Beware of Xiaomi Phones From Banggood

Hi Guys,

I recently bought a Xiaomi Mi5s Phone from Banggood, for about AUD$367 delivered, which was a pretty good deal. I eagerly awaited the arrival of my new phone. Then the problems began, I was constantly being bombarded with rubbish banner ads, redirection to bogus websites, random apps installing on me etc. etc.

I tried doing a factory reset, but within 3 minutes of restarting, the ads came back. Frustrated, I tried to find a solution, but it seemed beyond me. Finally, after searching through the Xiaomi Miui forum, I found that others had the same issue and they suggested 'Flashing the ROM to a stable, official ROM'. Being a bit of a tech gumbie, I was reluctant to do this as I've read it can lead to your phone turning into a brick.

I eventually plucked up the courage and went through the process, which was actually very simple as follows:

  1. Download an official operating system ROM (you can find these in the forum, or I can show you).
  2. Transfer it on tho the phone's internal memory
  3. Update the phone through a system app. called Updater.

Job done, now it works like a charm, with zero adds.

If you are concerned your own phone has this fake ROM on it, check the ROM details under "Settings>about phone" once you have your ROM number, search the forum and see if anyone has flagged it as fake. Apparently, BANGGOOD may not even be aware, as the phones may have shipped from a Chinese supplier, who may be responsible.

This has been a public service announcement.

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Comments

  • +5

    has been that way pretty much for all Chinese phones really, I don't use them unless I flash a new rom in 'em, don't want them to spy on us on top of big brother now do we?

    • +2

      Yeah, you need to flash Lineage OS rom to be safer.

      They also pass SafetyNet apparently, but who knows for how much longer.

      The official global stable roms have adware baked into the rom.

      • -1

        The problem with doing that is Lineage OS is shit. Why would I want to use a device that runs 50% slower and crashes more often?

        • +2

          So I'm guessing you've never used. LineageOS right? Because I'm using it on a Xiaomi Mi5 right now and what you said above is in no way true.

        • +1

          Inside Downloads App you need to turn off inside Settings "Show recommended content" which is turned on by default.

          Inside the cleaner app there are ads as well, which is part of the Security App.

          Thanks for the downvotes…

          You clearly have no idea what is inside the MIUI ecosystem…

          No doubt another Xiaomi Shill.

  • +8

    This is what comments in chinadroid threads are talking about when they ask if it ships with malware/bloatware.
    I believe most of the time it is just the China ROM has been deployed with "marketing" apps, like when you get a new Dell which comes with a 30 day trial of McAffee. It isn't really that the phone ROM is faulty, so much as some of the pre-loaded software is pretty aggressive at trying to get you to buy their stuff - again, like pre-installed anti virus etc.
    There is usually an "International" ROM available that hasn't got these 'features' or XDA forums will have directions on removing unwanted software. Some sellers also have listings for China ROMs and International ROMs for the same device. The International version often costs a few dollars more as the seller has to flash the ROM manually in most cases.

    In my opinion, this is a minor hassle, worth the massive cost savings of a China phone, but it is a clear demonstration of the difference between this and a locally bought Huawei or similar.
    For that reason, I don't think singling out Banggood with a "beware" is very fair.

    • -3

      Starting from MIUI 8, Global Rom now includes Adware…

      https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/298871

      You can even search around.

      I wouldn't recommend Xiaomi Phones anymore.

      I suggest we put a poll up and we can vote to ban Xiaomi deals from being posted on Ozbargain like we have for other deals.

  • +1

    Hi OP thanks for this forum opening.I have Xiaomi Redmi Note 2 that has the same issue.Can you please be able to advise where can i get the official operating system ROM

    • +1

      Here is a link to official ROM downloads, I believe the Global ROMs are shown by default (not chinese) http://en.miui.com/download-274.html

      edit: changed to specific link for your phone

      • -5

        Official roms still have adware preinstalled.

        • +1

          Damn where are these ads? I have noticed a couple of apps preinstalled such as Wegofly (something about booking flights) which I just ignore and don't take up much space. Other than that no ads have come up.

        • -2

          Security App and Downloads App…

          Both cannot be removed.

        • +1

          @VPNWasteOfCash: Weather app is another, I also had one called Photo Editor. Each time I uninstalled it came back ion its own.

        • I have flashed Miui 7 China Stable Rom onto my Redmi 1 Global version and I have not noticed any additional ads.

          They do have their own cloud service which I disable.

        • It was introduced in MIUI 8…

          Inside Downloads App you need to turn off inside Settings "Show recommended content" which is turned on by default.

          Inside the cleaner app there are ads as well, which is part of the Security App.

          It is literally embedded into the MIUI ecosystem.

  • +1

    Very good advice. I also (Re?)installed the official Global ROM on my Xiaomi Redmi 4A as soon as I received it from Gearbest.

    Although it appeared to be fine (no ads or anything suspicious), I knew that the phone had been reflashed to Global ROM by someone before me and I don't know what they may have loaded on it in the background.

  • Anyone can help on a Xiaomi Mi Note Pro? Need to flash the ROM to one without ads and spying.

  • +2

    You could say that you got banged-good…
    no, im sorry…

  • I bought a Lenovo Golden Warrior A806 off ebay as a travelling phone. first time I have encountered bloat ware on a phone. extremely fustrating.

    needing to install new ROM as well

  • +1

    Hmmm, so where does the ROM flash leave you if you have to return it under warranty?

  • -4

    And this is why you don't buy china phones

  • +2

    And tape up the front camera too. Else the Chinese can see your doodles

  • +1

    FYI More info on Vendor ROM's here;

    https://www.reddit.com/r/Xiaomi/wiki/roms/vendor

  • +1

    AS per OP comment,just read up on Miui forums relating to your phone model,download correct rom and you will have a well behaved phone that you can customize to your hearts content.

  • At the risk of being voted down for irrelevance and/or "pernicketyness", I'd just like to point out that you can't download a ROM.

    What you do is download Firmware to install on a ROM, actually EEPROM (Electrically-Erasable Programmable Read-Only Memory) and its modern equivalents.

    Of course, decades ago when I first worked in the computer industry, I had to change graphics card ROM in the old fashioned way - opening up the device and physically swapping over the chips imported by slowmail from the US or the UK…

  • Inside Downloads App you need to turn off inside Settings "Show recommended content" which is turned on by default.

    Inside the cleaner app there are ads as well, which is part of the Security App.

    It is literally embedded into the MIUI ecosystem.

    Man, I don't know why people are downvoting something which is clearly there in the Official Global Roms..

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