I’ve been recently interested in custom ROMs for the past 2 weeks.
And amongst them, Project Infinity X caught almost all my attention.
The customization features it provides swayed me away. But it struck me hardly in my heart when I checked their device support list on their official website. My phone’s model wasn’t mentioned there.
Not only that, I tried to search for other Popular ROMs and they too didn’t have a version for my exact model.
Then I posted in fb, some dudes told me to try gsm ROMs, or searching for ROMs with the exact codename for my phone. I didn’t know what a codename is, they told to install an app from play store and then to check the codename. I still didn’t understand what is a codename. Given below is a screenshot taken from that app which I think is the codename.
When I researched about gsm ROMs, I came to know that, almost all the gsm ROMs gonna cause at least one hardware-software integration problem. SIM card, or wifi, battery etc.
Then I came to know about XDA forums. I couldn’t comprehend The website’s UI at all. What I gathered that, the website was a place for unverified/unofficial versions of custom ROMs. Labeling that as unsafe, I couldn’t trust the site.
[ Edit: As xda forum being unsafe, I meant, since it provides unverified/unofficial ROMs made by random developer, It could be buggy and unstable. So much so that it can be worse than gsm ROMs. ]
Only then, I stumbled upon LineageOS, as much as it pained me knowing that unfortunately they too, don’t have a version for my exact phone, I came across all sorts of content where the uploader claimed that, they installed an older version of LineageOS in their phone which is also not cited in the official website’s page, but the ROM just worked fine for their case. So I was wondering if the same is possible for my exact model. Not only with LineageOS, but with other ROMs too.
My phone model is Redmi Note 13 5g. Came with MIUI, android 13( I think, because I forgot ), then after 2 updates, it is now running android 15 on HyperOS UI.
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If you consider xda unsafe, then buy a phone supported by someone you consider safe.
The little amount of idea I got about xda forums is that, their versions of the ROMs might be a bit more unstable and buggy than all the other Popular ROMs.
I’ll make this clear by editing my original post, because it seems that I gave the wrong meaning of “unsafe”.
So, in terms of being buggy and unstable, I concluded that it might be on par with gsm ROMs.
I’m too less less known about all of these. As I said, I didn’t understand xda forum’s UI at all and why it exist.
It could be that, because I got introduced with the popular ROMs first, and got mesmerized with xda’s UI that I can’t see it from a different perspective.
I visited xda forum, specifically, this page. and browsed further pages after 1.
I only found 1 thread of someone searching for specifically Pixel experience or LineageOS ROM and another dude said( replied in February, this year) that they should be coming in near future. Well, now it’s October and still no update.
If there was a ROM available, that’s where I would expect it to be. If it doesn’t exist, you’ll have to port it yourself, or pay someone to do it for you (probably a couple thousand USD).
Or just buy a phone that custom ROMs support.
The first thing to look for is whether your device is even possible to unlock the bootloader. The second thing is which ROMs are supported by your device. Choosing the actual ROM is last, unfortunately.
FYI the codename for the Xiaomi Redmi Note 13 5G is “gold”. You’ll usually see stuff for your phone labeled with that codename since it’s much shorter and easier to check than the whole name where you have to check pro vs non-pro, 5G version, etc as other variants will have completely different codenames.
If roms don’t have official support, then basically your other main option is to look for unofficial builds made by random people on XDA. I’ve used unofficial builds for many years in the past and they’re generally fine, but it’s up to you.
I don’t see any rom threads in the XDA forum for gold, so unfortunately I can’t really help any more. Good luck!
(Skimming around the XDA threads, it appears that the lack of roms is due to mediatek not releasing necessary source code, so if you want custom roms, it’ll be a lot easier to find them for a different phone)
Damn you, Mediatek !
Welcome to stock ROM hell.
I know how it’s exactly like because my phone is in the same state. (Samsung Galaxy S23 FE)
As if to annoy me, There ARE builds for the S23 series EXCLUDING THE FE.
All you can pretty much do is root and do whatever you want (in a limited manner), and wait/purchase a phone with custom ROMs.
What about HyperOS 3 EU ROM? Will that run smoothly? I’m currently running HyperOS 2.
It probably will work
HOWEVER
KEEP IN MIND THAT YOU CANNOT DOWNGRADE VERSIONS!!!
so do it at your own risk.
You can always check https://www.hovatek.com/forum/ It’s similar to xda. People often ask about how to unbrick their phones (another risk you have to deal with when installing custom roms) but you can also ask if someone managed to install an unofficial rom on the same model as yours. I’ve been using custom roms since 2011 but i stopped with my current phone (Tecno Spark 20) cause i bricked it and couldn’t revive it. Luckily i managed to find a shop with the official unbrick tools. So now i’m sticking to stock. I’m using the Adguard app with vpn to block most ads I’m mostly satisfied with what I have so until i get another phone, i’m out of the game right now.
The codename is a single word unique to a particular device model. Phones can get released under more than one name (example: Xiaomi Mi 9 Lite on the global market, Xiaomi Mi CC9 in China), and so codenames exist to prevent confusion (for both the Mi 9 Lite and the CC9 the codename will be the same - pyxis - since they’re the same device)
This is a table with all the devices from the Note 13 series and their codenames (middle column)
From what I could gather there really are no official ROMs for any model from the series, but there are plenty of unofficial ones. Unofficial ROMs can be dangerous to run so you really don’t want to install one on your daily driver.
Your only option in that case imo is to buy a phone with better custom ROM support. Xiaomi phones have always been excellent for custom ROMs since they give you very good hardware for a very low price (if you buy them second hand that is).
The only drawback is that unlocking the bootloader (which is a necessary step on almost all phones in order to be able to install a custom ROM) on a Xiaomi device is very annoying and tedious, requiring you to go through Xiaomi’s janky servers, outdated tools, and the infamous 7-day (at least) waiting period.
As a point of reference, I currently run a Xiaomi Mi 10T Pro. I bought it used for ~500 PLN ($120 more or less). Compared to the Note 13 Pro 5G it’s certainly weaker. (
which I assume is what you have since there doesn’t seem to be a non-Pro 5G modelnevermind I’m blind and stupid, but I’ll leave the comparison as is)Abridged specs for the Mi 10T Pro are as follows:
- 144 Hz IPS LCD screen
- Chunkier in all dimensions than the Note 13 Pro
- Heavier too
- No SD slot (same as Note 13 Pro)
- 128 or 256 GB of storage, depending on model
- No headphone jack
- Triple rear camera array (wide-angle, ultrawide, macro)
- Main camera is optically stabilised
- Main camera’s raw resolution is a little over 27 MP (the advertised 108 MP is achieved by proprietary Xiaomi software)
- 5000 mAh battery, 33W charge rate
- 563k AnTuTu benchmark score (good CPU)
And the Redmi Note 13 Pro 5G for comparison:
- 120 Hz AMOLED screen
- No SD slot
- 128 to 512 GB of storage, depending on model
- Headphone jack present
- Triple rear camera array (wide-angle, ultrawide, macro)
- Main camera is optically stabilised
- Main camera has a software-assisted resolution of 200 MP - I assume the raw resolution is 50 MP at most (which is extremely good)
- 5100 mAh battery, 67W charge rate
- 523k AnTuTu benchmark score (gsmarena doesn’t list the score for AnTuTu v8, which was used for the Mi 10T Pro - this phone was tested on v9, so the score comparison isn’t perfectly accurate)
So the Mi 10T Pro is visibly worse, but not by all that much (unless you love headphone jacks), and yet in part because it’s an older model (released 2020 as opposed to 2024), it’s supported officially by LineageOS, and that’s the OS I’m currently running on my own Mi 10T Pro.
With that in mind, installing a custom ROM is a very technical process, so it might seem really daunting at first (and that’s because it kinda is), but after your first flash things get way easier. I definitely do not regret switching to custom ROMs and if anything I kinda can’t live without one now, seeing all the bloat and adware on modern OSes.
Mine is Redmi Note 13 5g (Gold).
Another helpful buddy said in the comment that, the reason for this particular model having no Official custom ROMs is, Mediatek not releasing necessary codes. Anyway, guess I’m stuck here.
At this point, I’ll be just satisfied by knowing that an old, stable and official version of LineageOS might run smoothly on my device without any issue as I’ve wrote in my post seeing some content creator in this sector revived their old devices with this method even though those devices aren’t listed in LineageOS’s website. ✋🗿🤚
Oh, yeah, the MediaTek chipset complicates things. MediaTek ROMs started going down hard lately specifically because building ROMs for them now is very difficult.
And yeah, archived builds are a pretty good option, actually. https://lineage-archive.timschumi.net/ is the biggest archive that I know, but unfortunately it doesn’t seem to have any images for gold
I love custom roms too! You should check out Romhacking.net, there’s a ton of goodies on there! Check out “Super Mario Logic”, it’s a real treat.
