Literally no modern mainstream smartphones support bootloader unlock. I just ordered one without it, because I’m giving up on finding one that supports it for a decent price. Fuck me in 8 years. Or I could keep using my Redmi 4x with ocasional (unfixable) motherboard issues.
I’m not going to even pretend it’s a mainstream brand (or a decent price depending on model, even when buying secondhand) but the Sony Xperia phones do allow bootloader unlock. Lineage OS has support for some of the slightly older models that arnt getting official support anymore iirc. Although I haven’t messed with roms personally (not super techy compared to probably literally anyone else here) But it is something to keep in mind if you ever see one around for a price you’d be happy with.
Still waiting for Mobile Linux to come to these wonderful devices.
Pixel 3a running Linux like a charm, and eternally supported, never out of date :3
Pixel 6 and 7, on the other hand, are about to hit EOL because Google won’t support them, neither will Graphene, not sure about Lineage, and Linux is not there yet.
Speaking from experience with Pixel 3a on Nura with KDE Plasma Mobile
-Camera works very poorly, but hey, yes it works
-Don’t use VoLTE, regular calls work flawlessly. The phone does wake up correctly upon receiving the call.
-Battery is brilliant, the only thing still lacking is fast charge support. Otherwise, fantastic battery life, and correct battery charge indication.
Yep, there are still motos, pixels and global oneplus devices (but my budget was 300€, while I spent 400 :-( and a chinese import redmi was the only thing competitive in that price range (never thought I’d be spending so much money on anything smaller than a car)).
Also, hurry up with the bl unlock (since xiaomi is apparently discontinuing the legacy miui unlock).
Xiaomi basically already discontinued the bl unlock as they put a ridiculously low daily unlock quota, like 1000 worldwide. The quota gets burned within seconds
Literally no modern mainstream smartphones support bootloader unlock. I just ordered one without it, because I’m giving up on finding one that supports it for a decent price. Fuck me in 8 years. Or I could keep using my Redmi 4x with ocasional (unfixable) motherboard issues.
I’m not going to even pretend it’s a mainstream brand (or a decent price depending on model, even when buying secondhand) but the Sony Xperia phones do allow bootloader unlock. Lineage OS has support for some of the slightly older models that arnt getting official support anymore iirc. Although I haven’t messed with roms personally (not super techy compared to probably literally anyone else here) But it is something to keep in mind if you ever see one around for a price you’d be happy with.
What about Pixels? My Pixel 6 and 7 Pro were both easy enough.
Yep, but the devices are relatively shitty (apart from the hardware security). Also I’m not buying a 300€ device for 400+.
Still waiting for Mobile Linux to come to these wonderful devices.
Pixel 3a running Linux like a charm, and eternally supported, never out of date :3
Pixel 6 and 7, on the other hand, are about to hit EOL because Google won’t support them, neither will Graphene, not sure about Lineage, and Linux is not there yet.
Update: LineageOS should remain available!
postmarket->nura is getting close. They have working camera drivers recently, (not to say high quality) I think VOLTE and battery is still dodgy.
Speaking from experience with Pixel 3a on Nura with KDE Plasma Mobile -Camera works very poorly, but hey, yes it works -Don’t use VoLTE, regular calls work flawlessly. The phone does wake up correctly upon receiving the call. -Battery is brilliant, the only thing still lacking is fast charge support. Otherwise, fantastic battery life, and correct battery charge indication.
how’s sms?
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Even if they did the carriers control what devices they’ll allow on the network.
Not in the EU (apart from some French fuckwads) at least. But in the US, UK, yes.
That’s actually really interesting
Neoliberalism strikes again.
Not even the ones from motorola? They used to be easy to unlock. What about the cheaper ones from generic unknown brands?
I have that exact same one, but I managed to fuck up with the mi account and be unable to unlock it. My poor mobilek…
Then you will not be able to find a custom rom because of that
We can use GSI roms on most phones
Yep, there are still motos, pixels and global oneplus devices (but my budget was 300€, while I spent 400 :-( and a chinese import redmi was the only thing competitive in that price range (never thought I’d be spending so much money on anything smaller than a car)).
Also, hurry up with the bl unlock (since xiaomi is apparently discontinuing the legacy miui unlock).
Xiaomi basically already discontinued the bl unlock as they put a ridiculously low daily unlock quota, like 1000 worldwide. The quota gets burned within seconds
Well, you still can unlock a legacy miui device (for now).