[How to] Update Infinix Hot Note X551 to Lollipop 5.1, Official final build with XUI

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Infinix Mobility has released the final build of Android 5.1 Lollipop for Infinix Hot Note and Hot Note Pro. An update via OTA for consumers is due but the build is available to public over its forums.

Check our review of Infinix Hot Note with stock ROM KitKat 4.4.2 as the phone comes with. The latest Android 5.1 comes with company’s own XUI flavor which looks most like AOSP. If you are a Hot Note owner and can’t wait for an OTA update but if you are so keen to have this build on your handset, this tutorial will help you get your hands on Android Lollipop on your Hot Note at earliest. Follow the tutorial after the break.

Disclaimer: This tutorial includes flashing Android smartphone with a firmware ROM. If not followed correctly, it may lead you with a bricked device. By whatever means, following our mobile flashing guides, you are the sole-responsible if any damages or faults happen to your device or devices during or after the flashing process.

Update 20-12-2015: Build 20151218 with XUI 1.N.1.1
Update 21-11-2015:
Build 20151120 with XUI 1.N.0.6
Update 07-11-2015: Build 20151106 with XUI 1.N.0.52

Advice and Required Tools:

Getting Ready

  • You may need to install MT65xx Preloader USB drivers, if you haven’t already, prior to start flashing MediaTek powered phone.
  • Extract firmware file, that you have downloaded for your device above, into a folder.
  • Extract SP Flash Tool, that you have downloaded above.
  • Make sure that your phone is Not Connected to the computer. But keep it near while performing following steps.

Steps to flash firmware:

  1. Run SP Flash Tool as administrator from the folder you extracted in “getting ready” section above. Right click on the flash_tool.exe and choose Run as administrator from context menu. If any warning appears on startup about scatter file not found, ignore it.

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sp-flash-tool-screenInitial Screen of SP Flash Tool

  1. Click on the Scatter-loading button on the screen as shown below.

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In the Open File dialog, locate and open the firmware folder you extracted in “getting ready section above and select the MT6592_Android_scatter.txt file. MT6592 is the MediaTek chipset in your phone

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After loading scatter file, the firmware files will automatically be populated as below.

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  1. In this screen, select Firmware Upgrade from the list and then click big Download button. This will reserve your personal data/images after updating. If you don’t want to reserve your data or images on the phone and you want a fresh install of a ROM, use “Download only” instead.

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You may need to choose other options like “Download only” or “Format All + Download” in above step but first read this tutorial in full to know when you may need to choose this option. There are consequences to know about.

 The tool will be disabled for any more user-inputs. It’s now waiting for the phone connection.

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  1. Now is the time, you connect your phone to the computer. Make sure it’s turned off before you connect it. As soon you connect the phone to the computer, the flash tool should detect it instantly and automatically start the flashing process.

If you mistakenly connect the phone without turning it off, you can just turn it off now. Thing to consider is that, the flash tool will only detect the phone and start flashing when it’s turned off.

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The flashing progress will be shown in percentage on the screen as above. It will take only a couple of minutes to complete.

Do not disconnect your phone once the flashing process has been started.
If the flash tool didn’t detect your phone, make sure your phone is turned off and is connected correctly. If it is, then you probably need to install drivers correctly as mentioned above in “getting ready” section. Now disconnect your phone, close the SP Flash Tool and follow this guide to install MT65xx Preloader USB drivers correctly. After installing drivers, you can start over with “steps to flash firmware” in this guide again. Don’t worry it’s a common issue.

Once the flashing process completes, it will provide you with the OK message and big Tick icon.

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That’s it; at this stage, your phone has been flashed with the latest Android 5.1 Lollipop. You can disconnect the phone and boot it up.

Use the comments section below to give your feedback. I have tried my best to describe in a very layman’s fashion to make you understand every bit of the process. Still if you have any question or facing trouble to use this tutorial, ask below; I’ll sure try to help.

If you have failed with upgrading your X551 to Lollipop even after multiple tries. Try “Download only” option in step 3 above. This will remove all of your personal content/data/images on the phone. You can also try downgrading to previous version with Download Only option.
If you still fail which is not likely, you can perform the same steps above with Format All + Download in step 3 instead. This will most probably successfully flash your device but will leave you with corrupt NVRAM causing trouble with network communications including Invalid IMEI and bad WiFi address and WiFi NVRAM warning etc. Making you sure that if you use Format All + Download to flash ROM, you will not be able to make calls or text. This issue is also fixable but I am currently preparing a tutorial for that. If you are in hurry, you can go ahead and try it on your own or search the web for fixes. Follow the link below to fix this issue. Most of all, I or Tech Prolonged won’t be responsible for any damages this may cause. Do it on your own risk.

Read How to fix Invalid IMEI and WiFi Err 0x10 after Format All + Download

You can see the screens from Infinix Hot Note running Android 5.1 Lollipop with XUI v1.N.0.4.

infinix-hot-note-android-5-lollipop-updated-1infinix-hot-note-android-5-lollipop-09 infinix-hot-note-android-5-lollipop-02 infinix-hot-note-android-5-lollipop-03 infinix-hot-note-android-5-lollipop-04 infinix-hot-note-android-5-lollipop-05 infinix-hot-note-android-5-lollipop-06 infinix-hot-note-android-5-lollipop-07 infinix-hot-note-android-5-lollipop-08 infinix-hot-note-android-5-lollipop-10 infinix-hot-note-android-5-lollipop-11 infinix-hot-note-android-5-lollipop-12 infinix-hot-note-android-5-lollipop-13