Extended software and security support, or at least the promise for those things, are are a pretty recent development in the smartphone market. With that in mind, a fair number of phones launched just a handful of years ago would have hit the end of their supported lifespans. For a handful of Xiaomi devices, this month is the end of the line, at least on the software front.
According to XiaomiTime, these seven devices have hit their respective ends, at least on the software side of things. These are the POCO F4 GT, Redmi K50 Gaming, Redmi 10A, Redmi Note 11S, Redmi Note 11 Pro Plus 5G, Xiaomi 11i and Xiaomi 11i Hypercharge.
The brand has a list that keeps track of which of its devices fall into this category, including those made by sub-brands Redmi and POCO. Though none of the devices listed by the report appears here, though this may be because it was last updated on 25 February of this year.
That being the case, most of them appear in another page in the Xiaomi Security Centre that requires you to search for them individually. Notably though, the Redmi K50 Gaming and two Xiaomi 11i variants are also not listed here, though in the case of the K50 it may be because it has been rebranded as the POCO F4 GT in the global market. but of the remaining for that are listed, their initial launch all happened within April of 2022.
Of course, just because these devices have hit their software end-of-life doesn’t mean that they immediately become prone to malware. But just as smartphone security is ever evolving, so is malware, leading to the proverbial cat-and-mouse game. In other words, users who intend to hold on to these devices will have to be extra careful with what they do with it, especially on the internet, or when an external device is connected.
(Source: Xiaomi Security Centre [1], [2], XiaomiTime)
