Xiaomi has been sluggish with Android Oreo updates for past couple of weeks, with several of their devices running outdated OS versions. Things, however, seem to be speeding up lately. Earlier this week, the Chinese OEM started rolling out Oreo-based MIUI Stable ROM for its 2017 flagship Mi 6. Now, the company is bringing Android Oreo update to its Xiaomi Mi 5. Xiaomi’s latest MIUI Global Beta update is based on Android 8.0 Oreo and includes the February security patch. However, the MIUI Forum thread where the news first came up seems no longer available.
Talking about updating options, users will need to flash the Oreo-based ROM manually even if they are using MIUI Global Beta ROM on their devices. They can download the Recovery ROM and flash the update manually to their Mi 5 smartphone. The second option is to download the Fastboot ROM to flash it via fastboot.
Xiaomi has recommended users to do a clean fastboot flash as the ROM comes with an Android upgrade. Users will need to back up their important data before updating their devices.
In case you don’t wish to go through the cumbersome process of backing up and flashing ROM, you’ll have to wait a couple of weeks before the OTA hits your device. This is MIUI Beta Build, so be warned there could be a couple of bugs that might make the smartphone unstable for use.
Users who are not enrolled in the MIUI Beta program will need to wait for 1-2 months to get the Stable ROM Android Oreo on their devices.
To recall, the Xiaomi Mi 5 was the company’s flagship phone for 2016. The specifications are pretty decent even for today. The device came sporting a 5.15-inch FHD display with 1920 x 1080 resolution. Under the hood, a Snapdragon 820 processor paired with 3/4GB RAM and 32/64/128GB powered the Mi 5.
Other features included a 16MP primary camera, 3000mAh battery and the device shipped with Android 6.0 Marshmallow. It has since been updated to Android 7.0 Nougat. Now finally, Xiaomi will have Android 8.0 Oreo running out of the Mi 5.