The Redmi Note 3 is probably one of the best selling products of Xiaomi, but unfortunately the company doesn’t seem to show any interest and hasn’t shown any progress in the direction of Nougat update and only speculations are being made if the Google’s latest Android Nougat will make it to the device or not. Currently the device runs one generation old Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow based MIUI 8.0, and looking at the past of Xiaomi, it is very unlikely that they would take steps and release the Nougat update this year.
If patience is not in your Forte, and you’re wiling to experiment with your device then you can flash the Unofficial build of CyanogenMod 14.1 ported to the Redmi Note 3 by Santosh who is a recognized developer from the xda-developers forum.
The update is fairly light at just 540 MB And brings in all the Nougat features including Multi-window, Bundled notifications, better battery optimization and CyanogenMod exclusive themes and other value added features. This would also receive you of the MIUI skin and give you a stock AOSP experience if you’re already sick of MIUI.
It should be understood that this CyanogenMod 14.1 is a work in progress and is an experimental build, it certainly contains bugs which might be rectified in the future builds.
What’s working fine?
- WiFi
- Bluetooth
- Audio
- Camera
- RIL
- GPS
- Fingerprint scanner
- Basic stuff
After going through the comment section of xda-developers, it can be commented that there are no major complaints as such.
Prerequisites
- This version of CyanogenMod 14.1 based on Android Nougat 7.1 is meant only for Redmi Note 3 with a Snapdragon 650 CPU with codename Kenso, make sure you check the device details from settings>about phone before flashing it to avoid bricking.
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The device needs to be rooted and with custom recovery installed, follow this guide to for Unlocking the bootloader and this guide to get root access
- Make sure that the device drivers are installed, else the device might fail to be recognized.
- The device needs to have atleast 80+% battery and it is recommended to keep the device plugged in to a reliable wall source outlet throughout the process.
- Thought the device performance and UI experience might improve, it might void the warranty and you’ll have to revert back to stock rom to receive official updates again.
Disclaimer
The procedure given below is very technical and is best advised to be performed by a person who has good knowledge of rooting and flashing. If the procedure is not followed correctly, it can result in brick in of the device.
Tutorial to install Android Nougat 7.1 based CyanogenMod 14.1
- Download the CyanogenMod 14.1 zip file from here and the gapps from here
- Connect the device to pc using USB and transfer the downloaded files to the device.
- Turn off the device and disconnect the device from the PC and then reboot to recovery.
- The device can be reboot to recovery by holding the volume down button and power button when the device is turned off.
- After entering the recovery, clear the phone memory by selecting wipe data or factory reset option.
- Clear cache and dalvik/art cache by using wipe cache partition option.
- Return to main menu and select install, this should open up a file manager.
- Not select the CyanogenMod zip file and proceed with the installation.
- Repeat the same step and select the gapps package after CyanogenMod is successfully installed.
- Once done, go back and reboot the device to system
- The first boot might take some time and there will be a setup process that you’ll have to go through.
After successful boot and setup, go to the phone settings and select about phone to confirm the installation of CyanogenMod 14.1 which is based on Android 7.1
