Huawei Ascend XT2 (H1711)?

[divineBliss]

You don't mind going from 6" to 5.5"? I opted not to. It does have Nougat though. Someone with both phones can maybe give an idea of their experience between the two.

Should I even consider buying one of these? Sounds like a nightmare right now. My H1611 is unlocked/rooted and working great. Is it worth it to upgrade to this?

---------- Post added at 11:31 PM ---------- Previous post was at 10:59 PM ----------

Also the XT2 is currently $89 and locked to AT&T. I'd seriously consider getting a brand new 6" Huawei Honor 7X for $111 more which will be SIM unlocked and get Oreo eventually and is a much better higher end phone and includes 3G RAM + 32GB internal storage - if you don't mind paying $200. Seems like the price to SIM unlock the XT2 is $40 at best IIRC.
https://store.hihonor.com/us/honor-7x-smartphone

I'd expect the 7X to drop a bit over time. I also expect that the XT2 will go on sale for $50 again eventually

 

[clsA]

Should I even consider buying one of these? Sounds like a nightmare right now. My H1611 is unlocked/rooted and working great. Is it worth it to upgrade to this?

Well I'll put it this way, I had 2 of these and returned them within 48 hours (i never even opened the box on the second one)

You don't mind going from 6" to 5.5"? I opted not to. It does have Nougat though. Someone with both phones can maybe give an idea of their experience between the two.

Also the XT2 is currently $89 and locked to AT&T. I'd seriously consider getting a brand new 6" Huawei Honor 7X for $111 more which will be SIM unlocked and get Oreo eventually and is a much better higher end phone and includes 3G RAM + 32GB internal storage - if you don't mind paying $200. Seems like the price to SIM unlock the XT2 is $40 at best IIRC.
https://store.hihonor.com/us/honor-7x-smartphone

I'd expect the 7X to drop a bit over time. I also expect that the XT2 will go on sale for $50 again eventually

If your going to talk alternatives to the H1711 I wouldn't even consider the Honor 7x. Honor has shown time and time again they are only interested in the next sell, their slow to update and as soon as a new model comes out they abandon the old one.

You should consider something like a Moto G4 16GB XT1621 it has LineageOS 14.1 support or a Moto G5 Plus @ the $200 range and already has LineageOS 15.1 support

and then theirs the ZTE Blade V8 Pro @ just $140
but theirs no root or custom recovery for it

Of course this is just my opinion, I'm sure their are others who think Honor phones are fine I just know I won't be buying them anytime soon

 

[yuweng]

My 2¢ on custom ROMs, you don't buy a device hoping custom ROMs will come, you choose any devices here that matches your budget, it won't be cheap as DEVs like flagship phones though there are few exception. And i notice the XT2 users are more generous so if you guys donate one to capable DEVs then you guys might get custom ROMs :fingers-crossed:

Device bring-up is a very complicated process but the most important thing is the kernel & i did witness a device that won't obsolete, started with Windows then gingerbread & it went thru 6 generations of Android ! But its obsolete now as no DEVs continue working on it :laugh:

 

[clsA]

My 2¢ on custom ROMs, you don't buy a device hoping custom ROMs will come, you choose any devices here that matches your budget, it won't be cheap as DEVs like flagship phones though there are few exception. And i notice the XT2 users are more generous so if you guys donate one to capable DEVs then you guys might get custom ROMs :fingers-crossed:

Device bring-up is a very complicated process but the most important thing is the kernel & i did witness a device that won't obsolete, started with Windows then gingerbread & it went thru 6 generations of Android ! But its obsolete now as no DEVs continue working on it :laugh:

LOL somehow I knew it was going to be an HTC device, The HTC M7 and M8 are still being supported and a HTC 10 can be found for under $200 and has lots of development life left in it.

and I agree, look for something already supported by LineageOS

 

[faxanidu]

Should I even consider buying one of these? Sounds like a nightmare right now. My H1611 is unlocked/rooted and working great. Is it worth it to upgrade to this?

If it's still cheap absolutely. And it's not a night mare I have it mostly sorted out. Just give a few days for my new post.

---------- Post added at 07:26 PM ---------- Previous post was at 07:20 PM ----------

My 2¢ on custom ROMs, you don't buy a device hoping custom ROMs will come, you choose any devices here that matches your budget, it won't be cheap as DEVs like flagship phones though there are few exception. And i notice the XT2 users are more generous so if you guys donate one to capable DEVs then you guys might get custom ROMs :fingers-crossed:

Device bring-up is a very complicated process but the most important thing is the kernel & i did witness a device that won't obsolete, started with Windows then gingerbread & it went thru 6 generations of Android ! But its obsolete now as no DEVs continue working on it :laugh:

When everything is good since I have every partition, and I fix the tower, I might try my hand at Oreo ROM. Or work on my game more I dunno lol.

 

[scrungydoolittle]

If it's still cheap absolutely. And it's not a night mare I have it mostly sorted out. Just give a few days for my new post.

---------- Post added at 07:26 PM ---------- Previous post was at 07:20 PM ----------



When everything is good since I have every partition, and I fix the tower, I might try my hand at Oreo ROM. Or work on my game more I dunno lol.

I for one don't want to go to oreo

 

[divineBliss]

Nobody can force you to update to Oreo, but why are you against Oreo?

I for one don't want to go to oreo

 

[yuweng]

When everything is good since I have every partition, and I fix the tower, I might try my hand at Oreo ROM. Or work on my game more I dunno lol.

Since you are interested, don't look so far ahead, XT2 has a N kernel, AFAIK, you should be able to cook N custom ROMs but it won't be easy. i'm no DEV but i have cook more than 60 N Custom ROMs, N has just ended, Official Oreo is not even here yet thats why i have all the time hanging out at this thread :laugh:

The easiest is still to port over compatible custom ROMs instead of having to bring-up the whole device tree, kernel source & vendor tree Eg. for my device here

 

[faxanidu]

Since you are interested, don't look so far ahead, XT2 has a N kernel, AFAIK, you should be able to cook N custom ROMs but it won't be easy. i'm no DEV but i have cook more than 60 N Custom ROMs, N has just ended, Official Oreo is not even here yet thats why i have all the time hanging out at this thread :laugh:

The easiest is still to port over compatible custom ROMs instead of having to bring-up the whole device tree, kernel source & vendor tree Eg. for my device here

Hmm good point maybe some customs first

 

[messi2050]

Since you are interested, don't look so far ahead, XT2 has a N kernel, AFAIK, you should be able to cook N custom ROMs but it won't be easy. i'm no DEV but i have cook more than 60 N Custom ROMs, N has just ended, Official Oreo is not even here yet thats why i have all the time hanging out at this thread :laugh:

The easiest is still to port over compatible custom ROMs instead of having to bring-up the whole device tree, kernel source & vendor tree Eg. for my device here

I upstreamed lg msm8937 kernel and booted oreo on my lg stylo2 plus, when i first booted it almost everything was broken while i already have stable nougat tree so yes staying with same stock android release saves much time.

 

[aslezak]

Don't get an Elate. This phone works on Cricket and you'll get the $50 port in credit assuming you have a phone number to port in.
Cricket changed their policy on unlocking so you need 6 months service before they'd unlock it now. If that doesn't bother you, then the Elate is fine. It's cheaper now anyway vs the XT2.

Well at this point, I'd like to know what the status actually is..
1. Do we have a fully functional TWRP yet? IF so what is the latest stable download link.
2. Do we have a functional non-magisk SU? (I think that phh superuser is functional. I am not happy with SuperSU on my other huawei phone that was rooted by flashing su from twrp (my Y38) half of the programs don't detect root, and super su works by creating a shell of some sort now, and many programs don't use the interactive shell, so just break.
3. Do we have a working Xposed?
4. Do we have a boot image yet?

IF someone has all of these, could you please make a full TWRP backup of the phone and post it, so I can flash it into a phone?
(I'm seriously considering getting an ELATE, since I have lost my second phone. criket uses ATT towers, and neck to neck the pre-paid plans are almost identical,
except at the 35.00 month plan, where I believe that ATT gives you 2 gigs vs criket's 1 gig.

---------- Post added at 06:18 PM ---------- Previous post was at 06:10 PM ----------

Correction: Magisk does work but you need to flash the modified boot.img instead of the Magisk zip (per my Root! post). Some people don't like Magisk for various reasons.. but it suits my needs :good:

Magisk won't work cause it relies on /data/adb. So unless that stays unencrypted it won't take. Unless there's a /cache work around.

SuperSU so far has soft bricked my phone Everytime.

Phh has a systemless root AND a systemless exposed. I'll be posting that in the next post.

At the moment finishing up TWRP

 

[SuperBrolySSJ]

Don't get an Elate. This phone works on Cricket and you'll get the $50 port in credit assuming you have a phone number to port in.
Cricket changed their policy on unlocking so you need 6 months service before they'd unlock it now. If that doesn't bother you, then the Elate is fine. It's cheaper now anyway vs the XT2.



---------- Post added at 06:18 PM ---------- Previous post was at 06:10 PM ----------

Correction: Magisk does work but you need to flash the modified boot.img instead of the Magisk zip (per my Root! post). Some people don't like Magisk for various reasons.. but it suits my needs :good:

Is magisk 100% fully working?

 

[scrungydoolittle]

Don't get an Elate. This phone works on Cricket and you'll get the $50 port in credit assuming you have a phone number to port in.
Cricket changed their policy on unlocking so you need 6 months service before they'd unlock it now. If that doesn't bother you, then the Elate is fine. It's cheaper now anyway vs the XT2.



---------- Post added at 06:18 PM ---------- Previous post was at 06:10 PM ----------

Correction: Magisk does work but you need to flash the modified boot.img instead of the Magisk zip (per my Root! post). Some people don't like Magisk for various reasons.. but it suits my needs :good:

I'd prefer a system root i.e. a direct change to the qualcomm fstab that mounts the file system as rw rather than ro. IDGARA about googles "safety net".
I'd remove every shred of google if I could, and for certain the first thing that goes for me, is to wipe as much of google out and install gapps nano. i.e. the smallest google footprint that lets the phone work. And I don't care about downloading stuff from the "play store". I'll find the .apk and download it, and transfer it via adb or direct copy to an sd card. It is a shame that Google Play does not let you download an app, without installing it... and gps will go away as well. *then* it becomes a phone I might use as a phone.
I have a ton of cheap phones of various types. Some LG's that I found could not be rooted. An alcatel that can't be rooted. When I found that Huawei allows bootloader unlock, then it became my goto phone. I have 3 Y538 running sleeptimer, monitoring my sleep patterns, at least 5 of the Y538's are running Cigburn's digital age rom. One I use for freedom pop, and 5 others that are spares/utility phones. Being an embedded firmware engineer, I use the cell phones as tool boxes... Bluetooth traffic sniffer, frequency generator, spectrum analyzer, fraction calculator, unit converter, satellite installtion, and on 1 phone basic GPS with the phone antenna disabled, etc. And I use freedom pop free plan for texting, and have never come close to using the 500 free texts, and only once have I exhausted the data plan (500-900 mb) The H1711's were purchased on black Friday, so I could provide a better phone for the GF, but she got a Stylo 2 with a cracked screen before I was able to unbrick my phone... I wound up buying a Stylo that had a bad imei, off ebay for 45.00 and swapped her screen out. So now, the H1711 will probably be used as a better tool box. Certainly love the screen size.

So as far as unlocking goes, Cricket uses ATT. The only substantial difference to the pre-paid plans is in the number of gigs you get for some plans. Cricket is 2 gigs at 35.00 5 gigs at 45, and unlimited at 55 at the moment. ATT 1gb at 35.00 6 gigs at 45.00 and unlimited at 65.00. I'm not a heavy data user. So having to have one for 6 months before unlocking, is the same as ATT's 6 months of. Anyrate, I have an H1711 that will come back from enigma242 when I ask him to send it.

 

[faxanidu]

I'd prefer a system root i.e. a direct change to the qualcomm fstab that mounts the file system as rw rather than ro. IDGARA about googles "safety net".
I'd remove every shred of google if I could, and for certain the first thing that goes for me, is to wipe as much of google out and install gapps nano. i.e. the smallest google footprint that lets the phone work. And I don't care about downloading stuff from the "play store". I'll find the .apk and download it, and transfer it via adb or direct copy to an sd card. It is a shame that Google Play does not let you download an app, without installing it... and gps will go away as well. *then* it becomes a phone I might use as a phone.
I have a ton of cheap phones of various types. Some LG's that I found could not be rooted. An alcatel that can't be rooted. When I found that Huawei allows bootloader unlock, then it became my goto phone. I have 3 Y538 running sleeptimer, monitoring my sleep patterns, at least 5 of the Y538's are running Cigburn's digital age rom. One I use for freedom pop, and 5 others that are spares/utility phones. Being an embedded firmware engineer, I use the cell phones as tool boxes... Bluetooth traffic sniffer, frequency generator, spectrum analyzer, fraction calculator, unit converter, satellite installtion, and on 1 phone basic GPS with the phone antenna disabled, etc. And I use freedom pop free plan for texting, and have never come close to using the 500 free texts, and only once have I exhausted the data plan (500-900 mb) The H1711's were purchased on black Friday, so I could provide a better phone for the GF, but she got a Stylo 2 with a cracked screen before I was able to unbrick my phone... I wound up buying a Stylo that had a bad imei, off ebay for 45.00 and swapped her screen out. So now, the H1711 will probably be used as a better tool box. Certainly love the screen size.

-snip-

Ya don't care about safety net either.
Also for nano gapps


http://opengapps.org

 

[Harrison85]

Did anyone with the elate (cricket) do a back up? Mine corrupeted, so did the process again, now Its booted and it looks complete different firmware wise, cannot get lte have different menu options which has confused me. I did the root method here.

 

[SuperBrolySSJ]

I'd prefer a system root i.e. a direct change to the qualcomm fstab that mounts the file system as rw rather than ro. IDGARA about googles "safety net".
I'd remove every shred of google if I could, and for certain the first thing that goes for me, is to wipe as much of google out and install gapps nano. i.e. the smallest google footprint that lets the phone work. And I don't care about downloading stuff from the "play store". I'll find the .apk and download it, and transfer it via adb or direct copy to an sd card. It is a shame that Google Play does not let you download an app, without installing it... and gps will go away as well. *then* it becomes a phone I might use as a phone.
I have a ton of cheap phones of various types. Some LG's that I found could not be rooted. An alcatel that can't be rooted. When I found that Huawei allows bootloader unlock, then it became my goto phone. I have 3 Y538 running sleeptimer, monitoring my sleep patterns, at least 5 of the Y538's are running Cigburn's digital age rom. One I use for freedom pop, and 5 others that are spares/utility phones. Being an embedded firmware engineer, I use the cell phones as tool boxes... Bluetooth traffic sniffer, frequency generator, spectrum analyzer, fraction calculator, unit converter, satellite installtion, and on 1 phone basic GPS with the phone antenna disabled, etc. And I use freedom pop free plan for texting, and have never come close to using the 500 free texts, and only once have I exhausted the data plan (500-900 mb) The H1711's were purchased on black Friday, so I could provide a better phone for the GF, but she got a Stylo 2 with a cracked screen before I was able to unbrick my phone... I wound up buying a Stylo that had a bad imei, off ebay for 45.00 and swapped her screen out. So now, the H1711 will probably be used as a better tool box. Certainly love the screen size.

-snip-

Ya don't care about safety net either.
Also for nano gapps


http://opengapps.org

How's the TWRP coming along?

 

[yuweng]

I upstreamed lg msm8937 kernel and booted oreo on my lg stylo2 plus, when i first booted it almost everything was broken while i already have stable nougat tree so yes staying with same stock android release saves much time.

Even though our official device maintainer has already updated it, i did tried to learn how to upstream for my device following this guide from 3.10.49 to 107 & half way around 70 i gave up, too many conflicts, its just too complicated for me :laugh:

Found the below as i was browsing DU G+ :good:

 

[aslezak]

GCAM port (Google Camera from Pixel phones)

Guys, before I say goodbye on this thread (returning my XT2 as I am on Sprint), I wanted to let you know that the 32 bit port of Google Camera (GCAM) works great on this phone!
GCAM 4.2 (32 bit) (Note that I tried the 4.4 32 bit port but HDR+ isn't working in that build)

Camera2 API is enabled by default on this device, no root required!
HDR+ takes amazing low-light photos. I can take a picture with something hardly visible, and it looks well lit after the HDR+ runs it's course!

Have fun!

 

[messi2050]

Even though our official device maintainer has already updated it, i did tried to learn how to upstream for my device following this guide from 3.10.49 to 107 & half way around 70 i gave up, too many conflicts, its just too complicated for me :laugh:

Found the below as i was browsing DU G+ :good:

I fixed 230 conflicts it needs a good c language knowledge to know what to keep and what to remove and ofcourse much time, lg stock rom is 32 bit so it took much work fixing code to work with 64 bit

 

[faxanidu]

If I made a lite room for this phone so you want /data encryption on or off? Poll?