Xiaomi launches its Mi A1 android one phone which is a part of Google’s Android one project.I recenty bought this smart phone and I’m quite satisfied with the overall look and its performance especially in a budget.Here is the detailed review-
DESIGN-When it comes to design, it definitely seems like an upgrade compared to any other redmi phones available in the Indian market.The front portion offers 2.5D curved edge gorilla glass which offers a premium metallic feel and I love it.It fits easily in my palms as it is quite sleek and slim at 7.5mm.For me, the back panel was quite slippery so I had to be cautious that I don’t drop my phone when I’m operating it.The finger print scanner was good and responsive(quite at par with the other device that comes under this price range).The power and volume buttons were placed perfectly at the right position which makes it easier to access.This phone comes with hybrid Dual-sim slot and an infrared emitter at the top, while the bottom portion has a USB Type C port, a speaker and a 3.5mm audio jack.The dual cameras protrude from the rear, and it comes with a two tone flash.You’ll also find Mi logo along with android one logo at the lower back portion.
Overall to me it looks way better than any other MI devices and definitely stand out.
SPECIFICATION and PERFORMANCE-So Xiaomi MI A1 is powered by Snapdragon 625 processor clocked at 2.0 GHz, and Adreno 506 GPU, the duo of which is coupled with 4GB of ram.It has 64 GB of internal storage and it is possible to expand with external sd card(upto 128 GB)obviously at the cost of one of your sim, since it has hybrid dual sim slot.
This specs provide good balance of performance and efficiency especially in this price range.I’m an avid gamer so I tried a lot of heavy games like Modern Combat 5, Nova 3, Asphalt xtreme, etc. and this phone is beast enough to run all of the games at a constant fps without any major or minor lag.
DISPLAY-Xiaomi A1 features a 5.5 inch LTPS display with full HD(1080p) resolutions, with 403 ppi which makes watching videos, movies and playing games more indulging.I definitely loved watching movies as the output colours are so smooth, vivid and magnificient to eyes, while game graphics were pretty sharp.Well when outdoor in the sun, the display is not the very best, probably because of the reflective display panel, but with little tweaks with brightness the problem can be resolved(I felt this one:)
BATTERY-It has a non-removable 3080 mah battery(I was a little disappointed on this one, since redmi 4 has 4000 mah).During my testing the battery performance was average and constant gaming can increase its temperature considerably.This phone also has Qualcomm Quick Charge Technology which can charge the phone from 0 to 100% within 2 hrs.
CAMERA-It has a dual camera setup which includes a 12 MP+12MP lenses along with dual tone LED flash and it is the first to offer 2x lossless optical zoom.
Under ideal lighting conditions it took really good quality images with original colours.The shots were quite impressive and it offered good colour reproduction and sharpness.It fails during low light photography as the latter ones lacked detail and colour.Flash was pretty decent and it gets the job done.Front camera is fine as selfies were good, but a slight better under good light conditions.
SOFTWARE-It runs on Android 7.1.1 Nougat and its fine by me and I hope we’ll get an Oreo update before the end of the year.
FINAL VERDICT-The Xiaomi Mi A1 is pretty good phone which comes with well rounded package.It offers a solid performance and Camera quality was good.It is extremely capable and is a must have device, if you are on a tight budget.