Xiaomi Mi A1 First Impressions: Android One is back with a better phone

Xiaomi Mi A1

Google aimed big with Android One when it launched this initiative back in 2014. Few of its partners launched phones under this initiative but failed to attract enough consumers. Google made a long silence before creating a buzz yesterday with its new Android One smartphone. Google and Xiaomi launched a new Android One phone Xiaomi Mi A1 in India. This is the first dual camera phone under Android One initiative and first Xiaomi phone with stock Android.

Xiaomi Mi A1 is actually the Xiaomi’s Mi 5X running on stock Android. It comes for just Rs. 14999. At this price, the phone will surely repeat the success of Xiaomi Redmi Note 4.

Xiaomi Mi A1 comes with a metal build that looks good. It has a similar design as we found in OnePlus 5 and iPhone 7 Plus. But this Xiaomi phone has a fingerprint sensor on the back. It has 5.5-inch display panel with the front camera above it and three capacitive keys below it. The top side has IR blaster and base side contains USB Type-C, speaker, and 3.5 headphone jack. The left edge has SIM card slot and right edge has volume rocket along with power button.

The rear panel has dual camera setup at top left corner with dual LED flash. Af the below side of the back panel, it also has Android One branding. With slight curve at the back of edges helps in better grip. It feels like a flagship phone with its premium design.

The phone has 5.5-inch 1080p 2.5D curved glass display with Gorilla Glass protection. The display also has good viewing angles.

The phone runs on stock Android with deep integration of Google services. You can backup unlimited photos and videos to Google Photos. Google Assistant, Android Protect Play and more also there. This phone runs on Android 7.1.2 and it will also get Android Oreo by the end of this year. It will also get Android P next year when it will be available.

Like other Xiaomi phones, this phone also comes with 2GHz octa-core Snapdragon 625 processor with Adreno 506 GPU. It has 4GB of RAM to offer good multitasking. This is the same setup that we tested in Redmi Note 4 and Mi Max 2. So, I am sure this phone is going to be awesome in performance.

It comes with 64GB of storage with an option to expand storage up to 128 GB.

It has IR blaster. SO, you can also use this phone as remote control. There is also a fingerprint scanner that allows you to unlock your phone quickly.

The phone has dual camera setup with 12 MP wide angle lens and 12 MP telephoto lens. There is also Mi camera app that allows you to capture awesome shots. There is a dedicated portrait mode to capture photos with Bokeh effect. At the front, there is a 5 megapixels camera.

I captured few shots. The portrait shot was even good considering the indoor light. Front camera was not as impressive but it was fine.

Xiaomi Mi A1

It will be too early to say anything about the camera because I just captured few random shots. But, I am sure this camera will be good enough to make it a strong competitor of Moto G5S Plus.

The phone has 4G VoLTE, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.2, GPS and USB Type-C connectivity. It packs 3080 mAh battery. Unlike other Xiaomi phones of this price, MI A1 has battery of less capacitiy to make space for dual camera hardware. But, it has the chipset that saves lots of battery juice. SO, I am sure the battery will surely last for a day easily.

With Mi A1, Xiaomi has put a stronger comeptitor against Cool Play 6, Moto G5S Plus and Lenovo K8 Note. This phone will not just help Xiaomi but it will also help Google’s Android One initiative. It looks impressive and I hope the performance of the phone will also be the same

What do you guys think about Xiaomi Mi A1? Let us know your views in the comments.

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