How to unlock bootloader on Xiaomi Poco M3

Poco officially pulled the curtains on their latest M series smartphone, the Poco M3. It was launched officially on the 24th of November, but most of the specifications of the smartphone were already leaked or twitted out by the company before the release. This was a highly anticipated device in the budget segment as the M series from Poco is very well taken, specifically by the Indian demographic.

In this tutorial, we will help you to unlock the bootloader of your Poco M3. If you are new to rooting, then you must understand that first, you need to unlock the bootloader of the device and then install a custom recovery like TWRP to root the device. So, that being said, let us get straight into the article itself:

Xiaomi Poco M3 Specs Overview

The smartphone features a 6.53 inch IPS LCD with an FHD+ resolution and an aspect ratio of 19.5:9. This is not a high refresh rate panel like some other Poco devices. Under the hood, we have the mid-range Qualcomm Snapdragon 662 which comes with the Adreno 610 GPU. This is not a blazing fast processor by any means, but it can handle most tasks quite easily. It is one of the most widely used processors for mid-range or budget Android devices.

At the back, we get a dual-tone design with one tone holding the triple camera setup. Here, we get a 48 MP primary sensor with an f/1.8 lens, a 2 MP macro sensor with an f/2.4 lens, and a 2 MP depth sensor with an f/2.4 lens. The primary comes with phase detection autofocus for better focus speeds. As for the front side, we get a single 8 MP sensor with an f/2.1 lens. It is housed in a water drop style at the top.

We get two storage variants with the Poco M3 with only a single RAM option: 4GB+64GB and 4GB+128GB. In terms of connectivity, we do get all the basics, Wi-Fi 802.11, Bluetooth 5.0, GPS, Infrared port, FM radio, and USB Type-C 2.0. But the most striking features of the device are its huge 6,000mAh battery and dual speaker setup for stereo. It supports fast charging of up to 18W and one can even charge other devices using the Poco M3, that is it even doubles up as a power bank for other devices. We get three color options with this smartphone: Cool Blue, Poco Yellow, and Power Black.

What is Bootloader Unlock?

A bootloader is a program that is the first thing that boots up in your device whenever you turn ON your device. It commands the device to run the appropriate programs in order to run smoothly and provide better performance. Moreover, the bootloader is stored away from the reach of the user and is stored at a stable memory so that the user could not hamper the files. However, there are methods and ways via which you can safely unlock the bootloader of the device and go ahead with flashing a custom recovery to root your device. But, you should make sure to follow a reliable guide and follow the steps correctly in order to avoid any permanent damage to your phone.

Why do we need to unlock the bootloader?

Once you have unlocked the bootloader on your phone, then you can root your phone. It allows the user to go ahead and install restricted apps, mod apps, install custom OS like Lineage OS, etc on the device. Note that the unlocking of the bootloader will void the warranty of your device. So, it is better to allow the warranty period to get over and then unlock it.

Advantages of bootloader unlock

You can install any custom ROM like Lineage OS, Resurrection ROM, etc.
You can also root your device.
Install a custom recovery like TWRP.

Disadvantages of bootloader unlock

Below are the disadvantages of the bootloader unlock that you need to keep in mind before you go ahead and actually unlock the bootloader of your phone:

After unlocking the bootloader, it voids the warranty of your device.
You will no longer receive the official OTA updates.
You can brick your device if you do not follow the steps carefully.

Pre-requisites

Now before we go ahead and unlock the bootloader of Poco M3, let us make a list of pre-requisites that are required to unlock it:

Charge your phone

You need to make sure that your Poco M3 (citrus) is charged to about 60% before operating it for unlocking the bootloader to avoid any boot loop issues during the unlocking process.

You need a PC or Laptop

We would be running certain ADB and Fastboot commands that can be executed via PC or a laptop. So, we would need a computer in order to unlock the bootloader.

Download USB Drivers

In order to make your Poco M3 recognized by your PC, you need to have proper USB Drivers appropriate to your phone installed on your computer. And for that, you can follow the link below to download the correct Xiaomi USB Drivers on your PC.

Xiaomi USB Drivers

Download Mi Unlock Tool

Mi Unlocker Tool is used for unlocking the bootloader of any Xiaomi device after getting permission From MIUI’s official website. You can download the latest Mi Unlock Tool by clicking the link below:

Mi Unlock Tool

Enable USB Debugging and OEM Unlock

To unlock the bootloader, first, you need to enable the USB Debugging and OEM unlock to interact with your PC or Laptop via the Mi Flash tool.

On your phone, Open the Settings app
Look for the About Phone menu and Tap on it
You may see the device build number or software version detail, tap on it multiple times until the confirmation of developer options enabled flashes on the screen.

Now as the developer options are enabled on Xiaomi Poco M3, this will appear inside settings. You can enable USB debugging by accessing developer options. The steps to do this are:

If you have enabled developer option, now go back and tap settings again
Open the Additional Settings menu – Developer option
Enable the USB Debugging and OEM unlock

USB debugging and OEM Unlock on Xiaomi

Bind your Mi Account

In order to unlock the bootloader on your Poco M3, you are first required to bind your Mi Account to your phone. This can be easily done via the Mi Unlock Status menu that is located within the Developer Options. Follow the steps below to bind your Mi Account with your Poco M3:

Make sure that you have a Mi Account. If not then, it can be easily created by visiting the official page.
You need to insert the SIM card with the same number that you used to create the Mi account.
Now, you need to use your mobile internet connection and disconnect from the WiFi for the further process.
Then, head over to Settings>>Additional Settings>>Developer Options>>Add account and device and log in with your account.
You will be greeted with a toast message stating “Added successfully. Mi account is associated with this device now.“
That’s it!

Note that you should not try to bind your account, again and again, to avoid getting blocked temporarily by Mi.

Steps to Unlock Bootloader on Poco M3 (citrus)

Turn off your phone and boot into the Fastboot mode.
You need to connect your device to your PC/Laptop with the help of USB Cable while in Fastboot mode.
Download the Mi Unlock Tool from the above section.
Extract the contents of the zip file and open the miflash_unlock.exe file.
Log in to the Mi account within the tool.
The tool will now verify whether your phone is eligible for bootloader unlocking.
Once the phone is verified, the tool will show that the “Phone connected“.
Now click the Unlock button within the tool.
You will be prompted with a new message where you need to click on the Unlock anyway button.
This will commence the unlocking process and once the process is complete, you will see a message stating Unlocked successfully.
Click on the Reboot phone button. This will reboot your phone into the OS and you will be treated with an unlocked bootloader message confirming that the Poco M3 is unlocked.
That’s it.

If not, you can check our video tutorial for the same guide.

So, there you have it from my side in this article. I hope that this guide will help you with the unlocking of your Poco M3 easily and in a safe and official way. Please let us know in the comments if this guide was helpful and also comment down below if you have faced any issues with any of the above-mentioned steps. Until the next post…Cheers!