Xiaomi is a very popular smartphone brand, especially in the Indian and Chinese markets. In recent years, it has grown increasingly popular thanks to its high-end specifications, which come at an affordable price.
Xiaomi is also in direct competition with some of the huge names in the smartphone industry, such as Samsung, HTC, Oppo, etc. It even has its own user interface known as MIUI, which works even better and has enhanced features when combined with the Android OS.
UNLOCKING BOOTLOADER
Xiaomi phones are one of those user-friendly phones that let the user unlock the bootloader. By unlocking the bootloader in any android phone, you will be able to install custom firmware. You can root your phone according to your personal choices from ROMs to tweaked system settings, modded apps, and everything else.
Everything in your phone gets erased in the process; your phone’s internal memory, applications, contacts, SMS, etc. The process is actually similar to doing a complete factory reset on your phone with its settings, data, third-party applications and everything else gets completely wiped away from the hardware store. However, it has its risks too since the phone warranty becomes completely void when the bootloader is unlocked.
If you own a Xiaomi phone and have either unlocked the bootloader or planning to do, you will surely have many questions about it. And the number one doubt you may have would be if unlocking the bootloader will cause irreparable damage to your phone. Well, we have some news for you. In a recent tweet, MI India Support made a statement about their opinion on user’s queries about unlocking bootloader. They clarified that while simply unlocking the bootloader won’t do any harm, the guarantee will be voided if your device crashes or bricks while installing any custom ROM.
You can use Android OS and Xiaomi’s MIUI together to expand your horizons, add more custom features to your phone, and have a better user experience. This article is a complete guide on how you can unlock the bootloader on your Xiaomi phone. But before that, let us get into what exactly a bootloader is and the need for unlocking it.
WHAT IS BOOTLOADER?
A bootloader is basically a piece of code that runs on your device before the operating system is ready to start. It includes many features like flash custom ROMS, usage of stock ROMS for factory reset, access to root files and folders, etc. However, since Xiaomi has locked its bootloader due to security reasons, you will be unable to perform all of the above-mentioned functions of a bootloader.
When the bootloader is unlocked, it gives someone complete root access to all the data on your phone, and this can be extremely dangerous in cases like when your phone is stolen. However, you can still unlock the bootloader to enhance your device features if you are confident enough that security wouldn’t be a major issue and that you’re very less likely to get your phone stolen or lost.
STEPS TO UNLOCK BOOTLOADER ON ANY XIAOMI DEVICE
The described method will work on the following devices: Xiaomi Mi 4C, Xiaomi Mi 5C, Xiaomi Redmi Note 4, Xiaomi Mi 4S, Mi Note Pro, Redmi Note 3, and other upcoming smartphones. The Mi Flash Unlock Toolkit is the most important thing you need to have for the process. The prerequisites for unlocking are listed below:
- Ensure that you have fully backup the data to prevent any loss of data during the process
- Install the program – Xiaomi USB Drivers on your PC.
- Go to – ‘Settings > Developer Options > Enable USB Debugging’
- For your phone, install an official MIUI ROM.
Once these have been done, you phone warranty will become void. Do the processes with utmost care since the chances of your phone or software getting damaged are very likely, and these are not covered by warranty.
Instructions to Get The Unlock Code:
- Download Mi Flash Unlock tool.
- Next, go to ‘Settings > About phone > MIUI version.’ Tap on it for about 6-8 times to enable Developer Options.
- Next, select options and click ‘Enable USB Debugging.’
- Next, download and install Xiaomi USB Drivers.
- Use your Mi account to access the toolkit.
Instructions to Unlock Bootloader:
- Run the Mi Flash Unlock toolkit and click ‘Agree’ on the disclaimer provided on the screen.
- After you run the program, log in to the toolkit by entering your E-mail ID and password.
- Next, access the ‘Fastboot’ mode on your phone by pressing the ‘Power’ button and the ‘Volume Down’ buttons together.
- Next, connect your PC with your phone with a USB cable and click on ‘Unlock.’
- This will initiate the unlocking process, and once the process is over, you will get a message on your screen. This would take around 2-3 minutes.
- Then, press the ‘Power’ button on your phone and reboot it to apply the changes to your phone.
- And with that, the process is completed. The boot loader is now unlocked, and you are free to install custom ROM, flash custom ROMS, and many more.
WARNING:
It is advised to follow the steps mentioned in this post very carefully to avoid permanent damage or to brick your device. If anything goes wrong TheWorldsBestAndWorst is not responsible for it.
WHAT WILL AND WILL NOT HAPPEN AFTER UNLOCKING BOOTLOADER?
Unlocking the boot loader will not affect the OTA updates that are normally sent to your phone, even though the warranty is no longer valid. While some features may work, some may not, and you are also likely to incur a loss of data during the unlocking process. Thus its importnat that you backup all your data before performing this process. Also, make sure that you use the same Mi account for both locking and unlocking process. Using different accounts can cause errors on your device.
