Bootloader unlock available for Vivo X70 Pro Plus and other Vivo phones
What is the best modding-friendly Android OEM on the market right now? Depending on who you ask this question to, the answer can vary from Google to OnePlus to Xiaomi to something else entirely. And that’s perfectly fine, as each of these companies has its own strengths and weaknesses when it comes to aftermarket development, and they cater to different needs for different people. However, if you were looking to buy an affordable smartphone solely for modding, Vivo will surely not be your first choice.
While OPPO, OnePlus, Realme and Vivo(/iQOO) are all under the BBK Electronics umbrella, OnePlus has become the more obvious choice for those who want to tinker with their devices and want to keep their warranty while they’re at it. An easily unlockable bootloader and the availability of the kernel sources (well, at least partially) are the catalysts in this journey. Vivo, on the other hand, made the modding scene extremely difficult. The company neither offers an official bootloader unlocking method nor releases the kernel sources for the devices it sells. That’s where the XDA community comes in.
After fiddling with Vivo’s custom Fastboot interface for a while, XDA members Pervokur and Killuminati91 have managed to find a somewhat generic method to unlock the bootloader of a handful of phones from the Chinese OEM. Yes, the following devices have now been confirmed to have unlocked bootloaders:
- Vivo V21e
- Vivo X70 Pro Plus
- Vivo Y31
However, there are some caveats to this unofficial method. Firstly, this apparently only applies to Qualcomm Snapdragon SoC-powered device variants. Then the bootloader disables the fingerprint reader, at least on the Vivo X70 Pro Plus. The final caveat, which is minor, is that you need to flash a custom vendor image using a modified Fastboot binary and rely on a running state for the bootloader to unlock.
Nonetheless, this is an exciting development for Vivo device owners, allowing them to have the best of both worlds: a value-for-money smartphone that’s also capable of running aftermarket software. If you are interested, head over to the linked threads below and read through all the requirements and step-by-step instructions needed to unlock the bootloader of your Vivo phone.
Unofficial Bootloader Unlock Guide: Vivo V21e and Y31 || Vivo X70 Pro Plus
What are your thoughts on this development? Do you want the bootloader unlock to be extended to other Vivo smartphones as well? Let us know in the comments below!
