DEVELOPERAJ

Most of the Android Phones we buy these days ship with some customizations on top of the core Android system. Different brands customize look and feel as well as features on their Android phones based on the regions/ countries where these phones are sold. Over the years, big players have made some of these skins fairly popular like the TouchWiz from Samsung and Sense UI from HTC. But there is a parallel community based ecosystem of Android flavours, which exists by the people and for the people rather than the ones developed by brands.

Two most popular flavours are CyanogenMod and MiUi which can be used on almost any phone brand and has support for custom ROMs. It is similar to installing any OS on a PC.

These community developed flavours or skins of Android variants are much more capable and user-oriented. And interesting part about these flavours is that they are free to use, more like an open source community project. However, they have parallel business models like selling premium themes and customizations to support the developers and those who are committed to these projects. Some of these UIs are so popular that some brands ship their phones with these software pre-installed, like the OnePlus ships with CyanogenMod and recently, Indian mobile phone giant Micromax also announced their parallel brand Yu, which will sell phones with CyanogenMod pre-installed. MiUi on the other hand was developed by Xiaomi, thus all phones sold by Xiaomi are loaded with MiUi. However, just like any other community UI, MiUi can also be installed on on-Xiaomi phones as well.

If you a contemplating to buy a new Android phone or flashing an existing phone with one of these ROMs or UIs, we will help you make an informed decision and help to pick one among these three- stock Android (not-customized pure Android by Google), MiUi and CyanogenMod.

If you are a user who is very concerned about data security, phone's stability and doesn't bother too much about doing really complex tweaks to your phone, you should pick stock Android. Stock Android is tested by Google's Android team rigorously before release and comes with stable, smooth, well-tested and secure software with minimal chances of your phone becoming unstable. It gives you simple, easy and smoother user experience, but at the same time, the level of customization in terms of themes and skins is close to nil which is deliberately done to prevent any external piece of software breaching into the security and stability of the stock Android system. It is highly smooth, comes with almost all default Android's Google services, and is fairly easy to use with much less options to play with.

MiUi, on the other hand, is a very different eco-system, which comes with fairly user friendly features. But contrary to stock Android, the development cycles of MiUi are much more frequent, probably fastest among the three UIs we are discussing. With such fast development cycles, these UIs are always prone to some bugs and vulnerabilities. Also with fast changing codes and features, things change at a great pace and you need to keep yourself abreast with these improvements to make the best use of it.

So, if you are someone who is not bothered much by some level of instability, and doesn't keep top-secret information on your phone (as it may be affected with security vulnerabilities more often than competing UIs), MiUi is the ROM to go with. It is rich in features and we have played with it on some of the Xiaomi devices. It is a very intuitive UI, but as I mentioned earlier, there are some trade-offs which you have to live with.

Who Should Pick CyanogenMod And Why?

CyanogenMod is among the most capable and most power-packed UI among these three as it gives user more privileges and flexibility compared to the other two UIs. Also the options of tweaking with settings and capabilities, and advanced configurations of the phone are much more doable on the CyanogenMod compared to other two UIs. But with the strengths, there are also some weak points which include: a steeper learning curve and un-noticed features of the CyanogenMod, which many users would never know of.

CyanogenMod is not as intuitive and simple as MiUi, which have more user-friendly interactions with the users on visual and functional level. It best suits the users who are power-users and thrive to do more advanced changes and customizations to their phones. It is more stable compared to the MiUi and offers much more advanced controls.

It has a 5.99-inch FullHD+ panel with rounded corners, the aspect ratio of 18:9 and digital button on the screen, which leads us to think that, although there are no images of the back, it will be there where we find the fingerprint reader.

The device will have a body made of metal. On the right side, we will have the button to lock and turn off the device, while on the left side there will be the volume keys. Under the hood, we have MIUI 9 running on Android 7.1.2 Nougat (something that is revealed in the image itself).

As components, it seems that we will find a Snapdragon 825 64-bit and eight/ten cores processor, which will be accompanied by the 128/64 GB of internal storage and 5000/6000 mAh battery (which will not be removable). We still do not know RAM, although we do know that the rear camera will have a 18-megapixel sensor and a 12-megapixel front.

EXPECTED RAM:- 4,5,6 GB.
EXPECTED PRICE:- 14K TO 18K.
EXPECTED DUAL REAR AND FRONT CAMERA.

IF YOU HAVE IDEA, PLEASE TELL US IN COMMENT BOX.

Note:- Actually there are more than 40 CUSTOM ROM'S for REDMI NOTE 4, but after searching a lot, i had only uploaded only those ROM'S, which are stable (MIGHT HAVE BUGS).

IF YOU THINK THAT I MISSED ANY GOOD ROM, THEN PLEASE TELL ME IN COMMENT SECTION.

HERE IS THE LIST FOR CUSTOM ROM'S FOR REDMI NOTE 4:-

1. AICP:- https://skamason.com/7BTI

2. AIM:- https://skamason.com/7BU8

3. AOKP :- https://skamason.com/7BVa

4. AOSCP:- https://skamason.com/7BYv

5. AOSiP:- https://skamason.com/7BaC

6. AOSP Extended:- https://skamason.com/7Bcp

7. AquariOS:- https://skamason.com/7Bdk

8. aTerminator:- https://skamason.com/7Bea

9. Bean Stalk:-https://skamason.com/7Bet

10. Bliss:-https://skamason.com/7BfQ

11. Colt OS:-https://skamason.com/7Bgk

12. Cosmic OS:-https://skamason.com/7Bhg

13. crDroidAndroid:-https://q.gs/Dvc17

14. deso:-https://q.gs/Dvc1C

15. Discovery ROM:-https://q.gs/Dvc1I

16. DOSP:- https://j.gs/9dOv

17. Dragon-CAF:- https://skamason.com/7C0X

18. DU:- https://skamason.com/7C1F

19. Hexagon ROM:- https://skamason.com/7C29

20. Legend ROM:- https://skamason.com/7C2o

21. Lineage OS (14.1):-https://skamason.com/7C4I

22. Leneage OS (15):- https://j.gs/9dOw

23. OMNI OS (8.0.0):- https://j.gs/9dOz

24. PureNexus:- https://j.gs/9dP0

25. RR:- https://q.gs/Dvc2Y

26. Viper:- https://q.gs/Dvc2b

27. FIRE HOUND:- https://q.gs/Dvc3k

28. Nuclear ROM:- https://skamason.com/7CSX

29. Xenon HD:- https://skamason.com/7CVm
30. EPIC ROM:- https://skamason.com/7D7M

Xiaomi 2017 plans: New and upcoming smartphones in India

So much has been talked about the upcoming Xiaomi Redmi Note 5 though it's still a few months away from release, and one of the reasons for it is the stupendous success of the Redmi Note 4. The device is in news again following the release of Qualcomm Snapdragon 636 mobile platform.
Qualcomm's new Snapdragon 636 features the Qualcomm Kryo 260 CPU, which delivers a 40 percent increase in device performance over the Snapdragon 630, and is built using 14nm FinFet process, making it software-compatible with the Snapdragon 660 and 630 mobile platforms. This will allow original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) already using these platforms to add Snapdragon 636 to their devices.
"The introduction of the Snapdragon 636 Mobile Platform allows OEMs to enjoy a smooth transition from the Snapdragon 660 and 630 Mobile Platforms while supporting the deployment of superior functionality and performance to end users," Kedar Kondap, vice president, product management, Qualcomm Technologies, Inc., said in a statement.

The new mobile platform (processor) is designed to improve performance especially in gaming, display, and photography as it features Snapdragon X12 LTE modem with peak download speeds of 600 Mbps, 14-bit Qualcomm Spectra 160 ISP that supports capturing of up to 24MP with zero shutter lag while supporting smooth zoom, fast autofocus and true-to-life colors for outstanding image quality, and Adreno 509 GPU that supports 3D graphics.
Interestingly, the release of the Qualcomm Snapdragon 636 will make many mobile phone industry observers think about Xiaomi's upcoming Redmi Note 5 for one big reason, whether there is a possibility of the device to come with the new mobile platform.
It has been reported that the Xiaomi Redmi Note 5 would be the first Xiaomi phone to feature an 18:9 display. A few unconfirmed leaked renders of the purported device have also indicated the same display ratio. However, Qualcomm Snapdragon 636 is the only processor that will support the feature. So, it won't come as a surprise if the upcoming device from the Redmi Note series is seen with the new mobile platform.
It may be mentioned that the Xiaomi Redmi Note 5 is expected to be launched early next year with a 5.5-inch full HD display with 401 ppi (pixel density), an Android Nougat-based MIUI 9 operating system, a 3GB/4GB RAM, a 32GB/64GB storage, a dual 16MP main camera, a 5MP front-snapper, and a 4,000mAh battery.

The Redmi Note 4 runs Android 7.0 (Nougat) with Xiaomi’s multi-featured MIUI 8 user interface over it. It is a colourful UI with some cool customization options that are popular with mainstream users.

The flexibility to change the look and feel by applying new themes is cool but the features we liked more are the second spaces (allows user to have two user profiles on one phone), dual apps (allows user to have two versions of a few select apps such as Facebook and WhatsApp) and built in FM radio (a feature that many of the new smartphones tend to leave out these days).

Camera impresses in daytime:-

The phone offers a 13-megapixel camera with phase detection auto-focus feature, cool live filters and plenty of fun modes such as Beautify, Tilt shift, Straighten and audio in picture. The camera is fast and delivers crisp looking shots in properly lit conditions. So in day time, it captures minor details and colours with accuracy.

Like most budget smartphones, low light photography is not one of its forte. Light reflections are too high and the amount of noise is visible even without zooming into the image.

CLICK HERE TO WATCH THE VIDEO

Earlier this week, Xiaomi confirmed to launch a new flagship smartphone in India with the dual-lens camera. While the company hasn’t revealed any details regarding the device, it has now confirmed that this upcoming smartphone will be exclusive to Flipkart. However, it will be also sold via Mi.com and Mi Home retail outlets. We expect this new device to be the rumored Mi A1 Android One smartphone that comes with stock Android UI instead of MIUI.

Earlier to this, a few Indian smartphone manufacturers including Lava, Micromax, and Spice have launched their own Android One smartphones in India. The Mi A1 is expected to be the same Mi 5X that was launched in China but with stock Android UI. It will be even more interesting if the Mi A1 comes with the recently released Android 8.0 Oreo out of the box.

Earlier: Aug 28th, 2017 – Today, Xiaomi has officially confirmed to unveil a new flagship dual camera smartphone on September 5th. Since the tweet particularly mentioned it as a global launch, we don’t expect the company to launch the upcoming Mi Note 3 or the Mi MIX 2 smartphones. Instead, Xiaomi might launch the rumored Mi A1 Android One smartphone that was earlier leaked through its global website. The Mi A1 will be the company’s first ever Android One smartphone. The Mi A1 shares the same model number (MDG2) as the Mi 5X launched exclusively in China.

Interestingly, the Mi 5X also sports the dual camera setup on the rear. It comes powered by the Snapdragon 625 octa-core processor, while the Mi 6 flagship smartphone launched in the first half came with Snapdragon 835 processor. We expect the Mi A1 Android One smartphone to come with the same specifications as on the Mi 5X. Instead of the in-house MIUI, the Mi A1 will be running on the stock Android out of the box.

Earlier: August 18th, 2017 – Xiaomi currently sells the high-end smartphones under the Mi series and the affordable smartphones through the Redmi series. Now, the company might announce a new smartphone called Mi A1 under the Mi series. The Mi A1 smartphone with the model number MDG2 is listed on the RF exposure page on the Xiaomi’s official website. The MDG2 was earlier spotted on benchmarking websites. It was then reported to be the Mi 5X and interestingly, the Mi 5X is also missing on this list. The MDG2 smartphone also received the FCC certification in July this year.

As of now, there is no other information about the Mi A1 smartphone. Recently, Xiaomi has announced to launch a new smartphone with dual rear cameras in India. While the company skipped launching the flagship Mi 6 smartphone in India, the Mi 5X is the only other newly launched device to feature dual camera setup. The company is yet to reveal the name of its upcoming dual camera smartphone in India and my wild guess is that, the company will launch the Mi 5X as Mi A1 in India with few changes.

The Mi 5X sports metal built unibody design and is currently available for just 1299 Yuan (approx Rs. 12,500) in China. Talking about the specifications, it sports a 5.5-inch display with Full HD (1920 x 1080 pixels) resolution. It is powered by a 64-bit Snapdragon 625 octa-core processor clocked at up to 2GHz and comes coupled with Adreno 506 GPU. The device comes with 3GB/4GB of RAM and 32GB/64GB of internal storage. It runs on the latest MIUI 9 based on Android 7.0 Nougat. The fingerprint sensor is placed on the rear of the device.

It features a 12MP dual-lens camera on the rear and a 5MP selfie camera on the front. Since there is no home button, the device comes with capacitive navigation buttons. Unlike the Mi 6, the Mi 5X offers MicroSD card slot and 3.5mm audio jack. Connectivity options include 4G LTE, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.2, GPS, and USB Type-C port. It is backed by a 3,080mAh non-removable battery and supports fast charging with the5V/2A (10W) power adapter. It measures 155.4 x 75.8 x 7.3 mm and weighs 165 grams.

Next week, the company is launching the selfie-focused Redmi Note 5A smartphone with a 16MP front camera in China.