Hey,
We're thinking of getting either the Moto G4 Play or the Samsung J3 for my younger brother (Around 10 years younger), as he may end up needing it, if he uses the buses more, including GPS..
Any how, whilst these phones come with marshmallow, and have an already fantastic battery life, I'd like to squeeze a bit more out of them, and also lock it down a bit. Looking through the ROMs section, they all appear to either be nightlies, or monthlys with no OTA?
I mean if one is relatively stable, that isn't too bad, but also I guess the flip side is that, as this is a relatively new product, I could unlock the bootloader, and root it, ready for flashing something fairly stable
Could any one provide some advice for me?
Thanks
My XT1602 runs with CM13 November 09 build and gapps pico installed. Everything is working fine, no issues.
I have also tried the Squid kernel and CM14, but both seemed to be unstable.
To be fair, the last CM14.1 ROM update felt stable enough for daily use. I had no real problems other than the GPS issue which is plaguing many G4 units, and the only reason I bumped up to Lineage 14.1 was for OTA access. Anyway, looking at GSMArena, the Galaxy J3 has less RAM, a slightly smaller battery, and its CPU is Cortex-A7 (vs the Cortex-A53 of the G4 Play's Snapdragon 410). J3 also lacks an ambient light sensor, apparently. Either way, its GPS is probably better.
I have to second CM 14.1. If it wasn't for the now lack of support I wouldn't have a problem using it at all. The whole reason I switched to Lineage was also the updates.
I apologize for the n00b post, but I just picked up one of these today (unlocked 4GB 64GB storage variant), and I'm trying to get up to speed quickly. Here's what I've found so far and some questions. Can anyone fill me in on whether I'm missing anything important and/or tell me if I'm getting this right?
1) Firstly- I'm surprised to learn the OS is 32 bit on this. I mean, with a 64-bit CPU and 4GB of RAM, would not a 64-bit OS have been beneficial? Yes, I've read the arguments defending Lenovo's choice for 32 bit, but I don't understand them.
I'm coming from a Nextbit Robin which had only 3GB of RAM and 32GB storage, and even that had a 64-bit OS. I wonder, do the benchmarks for things like memory improve when running a custom ROM that is 64 bit? In which case, might that be a reason to consider a custom ROM? Or is there a performance benefit to sticking with 32 bit?
2) Camera. This seems to be a hotly discussed and very polarizing topic. Some people say its great similar hardware to Samsung S7 and a major selling point, some people say its awful and the weakest part of the phone. Very little in between. My initial thought is that the camera must not be very user-friendly, and that's why there is so much polarization. I've spent quite a bit of time as a freelance photographer so I figured I can make this look good... but my initial tests so far are proving weaker than my Nextbit Robin I'm upgrading from. The camera has an awful habit of overexposing bright areas as if the dynamic range is severely limited, and then there's this horrible sharpening effect that makes everything look over processed. Colors also seem oversaturated, but not in the right direction (no smooth falloff of color- harsh contrast instead).
Looking at sample photos online and seeing some mention of somehow using Google's camera API and samples from that have me convinced: The hardware is capable, but is the software just that messed up? What's the deal here, and how are people that like the camera able to get good results from it? Are they just not using stock?
3) Notification LED: So, it turns out there IS an LED on the speaker grill, I can see it when I power on the phone. I googled it and found some info- I guess this isn't set up to blink for notifications, however I see that it can be used to indicate charging status if rooted and a certain app be installed to enable it. I can live without notifications, I have a smartwatch that notifies me of most things, but I would like some sort of visual indication of my charger being unplugged or not (I've woken up to find my phone didn't charge all night), or when charging has finished. Is this something custom roms handle better too?
4) Speaking of Custom ROMs- I'm happy to see there are a few to choose from. This is one of the reasons I bought one unlocked rather than Amazon or VZ (unlockable bootloader). The thing I dislike about custom ROMs, though, is going through them all to find stable ones with the features I want. So I usually wait a little bit and use the phone stock to set my expectations to something realistic, then experiment with customs. But I'm noticing that this phone seems to be a prime example of great hardware that suffers from pretty poor software. I think I might not even want to leave this stock, as it seems the hardware is being severely crippled by the software. Are there custom roms that deliver something more like, erm, what Lenovo SHOULD have released, without veering too far off the beaten path (IE, stable and ready for daily-driver use)?
5) What else should I know about that perhaps I missed or haven't read up on?
64 bit twrp https://forum.xda-developers.com/g5-plus/development/dev-64bits-t3708091
Thanks! So from that thread, I'm seeing that parts of the system still require running in 32-bit. I guess because the hardware-specific drivers are only available in 32-bit? In that case, is there really much of an advantage to 64 over 32? I'm noticing that my available RAM reports being 3.6 instead of 4. Is that because of the 32-bit OS?
If it isn't worth the hassle, I can keep the stock ROM and just root it to allow the Google camera app and perhaps the charging LED thing.
I would just root using magisk, that way it will pass safetynet, which none of the 64 roms will do currently.
Not done this myself with g5 plus, but after reading forum for a few month's, the best reversable way seems to be using fastboot running non system twrp to install, so no system changes made.
This also does not break camera, which is the first complaint people make once system compromised.
@Dishe I'll agree with your comment on the stock software. I've had the Moto Z Play and found that device seems to perform better than the G5+. It's almost like they made this to be degraded. I expected quite the opposite.
If I can have a way to return to stock, then I'll probably root and look for a ROM. I used to use Validus which was very good and has a very active group on Google+. I haven't checked yet but if Pure Nexus is out for this device, it's also a very good ROM. Load up EX Kernel Manager and you have a nice responsive, battery friendly device.
Hey guys, Ive noticed that older devices like oneplus 5t and newer devices like oneplus 7 have better developer support . However, OP6T does not seem to get such love from the devs. Why is that so??
https://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=80538403&postcount=3533
I'll do my best to explain my understanding:
In this current month, OnePlus is pushing out two new phones (7T and 7T Pro) and working on supporting the smart TV they just released in India. The OnePlus 6T is not their primary focus by any standard. They're busy keeping the 7 and 7T series as current as possible to push their sales. I'm not a software developer, and I don't know how big OnePlus' development team is, nor do I know what they're tasked with. I was eager to experience Android 10 on the 6T myself, but the newer devices come first in terms of software support. That's part of the reason why you don't see development moving along very quickly. For the 6T, we don't have official Android 10-based firmware or proper sources to build with. What kinda development is gonna pop up when you have no sources to work with? Not much, I'll tell ya that.
I think op is asking about custom rom support and if so there is one simple answer. There is no need because oos is THAT GOOD! Put that in your survey. And as far as custom roms go the OP 6T has quite a few good choices when compared to the 7 which has almost zero.
Short answer? It's almost a year old. In the "smartphone" world...that's old
Indisplay FP was a massive hold up on top of their quick model releases hence op6 having more options
Hi, I'm just sign in to say calm down, guys, android 10 will officially come this month, check the oneplus telegram channel. Why is this late? 3 reasons here:
Oneplus 7
Oneplus 7t (yes, newer devices always come first when it is about updates)
officially claimed errors in developing the ROM and they don't want to release a piece of sh** as other manufacturers do in order to rush updates --> they want to release an update that can give us that buttery smooth user experienxe we all got used to
Maybe this is a little shortsighted, but I think the wiping the entire device and losing your data thing scares a lot of people away from switching back and forth on this phone and probably slowed the demand down for more custom ROMs. It's very time consuming and easy to screw up if you don't do it all the time. The slow data speed of the USB-c port also plays a role in how slow it is to back up stuff to your PC and then load everything back up after.
I know other OP phones have this issue too, but combine that with the fingerprint problem and the quick release of OP phones since the 6t came out, I think you have a perfect storm of people just happy enough with OOS, and maybe jumping to the beta program.
Having come from a lot of other phone brands in the past, there is a lot less clamoring for certain custom ROMs because people actually like OOS, versus whatever Samsung, LG, or HTC put out in years past. Just my opinion though.
Google implementation is not always the best Devs try to do the best but sometimes things not help in this case the encryption by hardware plus partitions a/b and the massive headache for most people and devs trying to make things a lot easier for example look here OP6T Custom Roms everyone has different flashing instructions……make sense? And maybe One Plus is to pay the Google failures implementing things that in the long run need be reverted well this is my opinion in Android world
xgerryx said:
Maybe this is a little shortsighted, but I think the wiping the entire device and losing your data thing scares a lot of people away from switching back and forth on this phone and probably slowed the demand down for more custom ROMs. It's very time consuming and easy to screw up if you don't do it all the time. The slow data speed of the USB-c port also plays a role in how slow it is to back up stuff to your PC and then load everything back up after.
I know other OP phones have this issue too, but combine that with the fingerprint problem and the quick release of OP phones since the 6t came out, I think you have a perfect storm of people just happy enough with OOS, and maybe jumping to the beta program.
Having come from a lot of other phone brands in the past, there is a lot less clamoring for certain custom ROMs because people actually like OOS, versus whatever Samsung, LG, or HTC put out in years past. Just my opinion though.
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I personally hate OOS - crappy UI and battery guzzler.
I cant change fonts , no theme support etc without root unlike many manufacturers like Huawei and Samsung.
Plus, the so called "speed" is not there on my phone - stock oos is laggy af
The only custom ROM that seems to work in a stable fashion (except fingerprints) is cr droid - other roms dont seem to work and always fail to install on my Oneplus 6T.
I regret buying this phone - i had the oneplus one earlier and it still has better rom support despite being obsolete.
I shall never buy a OnePlus again - maybe Samsung or Huawei it is for the next time..
chcheetah said:
I personally hate OOS - crappy UI and battery guzzler.
I cant change fonts , no theme support etc without root unlike many manufacturers like Huawei and Samsung.
Plus, the so called "speed" is not there on my phone - stock oos is laggy af
The only custom ROM that seems to work in a stable fashion (except fingerprints) is cr droid - other roms dont seem to work and always fail to install on my Oneplus 6T.
I regret buying this phone - i had the oneplus one earlier and it still has better rom support despite being obsolete.
I shall never buy a OnePlus again - maybe Samsung or Huawei it is for the next time..
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I have to respectfully disagree. I know everyone's experience is their own and all have varying opinions on software.
However, OOS is highly regarded as one of the best "stock" Android operating systems on the market. It's very close to vanilla Android as what the pixel devices run. I've been a Nexus/pixel user since the Nexus 5 and left the Google line to check out this whole OnePlus hype that came with a smaller price tag.
I regret nothing about purchasing this phone. OOS is phenomenal. It's basically vanilla Android with subtle improvements in the UI that just make sense and create a more fluid experience without thinking about it. The RAM on this phone is ridiculous and has a ton of speed. My pixel use to get hot all the time with intense use....I can't remember the last time my 6t heated up on me (keep in mind I don't game on my phone).
As for third party development, I think we have it pretty good. There's at least 5 stable custom ROMs to choose from and hell I lost count on the kernels. I'm running skydragon ROM and easily push over 7hrs of SOT daily. Easily change system fonts and colors.
Not to mention edXposed is a thing now. You can run Xposed on stock OOS install gravity box (the king of themeing) and make your phone look ENTIRELY different.
All I'm trying to say is, we have it pretty damn good. I'll be running and crack flashing this phone for at least another year.
Pain-N-Panic said:
I have to respectfully disagree. I know everyone's experience is their own and all have varying opinions on software.
However, OOS is highly regarded as one of the best "stock" Android operating systems on the market. It's very close to vanilla Android as what the pixel devices run. I've been a Nexus/pixel user since the Nexus 5 and left the Google line to check out this whole OnePlus hype that came with a smaller price tag.
I regret nothing about purchasing this phone. OOS is phenomenal. It's basically vanilla Android with subtle improvements in the UI that just make sense and create a more fluid experience without thinking about it. The RAM on this phone is ridiculous and has a ton of speed. My pixel use to get hot all the time with intense use....I can't remember the last time my 6t heated up on me (keep in mind I don't game on my phone).
As for third party development, I think we have it pretty good. There's at least 5 stable custom ROMs to choose from and hell I lost count on the kernels. I'm running skydragon ROM and easily push over 7hrs of SOT daily. Easily change system fonts and colors.
Not to mention edXposed is a thing now. You can run Xposed on stock OOS install gravity box (the king of themeing) and make your phone look ENTIRELY different.
All I'm trying to say is, we have it pretty damn good. I'll be running and crack flashing this phone for at least another year.
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Well maybe your phone won the silicon lottery- cuz my phone doesn't seem to be as fast as its competition.
I have the 8 gig ram model - just below the McLaren edition. It has had issues from the time I've bought it - constant lag , overheating while on oos.
I took.it.for diagnosis to oneplus service centre - they had no clue as to what was happening!
Then, what i decided to.do was to search for custom ROMs . I found that there were no stable ROMs and i had to bear the stock rom till i found a semi stable build of cr droid. What i feel is that ever since oneplus has released this specific phone, they have gone lax on software and have stopped actually innovating (not in terms of hardware, in terms of their initial outreach for solid budget friendly nexus esque devices that have unfortunately imo now bloated into the expensive POS gimmicks they sell now.)
Just in case you want to know what oos i had , i had oos 9.0.10. I couldn't even play any YouTube or audio, forget phonecalls.
But that might not.be the case for you - chinese phones tend to follow this trend of lottery and maybe the way people use their phones varies.
Haha, there is plenty of development. Those talking about Huawei and Samsung, buy one of their new phones and see how much development there is....
OhioYJ said:
Haha, there is plenty of development. Those talking about Huawei and Samsung, buy one of their new phones and see how much development there is....
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Atleast their phones can play youtube on stock rom ha ha
chcheetah said:
Well maybe your phone won the silicon lottery- cuz my phone doesn't seem to be as fast as its competition.
I have the 8 gig ram model - just below the McLaren edition. It has had issues from the time I've bought it - constant lag , overheating while on oos.
I took.it.for diagnosis to oneplus service centre - they had no clue as to what was happening!
Then, what i decided to.do was to search for custom ROMs . I found that there were no stable ROMs and i had to bear the stock rom till i found a semi stable build of cr droid. What i feel is that ever since oneplus has released this specific phone, they have gone lax on software and have stopped actually innovating (not in terms of hardware, in terms of their initial outreach for solid budget friendly nexus esque devices that have unfortunately imo now bloated into the expensive POS gimmicks they sell now.)
Just in case you want to know what oos i had , i had oos 9.0.10. I couldn't even play any YouTube or audio, forget phonecalls.
But that might not.be the case for you - chinese phones tend to follow this trend of lottery and maybe the way people use their phones varies.
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Hi, McLaren user here.
Before buying this device I was using Pixel 2XL, my 6T destroys it completely in performance, I know 835 vs 845 isn't a fair comparison, but the difference is too much to blame the processor, a thing as simple as taking a picture is an extremely slow process in my Pixel because when I open the camera app I have to wait 3-4 seconds to take the picture (The app opens, but the viewfinder is black and the shutter button can't be pressed) while with this device it's: open the camera and the app is ready to take the picture, and the performance in general (Transitions, apps opening, etc, etc) is much better on this device, I don't remember having lag or some kind of slowdown on this device (You should never say never, but I think that this case could be an exception), I'm not a "light" user, I use my device for work, studies and life in general.
I only remember one episode of overheating and it was my fault (Summer, the device was charging and I had the great idea of playing asfalt 8, yes you can call me dumb lol). Maybe it's a hardware problem? It seems too strange to me, I know many people with this device and the only problems in common are: The terrible memory management that OOS does, and the quality of the camera.
Regarding custom roms: for almost two months I was using AOSIP 9 + Neutrino, and I was very happy, I even had the feeling that the fingerprint sensor worked better in that rom than in OOS and the memory management great (A huge amount of apps loaded in memory without any problem, that was a pleasure), a week ago I flashed AOSIP 10 and I was quite surprised, obviously it was not as stable as 9 but I was expecting something worse sincerely, I went back to OOS because the safetynet failed and I use Google Pay quite often, but ignoring that problem I think I could use it as a daily driver without major problems.
I think my comments seem very pro-OnePlus but my experience with this device is very good, and as I said before I find the problems you have very strange, maybe you should send the device to OnePlus again, saying that you have some super strange problem or something so so weird like: hey, my device starts lagging and then shuts down randomly, I don't know, maybe you are lucky and they send you a new one.
Edit: Answering the main thread question:
The OnePlus 6 had many users, and the 6 > 6T change was not a great evolution, then the 7 and 7Pro were released, so many switched to that device.
In addition, the on-screen fingerprint sensor was something new, Android did not support it natively and each OEM opted for its own implementation, OnePlus made a somewhat strange implementation by calling it somehow, phhusson did reverse engineering of the Xiaomi HAL and made great contributions to this device, that helped a lot, but perhaps those contributions came too late, OnePlus 7 was very close to being launched and many people were waiting for it to make the swtich.
onliner said:
Hi, McLaren user here.
Before buying this device I was using Pixel 2XL, my 6T destroys it completely in performance, I know 835 vs 845 isn't a fair comparison, but the difference is too much to blame the processor, a thing as simple as taking a picture is an extremely slow process in my Pixel, and the performance in general (Transitions, apps opening, etc, etc) is much better on this device, I don't remember having lag or some kind of slowdown on this device (You should never say never, but I think that this case could be an exception), I'm not a "light" user, I use my device for work, studies and life in general.
I only remember one episode of overheating and it was my fault (Summer, the device was charging and I had the great idea of playing asfalt 8, yes you can call me dumb lol). Maybe it's a hardware problem? It seems too strange to me, I know many people with this device and the only problems in common are: The terrible memory management that OOS does, and the quality of the camera.
Regarding custom roms: for almost two months I was using AOSIP 9 + Neutrino, and I was very happy, I even had the feeling that the fingerprint sensor worked better in that rom than in OOS and the memory management great (A huge amount of apps loaded in memory without any problem, that was a pleasure), a week ago I flashed AOSIP 10 and I was quite surprised, obviously it was not as stable as 9 but I was expecting something worse sincerely, I went back to OOS because the safetynet failed and I use Google Pay quite often, but ignoring that problem I think I could use it as a daily driver without major problems.
I think my comments seem very pro-OnePlus but my experience with this device is very good, and as I said before I find the problems you have very strange, maybe you should send the device to OnePlus again, saying that you have some super strange problem or something so so weird like: hey, my device starts lagging and then shuts down randomly, I don't know, maybe you are lucky and they send you a new one.
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Hmm your suggestion sounds right - lemme try contacting the OnePlus service centre again.
I honestly love the look and feel of the OnePlus 6T ( i have the mirror black- almost similar to McLaren except for the lack of orange shimmer) but the constant lag and overheating made me write such a negative view of the device.
Plus , sadly the dev scene is not so hot as their older phone ( Remember OnePlus One - how cool the modding scene was for that phone )
Moto G5 Plus was released in early 2017, and to many of us, it is a 3+ year old phone. Fast forward to 2020, many phones are still launching with 4GB RAM at the same price point. To many of us who do not game, Snapdragon 625 is a good enough processor for our daily tasks. Also, the 12 MP f/1.7 shooter can shoot some wonderful shots using GCam in well lit conditions.
Some of us have moved on to newer devices, but others have some valid reasons to hold on to this device for longer.
In this context, what steps do you take to increase the longevity of your Moto G5 Plus?
As a starter, I do the following:
Use Pixel Experience ROM to get monthly security patches and run Android 10
Use Naptime to reduce standby drain, so as to minimize charging my device everyday to preserve battery cycles.
Uninstall apps that I don't use and enable background battery usage restrictions in Android 10.
Kindly share your list of things that you do to extend the lifespan of your device.
Hi!
Recently i upgraded from Stock Android 8.1 to Arrow-OS (android 10) and it runs very well.
The only problem can be the accu which seem to become weaker. And a Accu change is very complex for this phone (i watched the videos)
I currently have no reason to change the phone. I have no problems with the speed of the phone but i am not the Action-Game player on Android!
So i hope that i can use it for another year until new Android 11 phones came out.
Tanzbaerli said:
Hi!
Recently i upgraded from Stock Android 8.1 to Arrow-OS (android 10) and it runs very well.
The only problem can be the accu which seem to become weaker. And a Accu change is very complex for this phone (i watched the videos)
I currently have no reason to change the phone. I have no problems with the speed of the phone but i am not the Action-Game player on Android!
So i hope that i can use it for another year until new Android 11 phones came out.
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Nice choice you made there! I will also keep this phone for another year, as it meets my daily usage requirements perfectly. Android 11 is going to bring more components that can get updated directly via Project Mainline, so I look forward to Google partially fixing the Android fragmentation problems. I don't use Arrow OS, as dark mode does not make the dialer dark during the last time I tried it. I'm also interested to check out Dirty Unicorns 14.2 for potter, but it's not available via XDA.
By accu, do you mean Accumulator? Then that would be quite difficult to change.
debopriyobasu said:
By accu, do you mean Accumulator? Then that would be quite difficult to change.
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Yes, thats the only problem that could force me to buy a new phone earlier. My experience is that the acuumulator can becomer very weak very fast. On my next phone, i will definitely only buy one where the accumulator can be changed easily. I even use my old Nexus 9 with an new accumulator (there the change was very easy).
I am very happy that so good custom roms exist for the Moto G5 plus. Most of the roms i tried for other devices are not as good as Arrow OS for the G5plus. I never expected that!
More than 3 years good usabilty of a phone which originally costed me 260 Euros. Great!!
I hope you guys can inform me on my inquiry since this will be the first time i will use an android device mainly for gaming, please bear with me.
Right now i'm using my S7 as my gaming phone (and don't mind it being charged all the time since the battery is almost at 60% total capacity) that's running Android 9.0. I was wondering if by changing the version of the OS, to either a higher or lower one would improve the overall performance of the device in terms of gaming? I was also thinking that changing the OS would just be negligible because gaming performance isn't affected by the version of the OS but rather the silicon inside?
Gaming performance depends heavily on software optimizations. Although android 9 and 10 are available for the s7 line, they are ported from other devices (as great a job as developers do, they are not as efficient). Official release OS's with a custom kernel would be the ideal set up for gaming.
Rehvix said:
Gaming performance depends heavily on software optimizations. Although android 9 and 10 are available for the s7 line, they are ported from other devices (as great a job as developers do, they are not as efficient). Official release OS's with a custom kernel would be the ideal set up for gaming.
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So switching back to stock can also help in the heat generation of the device while gaming?