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Xiaomi becomes number two smartphone vendor for first time ever in Q2 2021

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Re: Xiaomi becomes number two smartphone vendor for first time ever in Q2 2021

#51

Post by mkup »

chronogram wrote: post #43
as1mov wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Most of the Xiaomi phones are supported by LineageOS. If you have an hour to spare, you can easily unlock the bootloader and install it to get a stock Android experience (even skip out Google Services if you want). I have the Poco F1, cost me about $230 for SD845 + 8GB RAM + 4000mAh + 256GB storage. It's a pretty good deal after installing LineageOS on it.

Back when I last looked you had to register an account, use a Windows application and wait a few weeks before being allowed to unlock the phone. Has that been changed then?

Windows application is still required, but loader unlock was granted instantly after creation of a new Xiaomi account last time I tried it (last Friday for Xiaomi Pocophone F1).

Re: Xiaomi becomes number two smartphone vendor for first time ever in Q2 2021

#52

Post by Krasnol »

meibo wrote: post #4

They're flooding the market with good, very very cheap smartphones - it's no surprise. Especially for older people that don't need $500+ flagships, a $150 Xiaomi is more than sufficient. I see them a lot nowadays. Makes me wonder if it's sustainable.

Why shouldn't it be sustainable?

The market for cheap phones is much bigger than for the expensive ones and as you see from the Apple numbers: the expensive market is pretty much covered. Also covered in an separate environment form where those users are reluctant to switch because it's hard to learn again.

imho I think that fighting for the low budget Android market makes much more sense than for the high price Apple audience as "Apple" has become the "I can afford it"-message of prestige this group is looking for and therefore won't be replaced by anything else. Even if you buy the most expensive Samsung, you'd have to explain how expensive it was first to your audience. There is no need with Apple. Everybody knows you've spend a lot of money on it.

Re: Xiaomi becomes number two smartphone vendor for first time ever in Q2 2021

#53

Post by alpaca128 »

ekianjo wrote: post #34
senko wrote: post #30

I've got a Xiaomi phone (Mi 10 Lite) and am pretty happy with it. Hardware is great. Software (MIUI) is adware crap, which I knew when I was buying. I tweaked privacy settings as much was possible, and I use almost none of the builtin apps. Instead I use Firefox Focus+Mobile for browsing, Amaze for file management, Dropbox for file storage and PDF view, etc. Overall the entire experience is comparable (for me) to a S…

Is it possible to easily install LineageOS and still have everything working ?

Xiaomi sells a few phones with the "Android One" label, meaning it's mostly standard Android and mine let me uninstall basically all the typical useless apps. Only the Play Store and one or two others can't be removed.

Not perfect and LineageOS would still be a bit better, but close enough for me. I don't enjoy using smartphones either way.

Re: Xiaomi becomes number two smartphone vendor for first time ever in Q2 2021

#54

Post by as1mov »

chronogram wrote: post #43
as1mov wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Most of the Xiaomi phones are supported by LineageOS. If you have an hour to spare, you can easily unlock the bootloader and install it to get a stock Android experience (even skip out Google Services if you want). I have the Poco F1, cost me about $230 for SD845 + 8GB RAM + 4000mAh + 256GB storage. It's a pretty good deal after installing LineageOS on it.

Back when I last looked you had to register an account, use a Windows application and wait a few weeks before being allowed to unlock the phone. Has that been changed then?

The waiting is kinda random really. I didn't have to wait at all, as the unlock code was available instantly. Regarding the account, I just used a spare throwaway SIM and a Windows VM for that. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Though most of the brands (except Nokia and Samsung) seem to have pretty reasonable terms for unlocking the bootloader and aren't as ass-backwards as Xiaomi's.

Re: Xiaomi becomes number two smartphone vendor for first time ever in Q2 2021

#55

Post by jcynix »

yorwba wrote: post #16
_huayra_ wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Exactly. Considering how Samsung is coming out with cheaper phones these days due to competition, I don't think it's worth completely yeeting one's privacy out the window, even if the Xiaomi models have better specs. I know Android phones are still big Google spying devices, but given the state of the tech world, I'd prefer to have Google spy on me than a shadowy Chinese company. Does it really matter if it has 4x th…

Just install LineageOS on it and have nobody spy on you: https://wiki.lineageos.org/devices/#xiaomi

How does LineageOS stop the "little black box" which handles GSM/UTMS/etc traffic from spying on you? Or your telecom provider from tracking you?

Don't get me wrong, I like these free OS versions, but while I could teach my wife, my mother in law etc to manage Netguard, I couldn't teach them to handle Lineage, f-Droid all by themselves.

Re: Xiaomi becomes number two smartphone vendor for first time ever in Q2 2021

#56

Post by patrickaljord »

timwaagh wrote: post #28
trm42 wrote: post #10

Out of curiosity: Is it possible that the US Government will do the same for Xiaomi that they did to Huawei? If so, how long will it take?

Xiaomi doesn't provide the kind of network infrastructure that Huawei does. So they don't have access to the kind of data that concerned us policymakers.

If everyone start using their phones, they kind of will. I would guess it's easier to spy on people when you own the hardware and OS. Maybe the infrastructure would allow broader spying but owning a big part of the smartphone market allows for more in-depth spying for those with Xiaomi phones.

Re: Xiaomi becomes number two smartphone vendor for first time ever in Q2 2021

#58

Post by bamboozled »

GordonS wrote: post #42
meibo wrote: post #4

They're flooding the market with good, very very cheap smartphones - it's no surprise. Especially for older people that don't need $500+ flagships, a $150 Xiaomi is more than sufficient. I see them a lot nowadays. Makes me wonder if it's sustainable.

Never mind "older people", some Xiaomi devices have the same performance as flagships costing twice as much. I have a Xiaomi Mi 9 SE (had it almost 2 years now), and it's the best phone I've ever owned. Previously I'd owned flagship Samsungs and an iPhone 6. It's powerful, the display is excellent, the battery lasts 2 days even with plenty use (unusual these days!), the cameras are excellent, and the device itself lo…

How can it really be that much better than a flagship iPhone?

This kind of reads like your a person who hates the price of iPhones? Either that or I read like an Apple fan boy; However, I'm a pretty keen Linux / PC user and I don't think I'm that bias?

Re: Xiaomi becomes number two smartphone vendor for first time ever in Q2 2021

#59

Post by vbezhenar »

alpaca128 wrote: post #53
ekianjo wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is it possible to easily install LineageOS and still have everything working ?

Xiaomi sells a few phones with the "Android One" label, meaning it's mostly standard Android and mine let me uninstall basically all the typical useless apps. Only the Play Store and one or two others can't be removed. Not perfect and LineageOS would still be a bit better, but close enough for me. I don't enjoy using smartphones either way.

AFAIK Android One is barely supported at this point and phones are old. I used to be a supporter of Android One and bought two phones myself, but I wouldn't recommend it now. Google failed this program like it failed numerous programs before. The only reliable way to get standard android without unlocking and tinkering seems to be buying Google Pixel nowadays.

Re: Xiaomi becomes number two smartphone vendor for first time ever in Q2 2021

#60

Post by fauigerzigerk »

sdoering wrote: post #50
fauigerzigerk wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm not too happy about anyone spying on me, and I'm also unhappy about corporations vetoing software I want to install. Besides, one person's "targeted by interventionism" is another person's "liberated by democratic forces".

> Besides, one person's "targeted by interventionism" is another person's "liberated by democratic forces". Does newspeaking it make it better? And if one would look at the examples of "liberation by democratic forces" over the last decades I feel that it is somewhat difficult to find an instance that wasn't a prime example of securing natural ressources or ensuring of keeping the global power structure intact. I mig…

>Does newspeaking it make it better?

The difference in language is often just political rhetoric. The difference in substance became very clear to me talking to my grandfather who was liberated by democratic forces and would have been insulted by having that called "targeted by US interventionism".

There are good reasons for both sentiments based on actual, sometimes painful, experience. We should respect that.

It's a very complex and off-topic subject. That's why I'm not going into the details of the various conflicts in recent decades.

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