Xiaomi has announced that it will soon begin rollout of its next software update - MIUI 13 - to multiple phones in its range, including the more affordable Redmi brands. 

By the sounds of it, there won't be any huge changes to the user interface, with Xiaomi's software engineers instead working on making the system more efficient and helping your phone feel like it's fast and smooth for longer. 

MIUI 13 has something called 'Liquid Storage', which is similar to solutions we've seen from other Android phone manufacturers before, and essentially helps avoid memory becoming fragmented and slow. 

Xiaomi says that - long term - this will ensure its phones will retain 95 per cent of their speed three years after first powering up the phone, helping it feel just as quick and responsive as it was when you took it out of the box.

There are similar algorithms and features put into place for RAM too, making its RAM more efficient by decided which individual tasks being run by apps are important and which aren't, closing the unimportant tasks. 

It has features in place to make battery and CPU management more efficient too, in order to get that balance between a fast/responsive feel and using only the battery it needs. 

From a visual perspective, there is one major new change: a sidebar. Similar to other Android makers, MIUI 13 will introduce a sidebar you can slide over the screen to get quick access to your most used apps in. 

These are the phones listed by Xiaomi that are set to receive the update in the first rollout wave: 

  • Mi 11, Mi 11 Ultra, Mi 11i, Mi 11 Lite (4G and 5G models)
  • Xiaomi 11T Pro, Xiaomi 11T, Xiaomi 11 Lite 5G NE
  • Redmi Note 11 Pro (4G and 5G models), Redmi Note 11, Redmi Note 11S, Redmi Note 11
  • Redmi Note 10 Pro, Redmi Note 10, Redmi Note 10 JE
  • Redmi Note 8 (2021)
  • Redmi 10 
  • Xiaomi Pad 5

The first wave will begin receiving updates in the first quarter of this year. So if you do have any of the models listed, you should see it arrive at some point in the next couple of months.