Xiaomi Mi A1 Android One ROM gets ported to Redmi Note 4 and Note 4X

Xiaomi is known for making high-performance handsets at rock-bottom prices, so when it revealed its Mi A1 earlier this year, running the crowd-pleasing stock Android software rather than its own MIUI, we were giddy.

The Mi A1 is the first Android One smartphone from the Chinese manufacturer and its software might have other Xiaomi device owners jealous. For those who are, I might have some good news: XDA Developers says that you can now get the Mi A1’s ROM on a couple of other Xiaomi devices.

A developer with the handle GLokin666 has ported the firmware over to the Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 and Redmi Note 4X, two of Xiaomi’s popular handsets from earlier in 2017.

While the port successfully brings the basic stock Android experience across, there are some internal hardware differences between the Mi A1 and the Redmi devices that render a few functions unusable. For example, the Note 4 and 4X’s fingerprint scanners are currently unusable, as is the infrared function. Meanwhile, the Note 4’s camera software will also lose some of its features if you install the stock Android ROM.

The loss of these functions might be too much for some people to sacrifice for the sake of stock Android, and the guys at XDA Developers say that they would probably consider this an “alpha/beta quality ROM” rather than a complete experience. Still, if you are interested, you can get the firmware and install instructions from the forum thread here, or head to MIUI.com to achieve the same on the Mi 5X.