Xiaomi Redmi Note 5 Pro Android 8.1 Oreo update can now be flashed on Indian model, brings Project Treble support

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The Xiaomi Redmi Note 5 Pro launched in India last month, and quickly became one of the company’s hottest sellers in the market. With a 5.99″ 18:9 FHD+ display, Qualcomm Snapdragon 636, dual cameras, and decent RAM/storage configurations at a low price, it’s not hard to see why the device is selling like hotcakes. It was such a success that Xiaomi launched the device in China as the Redmi Note 5 (confusing us all because the Redmi Note 5 already exists in India), but it featured a slightly different camera configuration as well as an upgraded software build in the form of Android 8.1 Oreo. Now, that same Android Oreo build can be flashed on the Indian Xiaomi Redmi Note 5 Pro, and it also brings a nice surprise: Project Treble compatibility.

Indian Xiaomi Redmi Note 5 Pro running Android Oreo (8.1) with Project Treble support. Credits: Ripal.

Earlier today, users on our forums shared a link to download the latest MIUI 9.5 China Stable ROM for the Xiaomi Redmi Note 5 (Note 5 Pro in India). One member of our forums, Ripal, said he flashed the build using TWRP on the Note 5 Pro. Using the Project Treble check app, he confirmed that the device is indeed Treble compatible (or at least, that’s what the build reports.) Flashing the build linked in the first post will require an unlocked bootloader to use TWRP, but it may be possible to install the full images downloaded from here using the Xiaomi Mi Flash Tool.

We previously reported that Xiaomi has been working on Android 8.1 Oreo for the Redmi Note 5 Pro since before the device’s launch in China. This was later confirmed by a TENAA listing for the Chinese variant, and the 8.1 Oreo build even showed up on one device on display at Xiaomi’s Mobile World Congress booth. Thus, we personally aren’t too surprised to see the device receive the update so quickly, though we wonder why Xiaomi didn’t release the device in India with Android Oreo out of the box.

Regardless, it’s nice to see that owners of the Indian Xiaomi Redmi Note 5 Pro can now enjoy the Android 8.1 Oreo update, and with Project Treble compatibility the ability to flash an AOSP Generic System Image (GSI) should help with getting AOSP-based Android Oreo ROMs up and running. We should mention that the device just today received an unofficial build of LineageOS 14.1 with nearly everything working, so it definitely seems like this device will have long after-market support for it.