Related
Hello there, I figured since we can't unlock the boot loader we need to take every advantage we can for speed. First, even though it's a low resource launcher, I replaced it was apus and have had great results on open ram.
2. There are many services you can disable from Motorola and Verizon without negative effects. This can be done through the running processes menu in apps,I recommend disabling first then uninstalling if possible. I wish I had a list of the ones I disabled but I wasn't taking notes at the time.
3. If the moto notification tool is still running after installing apus them disable it in settings, even with the Google launcher I recommend doing this.
4. Enable developer options, and move the animations to .5 or off.
5. Reboot to recycle your ram and see how your experience is. Hope this helps someone, I am much happier with the performance now.
These are my disabled services, + Verizon navigator
Free RAM during normal usage to compare
Need list for disabled app ..
Smartphones these days are Super Fast and powerful, At least on paper! Never let your smartphones down in front of others. Your smartphones can perform better than you expect, even without Rooting it! Excited? Well without wasting your time, Let’s start!
Remove your Bloatware
Well, bloatware is common with almost all smartphones. Even Redmi devices packs with hell tons of bloat in it! If your phone has RAM of 3GB or above it’s okay. But if it has 2GB or 1GB of RAM, pain! There are many tutorials available showing how to remove bloat on Any android without root. But it’s sort of risky if you are a noob. But the good thing is you can remove the bloat in most of the android devices, I mean manufacturers are giving the option to uninstall unnecessary bloat. But some Google apps and brand based apps can’t be uninstalled by the way! The only thing you can do is just disabling them. Open settings, open application settings and disable unwanted apps. By doing this you can also save lots of battery.
2. RECENT
The Recent feature in Android is everyone’s favorite. As Android is upgrading Recents were also upgraded. The latest version Android 7 (Nougat) added a new feature to it’s recent. Yes, it’s multi-window mode. Apart from that, even you got 2 or 3 gigs of RAM while multi-tasking phone slow down and puts pressure on battery and phone tends to heat up! To avoid this just clear the apps after locking your device. Yes, Android system knows when to stop background activities but clearing tasks are necessary.
3. Managing Internal Storage
In the quarter two of 2016, the entire game of smartphones is changed. Brands started launching phones with a minimum of 2GB of RAM and 16GB of on boot storage. Well, it’s decent enough for an average user, But the hybrid slots. Okay, now let’s get to the point! The major important thing of Android is it’s internal storage obviously. It’s a physical memory where users can store all their files. Better buy a phone with a minimum of 16gigs of ROM. So that you can manage it for years. Store what you want in internal storage. I mean just keep the files which you access daily! Better spend 50–100 bugs and buy an OTG-Cable and an extra 4 or 8 GB pen drive. Store all your movies, TV shows kind of stuff in it and you can use the OTG on the go.
5. REMOVE UNNECESSARY WIDGETS FROM HOMESCREEN.
Android home screen, extremely customizable! Yes, we need to utilize that! But up to some extent. Widgets slow down your device. Now you may think, widgets? Really? Yes. Widgets occupy the space of Random access memory i.e., RAM and tasks in the background. So it’s better to use as many fewer widgets as possible. In my opinion, one clock widget and a search widget is enough. Anyways you can access Google Assistant on the go! So search widget is optional too.
6. Don’t fall into AUTO-SYNC! It’s a trap.
Almost every student or teenager is a social freak. Previously only Facebook, WhatsApp are on the play. But now Instagram, Snapchat, Gmail, Yahoo, Twitter etc, are added to the list. It’s the very good thing that you are aware of all social media. But you are not aware of Auto – Sync!! Auto-Sync kills your smartphone’s performance and it effects a lot on battery too! Let me explain if you are connected to many accounts on your smartphone. All those accounts will be saved in Accounts section in settings. But if the auto-sync is turned on, it keeps on syncing your accounts which reduce the performance of your Android device. So disable it and make your Android fast. Turning off Auto-sync saves lots of your battery life too.
7. Stop using Cleaning Apps like Clean Master and all.
Lot’s of famous technology sites say that use Du booster or Use clean Master for boosting your Android device. But, no use! Rather they will kill your device. What happens is in the process of boosting, those cleaners will kill your apps in the background, So apps take lots of time to open. It affects Random access memory and put pressure on battery. It’s better to keep your device away from that kind of cleaning apps. Here is a detailed article by our Team Member Dinesh.
Does Usage of System Cleaning Apps Really Increase Device’s Performance?
8. Using a right Launcher!
Sometimes your device may lag a lot! Even after you follow all the above steps, then it’s time to change your Launcher. If you are a third party launcher user, this happens to you. Shift to Nova Launcher or ASAP launcher. As this kind of launchers doesn’t consume your RAM. My suggestion is to go with nova. You can customize it as you want.
So these are some simple steps in which you can make your smartphone faster. Well, that pretty much it for this small article.
TechRagon said:
Smartphones these days are Super Fast and powerful, At least on paper! Never let your smartphones down in front of others. Your smartphones can perform better than you expect, even without Rooting it! Excited? Well without wasting your time, Let’s start!
Remove your Bloatware
Well, bloatware is common with almost all smartphones. Even Redmi devices packs with hell tons of bloat in it! If your phone has RAM of 3GB or above it’s okay. But if it has 2GB or 1GB of RAM, pain! There are many tutorials available showing how to remove bloat on Any android without root. But it’s sort of risky if you are a noob. But the good thing is you can remove the bloat in most of the android devices, I mean manufacturers are giving the option to uninstall unnecessary bloat. But some Google apps and brand based apps can’t be uninstalled by the way! The only thing you can do is just disabling them. Open settings, open application settings and disable unwanted apps. By doing this you can also save lots of battery.
2. RECENT
The Recent feature in Android is everyone’s favorite. As Android is upgrading Recents were also upgraded. The latest version Android 7 (Nougat) added a new feature to it’s recent. Yes, it’s multi-window mode. Apart from that, even you got 2 or 3 gigs of RAM while multi-tasking phone slow down and puts pressure on battery and phone tends to heat up! To avoid this just clear the apps after locking your device. Yes, Android system knows when to stop background activities but clearing tasks are necessary.
3. Managing Internal Storage
In the quarter two of 2016, the entire game of smartphones is changed. Brands started launching phones with a minimum of 2GB of RAM and 16GB of on boot storage. Well, it’s decent enough for an average user, But the hybrid slots. Okay, now let’s get to the point! The major important thing of Android is it’s internal storage obviously. It’s a physical memory where users can store all their files. Better buy a phone with a minimum of 16gigs of ROM. So that you can manage it for years. Store what you want in internal storage. I mean just keep the files which you access daily! Better spend 50–100 bugs and buy an OTG-Cable and an extra 4 or 8 GB pen drive. Store all your movies, TV shows kind of stuff in it and you can use the OTG on the go.
5. REMOVE UNNECESSARY WIDGETS FROM HOMESCREEN.
Android home screen, extremely customizable! Yes, we need to utilize that! But up to some extent. Widgets slow down your device. Now you may think, widgets? Really? Yes. Widgets occupy the space of Random access memory i.e., RAM and tasks in the background. So it’s better to use as many fewer widgets as possible. In my opinion, one clock widget and a search widget is enough. Anyways you can access Google Assistant on the go! So search widget is optional too.
6. Don’t fall into AUTO-SYNC! It’s a trap.
Almost every student or teenager is a social freak. Previously only Facebook, WhatsApp are on the play. But now Instagram, Snapchat, Gmail, Yahoo, Twitter etc, are added to the list. It’s the very good thing that you are aware of all social media. But you are not aware of Auto – Sync!! Auto-Sync kills your smartphone’s performance and it effects a lot on battery too! Let me explain if you are connected to many accounts on your smartphone. All those accounts will be saved in Accounts section in settings. But if the auto-sync is turned on, it keeps on syncing your accounts which reduce the performance of your Android device. So disable it and make your Android fast. Turning off Auto-sync saves lots of your battery life too.
7. Stop using Cleaning Apps like Clean Master and all.
Lot’s of famous technology sites say that use Du booster or Use clean Master for boosting your Android device. But, no use! Rather they will kill your device. What happens is in the process of boosting, those cleaners will kill your apps in the background, So apps take lots of time to open. It affects Random access memory and put pressure on battery. It’s better to keep your device away from that kind of cleaning apps. Here is a detailed article by our Team Member Dinesh.
Does Usage of System Cleaning Apps Really Increase Device’s Performance?
8. Using a right Launcher!
Sometimes your device may lag a lot! Even after you follow all the above steps, then it’s time to change your Launcher. If you are a third party launcher user, this happens to you. Shift to Nova Launcher or ASAP launcher. As this kind of launchers doesn’t consume your RAM. My suggestion is to go with nova. You can customize it as you want.
So these are some simple steps in which you can make your smartphone faster. Well, that pretty much it for this small article.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
can i remove the blootware with out root? i'm not willing taking the risk of root
TechRagon said:
2. RECENT
The Recent feature in Android is everyone’s favorite. As Android is upgrading Recents were also upgraded. The latest version Android 7 (Nougat) added a new feature to it’s recent. Yes, it’s multi-window mode. Apart from that, even you got 2 or 3 gigs of RAM while multi-tasking phone slow down and puts pressure on battery and phone tends to heat up! To avoid this just clear the apps after locking your device. Yes, Android system knows when to stop background activities but clearing tasks are necessary.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's the biggest bull**** I've recently read. Before you will write any guide, make a research first.
Apps left in recents doesn't drain your battery moreover that behavior saves battery life, because CPU doesn't have to load app from internal storage to RAM over and over again when you kill it.
kubapl66 said:
That's the biggest bull**** I've recently read. Before you will write any guide, make a research first.
Apps left in recents doesn't drain your battery moreover that behavior saves battery life, because CPU doesn't have to load app from internal storage to RAM over and over again when you kill it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
True true!!
One little suggestion. Use Flick launcher instead of Nova.
kubapl66 said:
That's the biggest bull**** I've recently read. Before you will write any guide, make a research first.
Apps left in recents doesn't drain your battery moreover that behavior saves battery life, because CPU doesn't have to load app from internal storage to RAM over and over again when you kill it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
100% agreed!
anyone who did the nougat update, can you post some screenshots? i am debating whether to do the upgrade or leave well enough alone. one post mentioned that th recent apps window was sub-standard. any other good and bad?
mark2573 said:
anyone who did the nougat update, can you post some screenshots? i am debating whether to do the upgrade or leave well enough alone. one post mentioned that th recent apps window was sub-standard. any other good and bad?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, I'm curious as well..i want to know if this update is going to be worth it
I did update to Nougat. My use is very limited but I find battery timing much improved and multi window is way better.
first of all - if you're satisfied with your device as it is don't update! It (unfortunately) doesn't get any better. They removed two important features - at least for me. There are no floating apps anymore - so if you want to use the small version of (for example) the google play music player while you're browsing you will have to use the splitscreen with dramatically decreased space for your browser left. So basically this means less convenience for you. The other thing is the (absolutely) useless "recent apps" view. In the past the whole screen was used by displaying the apps as tiles - now you only see them in the (for big tablet screens) useless card view.
Sorry - i always hate it when something really good just gets abandoned and replaced by something far inferior
I also found out, that manufacturers of 10"+ Tablets are encouraged to implement the native Android N freeform mode - so why has lenovo left this out of their update? I hope it gets back on the device with a later update.
P.S.: Android 7.0 CDD states that:
Device implementations with screen size xlarge SHOULD support freeform mode.
In the parlance of this CDD, there appear to be three levels of endorsement: SHOULD, STRONLY ENCOURAGED, and MUST. SHOULD is the weakest of the three, but it is still an endorsement.
NiffStipples said:
first of all - if you're satisfied with your device as it is don't update! It (unfortunately) doesn't get any better. They removed two important features - at least for me. There are no floating apps anymore - so if you want to use the small version of (for example) the google play music player while you're browsing you will have to use the splitscreen with dramatically decreased space for your browser left. So basically this means less convenience for you. The other thing is the (absolutely) useless "recent apps" view. In the past the whole screen was used by displaying the apps as tiles - now you only see them in the (for big tablet screens) useless card view.
Sorry - i always hate it when something really good just gets abandoned and replaced by something far inferior
I also found out, that manufacturers of 10"+ Tablets are encouraged to implement the native Android N freeform mode - so why has lenovo left this out of their update? I hope it gets back on the device with a later update.
P.S.: Android 7.0 CDD states that:
Device implementations with screen size xlarge SHOULD support freeform mode.
In the parlance of this CDD, there appear to be three levels of endorsement: SHOULD, STRONLY ENCOURAGED, and MUST. SHOULD is the weakest of the three, but it is still an endorsement.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks buddy. I think I'm better off skipping this update.
Wrong, wrong, wrong
NiffStipples said:
first of all - if you're satisfied with your device as it is don't update! It (unfortunately) doesn't get any better. They removed two important features - at least for me. There are no floating apps anymore - so if you want to use the small version of (for example) the google play music player while you're browsing you will have to use the splitscreen with dramatically decreased space for your browser left. So basically this means less convenience for you. The other thing is the (absolutely) useless "recent apps" view. In the past the whole screen was used by displaying the apps as tiles - now you only see them in the (for big tablet screens) useless card view.
Sorry - i always hate it when something really good just gets abandoned and replaced by something far inferior
I also found out, that manufacturers of 10"+ Tablets are encouraged to implement the native Android N freeform mode - so why has lenovo left this out of their update? I hope it gets back on the device with a later update.
P.S.: Android 7.0 CDD states that:
Device implementations with screen size xlarge SHOULD support freeform mode.
In the parlance of this CDD, there appear to be three levels of endorsement: SHOULD, STRONLY ENCOURAGED, and MUST. SHOULD is the weakest of the three, but it is still an endorsement.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
First of all, updates are really important for android devices in general. And especially for manufacturers like Lenovo which is known to let their product outdated pretty early. Personally, I'm impressed this time they updated to Android N even before schedule, and I'm hoping they continue releasing updates not to let this amazing product die.
As for the features you talk about:
1) floating windows in freeform is natively supported in android N and just need to be enabled in developer options (one of the last entries under App category). You can install "Taskbar" app to launch all of your apps in window mode by using the native method, and resize them as you like by dragging on the bottom-right corner (which previously was not possible).
2) It is true that Task manager with tiles view was a more clean way to switch between apps on this device, but the needing of double-pressing the TAB button when alt-tabbing beween apps, always made it uneffective and uncomfortable to me. Now ALT-TAB switch between apps just flawlessly as in a standard computer. Hence, i'm really happy with that.
3) I find overall performance have gotten slightly better with the recent N update: i can notice that in the UI and in games too! other users on other threads are talking about a slightly better battery performance too, so it seems like they optimized the hardware support somehow.
morrolinux said:
First of all, updates are really important for android devices in general. And especially for manufacturers like Lenovo which is known to let their product outdated pretty early. Personally, I'm impressed this time they updated to Android N even before schedule, and I'm hoping they continue releasing updates not to let this amazing product die.
As for the features you talk about:
1) floating windows in freeform is natively supported in android N and just need to be enabled in developer options (one of the last entries under App category). You can install "Taskbar" app to launch all of your apps in window mode by using the native method, and resize them as you like by dragging on the bottom-right corner (which previously was not possible).
2) It is true that Task manager with tiles view was a more clean way to switch between apps on this device, but the needing of double-pressing the TAB button when alt-tabbing beween apps, always made it uneffective and uncomfortable to me. Now ALT-TAB switch between apps just flawlessly as in a standard computer. Hence, i'm really happy with that.
3) I find overall performance have gotten slightly better with the recent N update: i can notice that in the UI and in games too! other users on other threads are talking about a slightly better battery performance too, so it seems like they optimized the hardware support somehow.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the suggestion of taskbar - i've already tried it before and imho it's just not that convenient as a rom included solution. Beside the fact that you would have to use an unnecessary extra app for a native android function, it's not really intuitive in it's handling - but i have to admit, that every user will see that different depending on their needs My question is just why lenovo hasn't implemented this standard feature in a neat and handy way?
Speaking of different user needs/requirements - i've personally never used the Alt-Tab combi on my tab. In my daily use i use it most of the time in tent mode without the keyboard.
As to the performance - i didn't really noticed a change here. But in my opinion it was already really snappy before the update so maybe i can't rate that improvement. Maybe the animations between app switches got nicer but it's possible that i deactivated them before the update by myself - so nevermind
Guys, can somebody upload Noughat update otapackage?
I do not have a device but i need this to borrow graphic drivers.
After update to Nougat, battery drain in idle status doesn`t happen anymore. After a day idle, it takes only like 1-2% of battery. At least it is worth to me.
I'm on B130 and I'm not sure if we get that Update. If anyone has an information, please let us know!
PIC-LX9C432B130
Gesendet von meinem PIC-LX9 mit Tapatalk
About Oreo - I Don’t Know, but if you want update to the latest ROM (PIC-LX9C432B150/151) you need to use FF https://forum.xda-developers.com/tools/general/huawei-firmware-finder-team-mt-t3469146
EMUI 8.0 for PIC-AL00 - PIC-AL00C00B311
EMUI 8.0 not only brings you the latest version of Android (8.0), it's also boosted with a lot of great features and improvements to make your device more intuitive, faster and safer. We highly recommend updating now.
Recommended level: ★★★★★
● Smarter
Smart recommendations anticipate the services you need and give you timely suggestions. HiVoice can check your system, and search for settings at your command. And HiBoard lets you track your packages and manage bookmarked articles with ease.
● Faster
AI-based optimizations deliver greater stability, fluidity, and speed. The system boots faster, videos are more fluid, and image thumbnails load in a flash.
● Safer
Updates to TrustSpace, Find my phone, and PrivateSpace offer greater payment security, more robust system and app security, and enhanced privacy.
New ways of interacting
● Adds a feature enabling you to add 3D dynamic images to Magazine unlock images. Enjoy images from different angles.
● A new floating Navigation dock lets you perform frequently-used operations from anywhere on the screen.
● Newly added home screen shortcuts let you quickly access the app features you use most frequently. Simply touch and hold an app icon to display a shortcut menu.
● Enjoy exclusive preloaded theme.
Smart features
● HiTouch lets you quickly isolate keywords from onscreen text and get links to related services such as restaurants, hotels, movies, and more. Simply hold two fingers on the text to generate keyword and service cards.
● HiVoice communicates with you more fluidly and understands you better. Use simple voice commands to enable or disable features such as Bluetooth and Wi-Fi, or ask for information about the status of your device (Voice commands only available in Chinese).
● Smart tips recommend you faster and smarter ways to operate your phone, appearing in specific usage scenarios and responding to your usage habits.
● HiBoard (accessed by swiping right on the home screen) now features a Save for later feature that lets you save social media posts and news articles as cards for later reading.
● HiBoard now features an Instant access feature that lets you access frequently used services in a single step. Make QR code payments, hail a taxi, or make a restaurant reservation with ease.
● HiBoard now features delivery cards that you can use to keep track of your packages. Get onscreen collection prompts when you approach parcel lockers.
Enhanced security
● The PrivateSpace menu has been optimized, making it easier to create a PrivateSpace on your device. Files can now be moved between the MainSpace and PrivateSpace with ease.
● TrustSpace now provides protection for more than 500 apps.
● Find my phone now lets you track your phone's movements and extend its battery life to increase your chances of retrieving it.
Higher efficiency
● Contacts and Email now let you sync the career details of your LinkedIn contacts.
● Settings has been redesigned for clearer and more intuitive organization. Voice commands can now be used to search for and change settings.
● Gallery now features a recycle bin that retains deleted photos for up to 30 days. Accidentally deleted photos can be restored with a single touch.
● Phone Manager has been simplified to make managing your device easier. Standard cleanups are faster and deep cleanups more thorough.
● Recorder now features speech-to-text conversion.
● Your device can now connect to two different Bluetooth devices simultaneously, such as a band and a car.
1. Automatic time zone uses location information to set a time zone when Location information is enabled.
2. Due to the redesign of Settings, the location of certification logos, legal information, and regulatory information (if applicable) has been altered.
3. To improve your experience, Smart notifications will be updated when you are connected to Wi-Fi. You can disable auto-updates in Settings.
1. This update will not erase your personal data, but we recommend that you back up any important data before updating.
2. Some third-party apps that are not compatible with Android 8.0 may function incorrectly after the update. It is recommended that you update these apps to their latest versions in HiApp.
3. This system version can be rolled back to the official version of EMUI 5.1 using HiSuite. Rolling back the system version will erase your personal data. Please back up your data in advance. For more information, please contact the customer service hotline.
4. If you encounter any issues, you can go to HiCare, Huawei Club, or call the official helpline at 400-830-8300 or 800-830-8300 (landline).
5. Your home screen layout may be rearranged slightly.
Hi guys...so, is there some news about how Oreo is doing with the Nova 2 device?
Got Update yesterday
Hey there, i got Android 8.0.0 on PIC-LX9 via OTA yesterday
Everything works fine.
Roborootomat said:
Hey there, i got Android 8.0.0 on PIC-LX9 via OTA yesterday
Everything works fine.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hello...I have the same model but I m living in Europe...where are you from?
In Germany
Shurykan said:
Hello...I have the same model but I m living in Europe...where are you from?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi,
I am from Germany
Greetings!
Hi...
My actual version is PIC-LX9 but the phone was originally a PIC-AL00...so I don't know witch version I should install on the phone for the update by Firmware Finder..... HELP !
Thanks
Roborootomat said:
Hi,
I am from Germany
Greetings!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hello...so...Are you happy with Oreo? is it good? is it better? How is the camera?
Thanks !
Shurykan said:
Hello...so...Are you happy with Oreo? is it good? is it better? How is the camera?
Thanks !
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Everything works fine.
I can use the Nova about 3 days without charging.
Camera got, from my point of view, a litte bit poorer.
Roborootomat said:
Everything works fine.
I can use the Nova about 3 days without charging.
Camera got, from my point of view, a litte bit poorer.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I choose this phone over the Honor 8 because of the camera.....!
Since is very difficult to obtain information about this model, I really don't know if it's just a feeling that you've got about the camera or it's really poorer...it's what happened to Honor 6x after updating to Nougat...
Why are you feeling that the camera is poorer....?
Shurykan said:
I choose this phone over the Honor 8 because of the camera.....!
Since is very difficult to obtain information about this model, I really don't know if it's just a feeling that you've got about the camera or it's really poorer...it's what happened to Honor 6x after updating to Nougat...
Why are you feeling that the camera is poorer....?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It seems like, that the Pictures at bad light conditions, are more poor then before the Update.
At good weatherconditions, the Pictures are really good (like before)
Macro Picutes are also good.
Roborootomat said:
It seems like, that the Pictures at bad light conditions, are more poor then before the Update.
At good weatherconditions, the Pictures are really good (like before)
Macro Picutes are also good.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Too bad... It's a deal-breaker for me.... ??
Is it possible to perform a rollback?
Shurykan said:
Too bad... It's a deal-breaker for me....
Is it possible to perform a rollback?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't know, if a Rollback is possible....
Hello!
I just wanted to know if this phones' software have ads anywhere in the UI? If yes, is there an option to opt-out?
Secondly, I've heard Xiaomi phones are notorious for having stock apps that ask for unwanted permission to function (eg: calculator wanting to access contacts etc.), is this one a victim of that?
Also does the stock os has an option to disable gesture based navigation and use on-screen navigation bar instead?
Finally, does it come with 3rd party keyboard(like swiftkey etc.) out of the box, or how is the built-in one in terms of privacy? Was it known for data gathering in the past?
If you have the device in hand, please do check these things and let me know. Are there anything else that I should be aware of, like known issues? I am not planning to flash custom roms or modify deeply.
Thanks in advance.
@n1troV I have been using my M3 for more than one month, I hope that I have answered all your questions.
1. ads anywhere in the UI?
Yes, in all Xiaomi system apps, you have to go through the settings in each of them and choose to trun off "Recommendations", to disable ads for each app.
2. unwanted permission
The calculator in MIUI does not require any permissions, in the settings, the Storage permission is listed, but denied, the calculator can still be used without the permission. There are a lot of pre-installed Google apps. The dialer, messages, and contacts apps are also from Google.
(Edit: The Taiwanese version uses the original MIUI dialer app and messages app)
3. option to disable gesture based navigation
Yes, it can be changed in the settings, please see the screenshot below.
{
"lightbox_close": "Close",
"lightbox_next": "Next",
"lightbox_previous": "Previous",
"lightbox_error": "The requested content cannot be loaded. Please try again later.",
"lightbox_start_slideshow": "Start slideshow",
"lightbox_stop_slideshow": "Stop slideshow",
"lightbox_full_screen": "Full screen",
"lightbox_thumbnails": "Thumbnails",
"lightbox_download": "Download",
"lightbox_share": "Share",
"lightbox_zoom": "Zoom",
"lightbox_new_window": "New window",
"lightbox_toggle_sidebar": "Toggle sidebar"
}
4. 3rd party keyboard
Yes, it came with Gboard pre-installed, you can install a different keyboard, if you do not want to use it. By default, Gboard sends analytics data back to Google, but that can be disabled in the settings.
I am using the stock MIUI ROM, and the fingerprint unlocking was very slow when I got the phone, but after getting two system updates, now the unlocking speed is faster.
If possible, I suggest that you can use Szaki/XiaomiADBFastbootTools (can be downloaded from GItHub) to debloat the phone with adb, to remove some unwanted system apps like MSA , WMService, Analytics, Chrome and other Google apps.
I used the phone for navigation several times, and the GNSS accuracy is about 4m, it is usually enough, but sometimes if another road is too close, the maps app thinks I am on the other road.
By default, VoWiFi is not enabled on this phone, but it can be enabled by disabling carrier check, using the code *#*#869434#*#* in the dialer.
If privacy is important to you, you can use a private DNS service like AdGuard DNS or NextDNS to block unwanted connections.
The phone is not perfect, but it is still a good phone for its price. If you want to have more RAM and an ultra-wide-angle camera, you can take a look at Redmi 9T, it has almost the same hardware, but it's better, and its price is the same as or similiar to M3's price, depending on which country you are in.
You can ask me if you have any other questions about the phone.
Thank you very much! You've answered pretty much all of questions I had and then some. I was unaware of the sluggish fingerprint sensor and inaccurate GPS, neither of which are dealbreakers to me, personally.
I've considered 9T too, I actually dig the design language of that one abit more than M3 and there's a slight bump in performance too. It's significantly more expensive compared to the m3 where I live though.
By the way, have you tested read/write performance of the ufs storage on the m3? If you have some free time, please do run passmarks' disk benchmark utility and share some screenshots along with the storage capacity.
Moreover, are there any noticeable lags/frame drops in the UI, delays in app opening? I am not expecting ~$150 phone to perform like ~$1000 flagships but I'd like to know what the general user experience is like.
And thanks for the tips on secure DNS. I was thinking of implementing pihole for network-wide ad-blocking, will look into private DNS services too.
Thanks again for taking your time to write a well-detailed reply, cheers!
@n1troV It takes about 2 seconds for the phone to open an app, I have tested with different apps. I think it's acceptable for the price.
My previous phone had SD625 chip, and M3 has SD662 chip, after changing to M3, I feel that M3 is a lot faster.
There is one thing I forgot to mention, this phone has dual speakers, but when I tried it the bottom speaker is a lilltle louder than the top speaker, I think when I watched review videos of M3, someone also mentioned this problem.
I will test the storage speed tomorrow when I have time.
n1troV said:
If you have some free time, please do run passmarks' disk benchmark utility and share some screenshots along with the storage capacity.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Below is a screenshot of passmark.
(Edit: The phone has 4GB of RAM, but passmark only shows 3GB)
I have the 128GB version, so the storage is UFS 2.2, the SD card I use is Kingston Canvas Select Plus 32GB.
I also have another screenshot of the CIT mode, it shows the hardware information of the phone.
To show you what it feels like to open apps and to scroll through Google Play on the phone, I have recorded a video using the built-in screen recorder, it is in the attached zip file.
Thank you! The ufs storage performance was abit underwhelming though. Have you had an emmc 5.1 based phones in the past? I suppose those chips perform about the same in benchmarks. In fact, having ufs based storage is one of the main reasons I've considered m3 hoping it would help sustain good overall ui performance/snappiness although that does not seem to be the case here.
As for the muffled earpiece speaker; I guess i can pass on that since even higher end phones suffer from the same issue likely due to the fact that there isn't much space in phones with edge-to edge displays and camera hardware to fit a better speaker.
Does this phone support streaming off of popular platforms? There used to be a requirement of some codecs or something along those lines to support drm enabled streaming out of the box iirc, can this one do?
Lastly; if you're in the market for sub $200 phone and m3 and 9t are not your options, what would be your next best pick? Just curious.
@n1troV Previously, I had used two different Redmi phones, both with emmc storage, and they have Snapdragon 435 and Snapdragon 625 chips.
After start using my M3, when I transfered files from my laptop to the M3 using a USB cable, it still took a long time, the speed of transfering files from PC does not feel any faster than my previous phones that have emmc storage. I think this is because the phone only has a USB 2.0 port.
The phone supports Widevine L1 DRM certification, so it can play DRM content at the maximum quality.
I have not played any DRM content on it, but the "DRM Info" app shows that the security level is L1.
I already got used to XIaomi's MIUI, since I used two Redmi phones previously, I would only choose a phone that is made by Xiaomi, this is why I bought the M3.
Before I bought the M3, I had thought about buying other phones that are made by Xiaomi, including Redmi Note 8T (It is not sold in where I live), Redmi Note 9 Pro (It supports NFC, but it is too expensive), and Redmi 9.
When I decided to buy a new phone, because the Redmi phone I was using (Redmi 6 Pro) had GPS issues, last year, I went to XIaomi's website again, and saw that there was a new phone called POCO M3, and I compared its specs with Redmi 9.The specs of M3 are a better than Redmi 9's, except that the CPU of Redmi 9 has better performance, and Redmi 9 has a wide-angle camera. So I decided to buy the M3, since I don't take photos often, and I don't play mobile games.
After using the M3, I feel that the side-mounted fingerprint sensor is a lot more convenient than the rear-mounted fingerprint sensors that my previous phones have, with the side-mounted fingerprint sensor, it's easy to unlock the phone even when it is on the table.
Excellent! I'm relatively new to the world of android phones and almost everybody here is pushing big-name-brand phones despite them having worse specs purely for the brand recognition (I suppose?) I've come to conclusion that M3 offers good value/performance for the price you're paying, not without its fair share of shortcomings though. That's to be expected, I guess.
Thanks for saving me lot of time not having to search answers for each questions I had. It certainly helped getting answers directly from an owner of the mighty M3.
That usb 2.0 bottleneck situation is understandable though. There are $1k devices on the other side of the pond still utilizing usb2 protocol, so yeah.
I mostly agree with your argument on fingerprint sensor placement except I personally prefer rear-mounted sensors mostly due to the fact that those got large surface area to work with and tends to be more accurate and quick. Usually your index finger sits there so its only natural to unlock the device as you pick it. Only downside is not able to unlock when device is on table.
Side mounted sensors on the other hand solve that issue but depending on the placement, it might be hard to reach specially on big phones. Having a hole cut on the side of the frame shouldn't help in terms of structural rigidity either. Eitherway I'd pick any capasitive implementation over gimmicky in-display sensor in a heartbeat.
@n1troV I just remembered that I could also do a read/write speed test on my old phone (Redmi 4X), it has LPDDR3 RAM and emmc 5.1 storage, the screenshot below shows the test results of Redmi 4X.
(POCO M3 has LPDDR4X RAM)
Since you have not used Xiaomi phones before, I think you need to know that Mi and Redmi phones have the original MIUI launcher, and the MIUI launcher does not have an app drawer, but POCO phones only have the POCO launcher, it has an app drawer, and cannot be disabled.
I have tried to install the MIUI launcher on my M3, but it could not be installed, so the only ways to install MIUI launcher on POCO phones are installing a custom ROM, or root/installing a magisk module.
Hmm it turns out ufs based storage is still significantly faster, at least on the reads.
You brought up an interesting point on the launcher, does M3 use swipe up gesture to launch app drawer or it has an option to have that dedicated grid style icon?
I don't dig the stock icons/ui elements on the above mentioned phones though. As long as a 3rd party launcher can be installed with unread counts reliably shown without random crashes, it should be fine.
I've had friends who used Mi phones in the past that I got to have some hands on time with (can't recall the exact model names), most of them were either android go/one devices though. Miui based phones were from 2016-17 so I'm sure alot has changed since then.
EDIT:
I might consider flashing custom rom as my last resort option, specially if I found stock apps constantly phoning home. Preferably a privacy focused rom (graphene/lineage?) with bare essential apps and 3rd party store (aurora?) minus the google stuff. That is only if services like realtime notifications are unaffected. Also there's a steep learning curve as I've not done any of this before
@n1troV The POCO launcher uses the swipe up gesture to open the app drawer, if you do not want to have an app drawer, there is a 3rd party launcher called Lawndesk, it can be installed and used on M3, and it can show unread counts after giving it the notification access permission.
Other 3rd party launchers can also be installed on the phone, but almost all of them have app drawers.
I had unlocked the bootloader of the phone and installed Magisk on it before, but it was difficult to update the phone with Magisk installed, so I reinstalled stock MIUI ROM and relocked the bootloader with Mi flash tool.
I am currently using NextDNS on the phone, because it is customizable, below is a screenshot showing blocked connections to Xiaomi. I have disabled all analytics options in the M3's system settings, I have also removed (debloated) all system apps that are related to analytics or system ads, but the phone still 'phones home'.
I still prefer using the stock ROM and POCO launcher, at least I have blocked those connections with NextDNS.
cbw said:
if you do not want to have an app drawer
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hey that's not what I mean. Remember before the swipe up gesture was a thing, there used to be an icon on the bottom row of the home screen that opened app drawer on tap? I was wondering if such option is present on M3 to use drawer icon instead of swipe up.
cbw said:
I have disabled all analytics options in the M3's system settings, I have also removed (debloated) all system apps that are related to analytics or system ads, but the phone still 'phones home'.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
See, this is the kind of stuff that bothers me. You went through all the trouble navigating deep in system settings and opting out, yet it does sh!t like this in the background. In the screenshot you've attached, you seem to have narrowed down results to the requests made to domains that contain "mi" in it. Who knows what else its pinging
It's impractical for average user to go through each and every request phone is making as there is probably hundreds if not thousands of them. I really do believe that if you opted out of something it should not be pinging servers over the web period. Privacy is becoming a bigger and bigger problem every day yet most people ignore it entirely. I doubt average user would know or care about such sketchy behaviors of their "personal" devices.
tl:dr Probably not the best for privacy, at least not out of the box.
n1troV said:
there used to be an icon on the bottom row of the home screen that opened app drawer on tap?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
POCO launcher does not have that option, but there is a small arrow that can be clicked to open the app drawer.
I have found a 3rd party launcher called Apex Launcher, it still has the old Android icon for opening the app drawer, but I think the old version (3.3.3) of it is better than the current version.
n1troV said:
you seem to have narrowed down results to the requests made to domains that contain "mi" in it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I had to do it, because I also use other apps, and browse websites, so if I didn't do it, it would show a lot of domains, including the ones used by other apps and websites.
For browsing websites on the phone, I suggest that you can install an extension called ublock origin, but most mobile browsers don't support extensions. Kiwi Browser and Firefox Android (There is also a fork called Iceraven, it supports more extensions compared to Firefox) support extensions, so you can install extensions on them for privacy.
n1troV said:
Who knows what else its pinging
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have just restarted the phone, cleared the log in NextDNS, and stopped using the phone for 25 minutes, I have only opened NextDNS's website with Kiwi Browser, below is a screenshot of NextDNS's log.
Thanks for the update on stock launcher and possible third party options.
cbw said:
I also use other apps, and browse websites, so if I didn't do it, it would show a lot of domains, including the ones used by other apps and websites.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I understand that. Embedded trackers within apps is whole another story. I was more concerned about OS telemetry that cannot be disabled. There is no guarantee that the phone is pinging domains only have "mi" in it.
cbw said:
I suggest that you can install an extension called ublock origin, but most mobile browsers don't support extensions. Kiwi Browser and Firefox Android (There is also a fork called Iceraven, it supports more extensions compared to Firefox) support extensions, so you can install extensions on them for privacy.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am also aware that the mobile firefox has somewhat limited extension support. However adding more and more extensions doesn't exactly help with browser fingerprinting. In fact it makes matters worse as you stand out more compared to the "default" ff installations. uBo is my go to addon for adblocking on computers, will definitely have that on phone as well.
cbw said:
I have just restarted the phone, cleared the log in NextDNS, and stopped using the phone for 25 minutes, I have only opened NextDNS's website with Kiwi Browser
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I suppose you're logged into google account and has sync enabled? I mean still its imperfect way to track ALL the requests phone is making specially when its on standby, and for such small period of time. Unless its connected to pi-hole or some sort of firewall/nw analyzer all the time, there's no way you can tell whats going on
n1troV said:
I suppose you're logged into google account and has sync enabled?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes I have enabled sync for my Google account. With DNS, I could not find a better way to track the requests, because DNS cannot tell which requests are coming from a specific app.
I have installed AdGuard to filter requests on my phone (with local VPN method), and I will post screenshots of blocked requests later.
These are the blocked requests.
Xiaomi Cloud (and Cloud Backup), Xiaomi Service Framework, and System Apps Updater can be uninstalled using Szaki/XiaomiADBFastbootTools.
It is possible to use Android Debug Bridge (adb) to uninstall Google Play Services, but I do not know if it is safe to do it.
After searching online about uninstalling the Mi Account app, I found this.
https://gist.github.com/Biswa96/81fe477079fa5279f7cfd7b98d5519c7
Do not uninstall com.xiaomi.account if you've already logged in MI account.
You will get "This device is locked" message and won't be able to unlock it!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hey, thanks for saving the day, again! I'm so glad the first person to reply to my thread happens to be somewhat privacy conscious.
cbw said:
I could not find a better way to track the requests, because DNS cannot tell which requests are coming from a specific app.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Exactly! Unfortunately same thing applies for network activity monitors. Pi-hole seem to have a decent dashboard, probably 3rd party hardware firewalls too.
cbw said:
uninstalling the Mi Account app
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Click to collapse
I'm not planning to log into any third party services. Probably not even google on setup wizard.
I was wondering, is there a way to sandbox apps in android? As in you could isolate app data from one another and have full control over each app as to whether it's getting access to internet/gps and whatnot. I heard Shelter does this, not sure how that works exactly.
Unrelated to privacy: does the stock launcher has option to "lock homescreen grid"?
n1troV said:
Shelter
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It will cause bootloop in MIUI.
I also saw this in Shelter's description.
Some vendor / custom ROMs may have a broken implementation that may cause crashes and even bricking of your device. One such example is MIUI from Xiaomi.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If I want to test apps without installing them on my phone, I use a virtual machine app called "VMOS Pro", it works well on my M3, but it sends analytics data to several servers, and there is no option to disable that.
By the way, POCO launcher also sends data to two different severs, "api.accelerator.intl.miui.com" and "api.ad.intl.xiaomi.com", so you might want to avoid using it, POCO launcher can be uninstalled using adb or XiaomiADBFastbootTools.
n1troV said:
does the stock launcher has option to "lock homescreen grid"?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes.