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Xiaomi matches Samsung’s industry-leading Android updates policy
- Xiaomi has announced that the Redmi K60 Extreme Edition in China is the first phone with a longer software update promise.
- This phone is being promised four Android version upgrades and five years of security updates.
- We’ve contacted Xiaomi to clarify whether this new update policy will be extended to other phones globally.
Xiaomi is best known for making excellent Android flagships and even better budget Android devices. I use the Xiaomi 13 Pro as my daily driver, and that is despite also owning other flagships like the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra. Samsung made a strong flagship with the Galaxy S23 series, and Xiaomi does fall behind when it comes to update promises. But Xiaomi intends to catch up here with the Redmi K60 Extreme Edition (aka the Xiaomi 13T Pro).
As announced by Redmi’s official profile on Weibo, the upcoming Redmi K60 Extreme Edition is the first Xiaomi phone to promise four generations of Android updates and five years of security updates. The phone is also going to be the first in line for MIUI 15.
The attached image reaffirms the same, announcing five years of OTA upgrades and four Android version upgrades for the Redmi K60 Extreme Edition.
Curiously, the announcement does not mention any promised number for MIUI version upgrades, even though the MIUI version of Xiaomi and Redmi phones often determines the available features more than the base Android version.
The Redmi K60 Extreme Edition was launched in China last week. This update promise currently applies to this phone in China.
It is widely believed that the phone will be rebranded as the Xiaomi 13T Pro and will make its way to several regions like Europe, though Xiaomi has not made any announcements for the same. The company has also not mentioned whether this update promise will be extended to more phones and other regions.
We’ve contacted Xiaomi for clarification and will update this article when we hear back from them.
If Xiaomi does indeed extend the same software update promise to regions beyond China, it will match Samsung and OnePlus. Samsung and OnePlus currently offer the best upgrade promise on Android, with four Android generation upgrades and five years of security updates promised for Galaxy smartphones and OnePlus flagships. Meanwhile, Google promises three Android generation upgrades and five years of security updates for its Pixel smartphones.
The number of promised updates is one aspect of Android updates. The other is frequency. Promising numerous updates but delivering them at a snail’s pace does act to the detriment of users, as security patches should be provided as soon as possible. MIUI has been somewhat infamous for delaying updates for a long time. Xiaomi has not clarified the frequency of its promised updates under this new update policy, but we hope to learn more soon.