[Android Software/Hacking General [Developers Only]] NaturalBornCamper:
1. INTRODUCTION

This phone doesn't really have any developers at the moment and I struggled and spent a lot of time to hack it like I wanted. Here's what I have so far.

1.1 Root

You can choose to use either KingUser or SuperSU, but you must initially root using iRoot therefore KingUser will be installed.

1.2 Custom Recovery

Haven't succeeded in building a custom recovery that works yet

1.3 Xposed Framework

Because I have miserably failed at building a custom recovery, I could not install Xposed framework, however I found a way to do this without custom recovery!! by using an app called Flashfire, from the developer Chainfire (maker of SuperSU).

2. FULL TUTORIAL

2.1 Before you begin

PLEASE READ THIS, TO HELP ME IMPROVE THIS PROJECT!!

I am not sure whether this phone has a notification light or not, there is an LED (called breathing light by the manufacturer), that lights up when charging. There are also settings to activate/deactivate the LED for missed calls, SMS and emails. However I'm not sure it works for every app. I DID see the LED flashing when I got some LINE messages maybe 5% of the time, but I have no idea why I sometimes see it, sometimes don't. It's possible that either:

1- The phone uses the LED only for SMS, missed calls and emails

2- The phone has a notification LED but one of the many root applications/Xposed modules is confusing it.

3- The phone doesn't have a notification LED and one of the many root applications/modules is trying to make it work, but isn't always successful.

So if you read this, could you please make some notification tests before doing anything else and post back your observations here? This way if the LED lights up for Facebook, LINE, WhatsApp, etc, we can try to figure out what app is blocking/enabling the LED for the benefit of all.

And then of course, there's the blablabla that I'm not responsible if your phone explodes after following this guide, but I don't see how you could possibly mess it up with such a simple tutorial.

2.2 Root the phone

Download iRoot from the downloads section and install it on your Windows PC

Turn on USB debugging in the settings->developer options, if you don't see developer options:

Go in Settings->About phone

Tap Build number 5 times until a message tells you that you are now a developer

Turn on unknown sources in settings->security

Plug your phone in your computer and make sure you allow access to your computer when the popup opens on your phone and tick the always box

Run iRoot and click on the ROOT button, wait for the app do finish everything (phone will reboot multiple times, and it might fail the first time, so you would have to repeat this process multiple times until a success message shows up)

2.3 Replace Kingroot by SuperSU (optional, but needed to flash Xposed)

In the the download section, get Supersume.apk and install on your phone

Launch Supersume, allow root access and tap the big blue button.

Wait for the application to finish everything, then clean up any bloatware application iRoot might have installed. You can also remove Supersume, won't be needed ever again.

Finally, you will probably have to open SuperSU and update the binaries with the "normal" mode (as we don't have a custom recovery yet anyways).

2.4 Install the Xposed Framework (SuperSU required for this, KingUser will

not

work)

I suspect that there are 2 different versions of this phone (hence the title of the thread), so it's possible that you might have to install the 32bits version of Xposed or the 64bits, depending on which version you have. Check section 3 below for more information.

Install the latest version of FlashFire

Install the Xposed installer on your phone

Save the latest Xposed framework on your sdcard:

This one if your phone is 32bits (The one I used for Vphone)

This one if your phone is 64bits

Open FlashFire and allow root access

Tap the red (+) button at the bottom

Tap Flash ZIP or OTA

Select the file you just downloaded

Make sure that Auto-mount is unchecked then tap the check-mark at the top right

Tap the EverRoot and make sure nothing is selected there, then click the check-mark again

Tap the lightning button at the bottom. You will get a black screen then it will start flashing, so don't panic

3. PHONE INFORMATION AND SIDENOTES

3.1 Introduction

This phone seems to have 2 variations

The NO.1 X2i that comes in black or yellow

The Vphone X3 that comes in black or Orange.

I ordered directly from NO.1 by emailing their representative, asked for the yellow one but they sent me the orange Vphone instead it seems. This is when I learned about the existence of the Vphone variation I'm not sure if they tried to rip me off because the Vphone is not as good as the NO.1, or whatever reason they sent me the wrong phone. Other than the color, I could see from Google Image search that they look exactly the same, except for the logo on the back that either says NO.1 or Vphone (see in the what I mean in the screenshots section, sorry can't put them here, link expires after a few minutes).

3.2 Thoughts/Opinions about the phone

I switched to that phone from the Doogee DG700 because I wanted an IP68 solid waterproof phone with Android 5.1 that eliminates most of the 5.0 bugs Google introduced. However I have to say I was a bit disappointed by both Lollipop 5.1 and the company that sold me the phone (whether it was their fault or just bad luck.. I don't know).

3.2.1 What I like about the phone:

So far, "seems" to be waterproof, but I'm a bit afraid to try to submerge it completely for a long period of time, after my incident with the Doogee DG700

I like the "rubbery" surface underneath and on the sides, so it's doesn't slip if you put it on the side or stays in place if you leave it on the dashboard of your car (to some extent).

So far, it seems quite responsive and fast

Some people might disagree, but I like how the back-cover is solidly fixed with screws, not with flimsy snaps like most phones

Because of the rubbery case, the camera lens, screen and the rest of the phone are not getting scratched or visually worn off like other phones because whatever position it's put on a surface, it will always be the rubbery surface that will be in contact., not the screen, camera lens, sides.

The rubber covers for the headphone and USB plugs makes you feel like even radiations won't get inside. It's nice to see this, compared to the crappy plastic protectors on the DG700 that would always fall off and felt sluggish when you opened it to plug your headphones.

3.2.2 What I don't like about the phone:

The headphone jack hole is narrow, so only the headphones provided fit in the hole. I thought I had to buy an adapter but luckily after carving the sides of my headphone plug with a knife, it could fit in the phone.

It is big,

very big

. I measured 5.5 inches before buying it but was still surprised by its size. Some people call it a phablet on internet (phone + tablet). I am tall and have large hands so it's not so bad, but a friend of mine bought the same one and her friends are always laughing at her because it's huge in her hands hahaha!

It seems like the phone doesn't support fast charge (to be confirmed). I know that slow charge is better for the battery, but it was nice to have my DG700 charge 50% in 30 minutes when I was in a hurry.

No backlight on the hardware buttons. I don't even understand how come Mediatek still makes chips that don't include this basic functionality. It is so extremely annoying in the dark and it really pisses me off. El Cheapo

The notification LED (breathing light) Seems to be malfunctioning 95% of the time (to be confirmed with other testers). See section 2.1 Before you begin for more info and please report your results if you have this phone.

It might be Android 5.1's fault, but the battery does drain quickly. 10%-15% overnight with the screen off. It's still new so I'm trying to figure out which wakelock is causing this to try and stop it, but so far no love. I tried Xposed module Smart Network but it keeps turning on the wifi automatically for no reason. DS Battery Saver is outdated and all other apps that restrict the radio when the screen is off don't turn on the radio periodically to check for new messages. On my previous phones, I would lose 0% or 1% overnight while the screen was off with smaller batteries. This is the phone with the largest battery I ever had and it drains the quickest. My friend reported the same, he battery doesn't last long (unrooted phone). Who's fault is it? Fake 4500mAh battery? Android 5.1's power management? A specific app? I'm still working on it.

The area for the screen on the phone and the actual AMOLED screen are misaligned.. sign of bad manufacturing. So this means that if you look perfectly perpendicularly at your phone, you see a black bar at the bottom, and a little bit of the top is missing, hidden under the plastic. So you must tilt it backwards a little bit. This is not so bad and is possibly only bad luck with my phone, but is worth noting and highly unprofessional.

3.3 X2i vs X3 Waterproofing differences

The NO.1 .1 X2i claims to be IP68 on its website while the Vphone X3 claims to be IP67 on its website. Yet the Vphone X3 still has the IP68 markings on the back cover... Sorry if I offend Chinese readers, but this is typical Chinese misinformation, crappy websites and attention to details that frustrate us. There is no way to verify this and the representative I talked to was not aware of that and could not answer my questions, which to ns I'm afraid of testing to submerge my phone in water.

3.4 X2i vs X3 Processor differences

The NO.1 .1 X2i claims to have a 64bits 1.3GHz processor on its website while the Vphone X3 claims to have a 32bits 1GHz processor on its website. Once again, I have no idea if that's a mistake or the 2 versions have different processors.

I have verified on the Vphone X3 specs with 3 different apps: AnTuTu Benchmark, CPU-Z and CPU X and they all give out 1GHz as the clock speed, however CPU-Z says the architecture is MT6735 while AnTuTu Benchmark/CPU X both specify MT6735P and finally the scatter file from Vphone's official website says: "platform: MT6735M" :silly::eek: AnTuTu Benchmark also informs that the processor is 64bits, but that Android 32bits is installed... (more mindfuck) and to add to this, I had to install the arm32 Xposed framework on a supposedly arm64 processor.

So now, we might have 3 different architectures: MT6735, MT6735P, MT6735M of 32bits OR 64bits respectively on Android 32bits OR 64bits. Info about these processors is scarce, vague and non-uniform so I can't really tell the difference. I wrote to Mediatek, hopefully they will answer. According to one website, MT6735P is better because it has integrated graphics... true? not true?

Anyways, here's more potentially true/false info on the MT6735M and MT6735P that say 1GHz clock and don't specify 64bits (so usually means 32bits), plus the specifications of the MT6735 on the official MediaTek website.

By the way, this website even advertises the phone as being a 1.3GHz Octa Core!!!

So anyways, I included screenshots of my tests in the screenshots section of the project. It would be nice if anyone with the NO.1 X2i could test as well and send me the screenshots or let me know so we can see the difference.

3.5 Stock Firmware

The NO.1 website doesn't have the stock firmware to download as I'm writing this, but the Vphone has the stock firmware (although it is not the latest build that it came shipped with). The firmware from the Vphone website is called "NO1", so I'm inclined to think it would work with both phones. I have tried flashing this firmware on my phone, but nothing happened.. this could be due however to the fact that the MTK drivers don't work properly on Windows 10. Anyhow, you can find in the downloads section a care package that contains the original archive from Vphone that contains the firmware, SP Flash Tool 5.1352.01, the drivers + the latest build I found on 4PDA + a folder containing custom recoveries I have tried to start with to make my own (all failed).

4. REFERENCES

4.1 Original post where I found the Supersume.apk instructions

http://xdaforums.com/showpost.php?p=67792321&postcount=9

4.2 Original post where I found the Xposed instructions

http://www.andromods.com/apps-mod/easy-install-lollipop-xposed-framework-without-twrp-cwm-recovery.html

4.3 Xposed thread

http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=3034811

4.4 Flashfire thread

http://xdaforums.com/general/paid-software/flashfire-t3075433

4.5 Original 4PDA thread where I found the latest original firmware

No idea where this guy took it, but it's the exact same build that my Vphone came with

http://4pda.ru/forum/index.php?showtopic=742407&view=findpost&p=50532543

XDA:DevDB Information

No.1 X2i / vPhone X3 Workshop (SuperSU root + Xposed framework Lollipop 5.1), Device Specific App for all devices (see above for details)

Contributors

NaturalBornCamper

Version Information

Status: Beta

Created 2016-09-02

Last Updated 2016-09-19