3 Things You Should Consider Before You Download any Android Firmware (Stock ROM/Flash File)

[RomShillzz]

Before downloading the Firmware (Stock ROM)/Flash File) of any Android Device, there are three (3) most important things you should consider. You don't just have to download firmware like that, always consider these three things listed below, so you wouldn't end up having a bricked (dead) device after flashing the firmware to your Android device.

1. Build Number

This is the first and the most important thing you should consider before downloading any Android Firmware. Every Android device (both the Original and the Cloned ones) has a build number. The build number carries everything you need to know about the firmware of the device, there you will see the exact firmware of the device. So when you flash a different build number to a device, you might end up having a bricked or dead device as a result.

To check the Build number of an Android device, Go to Settings > About phone > Build number.

android-build-number.png (41.48KiB)Viewed 3724 times

In case the device can't boot to the menu (or stuck on boot logo or bricked), You can also know the Build number by reading info using tools like Miracle Box, NCK Dongle, EFT Dongle, etc...


Note: All build numbers carriers the device model (e.g. X623), followed by the firmware build number (e.g. QL189ABCDEFI-O) then date (e.g. -180922V34) (the V34 is the Version number attached to the date).

Sometimes, the exact build number of the android device firmware you want to download might not be found online, in that case, you can consider an alternative build number but make sure the first build number apart from the date corresponds. An example is shown in the image below.

android-build-number-2.png (41.46KiB)Viewed 3724 times

2. CPU & Chipset (Processor)

This is another important thing you should consider when or before download a firmware. Always identify which CPU of your device, as there are various CPU's types like MediaTek (MTK), Spreadtrum (SPD), Qualcomm (QLM), Marvell, etc... Now after knowing the CPU, also consider the Chipset. The CPU and Chipset are 2 different things but they are closely related. As I have listed some few examples of CPU's above, every CPU has there various chipset.

For example, I have a Qualcomm CPU, then my Qualcomm CPU's Chipset could be MSM8917 and processor Qualcomm Snapdragon 452. Also, this is applicable to other CPU's like the MediaTek CPU can have MT6572, MT6580 etc... and likewise, the Spreadtrum CPU can have SPD7730, SC7731 (the SPD and SC (Spreadtrum Chipset) are all the same, which means it is a Spreadtrum Device).

To check the CPU/Chipset of an Android device, Go to Settings > About phone. There, you would see them as shown in the image below.

android-cpu.png (39.82KiB)Viewed 3724 times

If you can't find your device CPU or Chipset in your Settings > About phone, You can simply search for it in Google. See image below.

android-chipset-google-search.png (64.41KiB)Viewed 3718 times

3. Android Version

The last but not the least is the Android version. This should have come before CPU & Chipset, but due to how CPU & Chipset is more important compared to the Android version, it came 3rd. Although this is also an important thing to consider, but it doesn't really affects any of the 2 considerations listed above.

To check the Android version of your device, Go to Settings > About phone > Android version.

android-version.png (41.45KiB)Viewed 3724 times

With the above 3 considerations, I believe you can now successfully download the exact firmware of your device and flash without much risk!


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