Flashing Havoc OS custom Android 9.0 Pie ROM on Xiaomi Redmi Note 5 codename Whyred is easy. Simply follow all the mentioned steps below to get the ROM installed properly on your device.
Xiaomi Redmi Note 5 with codename Whyred is a mid-range Android phone powered with Qualcomm SDM636 Snapdragon 636 (14 nm) having Octa-core 1.8 GHz Kryo 260 CPUs and Adreno 509 GPU.
The device is known as Redmi Note 5 Pro in India. In China and other country regions, the device is simply called as Redmi Note 5.
The phone initially came with MIUI 10 Android 7.1 Nougat. It receives Android 8.1 Oreo update in few of the latest MIUI versions.
The phone is scheduled to receive Android 9.0 update. However, some users are just too eager to taste the awesomeness of Android Pie. Custom ROMs come in handy for such situation.
Hence, if you are one of those users who want to run Android 9.0 Pie, you can try this custom ROM. Meet Havoc OS! a custom ROM based on AOSP.
Havoc OS brings AOSP Android 9.0 Pie along with the look and feel of Google Pixel device. Running Havoc OS allows you to transform your Redmi Note 5 to a Pixel 3 phone. Thanks to Skulshady for the Material Design v2 within the ROM.
Havoc OS is similar to Pixel Experience. It offers the distinctive experience of using Pixel phone on non-Pixel device. However, both have some different features.
Havoc OS is stable and it employs a bunch of key features. You can activate and enjoy Android Dark Mode easily. Under the hood, HavocOS is very feature-rich. You can read more about its features here.
Some of key features (preview):
- Material Design 2 UI
- Rounded UI
- Pixel Lockscreen weather
- Substratum Support
- Compiled using SDCLANG
- OTA (Over The Air update) Support
- Signature Spoofing
- Micro-G support
- Lockscreen charging animation
Interested? You can easily flash this ROM on your phone properly.
Flashing a custom ROM is a safe process as long as it’s done right. However, we really recommend you to create a full backup of your phone. Especially all essential data and files.
Neither we at MIUI Blog nor HavocOS developers will hold responsibility of any damages. There are always risks of broken/bricked device and bootloop error. Hence, please proceed with caution.
PREREQUISITES
- Download Xiaomi ADB & Fastboot driver on your computer.
- Disable Windows Driver Signature Enforcement on your computer.
- Then install the downloaded ADB & Fastboot driver.
- Download Havoc OS ROM zip file to your computer.
- Download Google Apps (GApps) for ARM64 Android 9 Pie zip file to your computer.
- Also download Magisk zip file (only if you want root).
How to Flash Havoc OS on Redmi Note 5
Step 1. Unlock your phone bootloader following this guide.
Step 2. Follow our guide to install Orange Fox TWRP on Redmi Note 5.
Step 3. Next, turn off your phone completely.
Step 4. While it’s off, press and hold the Power key and Volume Up key simultaneously to enter recovery mode which in this case is Orange Fox TWRP.
Step 5. Do the “Swipe to allow system modifications” – if you have not done it yet.

Step 6. In the main menu, tap the “Wipe” button.

Step 7. Tap the “Advanced Wipe” button.

Step 8. Choose System, Data, Dalvik, and Cache. Then do the “Swipe to wipe” action.
Tick mark / select all the four partitions.

Step 9. Transfer the HavocOS ROM zip file (e.g: Havoc-OS-v2.3-20190323-whyred-Official.zip) and Gapps zip file (e.g: MindTheGapps-9.0.0-arm64-20190216_211116.zip) to the phone storage.
Step 10. Go back to the main menu of Orange Fox, then tap on the “Install” button.

Step 11. Locate the HavocOS .zip file that you have copied. Tap on it to select it.

Step 12. Now do the “Swipe to Install“.

Step 13. Sit tight and wait for the recovery to flash the HavocOS ROM.
Step 14. Once done, go back to the main menu. Tap the “Install” button again and locate the MindTheGapps zip file (e.g: MindTheGapps-9.0.0-arm64-20190216_211116.zip).

Step 15. Now do the “Swipe to Install“.

Step 16. Once done, go to the main menu and choose “Reboot“.

Step 17. Choose “Recovery” from the dialog box. This will reboot your phone back to OrangFox recovery. This step is crucial to make any changes to partitions/filesystems done by flashing the new ROM take the full effect.

Step 18. Your phone will reboot back to Orange Fox recovery again. Now tap “Reboot” again then choose “System“.

Step 19. Sit tight and wait for the newly installed HavocOS ROM sets itself up. It may take longer than usual booting.
Step 20. Once done, go set up the Google Account.
Enjoy the newly installed ROM.
Congratulation, your Xiaomi Redmi Note 5 now runs HavocOS based on Android 9.0 Pie.

Root HavocOS Android 9.0 Pie ROM On Redmi Note 5 Whyred
This stage is basically not mandatory. Do this only if you want root access.
Step 1. Reboot your phone into recovery mode again. Turn off your phone completely. While it’s off, press the Power button and the Volume Up button simultaneously.
Step 2. Go to the main menu of Orange Fox again and choose “Install“.
Step 3. Locate and find the Magisk zip file (e.g: Magisk-v18.1.zip). Tap on its name to select it.

Step 3. Do the “Swipe to Install” action.

Step 6. Once done, go back to main menu and tap on the Orange Fox Cup icon.

Step 7. Then choose the third menu icon.

Step 8. Make sure these two options are checked.

Step 9. Now go back to main menu then tap the “Reboot” option.

Step 10. Finally, choose “System“.
Voila! Your phone is now rooted. You can confirm the root status by downloading the root checker app from Play Store.
Our Verdict
Xiaomi Redmi Note 5 is an outstanding device. Maximizing it out with a custom ROM is really worth to try.
Havoc OS is capable to bring Google Pixel experience on Redmi Note 5 along with stable system. On top of that, its Material Design 2 user interface gives alternative for those who bored with MIUI.
Awesome, thank you bro Fandi.