Update (January 4): Xiaomi India shared a statement with us about the incident, along with steps on what users can do: "We are aware of the issue on some Mi A3 devices following a recent Android 11 update. We have since halted the rollout. We kindly request users who experience this issue to visit any of the 2,000 plus service centres across the country nearer to you wherein a solution will be provided for free unconditionally (within or beyond warranty). We regret the inconvenience this has brought about. As a brand committed to offering the best possible user experience, we will continuously improve our products and services."
With the dawn of the new year, users of Xiaomi’s only device running on near-stock Android – the Mi A3 finally got the latest Android 11 update. However, they also got a rude shock when they found that the latest firmware update was not only buggy but also rendered many devices dead.
According to XDA-developers, the latest firmware came with features like chat bubbles, improved media control to manage smart devices wireless Android Auto support, improved DND mode, and more. However, reacting to users’ complaints about the firmware bricking the devices, the Chinese smartphone maker decided to halt the update.
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A quick search on twitter shows that hundreds of users updated their smartphones with the official firmware and later on took to twitter to rant out their anger once the smartphones stopped working altogether:
I officially start a new movement #neveragainxiaomi because they gave an official update to my #MiA3 and destroyed it!January 2, 2021
@XiaomiIndia@manukumarjain#MIA3MY PHONE IS COMPLETELY DEAD IN THE LAST DAY OF THE YEAR. WHAT THE HELL @XiaomiIndia @Xiaomi. How to recover this?? pic.twitter.com/anrILfk1xKDecember 31, 2020
And that's how @Xiaomi broke the #MiA3. It's unacceptable what happened with the #android11 update!! #mia3refundJanuary 2, 2021
#miA3 @manukumarjain @MiIndiaSupport launching of mi A3 was great by manu sir, just showing off the device picking up drill machine, scratch test etc etc sir plz make a video for same Mi A3 with OTA updates how to kill mobile because of your testing team my Mi A3 is RIP😭😭😭January 3, 2021
However, that’s not all. Some users who took their now-bricked devices to the service center were left stunned when they were asked to pay for the repairs and the charges ranged between Rs. 5000 to Rs. 11,000.
#MiA3 @MiIndiaSupport @XiaomiIndia @manukumarjain after update to android 11 on my MIA3 my device is total dead and now when i visit a service center they demand money for repair which is 8000 INR.i want my money to be refund or want to repair my device free of costDecember 31, 2020
Hey @MiIndiaSupport @manukumarjain thousands of Mi A3 users phone is hard bricked after Android 11 update & service center is charging ₹5-11k to replace motherboard. Why we pay this amount, it's not our fault, your developers has provided update without testing. Solve it soon😠 pic.twitter.com/T2wkwXguDHJanuary 2, 2021
While the company accepted the mistake and has halted the update process, its support handle, not the primary Mi India Twitter handle mind you, could be seen responding to individual queries.
Hi Hitesh, we do understand your concern. It has come to our notice that few users of Mi A3 are facing issues with the recent OTA update of Android 11. While the rollout has been stopped already at our end, our teams are working towards resolving the issue at the earliest. (1/2)January 1, 2021
The company is now asking the users to visit the service centres to get their devices diagnosed and has also urged the users to carry the invoice as well.
The love-hate relationship between firmware updates and Xiaomi’s A series is not new. Since the A series is the only device in Xiaomi’s line up that comes with a firmware closer to stock Android offering the best of both the worlds, it has had quite a fan base.
Earlier, the Android 10 update, that got delayed significantly and was stopped multiple times, installed a Mexican firmware to the global user base causing issues with the dual-sim support.
