Xiaomi falls short of expectations with confirmation of Android 10 for the Mi A3

The Xiaomi Mi A3 impressed us during our review last year, not least because it is an Android One-branded smartphone. In simple terms, Android One offers the closest experience to stock Android without buying a Pixel smartphone. MIUI, the custom skin found on most Xiaomi smartphones, is feature-packed, but at the expense of bloatware and advertising apps.

Xiaomi had promised in August that the Mi A3 would be "one of the first few devices in the world" to receive Android 10, but that has not become a reality. A host of devices have already been upgraded to Google's latest OS, including many running MIUI. Even the Mi A2 has now received Android 10, which led us and many others to speculate that the Mi A3 would "get its update soon", too.

However, Xiaomi India has now confirmed that Mi A3 owners will be left waiting another month before their handsets receive Android 10. Replying yesterday to a question about the availability of Android 10 for the Mi A3, @XiaomiIndia tweeted:

...Glad to announce the update will be out in mid February for Mi A3.

The Mi A2 Lite still awaits Android 10 too, but Xiaomi has offered no timeline on when this will appear at the time of writing. While Android 10 is not the last OS upgrade that the Mi A3 will receive, the announcement has rankled people online. Principally, it seems that people had a lot invested in the Mi A3 being one of the first devices to receive Android 10, for some reason.