The Mi A3, Xiaomi’s latest Android One smartphone, launched in Europe on July 18 to a mixed response. With a retail price of €249 (or Rs19,249), it is nearly twice the price of the model it replaces, the Mi A2, which retails for €119 in Spain and Rs 10,800 in India.
At twice the price, the A3 offers an improved camera but a lower-resolution screen. The biggest difference between the Mi A3 and the Mi A2 is the screen — the A3 gets a 720p inch AMOLED display over the A2’s 2160 by 1080 IPS LCD resolution. The addition of AMOLED should make the colours on the new model stand out, but whether a 720p resolution is going to cut it for a 6 inch phone remains to be seen.
The biggest improvement is the camera — the Mi A3 packs a triple-rear camera, with a 48MP primary sensor, an 8MP wide-angle sensor and a depth sensor. The front camera gets a hefty boost with a 32MP ‘selfie’ camera added on.
Other differences include the addition of a microSD slot (sorely missing in the MiA2), mildly upgraded chipsets and GPUs (the Snapdragon 665 and Adreno 610 vs the Snapdragon 660 and Adreno 512). Happily, the Mi A3 brings back the headphone jack, which went missing in the Mi A2 with Xiaomi then preferring to market their wireless headphones instead.
There will be two memory variants: 4GB/64GB and 4GB/128GB. Colour options include blue, white and grey. Like the K20 and K20 Pro, this models adds the new gradient finish with a glass back panel.
On the battery front, the A3’s is bigger with a 4030 maH unit.
As with all Android devices, the Mi A3 will run stock Android instead of the company’s custom MIUI.
All in all, the A3 represents several advancements over the A2, but it depends on what you want. The camera upgrades offer more range but definitely offer more value if you want a better selfie camera. If you want a good screen, you might find the A3 underwhelming with its low resolution, as many other phones in this segment offer full HD screen. However, AMOLED displays are only just trickling into this segment so if you feel that compensates, the A3 should be fine. The battery improvement will be a good addition as will the headphone jack.
Does this justify as an upgrade? It will depend on the price.
Launch date and price
The Mi A3 is expected to get its Asian debut on July 31 at Malaysia. An India launch date and price is as yet unannounced but is expected to be between Rs 17,000 to 19,000 at launch.