Since then, many companies have become a part of Google’s Android One program. But only a few of them launched their products in the Indian market. HMD Global, the company that makes Nokia brand smartphones, had announced that all its Android smartphones will be a part of the Android One program. All the Nokia brand phones launched at the Mobile World Congress 2018 have been brought to the Indian market. Now Xiaomi has introduced the Mi A2, an upgrade of its first Android One smartphone Xiaomi Mi A1. Apart from stock Android, it comes with better hardware. Should those who want a pure Android experience buy the Xiaomi Mi A2? We have tried to find the answer to this question.
Xiaomi Mi A2 Design
Contents
Xiaomi Mi A2 is a smartphone with a great design. It comes with a metal unibody and gives a premium feel in the hands. The first big change compared to Xiaomi Mi A1 is seen in the display. The handset has a 5.99 inch display with 18:9 aspect ratio. Due to this the phone looks tall and thin. The edges are curved and due to this there is a good grip in the hands. The black variant given for review comes with a matte finish. Fingerprints do not fall easily on it. But the phone slips easily in the hands and we would suggest our readers to use the cover given in the retail box.
The power and volume buttons are on the right side. Their response is good. We found the position of the power button to be good, but the volume buttons are a little higher than we would have liked. Xiaomi has placed the selfie camera, earpiece, selfie light and notification light above the display. The area below the display is empty. The smartphone has a single-color notification LED.
There is a USB Type-C port at the bottom. There are speaker grills on both sides of it, but only the right one has a loudspeaker. An IR emitter is also present in the phone with the help of which the phone can be used as a remote control. It has been placed on the top along with the secondary microphone. The phone does not have a 3.5mm headphone jack. Instead, a USB Type-C dongle has been provided in the box. Xiaomi claims that it has used a better quality amplifier so that the speaker and headphones produce good sound.
Xiaomi has provided a dual camera setup on the back, in vertical position. The rear has a 12 megapixel primary camera, a 20 megapixel secondary lens and LED flash. The camera is raised. Due to this, the phone stays raised on a flat surface. The fingerprint sensor has been placed next to the camera module. Xiaomi has provided a 3000 mAh battery in Mi A2.
Xiaomi Mi A2 specifications, software and features
The Chinese smartphone manufacturer has used Qualcomm Snapdragon 660 processor in Mi A2. Adreno 512 GPU is integrated with it. Xiaomi Mi A2 has 4 GB RAM and 64 GB storage. Unfortunately, there is no microSD card slot, which means you will have to compromise on the phone’s storage. This dual SIM smartphone has space for two nano SIM slots. There is support for 4G and VoLTE on both SIMs.
The 5.99-inch display has a full-HD+ resolution. Its pixel density is 403 pixels per inch. Corning Gorilla Glass 5 has been used for protection. Viewing angles are decent, but the display is not very bright. You will not be able to control the output either. The ambient display feature activates the phone when a notification arrives.
The battery capacity of the phone is 3000mAh, which is smaller than the battery available in other phones in this price segment. For example, the Xiaomi Redmi Note 5 (Review) comes with a larger 4000mAh battery. The Xiaomi Mi A2 supports Qualcomm’s Quick Charge 4+. But you will only get a standard 10W charger in the retail box. Connectivity features of the Xiaomi Mi A2 include Bluetooth 5.0, dual-band Wi-Fi 802.11ac, GPS, A-GPS, GLONASS, and Beidou.
Xiaomi has focused on the camera of Mi A2. There is a 12 megapixel primary camera with f/1.75 aperture on the back. The secondary camera is 20 megapixels and its aperture is also f/1.75. Remember that the secondary camera in Mi A1 had a zoom lens for 2X optical zoom. But Xiaomi Mi A2 will give good performance in low light.
Xiaomi Mi A2 runs on stock Android 8.1 Oreo. The company has definitely provided its own Feedback, File Manager and Mi Drop apps in it. The Feedback app cannot be disabled or uninstalled, but the other two apps can be removed from the handset. The camera app has also been customized by Xiaomi. It is different from the default Android app. Google’s apps are already installed in this phone. When we started reviewing the phone, it was equipped with the June security patch. But during the review it got an update after which the phone was equipped with the August security patch.
If you want pure Android, you’ll love the software experience on the Mi A2. It has an app drawer. You can see all your installed apps by swiping up. You can get to the Google Feed by swiping right on the home screen. Google Assistant can be activated by long-pressing the home button. We found that there’s no app to use the IR emitter on the phone. This means the handset can’t be used as a remote control out of the box. You can download the Mi Remote app from the Play Store if you want. Xiaomi told Gadgets 360 that it will roll out an update that will come pre-installed on the phone. The camera app on the Mi A2 can be activated by pressing the power button twice.
Xiaomi Mi A2 performance and battery life
We have used Nokia 7 Plus and it comes with the same processor as Xiaomi Mi A2. Nokia’s phone also runs on stock Android. Xiaomi Mi A2’s performance is also similar. We did not face any problem while multitasking or using the phone’s UI. 4 GB RAM will prove to be enough for general use. The fingerprint sensor is fast and unlocks the phone quickly.
We played games like PUBG, Clash Royale and Asphalt 9 on the phone. PUBG ran on medium settings by default. We had no complaints about the performance. We played this game for about 25 minutes. During this time, we found that the phone did get hot, but not too much. Asphalt 9 ran without any lag or problem.
In our HD video loop test, the battery of this Xiaomi phone lasted for 8 hours and 13 minutes, which is below average. In our review, Xiaomi Redmi Note 5 Pro (Review) and Redmi Note 5 lasted for 16 hours, although they come with bigger batteries. With active WhatsApp and Gmail accounts, about an hour of gaming, some time on Instagram and a few phone calls, the battery saver mode got activated after about 7 hours and 30 minutes. If your user behavior is also similar, then do not forget to keep a charger with you. The charger given with the retail box takes about 2 hours to fully charge the handset. In such a situation, we would suggest you to use a charger that comes with Qualcomm Quick Charge support.
Xiaomi Mi A2 Cameras
Xiaomi has worked on the camera app of this phone and it is different from the stock Android camera app. You will get shot video, portrait, square, panorama and a manual mode. In the manual mode, users will be able to control white balance, focus, shutter speed and ISO. During this, users can also choose between regular and low light lenses. Xiaomi claims that it has made some changes in the portrait mode so that in sufficient light it uses the 12-megapixel camera and in low light the 20-megapixel secondary camera becomes active. But we found that this does not happen. When one lens is in use, the other works as a depth sensor.
The Mi A2 detects light very quickly and locks focus. Photos taken with the Mi A2 outdoors come with a lot of detail and the colours are also accurate. Even when you zoom in, you will be able to see details in the picture and there is not much noise. We also found that the camera app automatically switches to HDR mode when needed. Autofocus is fast while taking macro shots. We found that the Mi A2 is able to focus even on very small objects. Macro shots came out sharp. The phone showed a clear distinction between the subject and the background.
In low light, the Mi A2 increases the ISO and reduces the shutter speed so that the primary camera captures more light instead of using the secondary camera. We believe that Xiaomi should have automatically used the secondary camera for better photography in low light. But you can do this if you want by going into manual mode. These photos also came with details, but we found that aggressive noise reduction has been done in the dark areas, which leads to a watercolor effect when zoomed in.
Tap on the image to see Xiaomi Mi A2 camera samples
Selfies also come with details. Indoor pictures were sharp. Selfie fill light is very useful in low light conditions. HDR is also available for the selfie camera and it gets activated automatically when needed. You can set the level of beautification as per your requirement.
In Xiaomi Mi A2, you will be able to record 4K videos from the primary camera and up to 1080 pixels from the selfie camera. You will have the facility to shoot videos in 1080 pixel resolution at 60 frames per second from the primary camera. But we found that the camera had trouble locking focus at higher frame rates. Video stabilization is available for the rear camera.
Our verdict
Xiaomi Mi A1 (Review) has always been the first choice for a stock Android experience in the budget range. However, the situation has changed. Especially after HMD Global launched Nokia Android One phones. In such a situation, Xiaomi has to be very careful about the price and the company has done something similar with the new launch.
The cameras of Xiaomi Mi A2 are excellent. If seen, it is one of the best camera phones in this price range. Apart from this, the powerful Snapdragon 660 processor has been a part of more expensive phones till now. In such a situation, this phone will definitely attract customers who want strong performance at a budget price.
The Xiaomi Mi A2 is priced at Rs 16,999, which is an aggressive price considering the hardware it packs. However, the Xiaomi Mi A2 does have a few drawbacks. The battery capacity is below average, resulting in poor battery life. Xiaomi has ditched the 3.5mm headphone jack and there is no microSD card slot. These are two factors that buyers pay a lot of attention to. If you want stock Android and a powerful camera, the Mi A2 is for you. If you don’t mind MIUI, the Xiaomi Redmi Note 5 Pro (Review) is still a better option and is priced less. We would suggest you keep an eye on the Honor Play.
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