MIUI 11 logoSource: Xiaomi

What you need to know

  • MIUI 11 is one step closer to final form as the beta releases to India and other countries on October 16.
  • MIUI 11 brings about sweeping visual changes, such as a system-wide night mode, as well as plenty of new features.
  • Not all versions of MIUI 11 will be based on Android 10 — some will still be on Android 9 Pie.

MIUI 10 marked a huge redesign for Xiaomi's custom version of Android when it launched this time last year and, right on cue, the MIUI 11 beta is making its way to a slew of Xiaomi phones outside of China for the first time since the beta program began last month. A tweet from MIUI India clearly states that the MIUI 11 beta will be rolling out on October 16. That's the same day as the Redmi Note 8 Pro's release in India.

At this time, there's no clear list of countries that will be receiving the beta, but historically, a beta roll-out to several countries is not out of the question. MIUI India also tweeted about the new version's minimalist look, which includes the requisite system-wide light and dark modes and a visual refresh for most system apps and functions.

Some of Black Friday's best deals are still available, shop NOW before they're gone

Included in this visual refresh is a suite of new icons and fonts, as well as visually enhanced tiles for things like ringtones and notification sounds. New animations and rounder corners bring MIUI 11 up to par with other custom versions of Android, like Samsung's One UI 2.0. Notifications are also more in line with other Android phones, bringing quick replies and other fast actions to the notification shade.

MIUI 11 will be bringing Android 10 to some devices, but like other MIUI updates in the past, some phones will remain on Android 9 Pie for its back-end. Since Xiaomi's MIUI is such a heavily skinned version of Android, though, it's less likely that you'll notice the difference between the back-end versions of Android in many cases.

Xiaomi Redmi Note 8 Pro Hands-On