First official MIUI firmware for Mi 9 and Mi 9 SE up for grabs

Xiaomi crossed a new milestone with the release of Mi 9’s kernel source code on the launch day. While the Chinese OEM is no stranger in providing the open source codes, it often involved unnecessary delays from their end.

In case of providing packages for manual flashing, Xiaomi is doing better than many major OEMs. They maintain a portal for downloading recovery and fastboot flashable packages for end users.

However, there are some limitations. First of all, there is no simple way to get a particular build using the current portal. It is designed to deliver the most current build which is marked for general availability.

Users often want to rollback to an older build for better compatibility, but grabbing previous builds is not possible using the official download portal. The page doesn’t list many models – even months after official announcements.

Developer yshalsager came up with Xiaomi Firmware Updater to resolve the above mentioned issues.

Along with tracking builds from different channels and regions, this open source project also provides easy to flash update packs for firmware (like modem and bootloader).

Thanks to the project, we now have our hands on the first official MIUI update packages for the recently announced Mi 9 and Mi 9 SE.

• Device: Mi 9
• Codename: cepheus
• Channel: China Stable
• Version: V10.2.5.0.PFACNXM
• Android: 9.0
  • Type: Recovery
    • Download: Link
    • MD5: 64a26fe7ce3e46a7759abc1a035c363d

• Device: Mi 9 SE
• Codename: grus
• Channel: China Stable
• Version: V10.2.3.0.PFBCNXM
• Android: 9.0
  • Type: Recovery
    • Download: Link
    • MD5: 0b1a6eef2b6853fafe20944d932b9779

In case you might overlook, there is a special ‘Transparent Edition’ of Mi 9 with upgraded specs. Unlike last year’s Mi 8 and it’s special variations, both the regular Mi 9 and Mi 9 Transparent Edition share same motherboard and bare common codename. Thus you can flash ‘cepheus’ update packages on both.

The current packages are meant for China models. Mi 9 will be available in select European countries from February 28.

Besides, the codename ‘cepheus_global’ is long known to the community, so expect the release of global firmwares soon.

In a previous article, we mentioned that Mi 9 SE might not get a global release like its big brother.

Well, there are some new updates on the matter. Xiaomi globally announced Mi 9 and Mi 9 SE along with the 5G refresh of Mi MIX 3 at MWC 2019. GizChina played a little with Mi 9 SE in their booth, and noticed that the phone was running MIUI 10.2 Global Stable build.

Moreover, yshalsager has found new references of ‘grus_global’ codename inside Xiaomi’s OTA server. Considering these, we can speculate that a global release of Mi 9 SE is imminent.

These firmware packs are useful for restoring the phones to their stock condition. Fastboot flashable packages are not available yet, which are more useful for full flashing.

Cross region flashing (Chinese to global and vice-versa) is prohibited by Xiaomi, so don’t ever try to play with these packages on global variants without an unlocked bootloader.

A quick recap on the specs: Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 with Adreno 640 GPU is powering Mi 9. The phone comes with 6/8 GB LPDDRX RAM and 128 GB UFS 2.1 storage. The battery is moderately sized – 3300 mAh, but the phone supports wireless charging up to 20 W with a proprietary charger or standard 10 W Qi charging.

The Transparent Edition has 12 GB RAM and 256 GB storage, with a slightly improved camera sensor.

Mi 9 SE, on the other hand, is the first phone to feature Qualcomm Snapdragon 712 platform. RAM is limited to 6 GB for this one but you can choose between 64 and 128 GB internal storage. The battery is smaller than the regular counterpart, just 3070 mAh.

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