Android 12 on Xiaomi: A full review of the 2026 update – what has changed and how to install

Xiaomi

Android

Android 12

Android 14

Redmi

POCO

Mi

MIUI 14/15

Android 12

Xiaomi

In this article, we’ll break down all the key changes to Android 12 for Xiaomi, including new features. MIUI, Optimizing performance, design and security changes, and learning which Xiaomi models will receive (or have already received) the update, how to install it correctly, and what to look for before you upgrade. If you are still in doubt whether to update - here you will find arguments for and against, taking into account the real user experience.

The feature of Android 12 on Xiaomi is that the company has integrated it with the latest versions. MIUI, Adding unique features that Google’s “pure” Android doesn’t have, such as improved memory management, a new notification center, and enhanced privacy settings. However, not all changes are equally beneficial — some users complain of increased battery consumption or unstable performance of individual applications.

1. Which Xiaomi models got Android 12?

Xiaomi has traditionally supported its devices with updates throughout the year. 2-3 years after the release, but for flagship models, this period can be extended. 2026 Android 12 available for the following series:

✅ Flagship models (full support, including: MIUI 15):

• 📱 Xiaomi 12/12 Pro/12X (update 2022–2023)
• 📱 Xiaomi 11/11 Pro/11 Ultra/11 Lite (last major update)
• 📱 Xiaomi Mi 10/10 Pro/10 Ultra (limited support, possible bugs)
• 📱 Black Shark 4/4 Pro (Gaming smartphones with optimizations for Android) 12)

✅ Mid-segment (update delayed):

• 📱 Redmi Note 10/10 Pro/10S (The most popular models with Android 12)
• 📱 POCO X3 Pro/F3/F3 GT (renewal POCO Launcher)
• 📱 Redmi K40/K40 Pro/K40 Gaming (Chinese versions received before the global ones)

❌ Models that will not receive Android 12:

• 🚫 Redmi Note 9/9 Pro (stop on Android) 11)
• 🚫 POCO X3 NFC (last-minute — MIUI 13 on Android 11)
• 🚫 Xiaomi Mi 9/9T (support completed in 2022)

🔍 How to check if your model supports Android 12?

1. Go to Settings → About Phone → MIUI version.
2. Click on the logo. MIUI 5-7 times to activate hidden menu.
3. Select System Updates → Verification of updates.

⚠️ Note: If your device is not on the official list, but you see an offer to upgrade to Android 12 - it may be custom firmware!

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Before upgrading, check the available space on the device – Android 12 requires at least 3-4 GB of free memory. If there is not enough space, transfer the files to a memory card or PC.

2. The main innovations of Android 12 on Xiaomi

Android 12 brought a lot of changes both at the system level and in the shell MIUI. Let’s take a look at the key updates that Xiaomi users will notice.

🔹 New Material You Design:

• 🎨 Dynamic theme – the system automatically selects the color palette under the wallpaper.
• 📱 Smooth animations – transitions between apps have become smoother.
• 🔄 New widgets – redesigned weather, calendar and device management widgets.

🔹 Improved confidentiality:

• 🔒 Microphone/camera indicator: Green dot in statusbar when using a microphone or camera.
• 📊 Privacy panel – detailed statistics on which applications have requested permissions.
• 🚫 Approximate location – you can give applications not exact coordinates, but the area.

🔹 Optimizing productivity:

• ⚡ Improved memory management – apps are less likely to be unloaded from RAM.
• 🔋 New energy saving algorithm extends battery life by 10-15%.
• 🎮 Game Turbo 5.0 Mode for gaming smartphones (POCO F3 GT, Black Shark).

🔹 New functions MIUI 14/15:

• 📁 Smart File Sorting – Automatic Categorization in Explorer.
• 🔔 Notification Grouping – Notifications from one application are stacked.
• 🌐 Global Search 2.0 – Searches not only in the system, but also in some applications.

Important: On some Xiaomi models, App Hibernation may conflict with Google services, causing synchronization errors. If notifications from Gmail or Google Photos stop coming after the update, check the hibernation settings in Settings → Battery → Application hybridization.

3. How to upgrade to Android 12 on Xiaomi: step-by-step instructions

If your device supports Android 12, you can upgrade in three ways: OTA, manually through Recovery or with the Mi Flash Tool (for power users). Consider the safest method: an air upgrade (OTA).

📌 Preparations for renewal:

🔄 Steps to Update Through OTA:

1. Open Settings → About the phone → System update.
2. Click Check Updates. If an update to Android 12 is available, a notification will appear.
3. Click Download (file weight is usually 1.5-2.5 GB).
4. After downloading, select Install Now or Install at Night.
5. Wait for the reboot (it will take 10-20 minutes).

⚠️ What to do if the update does not come?

• 🔄 Try resetting your network settings: Settings → SIM-maps and mobile networks → Resetting network settings.
• 🌍 Check the firmware region: if you have a global version (MIUI Global, and the update is only available for MIUI China, we'll have to wait.
• 📥 Download the firmware manually from the official Xiaomi Firmware website and install through Settings → Updating the system → Three points. → Select a firmware file.

⚠️ Warning: If after the update the phone began to warm up or discharge quickly, reset the cache via Recovery: Turn off the phone. + Volume up to enter Recovery. Select Wipe Cache (not Wipe Data!).Reboot the device.

4 Problems After Upgrading to Android 12 and How to Solve Them

Despite the optimizations, Android 12 on Xiaomi can cause a number of problems, and here are the most common bugs and ways to fix them:

🐌 Slow operation of the system:

• 🔧 Turn off animations: go to Settings → About the phone, press 5 times on the version MIUI, Then select the Developer. → Scale of window/transition animation = 0.5x.
• 🗑️ Clear the cache: Settings → Warehouse → Clear the cache.
• 🔄 Reset the settings to factory (last option).

🔋 Fast battery discharge:

• 🔌 Check the activity of applications: Settings → Battery → Battery use. If an application consumes >10%, limit his background activity.
• 🌙 Enable the Power Saving Mode: Settings → Battery → Energy saving regime.
• 🔄 Reverse to the previous version MIUI (if the problem is critical).

📵 Problems with mobile network or Wi-Fi:

• 📶 Reset network settings: Settings → SIM-maps and mobile networks → Resetting network settings.
• 🔄 Switch to a different Wi-Fi band (from 5GHz to 2.4GHz or vice versa).
• 📡 Update. IMEI (If the network is completely lost) via the engineering menu: ##4636##.

🎵 Sound problems (no sound in the speaker or headphones):

• 🔊 Check the sound settings: Settings → Sound and vibration → Sound quality.
• 🎧 Clean the headphone jack (sometimes the system mistakenly determines that the headphones are connected).
• 🔄 Restart your phone in Safe Mode (click the power button) → "Restart in Safe Mode to check if a third-party application is at fault.

📱 Apps fly out or don't open:

• 🔄 Update apps through Google Play.
• 🗑️ Clear the application data: Settings → Annexes → Select an application → Warehouse → Clear the data.
• 🔧 Turn it off. MIUI Optimization (only for power users!): adb shell settings put global miui_optimization_disabled 1

⚠️ Note: If after upgrading to Android 12, banking applications (for example, Sberbank or Tinkoff) stopped working, check the settings Special Access. → Display over other apps. Some apps require additional permissions to run on new versions of Android.

5. Comparison of Android 12 with Android 11 and Android 13 on Xiaomi

To see if it’s worth updating, compare Android 12 to the previous and next versions of Xiaomi.

🔹 Should I upgrade from Android 11 to Android 12?

• ✅ Yes, if you care about privacy, new design and battery optimization.
• ❌ Not if you have an older model (like the Redmi Note 9) that might start to brake.

🔹 Should I upgrade from Android 12 to Android 13?

• ✅ Yes, if your model officially supports Android 13 (e.g. Xiaomi 12 or Android). POCO F4).
• ❌ Not if you don’t notice problems in the current version or are afraid of bugs (some users complain about bugs in the current version). MIUI 14).

The conclusion: Android 12 is the middle ground for most Xiaomi devices, and it brings significant improvements over Android 11, but it is more stable than Android 13 on some models.

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If your smartphone is released in 2020 or later, upgrading to Android 12 is warranted. For older models (2019 and earlier), it’s best to stay on Android 11 to avoid the brakes.

6.How to roll back from Android 12 to Android 11 (if something went wrong)

If your Xiaomi has become worse after upgrading to Android 12, you can return the previous version. However, this is a risky procedure that can lead to data loss or a device "brick".

⚠️ What you'll need:

• 🖥️ Computer with drivers installed ADB/Fastboot.
• 📁 The official Android 11 firmware for your model (download from Xiaomi Firmware Updater).
• 🔌 Cable USB (preferably original).
• 🔋 Battery charge of at least 70%.

🔄 Step-by-step rollback instruction:

1. Download Android 11 firmware (file with.tgz or.zip extension).
2. Unpack the archive in a folder on your computer.
3. Connect your phone to your PC in Fastboot mode (turn off your phone, then press Volume Down + Power).
4. Launch the file. flash_all.bat (for Windows or flash_all.sh (for macOS/Linux).
5. Wait until the process is completed (10-15 minutes).
6. After rebooting, reset settings: Settings → Additionally. → Recovery and discharge → Resetting settings.

❗ Possible problems with rollback:

• 🔒 Data loss – all files, applications and settings will be deleted.
• 🚨 Anti-rollback error – some Xiaomi models block the rollback to the old version.
• 📵 Loss of loss IMEI — If the firmware was installed incorrectly, the network may disappear. IMEI You can use the engineering menu.

⚠️ Warning: If after rollback the phone does not turn on or hovers on the logo MIUI, Try flashing the device again through the Mi Flash Tool in Clean All mode. If this does not help, contact the service center.

7. Alternative firmware: custom ROM Android 12 based

If your device hasn’t received an official update to Android 12, but you want to try new features, you can install custom firmware.

🔧 The best custom firmware on Android 12:

• 📱 LineageOS 19 – pure Android without unnecessary applications.
• 📱 Pixel Experience 12 – firmware with Google Pixel features.
• 📱 ArrowOS – Optimized for Performance.
• 📱 crDroid – flexible settings and good stability.

🔄 How to install custom firmware:

1. Unlock the bootloader via the Mi Unlock Tool (can take up to 7 days to wait).
2. Install custom Recovery (TWRP or OrangeFox)
3. Download firmware and GApps (if you need Google services).
4. Download to Recovery, make Wipe (Dalvik, Cache, System, Data).
5. Install firmware and GApps, then restart.

⚠️ Risks of custom firmware:

• 🚨 Loss of warranty (if the device is under warranty).
• 📵 Possible bugs (not working) NFC, camera trouble).
• 🔒 Absence OTA-Updates (you will need to update manually).

🔹 Where to download firmware?

• 🌐 Official website XDA Developers.
• 🌐 LineageOS.
• 🌐 Developer Telegram chats (e.g, @PixelExperienceChat).

Tip: Before installing custom firmware, check user reviews of your model on forums. Some firmware may not support Widevine L1 (Netflix and other services will be operating in low resolution).

FAQ: Frequent questions about Android 12 Xiaomi