_read failed error message. This issue is probably due to a bad batch of eMMC 5.1 chips whose cells seem to age and fail way too fast, and the only permanent fix is a complete motherboard replacement.
Don't get me wrong, chances are that this isn't going to happen to your device - mine is still running smooth and so is almost every other Note 4 on this wonderful little subforum. Congratulations on your purchase and welcome to the community!
-odd
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ahhhh, ok. I'm not too worried about that. But I do have good luck with phones (not with my last one, the S5, but that wasn't my fault .. probably something the previous owners did to it) though. I'll keep my fingers crossed. It's a refurbished one, with a 60 day warranty, so hopefully nothing goes wrong.

Snapdragon vs Exynos. Snapdragon is faulty, is this true?

So, here is my problem. I bought a Note 4 N910F version right after it's been released, in 2014. It served me really well for years but a few months ago started to have some issues. At first i noticed when i open Viber, it lags like hell, takes seconds to even open the app. I thought its probably the app itself, but reinstall didn't help. And shortly after all the other apps started to do the same, the whole phone became incrediobly laggy to the point i couldn't use it anymore. I thought maybe it's software related, but a clean install of stock firmware didn't help, everything stayed exactly the same. (Reinstalling wasn't easy, it didn't work, always failed till I found a certain method and then it worked). I decided to throw it in the drawer, and bought a different device. But still, i love it cuz it's S-Pen and changeable battery, so i did a little research what could be the problem. Mostly eMMc chip failure turned up, so i called a service with very good preferences to ask them how much is an eMMc chip swap. They told me something i wanna know if that's true. They said that it's not the eMMc chip. It's actually a factory faulty Snapdragon chip, and this problem appear after years in almost every Snapdragon based device. And Exynos chipset hasn't got this issue, so what they actually do, they throw away the Snapdragon mainboard and convert the whole device into a N910C using Exynos mainboard and stuff. Do you think they are right, or just want more money from me? The repair cost would be about 100 bucks, and I found reeplacement mainboards for N910F on Aliexpress for 39 bucks. So it's 60 bucks difference, which one is more worthwile? Thanks in advance!

Forgot to mention that the battery is brand new so that cannot be the problem.

Phone drops signal calls on all roms, phone random reboots, twrp restore problems, camera dies

Hello. I have the G900V on Verizon and for the past couple days have been having trouble getting back to a stable rom. I've had signal drops at random especially when making calls and phone random reboots. I'm on lineage OS 14.1 / 18.1.
At times reverts to 3G and have to restart phone
Stock camera says "Media server died" and crashes
At times screen glitches out and can see artifacts
Phone gets super hot at times (Batteries are brand new)
Things i've tried numerous times over....
1. To restore backups on TWRP but sometimes getting error messages Error 255 and Signal 9
2. Restoring roms from stock but signal still drops (even when roms seems fine stock rom nothing restored)
3. Restored firmware thru odin
4. Flashed different version of TWRP
5. cleared out apps cache data for camera but still dies
6. Restored EFS (radios)
7. Re-installing roms from scratch with gapps and magisk
Currently again restoring Lineage 14.1 RR again now. Any ideas on what's wrong with my phone?
UPDATE: October 3rd I flashed a stock rom Android 5.0 LL. Went to use camera and it failed and my signal went out so sadly it's hardware failure for sure! Phone also keeps boot looping at random and real hot. I had this phone for 7 years guess it's time for a change.
Any thoughts on the S20 / S20 Ultra as an upgrade? Stay with Verizon or go to T-mobile? I read it can be rooted and have a paid service to have bootloader unlocked.
[CLOSED][SamPWND]USA Model BL Unlock Info [U/U1/W]
Note: This Thread is @svetius Approved! NOTE: Thread temporarily closed until OP returns SamPWND Bootloader Unlock Service Note2: This is an informational thread that links to a paid service. Paid service is not a service provided by XDA...
forum.xda-developers.com

Try a known good stock rom to rule out a mobo failure.

blackhawk said:
Try a known good stock rom to rule out a mobo failure.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So I flashed back to stock 5.0 and sure enough went to open camera and it failed and my signal dropped and went out. It's confirmed hardware failure. I finally got back to Lineage 14.1 after like a dozen stuck boot loops it finally booted into the rom.
I'm thinking of upgrading to the S20 / S20 Ultra on either Verizon or T-Mobile. S21 has no expandable storage. I read the bootloader can be unlocked for a service fee and phone can be rooted. I run Mac so I do not have windows so hopefully I can do this!
What do you suggest for a new device? This is a very sad day for me! But it's time for new and better things!

Droid9684 said:
So I flashed back to stock 5.0 and sure enough went to open camera and it failed and my signal dropped and went out. It's confirmed hardware failure. I finally got back to Lineage 14.1 after like a dozen stuck boot loops it finally booted into the rom.
I'm thinking of upgrading to the S20 / S20 Ultra on either Verizon or T-Mobile. S21 has no expandable storage. I read the bootloader can be unlocked for a service fee and phone can be rooted. I run Mac so I do not have windows so hopefully I can do this!
What do you suggest for a new device? This is a very sad day for me! But it's time for new and better things!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sorry to hear that.
Avoid Android 11 at all costs. It's a dead rotting horse... a fubar.
I picked up a new unlocked Note 10+ 256gb, 12gb US Snapdragon variant running on Q for $800 a week ago. Overall Q has a few rude surprises but is far less restrictive than R.
If you like Notes, you'll love the 10+. I have two now. The first one is 2 year old and still looks and runs like new. One replacement battery in this heavily used device. Current stock OS load is 16 months old, still fast and stable with minimum maintenance.
This variant is not easy to root if that's your intention. Package Disabler though will let you clean it up nicely.
The 60hz display is still one of the best out there (excellent color, contrast, brightnessl, and even with older hardware it's downright snappy and fun to use. Even in a case because it's so thin it doesn't seem that big.
Get a Zizo Bolt case, put a .5-1tb V30 SD card in it and it's good to go
After the 10+ it's slim pickings from Samsung in my opinion... which is why I now have two

blackhawk said:
Sorry to hear that.
Avoid Android 11 at all costs. It's a dead rotting horse... a fubar.
I picked up a new unlocked Note 10+ 256gb, 12gb US Snapdragon variant running on Q for $800 a week ago. Overall Q has a few rude surprises but is far less restrictive than R.
If you like Notes, you'll love the 10+. I have two now. The first one is 2 year old and still looks and runs like new. One replacement battery in this heavily used device. Current stock OS load is 16 months old, still fast and stable with minimum maintenance.
This variant is not easy to root if that's your intention. Package Disabler though will let you clean it up nicely.
The 60hz display is still one of the best out there (excellent color, contrast, brightnessl, and even with older hardware it's downright snappy and fun to use. Even in a case because it's so thin it doesn't seem that big.
Get a Zizo Bolt case, put a .5-1tb V30 SD card in it and it's good to go
After the 10+ it's slim pickings from Samsung in my opinion... which is why I now have two
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah I'd rather have the S20+ because its newer and it has the expandable sd card. The S10 / Note 10 is too old. This morning my phone finally got stuck in permeant boot loop and wont boot into any roms period after it was pretty much fine for about a week. Thanks for getting back to me I appreciate it.

Plus the S10 Note 10 doesnt have 5G. The S20 was the first and the S20 plus has 5G mw vs the slower 5G speed on the regular S20. If I have to upgrade I might as well get a 5G device this time. My last 2/3 Androids were 4G since 2012.

The 10+ is an exceptional phone. It's color rendering exceeds the N20U and new iPhone.
It depends entirely what you want to use it for though. The Snapdragon variant is a pain to root and I wouldn't recommended rooting it.
As a stock workhorse, watching vids and browsing it rocks. It's build and display qualities are exceptional which weighed heavily on my decision. My refusal to adapt R and no SD card sealed all the new junk's fate.
Lol, a faster processor and laser AF been nice but not at the cost of downgrading usability.
I will continue herding user friendly dinosaurs...

blackhawk said:
The 10+ is an exceptional phone. It's color rendering exceeds the N20U and new iPhone.
It depends entirely what you want to use it for though. The Snapdragon variant is a pain to root and I wouldn't recommended rooting it.
As a stock workhorse, watching vids and browsing it rocks. It's build and display qualities are exceptional which weighed heavily on my decision. My refusal to adapt R and no SD card sealed all the new junk's fate.
Lol, a faster processor and laser AF been nice but not at the cost of downgrading usability.
I will continue herding user friendly dinosaurs...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm being told as long as the S20 has a bit 1 bootloader it can be unlocked and rooted. I'm looking on Swappa right now.
I don't like the fact years ago with the new phones they sealed the batteries making them non removable and some of the phones you cant use an external sd card. I'm not so much about the screen specs as I just want a phone that has 5G that can be rooted. I do like all the new phones come standard with OIS on the cameras, as a photographer with an old Nikon that will come in handy. I didn't like the fact the S5 pictures would come out shaky at times, the Note 4 had OIS tho. If they had made the S10 / Note 10 5G I would consider it! But I've been on 4G for nearly 10 years now and if I'm going to have to spend a bunch of money I might as well invest in newer technology.

Droid9684 said:
I'm being told as long as the S20 has a bit 1 bootloader it can be unlocked and rooted. I'm looking on Swappa right now.
I don't like the fact years ago with the new phones they sealed the batteries making them non removable and some of the phones you cant use an external sd card. I'm not so much about the screen specs as I just want a phone that has 5G that can be rooted. I do like all the new phones come standard with OIS on the cameras, as a photographer with an old Nikon that will come in handy. I didn't like the fact the S5 pictures would come out shaky at times, the Note 4 had OIS tho. If they had made the S10 / Note 10 5G I would consider it! But I've been on 4G for nearly 10 years now and if I'm going to have to spend a bunch of money I might as well invest in newer technology.
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Click to collapse
I'm not sold on 5G. Many times it's net bandwidth increase is 20%. How badly it impacts battery life especially with less than optimum reception is a point of contention.
5G has shorter range and worse reach around objects than 4G. 4G should be around for another 10 years. Since I can browse and stream vids with no major issues I put 5G on the back burner. Lol, I still just adorn my 10+... so there's that. The square display, its 7mm thickness, it's stability, speed, all around usability and the spen really make it a killer phone even today.
I wouldn't recommend the 5G 10+ variant as it reportedly impacts power usage which is typical of the 1st generation of 5G. The Exynos chipset is a different animal from the Snapdragon. It may also have a different graphene heat sink on some of those phones. All Snapdragons variants to the best of my knowledge have the vapor cooled variant which is superior.
Be very careful buying any Samsung phone. A lot of misleading even outright fraud going on now.
Demand nothing less than full specs. Cross check device P/N and specs, always.
Many have reflashed roms and are the Exynos rather than the Snapdragon variants but the seller tries to hide that fact.
Best to talk to the seller by phone.
Buying a new older phone can be a better deal in spite of the higher price. The above issues are one of the reasons I rejected a N20U. A lot of the 8gb ram variants out there too and sellers trying to hide it, wtf? You want 12gb of ram if you can get it... it runs like a champ.

blackhawk said:
I'm not sold on 5G. Many times it's net bandwidth increase is 20%. How badly it impacts battery life especially with less than optimum reception is a point of contention.
5G has shorter range and worse reach around objects than 4G. 4G should be around for another 10 years. Since I can browse and stream vids with no major issues I put 5G on the back burner. Lol, I still just adorn my 10+... so there's that. The square display, its 7mm thickness, it's stability, speed, all around usability and the spen really make it a killer phone even today.
I wouldn't recommend the 5G 10+ variant as it reportedly impacts power usage which is typical of the 1st generation of 5G. The Exynos chipset is a different animal from the Snapdragon. It may also have a different graphene heat sink on some of those phones. All Snapdragons variants to the best of my knowledge have the vapor cooled variant which is superior.
Be very careful buying any Samsung phone. A lot of misleading even outright fraud going on now.
Demand nothing less than full specs. Cross check device P/N and specs, always.
Many have reflashed roms and are the Exynos rather than the Snapdragon variants but the seller tries to hide that fact.
Best to talk to the seller by phone.
Buying a new older phone can be a better deal in spite of the higher price. The above issues are one of the reasons I rejected a N20U. A lot of the 8gb ram variants out there too and sellers trying to hide it, wtf? You want 12gb of ram if you can get it... it runs like a champ.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well I know my next phone won't be thru my provider or ebay that is for sure. I am putting trust into Swappa. I think I can email the seller but not able to call them. According to google the S20+ SM-G986U is a US variant with the snapdragon chip. They are unlocked meaning I can use them on any carrier. Swappa has a 30 day return policy and they verify devices. 5G is an investment and all devices are backward compatible. I know 5G has shorter reach but with it comes more speed. I was not aware of all the fraud going on with listings.
I had considered getting another Galaxy S5 or maybe a Note 4 but they are just too old. And knowing this one is in hardware failure isn't making me happy. I'm ok with 4G LTE but I just figure if i'm going to spend lots money might as well get something newer.

This is who I used. They answer their phone.
Shipped 2 day FedEx free, no screwing around.
All was as speced except OS was Q not Pie; check manufactured date to avoid this from happening. I'm not blaming the vendor for this. They buy lots of new unsold phones and resell them.
I have a high confidence level with this vendor.

blackhawk said:
This is who I used. They answer their phone.
Shipped 2 day FedEx free, no screwing around.
All was as speced except OS was Q not Pie; check manufactured date to avoid this from happening. I'm not blaming the vendor for this. They buy lots of new unsold phones and resell them.
I have a high confidence level with this vendor.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I had a look on their site and They are kind of pricey but are these phones under warranty? They are brand new? I know the Ultra had camera problems vs the other 2 S20's. Oh lots people are trying to convert me to Apple iPhone still . I do have a 2012 classic Macbook haha! I've compared both phones!
@TheMadScientist said I have to ask them what the firmware number is in order to be able to unlock bootloader thru SamPWND. https://forum.xda-developers.com/t/...ock-info-u-u1-w.4201689/page-13#post-85751713

Droid9684 said:
I had a look on their site and They are kind of pricey but are these phones under warranty? They are brand new? I know the Ultra had camera problems vs the other 2 S20's. Oh lots people are trying to convert me to Apple iPhone still . I do have a 2012 classic Macbook haha! I've compared both phones!
@TheMadScientist said I have to ask them what the firmware number is in order to be able to unlock bootloader thru SamPWND. https://forum.xda-developers.com/t/...ock-info-u-u1-w.4201689/page-13#post-85751713
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The warranty question is one I have as well but not too concerned. The 10+ Snapdragon's have a solid hardware track record. Just keep it in a good case...
I will ask next time I talk with them about the warranty.
If they're list as new; they are. Factory sealed. I scruntinized and tested mine hard, it is perfect. All factory plastic guards are present and no finger prints or micro scratches anywhere. They battery was quite low as expected when unboxed. Zero hours showing.
Display is perfect, tested with ScreenTest. It's snappy fast and getting good battery life so far.
Checked the ram usage, sensors, all good with nominal readings.
Connected straight up to phone/internet when I put my sim and SD cards in. Access the memory card data with no issues. Even Poweramp recognized the library on the data card instantly after I imported it's save settings.
Apple? Hell no. The color rendering tests for the 10+ exceed the newest Apple flagship phone in some respects. Although it has no high refresh rates it's color rendering make it still one of the best and stylish displays out there. I love the borderless design and square corners. Lol, the fact that I own 2 shows you I'm so jaded
As for your latter question I don't know. I leave the boot loader alone. It's simply not worth it to me to risk trashing these phones as they run very well unrooted. This variant is hard to root.

blackhawk said:
The warranty question is one I have as well but not too concerned. The 10+ Snapdragon's have a solid hardware track record. Just keep it in a good case...
I will ask next time I talk with them about the warranty.
If they're list as new; they are. Factory sealed. I scruntinized and tested mine hard, it is perfect. All factory plastic guards are present and no finger prints or micro scratches anywhere. They battery was quite low as expected when unboxed. Zero hours showing.
Display is perfect, tested with ScreenTest. It's snappy fast and getting good battery life so far.
Checked the ram usage, sensors, all good with nominal readings.
Connected straight up to phone/internet when I put my sim and SD cards in. Access the memory card data with no issues. Even Poweramp recognized the library on the data card instantly after I imported it's save settings.
Apple? Hell no. The color rendering tests for the 10+ exceed the newest Apple flagship phone in some respects. Although it has no high refresh rates it's color rendering make it still one of the best and stylish displays out there. I love the borderless design and square corners. Lol, the fact that I own 2 shows you I'm so jaded
As for your latter question I don't know. I leave the boot loader alone. It's simply not worth it to me to risk trashing these phones as they run very well unrooted. This variant is hard to root.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Meant to respond the other day. Your not BL unlocked and rooted? So today The seller you suggested finally got back to me about the firmware. They don't have that info so I guess i'll have to go with Swappa and get a mint like new device. I think Samsunghas a brighter display more nitz than iPhone from what I read. I know my S5 was hard to see during daylight tho. Is your phone easy on the pocket can it fit?

Droid9684 said:
Meant to respond the other day. Your not BL unlocked and rooted? So today The seller you suggested finally got back to me about the firmware. They don't have that info so I guess i'll have to go with Swappa and get a mint like new device. I think Samsunghas a brighter display more nitz than iPhone from what I read. I know my S5 was hard to see during daylight tho. Is your phone easy on the pocket can it fit?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The N10+ Snapdragon variant is notoriously hard to unlock the BL and root. Simply not worth the risk for me as it can run very well stock. My oldest one has been in service 2 years unrooted and runs great.
The Exynos variant are easy to root but have their own hardware issues. All Snapdragon variants use the preferred vapor phase/copper heatpipe, some of the Exynos variant are randomingly using the inferior graphene heatpipe.
If the actual Exynos chipset its self is inferior is another debate. I can't really comment on that with any authority or knowledge as I haven't researched it much. It may simply not have as good of an instruction set as the Snapdragon or deeper architecture differences. Both are 7 um chips.

blackhawk said:
The N10+ Snapdragon variant is notoriously hard to unlock the BL and root. Simply not worth the risk for me as it can run very well stock. My oldest one has been in service 2 years unrooted and runs great.
The Exynos variant are easy to root but have their own hardware issues. All Snapdragon variants use the preferred vapor phase/copper heatpipe, some of the Exynos variant are randomingly using the inferior graphene heatpipe.
If the actual Exynos chipset its self is inferior is another debate. I can't really comment on that with any authority or knowledge as I haven't researched it much. It may simply not have as good of an instruction set as the Snapdragon or deeper architecture differences. Both are 7 um chips.
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Click to collapse
I'm guessing you have the Exynos and not the Snapdragon variant? I know Snapdragons are harder to unlock and root. I read something about the upcoming S22 snapdragon having a different cooling method than the current you mentioned used. I can't wait months for a new phone tho. I do not trust Ebay as a seller and unfortnantley the one you suggested is of no help regarding the firmware.

Droid9684 said:
I'm guessing you have the Exynos and not the Snapdragon variant? I know Snapdragons are harder to unlock and root. I read something about the upcoming S22 snapdragon having a different cooling method than the current you mentioned used. I can't wait months for a new phone tho. I do not trust Ebay as a seller and unfortnantley the one you suggested is of no help regarding the firmware.
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Click to collapse
Both are running with Snapdragon, deliberately.
To me a having fast, stable platform that fun to use and fulfills its mission 100% is far more important than having the newest, fastest device.
Mind you, I wuv speed and hate to wait.
I hate endless troubleshooting even more...

blackhawk said:
Both are running with Snapdragon, deliberately.
To me a having fast, stable platform that fun to use and fulfills its mission 100% is far more important than having the newest, fastest device.
Mind you, I wuv speed and hate to wait.
I hate endless troubleshooting even more...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Right and that is what I want too in a device. I'm tired of flashing ROMS after having my S5. It was non stop this past week or so and it would just bootloop and freeze and drop calls no matter what ended up being bad logic motherboard (was having issues sporadically past couple months). I just want to be rooted stock for now and be able to make recieve calls, texts without issue and restore things to my phone. Troubleshootng can be more trouble than it's worth hense all that troubles with my S5 towards the EOL (End of life).
What does wuv speed mean?
I'm having a serious problem with sellers not being able to tell me the firmware build number for S20+ 986U. This is becoming such a hassle! I'm looking at brand new sealed in box on Ebay and used mint on Swappa. The seller from Fusion Electronixs says they cant just order a phone and turn it on to see build number. I did mention the box and to check that. Should I just take my chances and buy one off Ebay or Swappa without knowing the build number?
I know once I got a temp phone years ago on Ebay and it was not as described was a different S5.

Bootloader unlocking for FREE

So im looking to purchase a nokia 6.1 plus global, read that you have to pay to unlock this phones bootloader tho, and i dont wanna do that. After a while of searching through videos onlin eand some blatantly fake ones, i saw one of an indian dude following a tutorial from a website called techmesto, which provides a tool that can unlock your bootloader, free of cost. the only issue is that you need to be able to get an otp on the website, and only 15 are generated in a day, so you have to be patient and keep trying. I know many people here are looking into unlocking their device for free, so can anyone test it out and reply with whether it works or not? The comments are moslty favouring it, with some asking if it works on other devices. It'd really help out the community, and would help me make the purchase with confidence too. Best of luck,

yes it's working perfectly, already tried it on my 6.1 plus ID region.
got the otp code after 3-4 days trying and checking the website constantly.

fake2die said:
yes it's working perfectly, already tried it on my 6.1 plus ID region.
got the otp code after 3-4 days trying and checking the website constantly.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you so much for the info, im currently looking to upgrade from my galaxy j5 at a low cost, then an ad for a nokia 6.1 plus (4/64) showed up for around £45, with the box and charger. After taking a look at the specs, I just had to buy it, but upon looking for some good custom roms, i found that bootloader unlocking was paid, which didnt suit me. So your reply has really helped out, as now I can purchase the device with confidence!
4 other questions for you though,
1. How is the battery life on this device? Some people say it lasts a day on light usage, while others say it lasts about 4 hours (screen on time)
2. Have you ever experienced the "charging port" issue? Many people have reported a charging port manufacturing problem, which can be fixed by repalcing the port, although some claim that there are still issues after replacing the port as well.
3. Is the smaller screen size annoying? Compared to most of today's phones being 6.2" or so, does it not feel as good to use a smaller screen or do you just not notice? Are the bezel really big? I'm aware of the larger notch (which im actually a fan of), but what about the thickness of the bezels and chin?
4. Do you experience any random reboots, or slow speed/lag? People using the nokia stock rom (android 10) claim that the device will sometimes randomly reboot, and that the performance is terrible one android 10, along with the battery life becoming worse.
My final question is, do you think that it's a good device to upgrade to in 2022? Coming from the Snapdragon 410, I think the 636 will be much better, with double my previous phone's ram and 4x the storage, along with a sleek thin bezel design and a glass+alluminium construction. If you have any problems with the device, please tell me about them here, I need to make my purchase within 6 days, so your (and anyone else's) help would be appreciated.
My only other option in this price range is the redmi 9c, or the realme c11 (both of which i dont like because their chipsets are weak and they lack ram, software is also not too good and they run mediatek SoCs, so im not sure about custom roms on those devices).
I'd really appreciate if you could help me out here, sorry for the long post.
Thanks in advance!

fake2die said:
yes it's working perfectly, already tried it on my 6.1 plus ID region.
got the otp code after 3-4 days trying and checking the website constantly.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
And also one other question regarding the bootlaoder unlock. When did you unlock it? I've heard that it might not work if you try it on the android 10 update, but the phone im getting is fully updated, so do you know if it works on android 10 as well? Did you encounter any issues while doing it, or was it straighforward (other than the OTP)?

PhotonIce said:
1. How is the battery life on this device? Some people say it lasts a day on light usage, while others say it lasts about 4 hours (screen on time)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sometimes it is the same. It depends on your individual using mode. Actually, the average battery life is a day of light usage I'm not a gamer.
PhotonIce said:
2. Have you ever experienced the "charging port" issue? Many people have reported a charging port manufacturing problem, which can be fixed by repalcing the port, although some claim that there are still issues after replacing the port as well.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's a pretty annoying problem. I have encountered it since three years of using. But after replacing the charging board my phone works perfectly. Possible bugs associated with this for different users, I think, may arise due to geographical features and using of different bands. Or just a defective board.
PhotonIce said:
4. Do you experience any random reboots, or slow speed/lag?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Reboots and rare slowdowns are inherent in any device, regardless of performance. It all depends on the volume and complexity of the tasks. During normal use there are no friezes and reboots. But this is MY experience.
PhotonIce said:
If you have any problems with the device, please tell me about them here
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
One more unpleasant thing: Another unpleasant thing that also happened after about three years of using was the vibration motor failing. But judging by the reviews of other users, this is not a mass problem, unlike the charging port.

Bookworm Yevgen said:
Sometimes it is the same. It depends on your individual using mode. Actually, the average battery life is a day of light usage I'm not a gamer.
It's a pretty annoying problem. I have encountered it since three years of using. But after replacing the charging board my phone works perfectly. Possible bugs associated with this for different users, I think, may arise due to geographical features and using of different bands. Or just a defective board.
Reboots and rare slowdowns are inherent in any device, regardless of performance. It all depends on the volume and complexity of the tasks. During normal use there are no friezes and reboots. But this is MY experience.
One more unpleasant thing: Another unpleasant thing that also happened after about three years of using was the vibration motor failing. But judging by the reviews of other users, this is not a mass problem, unlike the charging port.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Alright, thank you SO much for the help!
How much did the charging port replacement cost you though? The one I'm buying claims to never have been repaired, so do you think the original port will be fine or will i be forced to get it repaired later on?

A charging board that looks like the original one costs about $5. She works perfectly for me. WiFi, microphone and so on. I ordered it on AliExpress and replaced it myself. So, it cost me less than I would have paid at a service center.
But in this case, you need to have tools and skills to do it yourself.
You can only replace the type-c connector. This is more reliable(I think so...), and the connector itself is cheaper than the board (its cost is about $1.5-2), but the repair is more complicated and requires more serious tools and qualification, which involves soldering the connector.
How long such a repair will work is unknown. The factory connector worked a long time, I wrote above. But this is not a guarantee that a new or refurbished one will work as much.

Alright, thanks for the info
The entire charging port board is only $8 in my area, so that shouldnt be a problem. The adhesive on the back glass isnt too strong is it? I dont want to break the glass when replacing the port if I ever have to.

PhotonIce said:
The adhesive on the back glass isnt too strong is it? I dont want to break the glass
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Watch this video for example.

PhotonIce said:
Thank you so much for the info, im currently looking to upgrade from my galaxy j5 at a low cost, then an ad for a nokia 6.1 plus (4/64) showed up for around £45, with the box and charger. After taking a look at the specs, I just had to buy it, but upon looking for some good custom roms, i found that bootloader unlocking was paid, which didnt suit me. So your reply has really helped out, as now I can purchase the device with confidence!
4 other questions for you though,
1. How is the battery life on this device? Some people say it lasts a day on light usage, while others say it lasts about 4 hours (screen on time)
2. Have you ever experienced the "charging port" issue? Many people have reported a charging port manufacturing problem, which can be fixed by repalcing the port, although some claim that there are still issues after replacing the port as well.
3. Is the smaller screen size annoying? Compared to most of today's phones being 6.2" or so, does it not feel as good to use a smaller screen or do you just not notice? Are the bezel really big? I'm aware of the larger notch (which im actually a fan of), but what about the thickness of the bezels and chin?
4. Do you experience any random reboots, or slow speed/lag? People using the nokia stock rom (android 10) claim that the device will sometimes randomly reboot, and that the performance is terrible one android 10, along with the battery life becoming worse.
My final question is, do you think that it's a good device to upgrade to in 2022? Coming from the Snapdragon 410, I think the 636 will be much better, with double my previous phone's ram and 4x the storage, along with a sleek thin bezel design and a glass+alluminium construction. If you have any problems with the device, please tell me about them here, I need to make my purchase within 6 days, so your (and anyone else's) help would be appreciated.
My only other option in this price range is the redmi 9c, or the realme c11 (both of which i dont like because their chipsets are weak and they lack ram, software is also not too good and they run mediatek SoCs, so im not sure about custom roms on those devices).
I'd really appreciate if you could help me out here, sorry for the long post.
Thanks in advance!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
get other phone, nokia 6.1 plus is not worth for 2022.
fyi, now my phone constantly reboot and looks like my battery had a problem and to replace it i would had to wait 1 month or more.
after searching online, this problem is common in nokia after 3-4 years usage.
so if u had the money, get other phone like redmi note 10 pro or other.

i can get this nokia 6.1 plus used for around $50, while a brand new redmi note 10 costs $250.
Coming from a phone with a snapdragon 410 and terribly slow ram and emmc, this nokia will surely be 4-5x faster in terms of computing power. That's more than enough for me.
Either way, I won't actually be buying it as the listing I saw when I made this post was sold, and the other options aren't in such great condition for around $60.

fake2die said:
get other phone, nokia 6.1 plus is not worth for 2022.
fyi, now my phone constantly reboot and looks like my battery had a problem and to replace it i would had to wait 1 month or more.
after searching online, this problem is common in nokia after 3-4 years usage.
so if u had the money, get other phone like redmi note 10 pro or other.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
About battery life - it's not true as for me. Nokia has good charge controllers and batteries themselves. It all depends largely on the mode of using. Specifically, my nokia 6.1+ has a battery capacity level of 84% from the date of purchase, which is more than three and a half years. In addition I don't observe any random reboots. This is my experience though...

fake2die said:
yes it's working perfectly, already tried it on my 6.1 plus ID region.
got the otp code after 3-4 days trying and checking the website constantly.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hey, will you help me unlock too? I want to understand if i can follow the process on a macbook since i don’t have a windows pc

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