Chinese phones and spyware

[sahands]

 I really like my Xiaomi smartphone, what I don't like is the fact that like many other Chinese manufacturers, these phones have been found (by the likes of F-secure and G-data) to have spyware built into them. So I wanted to know if there anyway to prevent such phones from Transmitting data without the users knowledge? What if I root the phone?

[Effort]

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@srlawren wrote:

@drmartin I'm jealous!  Still rocking my 5T, decided to sit out the 6 since my 5T is recent enough (replaced my OP3 last Nov).  I'll probably jump on the 6T or 7, though!  

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With all the support OnePlus have been giving to their phones such as OnePlus 3 getting Pie soon which means they have to support Treble officially. For reference, OnePlus 3 came out with Marshmallow. It has support for Oreo already but not 8.1. They said they will skip 8.1 to Pie.

Then you compare that support with Samsung that recently leaked their update timeline which have said to release Oreo for some of their devices first quarter of 2019.

I don't think I'm going to switch from my OnePlus 5t for at least after it gets Android Q at this rate.

[drmartin]

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@srlawren wrote:

@drmartin I'm jealous!  Still rocking my 5T, decided to sit out the 6 since my 5T is recent enough (replaced my OP3 last Nov).  I'll probably jump on the 6T or 7, though!  

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I have a feeling the 6T is going to be epic. 🙂 I try to stick to major versions though, otherwise I'd be spending waaaay too much on phones every year. 😉

[srlawren]

@drmartin I'm jealous!  Still rocking my 5T, decided to sit out the 6 since my 5T is recent enough (replaced my OP3 last Nov).  I'll probably jump on the 6T or 7, though!  

[drmartin]

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@will13am wrote:

@sahands, Xiaomi phones do allow bootloader unlocking.  You need to wait 360 hours after applying for the unlock.  Install something like lineage OS and you are good to go.  Right now the hot buy is the Xiaomi Redmi Note 5 AI  M1803E7SG or M1803E7SH for around $250CD all in from Aliexpress.  The M1803E7SH model has one extra LTE band 2 otherwise both work fine here. 

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Xiaomi phones are great, but OnePlus offers local support to Canadians and top-of-the-line specs, with a few caveats.  I'm rocking my OnePlus 6 and couldn't be happier!

[wybl8181]

I am using a 360N6 mobile phone in China. There are a lot of annoying software, but a lot of software can be completely deleted. If it is 360 company's own software, it can only be deactivated or forcibly disabled. But 360 company is doing anti-virus software, and its security software is OK. I am from the N6 this model mobile phone from China, support google play. In particular, the N6 can use all the functions of the public mobile phone. Fortunately, other models don't seem to support it.

[will13am]

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@JL9 wrote:

How does this phone compare to a Samsung S7

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I am probably the wrong person to do this comparison.  I don't think much about Samsung.  The Xiaomi is so much phone for so little money.  You can get 3 to 4 for the price of a galaxy phone.  The amazing thing is Xiaomi actually provides software support.  In the 360 hour wait, theyt was 2 OTAs.  You'd be lucky to see that many updates to EOL from Samsung.

[JL9]

How does this phone compare to a Samsung S7

[will13am · Accepted solution]

@sahands, Xiaomi phones do allow bootloader unlocking.  You need to wait 360 hours after applying for the unlock.  Install something like lineage OS and you are good to go.  Right now the hot buy is the Xiaomi Redmi Note 5 AI  M1803E7SG or M1803E7SH for around $250CD all in from Aliexpress.  The M1803E7SH model has one extra LTE band 2 otherwise both work fine here. 

[popping]

You can root your phone and debloat app installed from factory.  

Google "how to disable spyware on Xiaomi phone" will give you a long list of thing to try.

Good luck.