Xiaomi started a successful journey in the Android program with the release of the Mi A1. The device was well received and sold like hotcakes. Despite the success, the company didn’t put much effort to make the Mi A-series one of its main smartphone lineups. Perhaps, Xiaomi was never satisfied with the Android One choice over its’s heavily customized MIUI. The Mi A2 and Mi A2 Lite came with upgraded specifications, but some shortcomings. The A2 Lite, for instance, came with the outdated Snapdragon 625 that Xiaomi used in dozen of smartphones back then. When the brand unveiled the Mi A3 it came to put the last nail on the Mi A-series coffin.
The device came with an in-display fingerprint scanner but had to sacrifice resolution to make its AMOLED display more affordable. However, the biggest con in this handset was the problematic updates it’s receiving. While we don’t know if Xiaomi will ever make another Android One device, it’s good to see that as far as Security Updates are concerned, the devices are getting the latest ones. Today, the brand is rolling out January 2021 security patch for the Mi A2 Lite.
Gizchina News of the week
The Xiaomi Mi A2 Lite received an Android 10 update not long ago as its second major Android update. Since the Android One program only requires brands to provide two major updates, we believe that the device has reached the end of the line. However, Google requires brands to push three years of security patches. Now, the A2 Lite is in its final year of regular software updates and Xiaomi is pushing January 2021 Android security patch. The device was launched in July 2018, so it should keep receiving security patches until July 2021. We don’t know if these patches will come monthly.
Mi A2 Lite starts its journey to the end
The new security patch for the handset also comes with a set of system and stability enhancements. That isn’t a big surprise, after all, Xiaomi always includes “Optimized system performance” and “Improved system security and stability” in the changelogs for security patches. The update comes with build number V11.0.17.0.QDLMIXM and will put the device among the few running Google’s latest security patch. Since this update is all about a new security patch and underhood improvements, it is quite small. It has just 16MB in size, so downloading it is a simple task.
Now, the Mi A2 has effectively started its journey to the end. This device was not the most appealing, but certainly had a more stable journey than the Mi A3. Xiaomi’s last Android One phone had problems with the Android 10 update and also is with its Android 11 update.
