It is that time of the year when people are eagerly waiting for the release of the next version of Android (don’t forget the guessing game about the name!). Thanks to the public beta program from Google, a number of OEMs are able to test Android Q simultaneously with the Mountain View giant. TBH, the outputs are pretty obvious!

redmi_k20_pro_miui_9.8.8_china_about_device
Redmi K20 Pro already got Android Q based MIUI build as beta

Xiaomi took a pioneering role in the beta initiative, as they included three phones from their product portfolio – Mi 9, Mi MIX 3 5G and Redmi K20 Pro. While Mi 9 also received MIUI infused Android Q, the Chinese OEM was working on the same for Pocophone F1 as well.

poco_f1_android_q_miui_beta

I’d like to point out an interesting phenomenon here. Xiaomi shut down the MIUI public beta venture for global models, thus they couldn’t directly recruit volunteers for testing. As a consequence, they named them – wait for it – ‘MIUI Testers’!

That’s not the end. They debuted a new program shortly after the initial closed beta process. Dubbed as ‘Mi Pilot’, the company just renamed the old beta program and appended a number of phones to test a future version of global stable ROM (MIUI 11 anyone?)

mi_pilot_july_2019_list
Source

As you can see, some of these phones are scheduled to get Android Q update in the coming months. MIUI version increment does not necessarily indicate underlying Android version upgrade, so it is pretty same to assume that Xiaomi is testing the next generation of MIUI on these phones.

Matter of fact, they just expanded the program with a bunch of new phones. Mi Pilot is truly replacing the global beta program for MIUI, as feedback and communications can now be done via integrated feedback platform; not via QQ as experienced in earlier builds.

The full list of supported phones is as follows:

To enroll as a tester, you need submit your Mi account ID, device model, MIUI version (with complete build tag) and email address in this online form. Call it a coincidence, but the reference image in the announcement thread indicates the immediate arrival of Mi 9T Pro (rebranded Redmi K20 Pro).

mi_9t_pro_miui_10.3.0.3_about_device

The program only supports all kind of international stable ROM (generic global, Indian, European and Russian) on the aforementioned phones. So make sure to revert back from (China) beta and/or MIUI derivative (e.g. xiaomi.eu) ROMs before applying.

Judging from the nature and the volume of the initiative, it should be the last minute closed beta testing of MIUI 11. We still don’t know the arrival date of the final stable update, but it shouldn’t be very far anymore.

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Kingshuk De
896 Posts

I came from a mixed background of Statistics and Computer Science. My research domains included embedded computer systems, mobile computing and delay tolerant networks in post-disaster scenarios. Apart from tinkering with gadgets or building hackintosh, I like to hop on various subreddits and forums like MyDigitalLife and XDA.

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