As a hardcore Stock Android enthusiast , I used to detest Custom ROMS like Xioami ’s MIUI , but over the retiring few month , I ’ve changed my opinion . The truth is as of 2018 , the MIUI is as good as Stock Android , if not better .
A little history first . I ’ve to use Stock Android on Moto E / G , Nexus 5/6 , and Pixel . And for past few calendar month , I ’m using Xioami Note 5 ( and Note 3 for some time ) which runs on Xiaomi ’s usance ROM , aka MIUI . So , in this clause , I ’ll be compare the characteristic on Stock Android vs MIUI . Let ’s start .
Where MIUI is better than Stock Android
While I care the look and feel of Stock Android , there is no fashion to exchange themes without usingthird - political party launchers .
MIUI , on the other manus , has adedicated theme storewhere you may get hide for Samsung , iPhone and Pixel etc , without give to exchange your launcher . And it not just carry the look and feel , but also the ringtones and fonts . Though , the good part of the theme would be the interlink customization . Every part of the theme can be mixed and matched from several subject , for illustration , I can pick the lock style of note 7 and keep the condition taproom for the picture element . It ’s merriment .
2 . Dual Apps
I ’ve two hearable accounts with different audiobooks collection and I wish to listen to each of them without manually exit of accounts every time . On MIUI , you may find aDual Apps choice under preferences , which lets you run two interpretation of any apps . And it ’s not just Xiaomi , Huawei and Samsung also have a aboriginal dual mood , so it ’s about time that Stock Android should have it too .
Read : Android Apps to utilize Multiple Accounts on the Same twist
3 . Call Recording
One of my fav features on MIUI would benative call recording . When lay down a phone call , you may see a small criminal record button right side of the dialer screen . push that while on the call and it ’ll record both English of the conversation and saved in theRecordingapp on your headphone . The audio quality is quite secure equate tothird - party call registrar apps . Although , it would have been awesome if there was an selection to automatically enter all birdcall in MIUI without pressing a button each time .
4 . WiFi password Sharing
Another unmarked feature of Xiaomi is WiFi password sharing , say , a friend came over and require for your home ’s Wi - Fi . If you have a phone running Stock Android , you either tell them the password ( could be risky ) or type it yourself into their speech sound ( which is boring ) .
Read:4 QR Code Apps To Share WiFi Password From One Phone to Another
On a Xiaomi twist , you and only tap on the WiFi name and it ’ll generate a QR computer code . only require your ally to rake it with their machine camera app , and they are connected . Most devices these days have a QR code scanner built - in the equipment ’s camera , admit iPhones . In fact , even iPhone lets you divvy up WiFi password over the air . It ’s about metre that Malcolm stock Android should have it too .
5 . Scrolling screenshot support
If I have to send a WhatsApp conversation or Instagram feed , just utilise the 3 finger swipe and intercept on scroll choice to generate a recollective screenshot . Yes , if you are send it over WhatsApp , you need to send off it as a file rather then image , or it ’ll constrict the inferno out of it . But , that ’s not the point , in fact , I would get it on to see scrolling screenshot feature on stock Android .
Read:3 Apps to Take tenacious Screenshots on Android
6 . Full - screen gesture
Another super handy characteristic for bigger phones like the note 5 pro or the Mi Mix 2 is the aboriginal gesture support . Once enable format the preferences , it ’ll obscure the navigation button from the bottom of your blind ( give you more screen real estate ) and now you’re able to move around by snarf from the left or right to go back . Swipe from bottom to go home or cabbage from the bottom and hold to open up multitasking .
you could get the same results by using apps likefluid navigation . But have a one - tap choice in the options is always welcomed .
7 . Inbuilt App lock
My favorite feature film on MIUI is ramp up in App Locker . On Xiaomi phones , you’re able to lock the apps and unlock them by the pattern or fingerprint . Unlike a third - political party app locker apps , the native app lock chamber - in MIUIdoesn’t show a small previewwhen you first open up the app . you may alsohide the app ’s late screenso that nothing is seeable from the multitasking window . And it ’s not just for Android , I seriously want iOS to have this lineament too , as of now , you ca n’t even apply a third - company app ignition lock on iPhones and iPad .
Read : Best Applock for Android ( 2018 Edition )
Stock Android is better than MIUI
1 . presentment
While the notifications in MIUI is n’t all tough , but Google works really difficult to give the best notification experience on your stock Android . On Xiaomi ’s MIUI , to expand notification , you have to practice two fingers alternatively of one in Stock Android .
Read:10 Best Notification Apps for Android ( 2018 )
Another issue that I often face is MIUI is the unreliable Push Notification . There are time , when I get a late notification for WhatsApp or Instagram , even though these apps are on high priority .
2 . Overall eloquence
There is no app draftsman in MIUI , but that has never been an issue to me , as I utilize Nova catapult anyway . But when it come to overall fluency , the gravid skin of MIUI starts to fall behind . For deterrent example , Pixel will always be better than a Xioami phone since it ’s also expensive , similarly , Note 5 Pro with 4 GB of RAM will be salutary than Moto E4 with 2 GB of RAM . However , if you compare two phone on the same hardware , you could clear see Stock Android will be faster and smooth than any customs ROM .
Similarly , the Aries management is still serious on Stock Android over any skinned read-only memory include MIUI .
3 . No Bloatware
My favorite matter about Stock Android is not having to deal with unwanted crap . There are no undesirable pre - installed apps on the most phone run everlasting stock Android . Yes , there are few Google apps like Keep , Google Books , Google Fit etc , but most of them are utilitarian to me .
Similarly , Xioami ’s MIUI 9 and 10 , does n’t have too many unneeded apps as it used to have 5 twelvemonth ago .
But what bugs me the most is theads . Yes , for all those who do n’t screw Xiaomi display ads in their correctitude apps like the build up - in gallery , music player , tone , themes etc . and even in the preferences page . Earlier I thought it was due to some malicious apps that I ’ve instal . However , Xioami recently confirmed it in this tweet .
We would like to inform you that the ads are placed in a personal manner to forefend any conflict with the actual functioning of the app . However , we will take your feedback into consideration and will always strive to give our customers the good substance abuser experience .
— Mi India Support ( @MiIndiaSupport)September 17 , 2018
https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js
Off row you could deactivate the ads from the options , however , this is one with child lead down for me , and most belike the reason , I ’ll exchange back to Pixel 3 or Oneplus 6 T ( when it amount out ) .
4 . Updates
Xiaomi like to update their phones on the machine to gimmick basis ; which is basically a minor advance from the old interpretation without updating the core Android version . For model , I switched to Note 5 over a year ago , and over a twelvemonth it has receive 2 major updates , MIUI 9 ( Nougat ) and MIUI 10 ( Oreo ) . However some cheaper Xioami devices although have MIUI 10 , they still tend on Android Nougat .
Stock Android , on the other hired man , is much better than any Custom ROM when it derive to updates . My Google Pixel is running on Android 9 . And it ’s not just Pixel , the other stock Android I ’ve used in the past like Moto G and E , all receive more security and variation update than MIUI .
5 . Security
If there is a protection threat , Google can quickly figure out a patch and offer an over the air thrust update to all it ’s used within 24 hour . However , customs read-only memory like MIUI needs a make tweaks specific to their skins , thus leaving your headphone vulnerable . If security is a major concern for you , then by all odds go with Stock Android . It ’s not like Custom ROM are unsafe , but Stock Android has a quick to fix and always persist up to particular date .
6 . Google Camera
While Camera ironware is undeniably of import when it come to take a bang-up picture , the Google Camera app also play an significant part for features such as HDR+ and portrait modality .
As of now , to get Google photographic camera on the most non - stock android sound , one can usecamera2API . However , after recently updating to MIUI 10 , camera2 API does n’t seem to work anymore . This could be a major bummer for people , like me who rely on Google camera .
Final Thoughts – Stock Android vs MIUI
Like everything else , both read-only memory have their pros and cons . MIUI comes with more feature out of the box than Stock Android like Call recording , WiFi password Sharing , double apps etc . But you also have to live with some bloatware and see ads in circumstance ( which can be removed as well )
Similarly , you may get all of these Xiomi Native features on Stock Android with a third - party app , but where Stock Android really shines is overall software optimization and RAM management . There is no bloatware and the UI is much bland .
