(Still no MIUI 11) Xiaomi recruiting testers for Redmi K20 Pro Android 10 update in India

Why don’t smartphone makers use older flagship chipsets in their current mid rangers? That way, they can theoretically keep the cost down while the performance should be well enough for end users. In fact, OnePlus did the exact same thing with OnePlus X as they used 2014’s Snapdragon 801 SoC inside.

Well, the stance did not pay off. A detailed discussion is out of scope of this article, but I should highlight one major aspect. Software update is tied with the lifetime of a particular platform, which means newer chips are automatically entitled to get better support for future Android versions.

That’s the reason why OnePlus X received only one major update. Fast forward to 2019, and you can see Redmi K20 Pro (spiritual successor to OnePlus One) launched with top end Snapdragon 855 SoC. I wouldn’t call it a coincidence that the phone got Android Q beta support right after the release.

PiunikaWeb readers should be aware of Xiaomi’s involvement in making Android Q (the Android 10 moniker was not finalized then) available via MIUI beta channel for Redmi K20 Pro. They even started to roll out public beta build since last week.

Unfortunately those beta releases are meant for Chinese units, thus neither Indian Redmi K20 Pro nor European Mi 9T Pro (same phone, just another rebranding job) owners can get the experience of Android 10 without going through various steps. The phone is entitled for Mi Pilot program though.

Well well well, there is a surprise for Indian Redmi K20 Pro users. Xiaomi announced yet another test drive for Android 10 – exclusively for India! All you need to do is fill this online form before 8th Sept 23:59:59 hrs (IST). However, the upper layer of this semi-public beta is still MIUI 10, not MIUI 11 as many would expect.

The final list of selected volunteers is scheduled to be published on September 11. The selection criteria are as follows:

– Mi Community ranking should be ‘Semi Pro Bunny’ or higher.

– An active member of Mi Community, India.

– Should follow the rules of Mi Community & not leak the ROM provided to him/her during the testing.

– Should not post anything related to the ROM or team on Social Media, in other sections of the forum or anywhere else.

– Should have a thorough knowledge of MIUI and Android in and out.

– Being a special team member includes a few major responsibilities which he/she needs to follow.

– Moderators, other special team members, Mi FC presidents can also apply.

Sounds fun? Visit the announcement thread if you have any doubt, then enroll ASAP. I would suggest you to keep an additional phone for day-to-day jobs, as testing an unfinished OS on your daily driver could be problematic.

On the other hand, the final MIUI 10 based China weekly beta update for Redmi K20 Pro is live as well. You can download it from the link below:

• Device: Redmi K20 Pro / Mi 9T Pro
• Codename: raphael
• Channel: China Beta
• Version: 9.8.29
• Android: 10
  • Type: Recovery
    • Download: Link
    • MD5: aaf5e88227852c2ee40f4e5878ea7d09

I like to thank my friend yshalsager and the Xiaomi Firmware Updater project for tracking the OTA update URL.

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