MIUI is the oldest surviving Android skin. For the unaware, it is Xiaomi’s first-ever product. Despite being on the market for years, it still does not offer longer support than newcomers like Samsung’s One UI.
Anyways, the company has now properly optimized the software for most devices, especially flagship and mid-range models. It even lets you uninstall more system apps than on any Android skin.
But now, for some reason, Xiaomi has decided to bundle not one but three browsers on select handsets. Let’s go through the details.
Yesterday, I manually installed MIUI 14 on a Redmi Note 12 Pro Plus review unit loaned by Xiaomi India. To my surprise, the software is still based on Android 12.
However, I was more puzzled to notice the uninstallable Opera Browser in the app drawer. Then, earlier today, I came across this article by Xiaomiui citing Kacper Skrzypek as the source.
That’s when I realized that Xiaomi seems to have inked a deal with Opera to bundle the browser on its phones. Interestingly, this browser is limited to devices running Indian and Global versions of MIUI.
Thus, Xiaomi users in India now have to deal with two pre-installed browsers (Chrome and Opera) on their smartphones that are uninstallable.
On the other hand, the situation is slightly different for ‘Global’ users as they get three browsers, the third one being Mi Browser. But on this version of MIUI, Opera Browser can be uninstalled.
So it looks like the uninstallable Opera Browser acts as a replacement for Mi Browser in India where the latter was banned in the country in 2020.
Do let us know your thoughts on these changes made by Xiaomi in the comment section below.
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