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Considering their data collection capabilities, I d say they are sustainable...
I'm running Netguard (app) as a firewall on them, set to block all traffic and then allow traffic only for solid apps where I need/want traffic to happen. Works like a charm, can even log in pcap format to analyze traffic.
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?
Their prices are very difficult to beat. Their software is not as polished as say, Pixel devices or Apple devices, but for a third of the cost, that's an acceptable compromise for me.
They are very aggressive at rolling out new phones, though. There is a Redmi Note device every 6-8 months, and a comparable Mi Lite device released a month or two later too. They are pretty similar with Poco specs as well.
Their strategy is to release more and more phones and make the users think their device hit the sweet-spot. For example, my Redmi Note 10 has an IR blaster and a 3.5mm headphone jack. Another line of devices might reuse the same SoC and physical aspects, but not include an IR blaster and a 3.5mm jack. Redmi Note series also has a bunch of variants, some with NFC, some without, and some with 5G.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Considering their data collection capabilities, I d say they are sustainable...
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…
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?
Huawei is perceived as a problem because they are big in infrastructure. Xiaomi does smartphones that run on Qualcomm chips and Android. Of course there are always games and tit-for-tat but on the face of it Xiaomi is rather innocuous and benefits US companies (and that's probably why it was removed from the US blacklist).
We will see what happens if Xiaomi starts using main chipsets from Unisoc or another Chinese designer.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
I'm running Netguard (app) as a firewall on them, set to block all traffic and then allow traffic only for solid apps where I need/want traffic to happen. Works like a charm, can even log in pcap format to analyze traffic.
Wouldn't the hardware vendor of the device be able to bypass that?
That doesn't mean this is a worthless thing to run. Unless you are being specifically targeted, security measures that simply put you outside the main herd can still be effective.
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?
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.
Considering their data collection capabilities, I d say they are sustainable...
Edit: Pixels
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 Samsung or Apple phone at 3x the price. The most annoying things are still Google and YouTube ToS accept dialogs I get all the time because I'm effectively using an incognito browser, and I'd get those on any phone.