As a general question on the availability and delay of Samsung upgrades; how good is Samsung in making the latest Android OS available to legacy devices? Do they support one, two or more generations? I know that there are sometime HW constraints that prevents the owner from upgrading, but suppose that the HW supports the latest OS version?
The reason for asking is that I currently have Apple and I might consider getting an S5 but at least in regards to OS upgrades, i am a little spoiled as Apple makes the latest OS available to all devices.
[Q] Buying a new phone advice "Zenfone 6" vs. "iOcean G7" vs. "Huawei Honor X1"
Hello all,
I have been using a Galaxy Tab GT 1000 (rooted) for the past 2 years.
I want to upgrade my phone. I have been reading and researching a couple of sites, mainly Gizchina and this forum.
My choice came down to the following.
Asus Zenfone 6, iOcean G7, and Huawei Honor X1... all big phones, because I am very comfortable with the Galaxy Tab 1000's screen size.
I also looked into some Lenovo phones, but read that their cameras aren't that good.
Can you please advise me on these phones, and what would you advise me to buy, and if anyone has any experience with the cameras.
Thank you all in advance and God bless!
There are 3 threads already established that are devoted to discussions about devices, please read, and if necessary, repost your question in one of these threads: The what should I buy thread or the The Device Suggestion Thread or the The Device Comparison Thread.
There are also several other discussion threads that you probably should review to help you. They are What phone do you wish you had? or
The Worst Android Device That You've Ever Had & Why or even this place that talks about The best phone you ever owned.
My last and my current smartphones were nexus devices. Since google revealed the pixel I thought about other smartphones. But I don't like update speed from non-google companies.
How difficult would it be to convert the current Stock Android (for example android 7) to the Huawei P9, OnePlus 3 or the Samsung Galaxy S7 or any other top device.
And how much time would you need to support also the curved Display from the Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge or to support the notification button from the OnePlus 3 and the fast charging.
To myself: I would say that I am quite good at Java but not in a professional way.It is just a hobby.
In general: If I buy the latest smartphone of a company like Huawei, Samsung, OnePlus or LG would it be possible to convert the current Android version to my device? How much time would I need for that if I only want the Stock Android functions and the fingerprint sensor (Cyanogen features are not needed) and how long would I need if I also want to support the device specific features like a pen or a curved display?
How dangerous would that be? Breaking my device would be pretty easy right?
If that is possible how do I convert the Stock android to my device?
Thanks a lot
p4
short answer: very difficult. Huawei uses custom SoC from HiSilicon, and the specs for these chips is not published. similarly for Samsung devices using Exynos chips. Samsung phones running Qualcomm have a better chance.
if you want to learn to build AOSP (or something like CM), start with the AOSP documentation, then the CM wiki. Or go to the device forums here and check if someone has already started progress. for Huawei and Samsung (exynos), it's a long journey.
it goes well beyond knowing Java.
relatively speaking, modern devices are tough to permanently brick as long as you don't touch the bootloaders.
Thanks for the answer
Hi All,
I'm an engineer looking to upgrade a product which uses an old Altel smartphone. I'm experienced in Unlocking and flashing. I have already done a search, but now in 2020, there may be new info.
Looking for suggestions for the best CHEAP android phone which has good custom ROM support for android 7+ (ish).
I need to use the back camera, and connect via wifi, bluetooth, or Cellular Data. It will be tested in the US, but may benefit from support for many globally common 3g and 4g bands.
One last thing. Would love to find something I can still buy a few dozen of NEW, or at least MFG REFURB.
Can anyone suggest suitable phones? So far, been considering late nexus line and early pixel line, knowing they're flash unlockable.
Thank you for reading! Apologies if I hit the wrong section of the forum.
bizzzle said:
Hi All,
I'm an engineer looking to upgrade a product which uses an old Altel smartphone. I'm experienced in Unlocking and flashing. I have already done a search, but now in 2020, there may be new info.
Looking for suggestions for the best CHEAP android phone which has good custom ROM support for android 7+ (ish).
I need to use the back camera, and connect via wifi, bluetooth, or Cellular Data. It will be tested in the US, but may benefit from support for many globally common 3g and 4g bands.
One last thing. Would love to find something I can still buy a few dozen of NEW, or at least MFG REFURB.
Can anyone suggest suitable phones? So far, been considering late nexus line and early pixel line, knowing they're flash unlockable.
Thank you for reading! Apologies if I hit the wrong section of the forum.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There are no *NEW* cheap phones that have custom ROM support unfortunately. But used phone are an option : ) If you want official ROM support (Even to this day!), you can get a Samsung Galaxy S4 for 50$, an S5, Note 3 (Android 9 - 10 support!).
If you want a used phone at 100-150$, you can get a A5 2017, Google Pixel 1, Nexus 6 (Don't buy the 6p)
If you want to get a Brand new phone: Moto G7 and G6 Plus (200-250$). (Theese phones have a more complicated process of modding)
You can check the Lineage OS download Page here: https://download.lineageos.org/ Theese are all of the supported devices.
If you don't want to have any difficulties, you can get a Samsung but be careful with the variants! Get the international or Canadian variant because if you get a US variant, there are no methods of unlocking the device (except for the S5 and less) You can also get the Google Pixel, but do not buy the US variant. Same for the nexus devices...
Your knowledge and help are much appreciated.
Can you offer advice on USB OTG Compatibility with various phones on Lineage? I've had mixed results in the past with stock ROMs.
alexenferman said:
There are no *NEW* cheap phones that have custom ROM support unfortunately. But used phone are an option : ) If you want official ROM support (Even to this day!), you can get a Samsung Galaxy S4 for 50$, an S5, Note 3 (Android 9 - 10 support!).
If you want a used phone at 100-150$, you can get a A5 2017, Google Pixel 1, Nexus 6 (Don't buy the 6p)
If you want to get a Brand new phone: Moto G7 and G6 Plus (200-250$). (Theese phones have a more complicated process of modding)
You can check the Lineage OS download Page here: https://download.lineageos.org/ Theese are all of the supported devices.
If you don't want to have any difficulties, you can get a Samsung but be careful with the variants! Get the international or Canadian variant because if you get a US variant, there are no methods of unlocking the device (except for the S5 and less) You can also get the Google Pixel, but do not buy the US variant. Same for the nexus devices...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
bizzzle said:
Your knowledge and help are much appreciated.
Can you offer advice on USB OTG Compatibility with various phones on Lineage? I've had mixed results in the past with stock ROMs.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
All of the phones I mentioned have OTG capability
Probably almost all phone supported by lineage have OTG. Don't worry about that.
bizzzle said:
Hi All,
I'm an engineer looking to upgrade a product which uses an old Altel smartphone. I'm experienced in Unlocking and flashing. I have already done a search, but now in 2020, there may be new info.
Looking for suggestions for the best CHEAP android phone which has good custom ROM support for android 7+ (ish).
I need to use the back camera, and connect via wifi, bluetooth, or Cellular Data. It will be tested in the US, but may benefit from support for many globally common 3g and 4g bands.
One last thing. Would love to find something I can still buy a few dozen of NEW, or at least MFG REFURB.
Can anyone suggest suitable phones? So far, been considering late nexus line and early pixel line, knowing they're flash unlockable.
Thank you for reading! Apologies if I hit the wrong section of the forum.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have 2 Samsung Galaxy S3 ( circa 2012 ) and while they are far from new, they are great phones to play around with.
I am far from experienced, but I have enjoyed flashing Custom ROM's , from CyanogenMod, thru various versions of Lineage, and now CrDroid. The newest O/S that I flashed is CrDroid 3.8.9 ( based on Android 7.1.2 - I think! ). Runs great. Stable. Long battery life. Ran ( 'right out of the box' ) without any need to install Gapps.
The nice thing is the Samsung Galaxy S3 is so darn abundant. Seems that everybody has one collecting dust in a drawer. And that means they are cheap ( as in give it away ). All the Samsung Galaxy S3 came with unlocked bootloader ( I think that is the term ) except for the Verizon model.
Icing on the cake is, a fellow from Montreal, alexenferman, is the genious authour of the CrDroid Custom ROM.
Tab S6 Lite is on the list.. though haven't seen our beloved unit announced.
Anyone know anything?
Usually i am not that fussed as there is always Custom ROMs available to keep it up to date.. Though custom ROMS don't seem very common for this device!
Android Authority says yes!
Here's every Samsung device eligible for four major Android updates
Samsung has listed all the Galaxy devices eligible for four years of Android OS updates, including flagships, tablets, foldables, and more.
www.androidauthority.com