Hello everybody,
I tried to find out some stuff already on my own, but the topic that I'm facing is a bit complicated, so I hope you can help me finding the right answers and making a good decision. And I'm thankful for anybody who is reading through this big amount of text and offers some help and insights!
So: I'm about to buy a new smartphone. I never used Xiaomi before, but this is what I want to buy. It will be either a Xiaomi 13 or the new Xiaomi 14. I would actually prefer buying the 14 (as it's obviously newer and better), however: I live in Germany and it's not out here yet, as you might know (it's expected to be released at the end of February).
Normally I would just wait for the new model to be released here and then buy it. But there's a special challenge: I will be starting a trip around the world in 2 weeks and will not be back in Germany or Europe for probably a year. That's why I now have to options: Buying the 13 model right now here in Germany, or buying the 14 model in another country when it's released globally.
And here's the point where I need your expertise. What consequences would it have for me to buy a smartphone from a different region?
As I see it, this question can be broken down to two aspects: Hardware and Software.
Hardware
From what I looked up, it seems like Xiaomi releases only two different variations of one model: A Chinese variation and a Global variation. Is this true? If yes, this would mean that the hardware would be exactly the same, no matter if I buy it in South America (my first continent to visit) or in Europe. Correct?
Are there any other things I should consider, would there anything else be different in regards of hardware? Except for that the charger is changing as well.
Importing the smartphone from China is not an option for me by the way, because it doesn't have all mobile signal bands included and also doesn't offer eSim functionality.
Software
This is the part where I got VERY confused when looking into all of this on my own. Let's leave custom firmware like xiaomi.eu out of the equation for the moment and just look at the official firmware.
Which firmware would I get if I buy the phone in, let's say, Ecuador? I read about a "global rom" - is that what it is? But then again, there also seems to be an "EEA rom" and several other country-specific roms. What are the differences between these? If I buy the phone in Ecuador, does it still offer the same languages as if I bought it in Germany? The same features? Or security settings? What would be different?
And how easy is it to change the rom to the one I would get in Germany? Do I need to unlock the bootloader and flash the EEA rom, wiping all existing data? Is it then exactly the same as if I bought it in Germany or would there still be difference, for example with Google Wallet and banking, or with future official OTA updates? Would I have to lock the bootloader again?
Is all of this worth the hustle or should I just stay with the stock rom that the phone comes with?
Xiaomi.eu
Now let's look at this part. Honestly, I would prefer to have a system that I don't have to care about anymore in the future. Basically the official stock firmware would be fine for me, I guess. In earlier days I rooted phones and made some modifications, but honestly, I don't want to be involved in that anymore. The system should just be working, no bugs, no manual work for me.
So I'm not sure if Xiaomi.eu would be the right thing for me. On the one hand, it seems to be pretty stable from what I heard (and you guys are doing an incredible job!), and it offers some features that I wouldn't get from the European rom. But then again, there still seem to be some compromises that I might have to take, and bugs are also possible (like from what I read, it took some time after Xiaomi 13's release to enable eSim functionality).
I wasn't able to find a clear list of differences between the global/EEA rom and Xiaomi.eu rom, at least not an up-to-date list. So I'm not even sure if I need those extra features (besides call recording - that's something I would really love to have).
What advice would you give me?
I know, this was a lot to read. Again, I'm very thankful for any helpful responses. I'm asking here because I'm sure you people are experts in this area and know stuff that many other people on other websites wouldn't know.
Hope to get some good advice from you so that I'm able to make the best decision for me before my exciting travel year begins in 2 weeks.
I tried to find out some stuff already on my own, but the topic that I'm facing is a bit complicated, so I hope you can help me finding the right answers and making a good decision. And I'm thankful for anybody who is reading through this big amount of text and offers some help and insights!
So: I'm about to buy a new smartphone. I never used Xiaomi before, but this is what I want to buy. It will be either a Xiaomi 13 or the new Xiaomi 14. I would actually prefer buying the 14 (as it's obviously newer and better), however: I live in Germany and it's not out here yet, as you might know (it's expected to be released at the end of February).
Normally I would just wait for the new model to be released here and then buy it. But there's a special challenge: I will be starting a trip around the world in 2 weeks and will not be back in Germany or Europe for probably a year. That's why I now have to options: Buying the 13 model right now here in Germany, or buying the 14 model in another country when it's released globally.
And here's the point where I need your expertise. What consequences would it have for me to buy a smartphone from a different region?
As I see it, this question can be broken down to two aspects: Hardware and Software.
Hardware
From what I looked up, it seems like Xiaomi releases only two different variations of one model: A Chinese variation and a Global variation. Is this true? If yes, this would mean that the hardware would be exactly the same, no matter if I buy it in South America (my first continent to visit) or in Europe. Correct?
Are there any other things I should consider, would there anything else be different in regards of hardware? Except for that the charger is changing as well.
Importing the smartphone from China is not an option for me by the way, because it doesn't have all mobile signal bands included and also doesn't offer eSim functionality.
Software
This is the part where I got VERY confused when looking into all of this on my own. Let's leave custom firmware like xiaomi.eu out of the equation for the moment and just look at the official firmware.
Which firmware would I get if I buy the phone in, let's say, Ecuador? I read about a "global rom" - is that what it is? But then again, there also seems to be an "EEA rom" and several other country-specific roms. What are the differences between these? If I buy the phone in Ecuador, does it still offer the same languages as if I bought it in Germany? The same features? Or security settings? What would be different?
And how easy is it to change the rom to the one I would get in Germany? Do I need to unlock the bootloader and flash the EEA rom, wiping all existing data? Is it then exactly the same as if I bought it in Germany or would there still be difference, for example with Google Wallet and banking, or with future official OTA updates? Would I have to lock the bootloader again?
Is all of this worth the hustle or should I just stay with the stock rom that the phone comes with?
Xiaomi.eu
Now let's look at this part. Honestly, I would prefer to have a system that I don't have to care about anymore in the future. Basically the official stock firmware would be fine for me, I guess. In earlier days I rooted phones and made some modifications, but honestly, I don't want to be involved in that anymore. The system should just be working, no bugs, no manual work for me.
So I'm not sure if Xiaomi.eu would be the right thing for me. On the one hand, it seems to be pretty stable from what I heard (and you guys are doing an incredible job!), and it offers some features that I wouldn't get from the European rom. But then again, there still seem to be some compromises that I might have to take, and bugs are also possible (like from what I read, it took some time after Xiaomi 13's release to enable eSim functionality).
I wasn't able to find a clear list of differences between the global/EEA rom and Xiaomi.eu rom, at least not an up-to-date list. So I'm not even sure if I need those extra features (besides call recording - that's something I would really love to have).
What advice would you give me?
I know, this was a lot to read. Again, I'm very thankful for any helpful responses. I'm asking here because I'm sure you people are experts in this area and know stuff that many other people on other websites wouldn't know.
Hope to get some good advice from you so that I'm able to make the best decision for me before my exciting travel year begins in 2 weeks.
