Xiaomi has released many phones this year. To give one example, the company has released five Qualcomm Snapdragon 845-powered flagship phones: the Xiaomi Mi Mix 2S, the Xiaomi Mi 8, the Xiaomi Mi 8 Explorer Edition, the Xiaomi Poco F1, and the Xiaomi Mi 8 Pro. Last month, the company announced the Xiaomi Mi 8 Lite and the Xiaomi Mi 8 Pro. While the Xiaomi Mi 8 Pro is scheduled to be launched internationally, the Xiaomi Mi 8 Lite (device code-name: platina) remains a China-only device for now.

The Xiaomi Mi 8 Lite's list of specifications includes the Qualcomm Snapdragon 660 SoC, 4GB/6GB of RAM with 64GB/128GB storage, 6.26-inch Full HD+ (2246x1080) IPS LCD, 12MP + 5MP (depth sensing) rear cameras, 24MP front-facing camera, and a 3,3250mAh battery with support for Qualcomm Quick Charge 3.0. It has now received an unofficial port of TWRP, named Special Edition TWRP 3.2.3.

The release of TWRP normally helps to start development for any phone. Without having a custom recovery such as TWRP, development for any phone is crippled as users can't make use of backups to restore their phone to a stock state.

It should be noted that kernel sources for the Mi 8 Lite haven't been released yet (Xiaomi has committed to releasing kernel sources for new device releases within three months of launch). However, the release of unofficial TWRP means that users of the Mi 8 Lite can hope to see development start for the phone, including but not limited to the development of AOSP-based custom ROMs such as LineageOS. Special Edition TWRP 3.2.3 for the Mi 8 Lite was developed by XDA Junior Member wzsx150. It can be downloaded via the source link below.

Users can install TWRP on the Mi 8 Lite by following the instructions below:

  • Apply for permissions to unlock the bootloader of your device.
  • Flash the TWRP.img from fastboot using the standard fastboot commands OR run the .bat file to install it in fastboot mode.

Download Special Edition TWRP 3.2.3 for the Xiaomi Mi 8 Lite