Xiaomi Mi A3 users whose device got bricked while upgrading to Android 11 can get it repaired at over 2,000 service centres for free of cost. After acknowledging the Android 11 update issue on Mi A3 a couple of days ago, Xiaomi yesterday sent out another media statement saying the smartphone users can get a free repair irrespective of the warranty. Additionally, the Chinese company halted the rollout. It is good to see Xiaomi offering a free service to all the customers within or beyond warranty, but the company could've prevented this major issue from happening. Xiaomi and its Android One range of phones always took centre stage for all the wrong reasons, and the Mi A3 is no exception.
Xiaomi Mi A3 Android 11 Update Rollout Halted
The Mi A3 was released last year with Android 9 Pie and it later on picked up Android 10 update. Right at the end of 2020, Xiaomi pushed the Android 11 update to Mi A3, only to halt it later after a large section of users complained about the update bricking their phones. Xiaomi immediately acknowledged the issue and halted the rollout.
Yesterday, Xiaomi confirmed that the Mi A3 users who bricked their phone in the process of updating to Android 11 could visit to the company's more than 2,000 service centres across India. Xiaomi says the company will fix the problem for free unconditionally (within or beyond warranty).
Several Twitter users earlier complained that Xiaomi's official service centres are charging the users to fix the bricked Mi A3. As the complaints continue to rise, Xiaomi decided to offer free service to the Mi A3 users.
The Mi A3 could probably be the last Android One smartphone from Xiaomi as we did not see the Mi A4 in 2020. Every year Xiaomi promises that its Android One phones will pick up iterative Android update immediately after the release. When updating the Mi A1 to Android Oreo, Xiaomi faced major issues and it was followed by Mi A2's Android 9 Pie update release in early 2020.
Having said that, Xiaomi did not reveal the exact issue behind the recent Mi A3 debacle. If you are a Mi A3 user with a bricked phone, head over to any nearest store to fix the device. In addition, Xiaomi seems to have discontinued the Mi A3 in India as the phone is no longer listed on Mi.com. The phone is available for purchase on Flipkart, however, it isn't available for delivery for any pin code.
