Phone was sent back under warranty to GeekBuying I think it was always f'ed as on global it couldn't update.
Meanwhile, I got a nexus 6p which is flawless, $400 cdn thru my plan, and got extended drop warranty for 14 buck a month.
Is it better? software wise miui is a great os, but is slow to update, this 6p is a year and half old and I get 7.1 (CM14.1) and a great flashing app for it. Is CM14 better than Miui? no actually. But the stock unlock wipe flash was done in minutes (wugfresh), with zero adb comandline and no xiaomi account begging for an unlock.
Physically, is the 6p better than the Redmi note 4? no. the finishing is actually far better on the note 4. buttons on 6p are in the middle of the phone so you are constantly turning it to vibrate.
Will I ever buy a xiaomi phone again (my 3rd so far)?
No.
Because as soon as you are in the woods, you are toast. Warranty RMA's take forever, I expect my phone back in February. No drop warranty, xiaomi drops you via updates quickly (redmi note 1 and 2), you have to beg to unlock the bootloader- which I believe re-locks at random.
Its too much messing around. I spend 20 hours trying to fix this- I am able to compile kernels on Linux (technically competent). Its not worth it. The 6p has millions of users on xda. the note 4, the better phone has tens.
You bought a phone that is only officially released in China. If you wanted better support, you should have gotten a phone that actually had a global variant/target market. You imported the device, like any import the RMA's do take forever.
"Begging" to unlock bootloader and relocking at random? That's a pretty conceited opinion, I've no idea where you got the "random relocking" claim from. Probably from people who stuck with regular OTA updates not knowing better, and had no idea that fastboot oem unlock would just undo it instantly.
Unlocking your Nexus device might have been quick, sure. What you don't realize is that is would have been quick for someone if they stole your Nexus too. It never occured to you how secure the Xiaomi devices are? The fact that they require strong and solid verification of it being the owner who's actually unlocking the device?
Nexus 6p is old and slow, and doesn't have official MIUI. Judging a phone by the amount of users? By that logic, the iPhone is better than the 6p lol.
People buy Xiaomi devices for one reason and one reason alone - MIUI. You either had a bad luck and got a dud device (it happens) or refused to perform an SP Flash process to try and fix it, and you were too impatient to wait a few days for an unlock and/or don't seem to understand or appreciate the extra layer of security involved.
Xiaomi devices are the most popular device in China, they're the 4th biggest smartphone maker in the world. Not too far behind Huawei who makes your Nexus 6p. The difference between the Nexus 6p and Xiaomi device is that most Nexus 6p users are hobbyists, developers, and other such related nerds and geeks, whereas Xiaomi users are business types, and people with lifestyles that doesn't revolve around Android hacking and tweaking.
And again, you got a phone which is exclusive to China market, voluntarily importing - you should have known those risks when you got the device.
You've opted for quantity over quality, in my opinion. AOSP 7.x, CM14, and all the other AOSP forks have nothing on MIUI. Suit yourself - none of us nor Xiaomi will miss you lol. But thanks for sharing your heartbreak and rage with us, good luck and so long!
