Latest update increases Poco F1 charging time, fails to fix screen freeze issues

NOTICE: We’ve created an archive of all major developments related to the Pocophone F1 smartphone. We are continuously updating that page with latest Poco F1 news so that you don’t need to search for information related to the device on daily basis. Head here to access that page.

Designing a powerful smartphone is not about slapping some hardware components altogether. We often see that poor software ruins a capable device. Xiaomi did the same mistake before, with the original Mi Pad.

Released in 2014, the first Mi Pad came with the same NVIDIA Tegra K1 chipset used in Google’s Nexus 9. However, Xiaomi failed to deliver even one major Android version upgrade to the ill-fated device which was stuck with KitKat forever.

Well, the Chinese OEM improved themselves over time.

With Poco F1, Xiaomi strategically broke the boundaries and was actually able to ship a device with near flagship specs under the mid-range budget. The update history of the Pocophone F1 is surprisingly opulent for a mid-ranger.

With the continuous flow of OTA updates, the phone got numerous new features like the Widevine L1 certification for HD streaming, 4K@60FPS recording support, a dedicated Game Turbo mode and tons of other fixes.

As a matter of fact, Xiaomi initially decided to push two major updates for the Poco F1 via stable channel in March. They did deliver the first one (V10.2.3.0.PEJMIXM) on time, but had to delay the second build a bit to incorporate major changes.

On April 4, the second major update with the version number V10.3.4.0.PEJMIXM got live. The new software update accumulated most of the previous beta features in it. It also featured March 2019 security patch level.

After a week long staged rollout, Xiaomi finally pushed the red button a day ago for a broader public rollout. However, multiple users have complained about longer charge time/slow charging as well as screen freezing issues on this particular build.

Charging time increased and charging became very slow after recent update that is 10.3.4.0

(Source)

https://twitter.com/p_ashin/status/1115835670248001537

The frequency of the reports on prolonged charging time and/or fast charging not working has become so large that Alvin Tse (head of Pocophone Global) has to officially acknowledge the glitch.

The screen freezing issue is also at large, as users suspect some specific touch panels are responsible for the bug.

https://twitter.com/DemiOgulcan/status/1114504064497344512

I’ve got fts and it sucks, no matter what miui version so far, even the most recent, touch sucks so much. Ghost touches, laying flat missing most touches, major lag with 3 fingers or more, sucks.

Do you guys know if I order a new screen from my local xiaomi repair shop if they know which version they get?

(Source)

According to Alvin, they will include a fix for this screen freezing bug in upcoming beta:

The latest beta (9.4.11) of Poco F1 has already been uploaded in the Xiaomi OTA servers, but broader rollout has not been started yet.

Thanks to developer yshalsager and his wonderful Xiaomi Firmware Updater project, we are able to pull the download link anyway. Here you go:

• Device: Poco F1 / Pocophone F1
• Codename: beryllium
• Channel: Global (India) Beta
• Version: 9.4.11
• Android: 9.0
  • Type: Recovery
    • Download: Link
    • MD5: c6502f39083ce3dd64c8bea58d836f50

It may be possible for you to get warning about beta enrolment while trying to flash the build manually, as Xiaomi has yet to mark this particular update for general users.

In that case, you can force it to install via TWRP. Unfortunately, further details of the procedure is out of the scope of this article.

If you’re already on the beta channel and have got the update prompt, do flash and let us know about the touch experiences and incidents of screen freezing.

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