Popular smartphone-maker Xiaomi has made an important announcement that select Mi and Redmi series phones will soon get the MIUI 9 global ROM update, but it will be their last software.
The company has suspended the global beta ROM release for eight devices -- Mi 2, Mi 2S, Mi 4i, Redmi Note 4G, Redmi 2, Redmi 2 Prime, Redmi 1S and Mi Note and would roll-out the final version to the public en masse in stages starting in December and continue to January 2018.
Also read: Xiaomi launches 'Made in India' Mi Power Bank 2i series; price, specs
Xiaomi has urged fans, who have flashed MIUI 9 global Beta ROM on their devices (mentioned above), to keep an eye on the official MIUI forum, as it will be providing tutorials on how to flash the public version.
Though it is the last update for Mi 2, Mi 2S, Mi 4i, Redmi Note 4G, Redmi 2, Redmi 2 Prime, Redmi 1S and Mi Note, device owners should feel lucky and privileged, as Xiaomi offered them close to five years of software support, while other Android phone-makers caters just 18 months of software upgrade and Google provides the same for three years to the Pixel series. Only Apple provide new iOS support for such a long period.
What's coming in MIUI 9 global ROM?
Xiaomi MIUI 9 global ROM is based on Google's Android Nougat and brings the latest security improvements, value-added features such as multi-window options, night mode and bundled notification, among others.
Read more: Android 7.0 Nougat released: 16 key upgrades of Google's new mobile OS update over Marshmallow
In addition to the usual Nougat features, Xiaomi has incorporated its own in-house developed custom options such as Universal search (a powerful search engine that can differentiate your image by typing in keywords, including your conversations), Smart assistance (to locate the anything from apps to information), two steps for all the vital information, people just need to copy and paste the keyword and get the information on that topic.
The new MIUI 9 also comes with New Gallery app having image editing tools, filters, photo collage; a separate Mi Drop cloud storage app, Do Not Disturb mode, App vault to secure all most-used applications in one folder, split screen (compatible with select applications only), new widget options, Home screen editing options and more.
MIUI 9 also makes the phone work smoothly without any lags by dynamic resource allocation based on app's priority level and also make the apps to load faster than before.
Xiaomi India, which has a dedicated R&D facility in Bengaluru, has created tailor-made features to improve user-experience for local users in the MIUI 9 Global ROM, including the Hindu festival cards, Panchang calendar, stickers and many more.
However, it has to be noted that some devices, particularly low-end models will not be able to get all the MIUI 9 features due to hardware constraints.
Xiaomi devices eligible for MIUI 9 update:
Xiaomi MIUI 9 firmware is coming to Mi Note 3, Mi Mix 2, Redmi Y1, Redmi Y1 Lite, Mi 5, Mi Mix (1st Gen), Mi 6, Mi Note 2, Mi Note Pro, Mi 5s, Mi 5c Mi 5s Plus, Mi Max 2 , Mi Max, Redmi 4/4X, Redmi 2, Redmi 2 Prime, Mi 3, Mi 4, Redmi Note 3 (Qualcomm chipset variant), Redmi Note 3 Special Edition, Redmi Note 4 (MediaTek chipset model), Redmi Note 4 (Qualcomm Snapdragon chip), Mi 4i, Mi 4c, Redmi Note 2, Redmi Note Prime, Mi 2, 2S, Mi Note, Redmi 3, 3 Prime, Redmi 3S, 3S Prime and Redmi 4A.
