Xiaomi makes "lite" work of MIUI 12.5 Global ROM as firmware has fewer features and less-effective system optimizations than MIUI 12.5 China

It appears the recently announced MIUI 12.5 update for Global ROM smartphones from Xiaomi doesn’t offer the same kind of feature set and improvements that users with China models can expect. We reported on the big MIUI 12.5 event, including the revelation that the new software would bring a CPU usage reduction of -22% and power consumption reduction of -15% for Global ROM phones. Most would be more than satisfied with these figures, although there will be others wondering why Xiaomi couldn’t offer the same level of optimizations that China ROM users received for their devices.

When the Chinese version of MIUI 12.5 was released, it was reported that those who installed the update on their compatible Xiaomi or Redmi smartphone would be treated to optimizations that reduced background memory usage by 35% and lowered power consumption by 25%. This leaves a double shortfall for MIUI 12.5 Global ROM users of -13% and -10%, respectively. It also appears to highlight the suggestion that the MIUI 12.5 Global build is more of a “lite” version of the Android skin compared to the firmware owners in China use.

But it’s not just software optimizations where Global users seem to get short shrift from Xiaomi, there are also discrepancies with the features that can be found between the Global and China MIUI 12.5 updates. On the upside, there will be Super Wallpapers, improvements to the handy Notes app, and even less bloatware for Global users to have to navigate through. But on the downside, it has been claimed that there will be no MIUI+ functionality (desktop mode), no animation framework and nature-related system sounds, no MIUI haptics and even some missing privacy features.

Buy the Xiaomi Redmi Note 9 Pro on Amazon