A54 5G SM-A546W One UI 6.0 review

[mindlz]

Ok, i'm not a pro writer. I would like to make some comments about Samsung's latest Android release, One UI 6.0 with Android 14.

I can't say i have anything bad to say about it. I have had no issues at all. I did not do the update as most do. I first reset my phone in recovery and cleared the cache partition twice each. From there i went straighr to download mode and used Frija to download the entire OS and finally Odin to install.

I'm not sure why it took a major update to do this, but i am extremely happy with the weather app and the elimination of the light/dark changes while scrolling. Thank you!

I do miss the blue colour of the quick settings icons but i will get used to it. The quick settings do appear more like stock Android but as always, done in Samsung's way which is why i use a Samsung. 

Some things such as battery optimization are a little difficult to find, and yes in My Files and Gallery you're unable to turn off the trash, but still can in messages and contacts. In the past i always kept any trash options off, but really it's not going to change how i.use my device and if anything it will prevent accidental file deleting. Notes actually has been forcing trash quietly for some time now.

I have no performance issues or any glitches. This might be due to the fact that i did a clean install rather than an update. If you'd like to do the same, here's what you'll need:

Frija. This will download the full firmware. You'll need to enter your device and carrier. So, for the A54 5G it is SM-A546W (The w at the end is for Canadian devices. Check yours in the About section in Settings). Then your carrier. Mine is Bell and the CSC is BMC. Link:

https://github.com/SlackingVeteran/frija/releases

Samsung USB drivers so your phone may be detected on your pc will be needed. Link:

https://developer.samsung.com/android-usb-driver

Finally you'll need Odin. Download 3.14.1 and run it as administrator. You'll need to unzip the file downloaded from Frija and you'll put 4 files into Odin. Do not use HOME csc. Use the csc WITHOUT the word HOME in it. Link:

https://xdaforums.com/t/patched-odin-3-13-1.3762572/

Back things up first! If your sdcard is encrypted, do not forget to save any files you want first or you'll lose them. Go into recovery, reset, then choose reboot to bootloader. Of course, make sure you know your google account info if you kept it on before resetting in recoveey.

That's it!

[RedDogRabbit]

I'm not sure why you updated, by Downloading & Flashing the Firmware via Odin, but it sounds like a proper "clean" update.

[mindlz]

I had read about doing so years ago and decided to research it again just to see if it was a better way to install a major update. From everything i read it was clear that this was the best way to do it. I'll let you use google to see why. There's a lot of different explanations so i won't list what you can easily find.

I am not having any issues at all so i'm pleased with my choice.

[RedDogRabbit]

I am definitely not criticizing your choice to manually Flash the update, to the contrary, good for you 👍🏻

When I was testing Custom Roms for Devs when we could easily Root our devices, that was actually S.O.P. Factory Reset before Flashing new firmware. The point being, to not carry over any issues from the previous firmware. 

While I personally wouldn't bother to Flash the Updates with Odin, I do Factory Reset my device after every Android version update. 

[mindlz]

I never thought you were saying anything wrong. I've done my share of flashing ROMs and taking them apart and rebuilding them but i don't at all consider myself very informed about a lot of that stuff.
Is a factory reset after updating going to give the exact same results as my method?

[RedDogRabbit]

I think that it might give you the same results?

I know that when I'm Flashing the US Betas on my Canadian device, I Factory Reset BEFORE Flashing the US Firmware & not after. Seems logical to start "clean", but with the OTAs, I Factory Reset after.. never had any issues by following this routine. 

[mindlz]

That makes sense. I don't flash for the same reason you do, unless i'm puttin' U models on W's or vice versa.
I guess i do it that way so i don't need to wonder if it would make something go away by flashing overly safe in the first place.

And it's fun. I only only flash my own device this way once per year. I'll get a copy of the before and after firmwares just in case i don't like the results.

[RedDogRabbit]

Yeah, probably one of biggest things that I miss about Root, was being able to Flash a bunch of Roms! 

[mindlz]

I recently had an A34 but sold it before i was able to get TWRP on it. It was a thrill just to see OEM unlocking in dev options. On newer devices it's not as much fun and even less with nobody making anything for it that i can't do myself. I keep telling myself, my NEXT new Samsung will be an F.

[RedDogRabbit]

The last Samsung that I Rooted was the S7. But I'm still pretty active with a bunch of Devs, and what's interesting, is that fewer, & fewer people with the unlocked Bootloaders, are even interested in Rooting. 

I have all but a couple of apps, that used to require Root, working with adb or Shizuku. 

While testing & Flashing Custom Roms was fun (especially in the cold winter months), Locked Bootloaders have forced a lot of Devs to come up with creative & intelligent solutions.