The latest Android One phone from Xiaomi which debuted as the Xiaomi Mi 6X in China has been named as Xiaomi Mi A2 for its global launch. The phone along with another variant, Xiaomi Mi A2 Lite has been launched globally in an event in Spain. The two new phones come with stock Android experience, and the Mi A2 Lite comes with a smaller screen but with a bigger 4,000mAh battery. The Mi A2 will be available for sale in 40 countries, and it will officially launch in India on August 8. The predecessor of the Mi A2 was the Mi A1. Below we have outlined how the Xiaomi Mi A2 differs from the previous Mi A1.
Design and Display
The Xiaomi Mi A2 comes encased in a metal unibody design with dual rear cameras set in the vertical orientation. The phone comes with a 5.99-inch display and an18:9 aspect ratio with Full HD+ pixel resolution. On the other hand, the Mi A1 features a 5.5-inch Full HD screen with the dated 16:9 aspect ratio. Instead of the FullView display, the phone comes with think bezels. The Mi A1 used to have a horizontally oriented camera setup. To top it up, the Mi A2 also comes with 2.5D curved glass with Gorilla Glass 5 for protection.
Camera and Imaging
The Mi A2 features a dual rear camera combination of 12MP primary Sony IMX486 sensor and a secondary 20MP sensor with both the sensors having a f/1.75 aperture. The 20MP secondary shooter comes with ‘Super Pixel’ technology which helps the phone capture brighter photos. What steals the show for Mi A2 is the AI enhancement on the camera. The front selfie shooter of 20MP also comes with AI features and portrait mode, thus promising more than satisfactory photos.
The older Mi A1 used to come with a dual rear camera setup comprising of the 12MP wide-angle primary sensor with f/2.2 aperture and a 12MP telephoto lens with f/2.6 aperture. The phone also shipped the 2X optical zoom feature. The Mi A1 comes with a decent camera setup which although was not best for low light settings, but renders appreciable quality photos in bright and aptly light conditions. The front camera on the Mi A1 is a 5MP one.
Performance and Battery
The processing prowess on the Mi A2 is lent to the device by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 660 processor clocking a frequency of 2.2GHz which comes paired with 4GB/6GB RAM and 32GB/64GB/128GB storage space. Comparatively, the Mi A1 sports the slightly dated Snapdragon 625 processor which is the same as in Redmi Note 5. The Mi A1 comes in the variants of 4GB RAM+64GB storage option, and the internal space is expandable up to 128GB via a microSD card slot. There is also a slight difference in the batteries of the two devices with the Mi A1 packing a 3080mAh battery and the Mi A2 arriving with a 3010mAh battery.
One drastic change which Xiaomi has done in the Mi A2 is ditching the headphone jack. The phone also doesn’t come with a microSD card slot.
Software
The Mi A1 and the Mi A2 set themselves apart from other Xiaomi phones by sporting the stock Android experience instead of the Xiaomi’s custom MIUI. The Mi A1 debuted in the market with Android 7.1 Nougat while the latest Mi A2 comes with Android 8.1 Oreo out of the box. Also, the company has claimed that the phone will be one of the few to receive the Android P update very early on.
Pricing and Availability
With the phone scheduled to launch in India on August 8, the sales are expected to kick-off a week later. Also judging by the past trends of Xiaomi, the 4GB RAM+64GB storage model of Mi A2, priced at Euros 249 might be up for sale at Rs 20,000 on conversion. The 6GB RAM and 64GB storage version will cost Euros 279 (Rs 22,000 approx).
The higher-end variant of 6GB RAM+128GB storage option has a price tag of Euros 349, which in INR would cost Rs 28,000 on conversion. These are rough figures based on conversion, it is entirely possible that Xiaomi might lower the price tag for these phones when they launch. The Mi A2 comes in three colour options of Black, Blue, and Gold.
On the other hand, the predecessor to the Mi A2, the Xiaomi Mi A1 is available at Rs 13,999 for 4GB RAM+64GB storage variant, and it comes in colour options of black, red, gold, rose gold.
