Xiaomi released two variants of the Redmi Note 5 in India – the standard and Pro variant. While owners of the latter can rest assured the device will receive the update to Android 9 Pie on an official notice, the story is quite not the same for the former.

In this post, we’ll shed some light on why we think the Indian Xiaomi Redmi Note 5 won’t be upgraded to Android Pie.

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Why Redmi Note 5 won’t receive Android 9 Pie update

You are probably asking why a capable device like the Redmi Note 5 won’t be upgraded to Android 9 Pie. Well, first it’s worth noting that Xiaomi hasn’t given any official confirmation that the device won’t be upgraded to Pie, but here’s why we think it won’t get past the current Android 8.1 Oreo.

  • Devices in the Redmi series are known to receive one major OS upgrade. The device has already received an update to Android 8.1 Oreo, which will be its only major OS upgrade. Despite its popularity, it doesn’t make the Redmi Note 5 any different.
  • Speaking of popularity, the Redmi Note 4 was – and still is – one hell of a popular phone, but even this didn’t qualify it onto the Oreo update list, officially. The Note 4 only got Nougat and we don’t think there’s anything that makes the Redmi Note 5 qualify for special treatment. Thus, Oreo is the farthest it can get.
  • The Redmi Note 6 is almost here and Xiaomi will now turn attention to the new handset. It’s likely to come with Oreo preinstalled and the task at hand will be to begin works on the Note 6’s update to Pie, thus pushing the Note 5 out of the picture.

Again, this is not official from Xiaomi, but just an educated guess of what’s in store. On the brighter side, there will always be plenty of Pie-based custom ROMs for the Redmi Note 5, as long as you look in the right places.

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It’s worth noting that the device in question here is the Indian Redmi Note 5 (and not the Pro variant). In markets outside India, this same device is known as the Redmi 5 Plus, which also means owners of the Redmi 5 Plus shouldn’t expect to receive Android 9 Pie update.