With all the latest bad news from Xiaomi, where to go to buy a new phone with an unlockable bootloader today?
I used to buy Samsung, then moved to xiaomi, now what?
Unlock the boatloader is a basic requirement for me as at the very minimum I want root and preferably lineageos down the road.
Here’s a list.
https://github.com/melontini/bootloader-unlock-wall-of-shame
That’s very bleak, I hope there is more to that.
It’s pretty bad, however the headings appear be colored by the author’s moral indignation. Many models from brands in the “Avoid at all costs!” section are, in fact unlockable.
Wow, it’s just terrible. Thanks for the list.
They track the status on this repo: https://github.com/melontini/bootloader-unlock-wall-of-shame
TLDR:
ℹ️ “Safe for now” :trollface:
- Nothing
- OnePlus
- Microsoft
- Umidigi
- Micromax
- Ulefone
- Blackview
- Cubot
- Oukitel
I’m guessing Pixel’s not an option because you don’t live in the supported countries?
Well, it could be an option, never checked but I guess my country is supported.
But I would prefer not google tbh
Somewhat Ironically, the Pixels are the only supported devices for GrapheneOS.
Lineageos is enough for me, no requirement for graphene
Afaik a couple non-pixels are compatable, as of a few months ago.
I’m in the same boat so following this thread. Currently using Xiaomi and unlocking its bootloader was agony. Definitely don’t want to buy Xiaomi again.
Xiaomi doesn’t allow unlocking anymore, it seems.
Sony
They straight up support the concept of open devices: https://developer.sony.com/open-source/aosp-on-xperia-open-devices
Thanks you, i didn’t know… Interesting!
Yeah if you can manage to get one without their outrageous official price, these are really amazing devices for enthusiasts, took me less than 3 minutes to unlock bootloader and root (most of the time spent by the full system wipe from unlocking bootloader). And they are some of the last flagship spec’ed phones that still have SD card support, and headphone jack, and they come with very clean AOSP-like ROM with minimal customization and no bloat, and because of that most of the root-empowered system customization tools developed for Pixel phones mostly work out of the box on these phones too
Wait isn’t it that they changed from three unlocks a year to only one device per Mi account a year. As far as I know you can still unlock one single device a year
Only for devices with MIUI. Any device (all new ones) that comes with their new android rebrand Hyperion or whatever its called, cannot be unlocked.
Agreed, bit most new devices will never be in this list (= not yet when new). I usually keep a phone for 5+ years, so getting it new is kinda important.
Microsoft made new phones??
I’m happy with my OnePlus
I read that since they rebased with oppo future unlockability is at stakes.
That’s a bummer. My next phone will likely be a used Pixel with GrapheneOS. After that, I’m hoping there will be a usable Linux phone with Android app support.
pixel, Motorola???
Motorola seems hit and miss.
While pixels would be a choice, I would prefer something with a microSD
