Getting security patches for years doesn’t guarantee you’ll get the next big software upgrade. That’s the uncomfortable reality some Xiaomi, Redmi and POCO owners may be facing, as evidence builds that HyperOS 4 could skip devices still running Android 16 entirely.
According to a report by Gizchina, the signs are showing up in Xiaomi’s own code. Of the 112 devices expected to move to Android 17, 108 have already entered some form of internal HyperOS 4 testing — nearly the full list. Phones set to stay on Android 16, on the other hand, show no signs of an Android 16-based HyperOS 4 build in testing at all.
What the Testing Data Actually Shows
That gap doesn’t automatically mean these phones have been officially dropped. But given how far along HyperOS 4’s development already is, the complete absence of test builds for Android 16 devices is hard to read as anything other than a bad sign.
It would also mark a shift from how Xiaomi has handled updates in the past. Historically, a new HyperOS version didn’t necessarily require the phone underneath it to be running the newest Android release. If HyperOS 4 really does require Android 17 as a baseline, that’s a tighter coupling than Xiaomi has enforced before.
Which Phones Are at Risk
Several models with real sales volume are on the list of devices showing zero HyperOS 4 testing activity: the Redmi Note 13 Pro 4G, Redmi Note 14S, Redmi A5 4G, POCO C71, POCO M6 Pro 4G and POCO X6 5G.
What makes this notable is that these aren’t phones nearing the end of their support life. The Redmi Note 13 Pro series and POCO M6 Pro are both scheduled for security updates through early 2028, and the Redmi A5 4G is covered all the way to April 2029. In other words, some of these devices could keep receiving monthly security patches for another two to three years without ever picking up HyperOS 4.
Security Updates and New Features Are Two Different Promises
It’s worth being precise about what’s actually at stake here. Missing out on HyperOS 4 doesn’t mean Xiaomi is cutting these phones off — security patches are expected to continue on schedule regardless. What owners would lose out on is the new interface, features and under-the-hood improvements that come bundled with the HyperOS 4 update itself.
Xiaomi hasn’t made any official statement confirming that every Android 16 device is being excluded. Right now, this is based on reading internal software development activity, not a published, finalized update list.
Why It Matters
The likely explanation here is a practical one. HyperOS 4 is built on top of Android 17, and maintaining a separate build path for devices still on Android 16 means extra engineering work for a company already juggling software across a huge and fragmented device lineup. Narrowing the number of Android versions it has to support in parallel would make Xiaomi’s update pipeline simpler to build and maintain going forward.
That logic won’t land well with anyone who bought a POCO X6 5G or Redmi Note 13 Pro 4G expecting years of both security patches and feature updates as part of the deal. It also highlights a distinction that often gets lost in marketing promises about “years of software support” — a support window guarantees ongoing patches, not necessarily every major OS-level upgrade released during that window.
For now, the first stable HyperOS 4 build is reportedly ready to go, with newer, Android 17-based devices already progressing through testing. Whether Xiaomi eventually confirms a full list of excluded models, or reverses course and finds a way to bring HyperOS 4 to Android 16 phones after all, is something worth watching in the weeks ahead.
Source: Gizchina
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