Xiaomi Redmi 7 review and beginner questions?
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@peter-gamma
HI,
I saw your differents posts, Why do you specially want a Xiaomi?
I choose the Redmi 7 cause it was quiet new, fully fonctional and cheap but I was ( still ) beginer with UT.
I didn't have enough money when my phone broke but if I should chose today, I will chose a other one ( maybe a made in germany one...) even if the phone works fine. The Redmi 7 have only manual install.
For sure it's not easy to find information when you start to looking for a UT compatible devices but as "app lee" said you can join group in Telegram and ask people.
Don't ask to port to a new device and try to look for informations before asking.
Also I don't think there is a "best" device for UT cause everythings change thanks to all the guys who works for porting or improving the existants devices.Let's try UT!
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@tchan
Vern Kuato, developer of the instruction for UT on Redmi Note 7/7S says:«I'd prefer to say to use Official Installer rather than old method in this video, and yes everything is working with official one, also OTA support»:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fYboK4d98BE&t=29s
and also Redmi 7 seems to be mature with only minor bugs:
https://github.com/Vin4ter/Ubports-Onclite-redmi7/blob/master/README.md
and you can write issues on the Github page. It is great when the developer is present and responsive.
Devices can be found on ebay, that is true. Xiaomi Redmi 7a is the easiest to find. But i still miss information whether Bluetooth is working:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kV3SAWdxhwU&t=922s
the Xiami Redmi 7 variants are powerful and can be bought for about 100 USD, that is about half the price of a PinePhone, shipping and import taxes included. Why to pay more? But a Wiki page with all the variants, what is working, and what is not working would be helpful, with links to the installation files.
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@peter-gamma
I can tell you that everything works on the Redmi 7 Onclite but the MTP trasnfert.
Then, maybe it's better to have a phone working with the installer and have the OTA.
For the Lavander, I think you can find the guy who do the port and ask him, if he is responsive as you said but UT community is more responsive than Google, Xiaomi...Good luck and give a feed back when you done it, it can help!
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If you're looking for variants, I don't know what you can expect.
Because variants are somehow different
hence it might require a specific port.Use the list of known devices or try variants at your own risks.
About bluetooth, that is something UT is not very good with.
You can use BT speakers but placing calls don't really work.
Some devices are better than others, but that is a known issue that we hope can be fixed by rebasing on 20.04... -
Thanks, Tchan, the Redmi 7 Onclite seems really to be an attractive device for Ubuntu touch. Bluetooth works with this device, if I understood it right. What about Bluetooth keyboards, do they work with Onclite? Did someone test it?
And what about Bluetooth low energy? I m struggeling to find followers for an open source ANT+ Bluetooth low energy Bike computer and sports watch project, which can run on a Linux phone or a Linux watch, so I promote it everywhere:
https://forum.pine64.org/showthread.php?tid=10172
Are ANT+ sticks practical for Linux phones and Linux watches? Is it not better to use Bluetooth low energy for these devices? Does Bluetooth low energy work with Onclite and Ubuntu Touch?
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@peter-gamma
I tried a wireless keyboard with a dongle, it's works perfect without any setting ( i don't know with bt). It looks like work like this on android devices too.
No idea for ANT+ but there is some tracker sport apps on the store.
Also I don't want to make too much add for the Redmi 7. Just said it works for a daily use perfectly. -
@tchan Thank your for your test and for sharing your experience. That’s enough for my purpose. I already bought a Redmi 7 on ebay, and will test it further.
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Hi @tchan
Can you confirm that before I follow the Github instrutions, I would need to unlock the bootloader first by using the guide set out on the LineageOS website here: https://wiki.lineageos.org/devices/onclite/install ??
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@mdj
Hi,
I dindn't follow this page but it's the same till step 6.
You need to install TWRP with adb to flash the zip files after.
I followed this website it was clear https://krispitech.com/category/xiaomi/redmi-7/ but XDA should be the same but it's more messy for me.
Good luck and give your feedback! -
@tchan Thanks for that.
I finally managed to get it installed but only after flashing v9 of the GSI image, for some reason I get an error message when flashing v10.
The Suru Dark theme is looking very nice on this handset and I've been impressed with the performance, even on the 2 GB RAM handset I'm running on.
I'm noticing that a few of the Nextcloud apps don't want to load (Newsie, uMarks & Jotit Notes) as well as several webapps such as the newer version of Tweetdeck. Of course being webapps I can run them in the browser and they run fine there.
I can confirm that the bugs listed on the Github page are present i.e graphic glitches & WiFi randomly disconnecting but these aren't much of a distraction.
Bluetooth is working as well as can be expected, I was able to connect to a Raspberry Pi running Balena-Sound. The camera app can be a bit glitchy and freezes at times.
I'm now left wondering whether getting v10 of GSI installed would improve some of these app loading issues?
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@mdj
Nice if you manage to do it!
I think the device will be integrate to the installer (i don't now when ), cause someone is working on it if I understood correctly what I saw in the telegram group and on gitlab.
I can't tell you why you had a problem with the v10 but still it's a General System Image ( GSI ) so no OTA for us now.Enjoy UT.
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@tchan many Android phones cannot write to the external SD card. Does write to the external SD card work on Redmi 7 with Ubuntu Touch?
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@peter-gamma
Sorry, it's maybe my bad English( or my knowledge with computer ) , but I'm not sure to understand...
I can tranfert pictures to SD card and saw them on my laptop. The same in the other way, I didn't try something else. -
@tchan This sounds good. It is applications specific? On Android, it is possible to write to the external SD card with newer versions, but it is not possible for instance with a file explorer, as far as I know. On my beloved Samsung Galaxy s5 with Android 4.4. I can do whatever I want with my SD card, and not only what Google wants. Bring back those good old SD card times!
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@tchan to cut it short: which application did you use to copy pictures to the external SD card?
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@peter-gamma
Juste to be sure, you are speaking about the SD card "inside" your phone? Cause you call it "external" ...
To copy picture on the card, I go to the gallery and click on "share" I select folder and add it to the card. It's the only thing I'd tried. -
@tchan with external SD card I meant the removable SD card, which can be taken out of the device and can be but into an SD card reader which can be read from a PC. Can you copy pictures from your gallery with a Linux file explorer software and paste it onto your removable SD card?
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@peter-gamma
OK, it was what I understood sorry if it looks stupid.
I can move folder from graphique mode in the phone and when the card is in the laptop, i'am not sure if it was with windows or Ubuntu.
Not sure but it should be doable with the terminal if you know the path. -
@tchan Ok, this sounds good. I guess the graphics mode is a sort of a file linux file manager? Unfortnately, I cannot test it myself, since I don t have a Ubuntu Touch device yet. The Xiaomi Onclite which I bought on ebay in UK is still not here after the thirt attempt of the seller to send it to me, but it will arrive some day. So I bought a second Xiaomi Onclite on Ricardo Switzerland for 50 USD. It should arrive at my place soon.
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User reported problems that Xiaomi Poco F1 Ubuntu Touch often reboots. What about Xiaomi Redmi 7?