Redmi Note 8 Pro (MediaTek Helio G90T) kernel sources released by Xiaomi

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After a bunch of leaks and teasers, Xiaomi released the Redmi Note 8 Pro alongside the Redmi Note 8, RedmiBook laptop and Redmi TV at an event in China. The Redmi Note 8 Pro is the latest flagbearer of one of Xiaomi’s most successful product lineups, succeeding devices like the Xiaomi Redmi Note 7 Pro. In line with recent practice from the Chinese OEM, Xiaomi has released the kernel sources of the Redmi Note 8 Pro’s Android Pie release.

With the Redmi Note 8 Pro, Xiaomi has taken a bit of a gamble by switching over from tried-and-tested Qualcomm Snapdragon SoCs that have been used in several of their most popular devices over the years, to the new MediaTek Helio G90T that was released a while ago. The MediaTek Helio G90T is a gaming-focused upgrade over MediaTek’s Helio P90 SoC. Based on a 12nm process, the SoC comprises of 2x Cortext-A76 @2.05Ghz and 6x Cortex-A55 @2GHz; along with the ARM Mali-G76 MC4 GPU — and MediaTek claims that the SoC is capable of competing against the likes of the Qualcomm Snapdragon 730G.

From the community’s perspective, Qualcomm Snapdragon SoCs have historically been preferred over MediaTek SoCs. Smartphone OEMs who have utilized MediaTek SoCs in the past have been notorious for not releasing proper kernel sources on time, or at all in a lot of cases. Xiaomi itself has been at fault in the case of devices like the Xiaomi Redmi Note 2, Redmi Note 2 Pro and the Redmi Note 3 (MediaTek variant). Further, Qualcomm’s CodeAurora Forums (CAF) also serve as an important resource for developers as this is where Qualcomm uploads its kernel sources as well as parts of its chipset specific code, which helps independent developers immensely in building for these SoCs.

With the release of the kernel sources for the Android Pie release of the Redmi Note 8 Pro (with the MediaTek Helio G90T SoC inside), Xiaomi remedies a part of the problem that has plagued MediaTek SoCs in the past. With the release of these kernel sources, we can expect work to take off on custom kernels and recoveries for the Redmi Note 8 Pro.

Kernel Sources for the Xiaomi Redmi Note 8 Pro (MediaTek Helio G90T)

Additional kernel modules for MediaTek

There is a catch though. The kernel source released at this stage is still incomplete, as it is apparently missing firmware for the touchscreen. Xiaomi has not officially announced that these kernel sources have been released, so it is possible that they are still in the process of uploading complete sources. We will update this article when the complete sources have been uploaded and brought to our knowledge. But for now, even this small step represents a good change in direction for MediaTek SoCs. Curiously, kernel sources for the Qualcomm Snapdragon-based Redmi Note 8 have not been uploaded yet, though we expect the same to be done soon as well.