Nubia Z11 Mini

Posted by egingell on Jun 17, 2017
Posted in: Android.

Last Updated on Jun 18, 2017

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Prologue

I got a new phone recently. It’s made in India and some of the English text is awkwardly worded. It’s not without its weird quirks, but well worth the incredibly low price ($180).

Quirks

  • Can’t directly access Google Settings. You have to make a shortcut using an app like QuickShortcutMaker (look in Google Services Framework).
  • Can’t manage trusted places or devices for Smart Lock.
  • Doesn’t sync Google Calendar out of the box. You have to get Google Calendar Sync from ApkMirror and install it (no need for root, just install it). Reboot afterwards.
  • Smart Powersaving Mode sucks. It’s far too aggressive, you should turn it off.
  • There’s a hidden multi-user feature which can only be accessed by making a shortcut with QuickShortcutMaker (look in Settings). There’s no way to switch users without unlocking the phone and switching from that hidden menu and only stock apps are available after seeing up a new user, so you have to reinstall QuickShortcutMaker and make a new shortcut to said hidden feature to be able to switch back.
  • Disabling notifications in the stock calendar app doesn’t work, so if you use a different app for that and you don’t want both apps to notify, you can simply deny Calendar access to Calendar in its permissions.
  • I have yet to find any way to block phone numbers.
  • It’s dual-SIM, but you can’t have two SIM cards and an SD card. You can either have two SIM cards or one SIM card and one SD card.
  • The battery is not removable.
  • If you use a third-party launcher, you have to make it default again in the system settings every time your launcher updates.

Perks

  • There are more options for per-app notifications.
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  • 64-bit, eight cores, and 3GB of RAM.

Tips

  • Long-click Back to show recent apps.