To our surprise, Xiaomi has now started rolling out stable Android 10 for the Mi A2 (codename: jasmine_sprout). If you still haven’t got the OTA notification, then you can download Xiaomi Mi A2 Android 10 Update (Fastboot image and full OTA package) from below and follow the instructions to manually install it right now.
Xiaomi’s Android One series has been a complete success since the release of the Mi A1 in 2017, followed by the Mi A2 and A2 Lite next year, and the Mi A3 in 2019. The major contributing factor being the clean stock Android experience and regular software updates.
The Mi A2 and A2 Lite came with Android Oreo out-of-the-box and received the Android Pie update last year. It’s 2020 now and the manufacturer is already rolling out the second major OS upgrade for the said devices as Android 10.
The OEM published the Android 10 source code for the Xiaomi Mi A2 and Xiaomi Mi A3 just a few days ago, which was a clear indication that the update was imminent. And just yesterday, Xiaomi started rolling out Android 10 for Mi A2 as an OTA update. The update comes with V11.0.5.0.QDIMIXM software build number, January 2020 security patches, and the OTA weighs about 1.3 GB in size. To force-check for the update notification, go to ‘Settings’ → ‘System’ → ‘System update’ on your phone.
Since the rollout will take place in stages, it may take time before it’s available for every user. If you’re eager on updating now, then you can download Xiaomi Mi A2 Android 10 Fastboot Image or Full OTA zip package from below, and install it manually. But before you get there, let’s take a quick look at what new features this update brings to your phone.
Page Contents
What’s new in Android 10 for Xiaomi Mi A2?
Let’s start off with the most anticipated feature of Android 10, that is “System-wide Dark Theme”. Dark Theme or Dark Mode, has been in all its rage for the past one year. When turned on, the feature turns the complete system UI colors to darker shades. This not only gives you a visually relaxing experience while using the phone in a low-light environment but also saves battery life to an extent.
Google already updated almost all of its apps to support this feature. What makes it even better is that Android 10’s Dark Theme extends further to third-party apps as well, wherein developers can easily build Dark Theme for their apps using the API or allow the OS to force-implement it. Either way, you get to enjoy those dark colors on your favorite apps now.
The next major feature offered by Android 10 is the improved gesture-navigation. Google introduced the concept of gesture-based navigation back with Android Pie. But with this new update, the navigation system has further been optimized and polished for a more intuitive experience. You can easily get around the system and quickly access recent apps using swipes, go back to the home screen and bring up the recent apps window using pulls.
With Android 10, Google has added another interesting feature that utilizes machine learning technology. I am talking about “Smart Reply” in notifications. The OS will scan your usage and provide you with personalized replies and suggest appropriate actions for the incoming messages. This makes it easy for you to deal with them without having to pull up the messaging app every time.
Moving on to “Live Captions”. This new feature in Android 10 utilizes the on-device machine learning to caption media like videos, podcasts, music, and more. The best part is that this feature works even when your phone is not connected to the internet.
Google has also made significant improvements for device security and privacy with the new Privacy and Location Controls. These give you more granular command over the permissions used by the apps and services on your phone. To sum up, this update brings a heap of new features to the phone. You’ll get to experience all the Android 10 features. For the complete list of changes and features, please visit the official website.
Now that you’re aware of all the new features you’ll get to enjoy, head below to download Xiaomi Mi A2 Android 10 update and follow the instructions to install it manually.
Prerequisites
Make sure that you fulfill all the requirements listed below before you head to the download links and instructions.
- Take a backup first! Manually installing updates on your phone may sometimes lead to data loss (if done wrong). Or, in the case of Method 2 here, you will have to erase all the data. In either situation, a backup is a must. You can also follow our guide on how to take a backup of your Android device.
- Charge your Xiaomi Mi A2 device to a sufficient battery level. This will help prevent any sudden shutdowns during the update process.
- For Method 1 only:
- Download the Android SDK platform-tools package and install it on your PC.
- Install the latest Xiaomi USB drivers on your PC.
- When asked to launch the command-line window on the PC, do the following.
- PowerShell in Windows: Open the folder where ADB and fastboot are installed (e.g. C:\plaftorm-tools). Then hold the SHIFT key and right-click on an empty space inside the folder. Finally, select the “Open PowerShell window here” option.
- Terminal in macOS/Linux: Launch the Terminal window and use the “cd” command to change its directory to the folder where ADB and fastboot are installed. For example, if you installed it to /Documents/platform-tools, then you should use the following command to change the directory:
cd Documents/platform-tools
- For Method 2 only: You must have TWRP recovery installed on your Mi A2.
Download Xiaomi Mi A2 Android 10 Firmware Update
The Android 10 firmware for Xiaomi Mi A2 is available as an unofficial fastboot image and full OTA package. The former can be used to install the update on any unrooted or rooted Mi A2 device using fastboot. The latter, however, is only for users who have TWRP installed on their phones. Make sure that you download the firmware file according to the method you choose for installation.
Fastboot Image
- V11.0.5.0.QDIMIXM (January 2020 Security Patch): V11.0.5.0.QDIMIXM-Unofficial.7z
- V11.0.4.0.QDIMIXM (December 2019 Security Patch): miui_JASMINEGlobal_V11.0.4.0.QDIMIXM_545aa0d958_10.0.zip
Full OTA Package
- V11.0.5.0.QDIMIXM (January 2020 Security Patch): miui_JASMINEGlobal_V11.0.5.0.QDIMIXM_e2c5e49de6_10.0.zip
- V11.0.4.0.QDIMIXM: miui_JASMINEGlobal_V11.0.4.0.QDIMIXM_545aa0d958_10.0.zip
Huge thanks to XDA Senior Member Displax for providing the direct link to the official Android 10 OTA zip package. Also to XDA member emgi2 for extracting the payload.bin and providing the Fastboot image file.
How to Manually Install Android 10 Update on Xiaomi Mi A2
Since there are two different types of firmware files; there are two different methods to manually install Xiaomi Mi A2 Android 10 update. The first method can be used by anyone irrespective of the device’s state (unrooted or rooted). The second method is the most direct and easiest way to install the update on any Mi A2 with TWRP installed.
Method 1: Flash Android 10 Fastboot Image
Note: Make sure to prepend the commands in the instructions below with “.\” on Windows (PowerShell) or with “./” on macOS/Linux (Terminal).
- Download Android 10 Fastboot Image for Xiaomi Mi A2.
- Extracted the contents of the downloaded ZIP file on the PC.
- Copy the extracted files to the folder on the PC where the Android SDK tools are installed (e.g. “C:\platform-tools” on Windows or “/Documents/platform-tools” on macOS/Linux).
- Launch the command-line window on the PC.
- Now, power off your Xiaomi Mi A2 completely.
- Hold the Volume Down and Power buttons together to boot the phone into Fastboot Mode.
- Connect the phone to the PC using the USB cable.
- Enter the following command to ensure that your Mi A2 is successfully being detected over fastboot:
fastboot devices
- The command should output a unique device ID, along with the “fastboot” message.
- Now, enter the following commands in the mentioned order to flash the partition image files and install Xiaomi Mi A2 Android 10 update:
fastboot flash bluetooth_a bluetooth.img fastboot flash bluetooth_b bluetooth.img fastboot flash devcfg_a devcfg.img fastboot flash devcfg_b devcfg.img fastboot flash dsp_a dsp.img fastboot flash dsp_b dsp.img fastboot flash modem_a modem.img fastboot flash modem_b modem.img fastboot flash xbl_a xbl.img fastboot flash xbl_b xbl.img fastboot flash pmic_a pmic.img fastboot flash pmic_b pmic.img fastboot flash rpm_a rpm.img fastboot flash rpm_b rpm.img fastboot flash tz_a tz.img fastboot flash tz_b tz.img fastboot flash hyp_a hyp.img fastboot flash hyp_b hyp.img fastboot flash keymaster_a keymaster.img fastboot flash keymaster_b keymaster.img fastboot flash cmnlib64_a cmnlib64.img fastboot flash cmnlib64_b cmnlib64.img fastboot flash cmnlib_a cmnlib.img fastboot flash cmnlib_b cmnlib.img fastboot flash abl_a abl.img fastboot flash abl_b abl.img fastboot flash boot_a boot.img fastboot flash boot_b boot.img fastboot flash system_a system.img fastboot flash system_b system.img fastboot flash vendor_a vendor.img fastboot flash vendor_b vendor.img fastboot flash mdtp_a mdtp.img fastboot flash mdtp_b mdtp.img fastboot flash mdtpsecapp_a mdtpsecapp.img fastboot flash mdtpsecapp_b mdtpsecapp.img
- Finally, enter the following commands to erase the DDR partition and reboot your phone:
fastboot erase ddr fastboot reboot
Method 2: Flash Android 10 Full OTA Package using TWRP
Note: Flashing the full OTA package will unroot your phone, replace TWRP with stock recovery, and encrypt your device. To maintain all these things, you will need to follow some additional instructions after flashing the OTA, as listed below. This will also erase all your data, so take a backup first!
- Download Xiaomi Mi A2 Android 10 Full OTA zip package.
- Also, download the Magisk, TWRP installer, and Encryption Disabler zip files from below:
- Copy the downloaded files to the phone’s internal storage.
- Power off your phone completely.
- Boot your Mi A2 into TWRP Recovery Mode by holding the Volume Up and Power buttons together.
- (Optional): If you’re using a custom ROM, go to ‘Wipe’ -> ‘Advanced Wipe’ and wipe the ‘Cache’, ‘Dalvik/ART Cache’, ‘Data’ and ‘System’ partitions. In case you’re using stock firmware with TWRP and root, then you can skip this step.
- Go to the ‘Install’ menu in TWRP recovery and select the Android 10 OTA package (miui_JASMINEGlobal_V11.0.4.0.QDIMIXM_545aa0d958_10.0.zip).
- Swipe the button on the screen to install Android 10 update on Xiaomi Mi A2.
- Important: Now, change your phone’s currently active slot to the currently inactive slot. To do this, go to the ‘Reboot’ menu in TWRP and check the currently active slot. If it’s “a”, then set it to “b”, or vice-versa.
- Once you have successfully switched the slot, tap on the ‘Recovery’ button in the ‘Reboot’ menu to reboot your Mi A2 into TWRP recovery.
- Now, go to the ‘Install’ menu and select the Forced-Encryption Disabler zip file (Disable_Dm-Verity_ForceEncrypt_01.19.2020.zip).
- Tap on the ‘Add more ZIPs’ button and select the Magisk zip file (Magisk-v20.3.zip) to add it to the flashing queue.
- Finally, swipe the button on the screen to flash the files.
- Once you have successfully flashed the files, tap on the ‘Reboot System’ button.
Your Xiaomi Mi A2 should now boot into the updated Android 10 OS. So, go ahead and start exploring all the new features like system-wide Dark Theme, improved gesture-navigation, Smart Reply, and more.
So, you have just been able to download and manually install Xiaomi Mi A2 Android 10 update. If you have any questions regarding the instructions in this post, please feel free to post a comment below. Enjoy your updated phone now!
Screenshot credits: Manish4586 | Via: XDA-Developers
I decide to do method 2. But i have some questions. Does OTA work after i do all steps (method 2)? I want my phone is on completely stock.
Sr for my bad Eng.
Hi Dan. If you want to stick to completely stock firmware, I would suggest using Method 1 instead. After using that, you will further receive normal OTA updates monthly.
Update my mia2 lite
Hi Amirul. According to a recent report, Mi A2 Lite running Android 10 was spotted on Geekbench. So the update might roll out soon.
PS C:\adb> fastboot flash bluetooth_a bluetooth.img
Sending ‘bluetooth_a’ (556 KB) OKAY [ 0.017s]
Writing ‘bluetooth_a’ FAILED (remote: ‘Flashing is not allowed in Lock State’)
fastboot: error: Command failed
this error showing on my screen what should i do?
Hi Raj. It seems like you have not unlocked the critical partition of your Mi A2. You have to boot your phone into fastboot mode and execute the following command:
.\fastboot flashing unlock_critical
Note that this will erase your phone completely.
Once the critical partitions are unlocked, you can easily flash the Android 10 fastboot image without any issues.