Poco X3 is no longer viable

kln_nurv

Re: Ubuntu Touch Installation Guide for Xiaomi POCO X3 NFC / X3

For those looking to use a Poco X3, it is now much more difficult to unlock the bootloader, especially on MIUI 14.

To unlock the bootloader, you MUST:

have a China region Xiaomi account (if yours is global, you need a new account)
have a SIM card in the phone
link your phone to the account and add the phone number (SMS verification often fails)
request unlock authorization at midnight China time (limited to 2000 requests worldwide daily)

All known methods to bypass the 7 day waiting period still need a code that is generated server-side only after linking a phone number. A phone number can only be added to your Xiaomi account if your region is set to China. And you cannot change the region of an existing account. While you can use a phone number from any country, the account region must be set to China.

Information is Xiaomi community is outdated and unlikely to be updated.
Xiaomi is making it more difficult to unlock bootloaders across all models, but has not yet explicitly banned unlocking. They have also instructed their service centers not to unlock bootloaders for any reason other than when necessary for repair, and to ensure they are re-locked when returning the device to its owner.

aimar

Can anybody confirm this issue please?
It is getting more and more difficult to find spare parts for my BQ Aquaris E4.5. (Yes I am still sticking to it ).
I have found a second hand Poco X3 very affordable, but besides being a hassle to wait 30 days (because I have yet not a Xiaomi account), unfortunately I think is quite improbable that I visit China just to get a China region Xiaomi account.

Eric H

@aimar
I suggest asking this question also on ut_pocox3 telegram group (bridged to #ut_surya:matrix.org on Matrix) to increase the chances of getting an answer.

aimar

Thank you @Eric-H.
I am not very fond of social networks such as Telegram, Whatsapp, Instagram and the like. Hence I do not use them .
I haven't found in the web any topic regarding this issue.
I will wait in case someone pops up here with more information.
Thank you for the advice anyway.

TotalSonic

fwiw - I made the huge mistake of updating to Hyper OS1 when I first got my Poco X3 NFC, the only way I was able to get it unlocked was using "Hypersploit" on a PC running Windows 10 https://github.com/TheAirBlow/HyperSploit

Best regards,
Steve Berson

aimar

Thank you @totalsonic
Actually I pretend to swap to ubports as soon as I get it, so I have no intention of upgrading anything.
In the meantime, the prices has increased, just as the plane flight websites do.
I will wait a little longer in case it drops again and I gather more information.

wally

@aimar It should just be a one week (168 hour, they'll say) wait.

I can't confirm what @kln_nurv said exactly, but it does kinda fit with my experience.

I bought a Xiaomi Redmi Note 9 Pro from the EU for delivery in Canada. I made a Xiaomi account, synced it to the phone, waited 168 days, but where it failed was as part of something Xiaomi called SIM sync or something similar. There was supposed to be a verification SMS from Xiaomi. This would never be received, and SIM Sync / SIM Activation would fail.

Then when I'd try Mi Unlock Tool even after 7 days, it would say the phone isn't "Activated".
A few emails with Xiaomi and a couple calls with my cellular carrier later, I gave up.

The best they could come up with at the time is that "short-code SMS", the type commonly used for 2FA, wasn't coming through maybe because either Xiaomi didn't have servers in Canada, or because it wasn't in its original market. They said short-code SMS don't work internationally. None of this made very much sense to me.

So I dunno, it's possible it now only works from within China.
I still have the phone. I will try to find time to make a new Xiaomi account via a Proton VPN server in Hong Kong and see if that works.. best I can do.

Any recent reports from others unlocking Xiaomi devices could be helpful. This was in 2026 that I was trying. Clearly people succeeded at this in the past. But anybody done so this year?

aimar

Thanks @wally for your information.
I said 30 days, because apart from the 168 hour thing, one must have a Xiaomi account more than 30 days old. Which currently I had not.
I just bought it. Hope it works. I do not want to be stuck on Android.
With your information I kept searching and found that lots of people complain from no receiving the sms code. It seems a random issue between countries, attempts and the xiaomi unlock app version.
In this XDA forum, the last post is dated Apr 15, 2026 and a guy from Canada, finally, got the SMS. Hope you also are lucky this time.

wally

@aimar Thanks for the tip, and for posting that link! I'll try it out. Meanwhile my existing phone, Oneplus N10 got VoLTE support, and my need for a different phone evaporated.
But I'd love to get UT working on that device.

Good luck getting yours unlocked! Seems it may be more a question of luck than anything else

aimar

@wally In this other Reddit post a guy says that "... Xiaomi only allows 2000 people per day (unlock requests) which is ridiculous. Took me 3 more days of randomly opening the app & requesting an unlock. It finally happened. Very randomly."
I don't know if its true, but it can explain why some people get it and others don't without any reason.

wally

@aimar Yeah, I'd read something about that. It resets at a certain time of day, China time (one big time zone).. not sure if it's midnight or what. Worth looking into what time the daily quota resets.

aimar

@wally this thread recommends GMT+8.
Today I got the phone. It's huge. I miss my 4.5" screen. Why do they make only big phones?
Anyway. It is a officially (xiaomi) refurbished phone. MIUI Global 12.0.8 Stable 12.0.8.0 (RJGEUXM) and Android 11 (RKQ1.200826.002). I have not update anything.
I created a Xiaomi account, but have not yet linked it to the phone. Digging in it, I switched and option called "OEM unlocking" (or something similar, my phone iz not in english). That's it? Is it alteady unlocked without any waiting nor SMS code required? Am I so lucky?
There are some USB options, but think I enabled the "USB Debugging" option.
There also is a "MyUnlockStatus" option but since requires some permissions I haven't accept them in case
As mentioned in the device description I downloaded MIUI Build V12.0.9.0.QJGMIXM. I have to learn how to flash it to the phone though. Would it be enough?

Moem

@aimar said:

Digging in it, I switched and option called "OEM unlocking" (or something similar, my phone iz not in english). That's it?

No, it's not. 'Allow OEM unlocking' is the first step towards unlocking, by itself it does not unlock anything.

aimar

Thanks @moem.
What a shame. All is to misleading.
So I guess I will link the phone to the Xisomi account, etc, etc. However my SIM card has not data. It has only calls. I rely on wifi. Why must it has data? This requirement is quite strange for an ignorant like me. Does not feel trustworthy.
Will keep you posted.

wally

@aimar Yes, GMT + 8, and notably, that linked site confirms that it indeed resets at midnight in China, not some other time of day. Useful!

There's an excellent post to help install on Redmi Note 9 Pro and similar devices. While of course there will be differences for yours, like firmware, I strongly suspect the basics of unlocking will be the same.
The other difference is that the post is from 2024, and it seems clear that Xiaomi has made it harder to unlock. But at least this shows you the process:

https://forums.ubports.com/post/79264

ChromiumOS-Guy

@kln_nurv yeah, its xiamoi in general thats not viable anymore, and I don't think any new xiaomi device will be ported. about the poco X3, if it doesn't have an efuse you're best bet is to downgrade to miui 12 with sp flash tool and bootrom bypass, then install a custom payload.bin from an already unlocked phone, i don't have this device but if you want this to still be viable we need a unlocked bootloader dump from a donor phone via sp flash (preferably a full nand dump).
if you get me a full nand dump i can probably create a small bootloader unlock "rom" for you to flash with sp flash.

just be ware that the nand dump if it a full one should not contain these: protect1, protect2, nvcfg, nvdata, nvram because they contain IMEI, bluetooth address/MAC, ect.
protect1/2 are sometimes called L/R instead of 1/2 in the scatter file.

aimar

Account set and paired to the phone.
@chromiumos-guy Honestly I didn't understand a word
@kln_nurv The last link provided by @wally states "At the end of 2024, Xiaomi will start to check the regions in which your Mi account is used. For example, if your phone or tablet is designed for the Chinese domestic market, you will only be able to unlock the bootloader with a Chinese account.
If you try to unlock the bootloader of a Chinese phone from a global account, you’ll get an error: ‘The place where the account is registered does not match the place where the phone is sold’."
I hope Global accounts don't have the weird limitations you mentioned.
The MiUnlock version from the Ubports devices site didn't work properly in my laptop, so I downloaded the last version from the last link provided by @wally. I can launch the app but cannot connect to the phone. "Mi Unlock not connected to the phone. Possible driver issue or incorrect application folder name. Also possible bad smartphone-PC connection due to poor quality cable." I guess it is the cable.
I realized that i skipped "Submitting an application through the Mi Community app.". Is it necessary?

aimar

It was the cable. I used another one. Clicked on the gear at the top right side of the window. I clicked on "install driver" "check" button. A new window popped and ask to replug the phone. I did so and a spinning wheel indicated some activity and the phone was connected. I tried to unlock, the phone was verified, and i got a message asking to wait 143 hours. Next week if I am lucky I can be back on ubuntu-touch.
The first time I opened the MiUnlock app, I had to login in my account. I did so with and email and a verification code send to that account. Afterwards it asked to register the phone number and I got a SMS to that number almost instantly. SoI had no problem with that SMS verification.

aimar

Well, 143 hours passed ... and unfortunately still no luck .
The MiUnlock app stops the process at 99%.

First the "Device Verified" ticks green. OK.

But at the end an error message shows: "This device is not activated. Activate it and try to unlock again".

My MI Account is linked to the phone and previously had verified it: "Congratulations! You can be assured the phone you have purchased is the official international version.".

My guess is that I do not have a SIM with a data plan, just calls. For linking the device to the account there was a statement: "Make sure your device can connect to the internet using mobile data." So I borrowed another SIM card, but typed my phone number to get the SMS.

Yesterday I tried to do the same, but still ""This device is not activated ...".

In my "Mi Unlock Status" the account and the device show, but there is another field for the SIM that states "Not verified". I change the phone recovery number to match that of the borrowed SIM card with the hope that it will change the state. Nope. I activate "Find my device" (I read it somewhere it was necessary) and let Xiaomi know where I am without wifi and the SIM data on. No luck. I also read somewhere that I also have to sync calls and messages with their cloud but it failed in all my attempts. I am not paranoid, but all this requisites and opening the File Manager app and read a message asking permission to share data or receive personalized ads its giving me the creeps. I need UBports right now .

I know that there is not any official information and all the requisites I see online seem different or, even, contradictory. I think that I will have to borrow the SIM card a bit longer, do some stuff with it and wait until Xiaomi recognizes I use it in this device. How long do you think it could take?

aimar

@wally I have read more carefully your first post and I think we are stuck in the same step.
At first I undertood you did not receive the SMS for linking the phone with the Xiaomi account. With all I have read lately I think I got the big picture.
I phoned Xiaomi support and I heard them typing looking for a generic and unrelated answer that I had already found by myself. Not a very high service standard.
For the SIM activation, MiAccount app sends a SMS. I checked with my carrier that esch try a SMS is sent (and of course, charged), alternatively, to a local mobile number and a local landline. I phoned these numbers and the former does not exist and the latter is disconnected or out of reach. I mailed Xiaomi asking about these numbers. I presume they will say that I must update MIUI, but I am reticent in case it makes more difficult to unlock the bootloader.
If they do not provide another way or phone number to send manually the SMS, I think I will have no other option than to update hoping that the correct phone numbers are also updated.