[Update: Sep. 13] Time for Xiaomi's premium Mi series to move up the software update ladder with 3 Android OS updates

New updates are being added to the bottom of the story…

Original story (from January 17) follows:

It reached a point where smartphone manufacturers matured in terms of their hardware decisions. It no longer became exciting to see new smartphone launches.

Each new phone looked more of the same as the previous one. Rectangular bricks dominated the spaces until recently when we started seeing foldable and swiveling devices, ushering in a new era of smartphone hardware.

Of course, it will take some time before consumers get accustomed to the new designs, meaning the usual slabs will still sell in droves as before.

With little to no hardware changes or rather improvements that can be made to these bricks, it all boils down to who has the best software. Not just the user experience, but also the aftersales support.

This is one area the likes of Google and OnePlus have excelled over the years. The two vendors became the first to provide at least 3 major Android OS updates to their devices.

OnePlus 6, for instance, is in line for the update to Android 11, which will be its third. The Google Pixel 2 and Pixel 2 XL already got their third OS to Android 11 as well.

Not to be left behind, Samsung — the leading smartphone vendor in the world – took a giant step by promising 3 major Android OS updates to its premium line of devices in the Galaxy Note and Galaxy S family.

The Galaxy Foldables were also made part of this special group owing to their price tags. Samsung also took into consideration some upper mid-rangers in the Galaxy A series for this 3-OS software update policy.

With such exceptional software support in the Android fraternity, its hard to see any other vendor toppling Samsung off the top spot anytime soon.

Huawei was making strides towards this, but we all know what went down courtesy of the American government. With Xiaomi currently the third-leading smartphone vendor in the world, perhaps this is it.

Not long ago, popular YouTuber MKBHD named the Xiaomi Mi 10 Ultra as the best big phone during his Smartphone Awards 2020 edition. This is huge for Xiaomi considering the phone never officially left the Chinese borders.

But this award was all about hardware, which, as noted earlier, is hard not to impress regardless of the vendor. But what about software? How is Xiaomi doing on this front?

No denying that plenty is going on in the MIUI world. In fact, some Xiaomi users prefer MIUI updates to Android OS updates, but there are those — like me — who’d want a taste of both worlds.

To be more specific, Xiaomi should at least be looking to push 3 major Android OS updates to the premium Mi series in order to match the big boys.

Currently, the top-end Mi line of devices receive only two major OS updates alongside at least 3 MIUI updates. With the Redmi Note series seemingly onto two major OS updates, there’s no reason Xiaomi shouldn’t bump the premium Mi A series up the ladder.

The fact that recent premium Mi devices like the Mi 10 and Mi 10 Pro command prices close to the Galaxy S and Galaxy Notes of this world also says a lot about what they deserve in terms of aftersales support.

What are your thoughts? Do you agree that Xiaomi should start providing at least 3 major Android OS updates to devices in the premium Mi series? Let us know by casting your vote on the Twitter poll below.

NOTE: This article will be updated after one week with the poll results.

Update 1 (January 24)

The poll results are out. An overwhelming majority (close to 90%) has nodded their heads in YES, agreeing that Xiaomi should start providing at least 3 major Android OS updates to devices in the premium Mi series.

While 5.7% said NO, the remaining chose the ‘Doesn’t matter to me’ option. In case you missed the poll, you can use the comments section at the bottom to voice your opinion.

Update 2 (September 13)

IST 1:14 pm: The Xiaomi Mi 11T series of devices have been promised 3 years of Android OS upgrades and 4 years of security updates. We can only hope to see other OEMs following suit.

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