After reaping success with the first and original Mi A1, the Chinese mobile vendor Xiaomi has unveiled the second generation of its only Android One series, called the Mi A2. Actually, this smartphone is a rebranded version of the Mi 6X which was launched a few months ago in China.
Nevertheless, the Mi A2 packs mid-range hardware which uses the new Snapdragon 660 SoC. Along with this, you get a major improvement in the dual rear camera setup and selfie front camera. The best part, however, is that the phone runs on a stock android operating system with no MIUI skin over the top. Thus the phone is extremely smooth to operate just like the original M1 A1.
Design and Performance
As we said earlier, the Mi A2 is a rebranded version of Mi 6X. Thus the mobile boasts an ultra-thin full metal unibody design with grippable textured back cover. In the front, the mobile flaunts a 5.99-inch full HD+ full screen (2160 by 1080) display with 18:9 aspect ratio. Covering the screen over the top is the tough 2.5D Corning Gorilla Glass 5.
Mi A2 is powered by a 2.2Ghz octa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 660 processor, which is paired with either 4GB or 6GB RAM and Adreno 512 GPU. For storage, you get to choose from 32GB, 64GB or 128GB internal storage options. However, you can’t further expand the storage as the phone lacks a microSD card slot. The phone runs on stock Android 8.1 Oreo OS with a few Mi apps like the camera app.
Photography and Connectivity
One of the key reasons for Mi A1 success was its incredible camera. Improving from there, the Mi A2 sports a dual camera set up at the back. That’s a combination of 20-megapixel Sony IMX376 lens featuring large f/1.75 aperture and 4-in-1 Super Pixel which is suitable for low-light photography. The secondary lens is a 12-megapixel Sony IMX486 lens featuring the same large f/1.75 aperture which is suitable for taking clearer daytime photos. There is also a single colour temperature flash to support you during low-light photography. The camera is backed by AI technology for automatic scene selection and beautification.
For selfies, the Mi A2 carries a 20-megapixel Sony IMX376 lens featuring f/2.2 aperture and soft light LED flash. It’s also backed by AI which includes AI background blurring options, AI Beautify 4.0 and AI scene detection, which can detect 12 selfi-portrait scenes. The cameras can also shoot 4K videos along with slow-motion videos.
As for connectivity, Mi A2 comes with a dual nano-SIM card slot, but when using two SIM cards only one will support 4G LTE network. While the other will support both 3G and 2G networks. The phone will also support 4G VoLTE for making HD voice and video calls. Other connectivity options include WiFi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, Bluetooth 5.0 and IR blaster.
One big bad thing about Mi A2 is the lack of 3.5mm headphone jack. Thus you would need to buy a wireless headphone or carry around a USB Type-C to headphone adaptor. For security, the phone got a fingerprint sensor which is placed at the back of the device along with the face unlock option. Finally fuelling the device is a 3010mAh battery with Quick Charge 3.0 support.
Pricing and Availability
Now the big question, how much will Mi A2 cost? The base variant of the mobile packing 4GB RAM and 32GB of storage is priced at EURO 249 (approximately Rs 19,500). The middle variant which packs 4GB RAM and 64GB storage is priced at EURO 279 (approximately Rs 22,000). Finally, the top-end variant having 6GB RAM and 128GB of storage is priced at EURO 349 (approximately Rs 28,000). For colour choices, you could choose from black, lake blue, and gold.
Today’s launch of Mi A2 is Xiaomi’s global unveiling of the smartphone. The company plans to launch the Mi A2 in India sometimes later next month.