Xiaomi Redmi 6A & Redmi 6 MIUI 12 update finally goes live, but there’s a catch

The Redmi 6A and Redmi 6 are a couple of those underrated champs from Xiaomi for the budget segment that get overshadowed by the more popular Redmi Note series.

The devices were launched back in 2018 and booted into MIUI 10 based on Android 8.1 out of the box. They have since been updated to Android 9 Pie layered atop with MIUI 11.

Xiaomi may grant only a single Android version update for entry-level devices but makes up for it with up to three MIUI version updates. This means that the Xiaomi Redmi 6A and Redmi 6 were eligible for MIUI 12.

Unfortunately for our champs, along with Redmi 7 and Redmi Y3, the MIUI 12 upgrade plans were shelved due to compatibility and performance issues even after them being declared eligible initially.

However, since then, the Xiaomi Redmi 7 not only bagged the MIUI 12 update, but has recently also been treated to the MIUI 12.5 update in China.

This shed a new ray of hope on disgruntled Xiaomi Redmi 6A and Redmi 6 users who had begun to accept that their devices had hit the end of the road with regards to updates.

The hope has now finally materialized as the update just released for both the Xiaomi Redmi 6 and 6A, over a year since the first global announcement of MIUI 12. The download links for the builds have been given below.

• Device: Xiaomi Redmi 6
• Codename: cereus
• Channel: China Stable
• Version: 12.0.2.0.PCGCNXM
• Android: 9
  • Type: Fastboot
    • Download: Link

• Device: Xiaomi Redmi 6A
• Codename: cactus
• Channel: China Stable
• Version: 12.0.2.0.PCBCNXM
• Android: 9
  • Type: Fastboot
    • Download: Link

But before you hit that download button, there’s a couple of things you should know.

You see, Xiaomi just made a post on the Chinese Xiaomi Community saying that while the Redmi 6 and Redmi 6A are indeed ready for the upgrade to MIUI 12 stable, they do not meet the “OTA quality standards.”

Therefore, the updates won’t be released as OTAs through the Updater app. Instead, they have been pushed for manual installation as fastboot ROMs, that too for China only, at least for now.

Global users with unlocked bootloaders should still be able to install these builds. But that’s definitely not recommended unless you’re ready to wipe your device clean and are absolutely sure of what you’re doing.

Not only there’s a chance of your phone getting bricked, but Xiaomi says that there are major performance setbacks with the build including slow app opening speeds and freezing issues. Makes sense considering that MIUI 12 isn’t exactly praised for its fluidity.

Moreover, it is unclear if a similar fastboot ROM will be made available for global users as well. Therefore, we are placing our bets on the Xiaomi.eu community instead to come up with global MIUI 12 builds for the Xiaomi Redmi 6 and Redmi 6A.

That said, we will continue tracking MIUI 12 update status for both the Xiaomi Redmi 6 and Redmi 6A so stay tuned to our dedicated tracker for the same.

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