Introduction
Last year’s Xiaomi Mi A1 was really a great device, the company’s first ever Android One device that packs good specs without costing you much. This year, the company is back with the Mi A2, which seems even more attractive when you look at the specs. Is this the perfect mid-range phone you should get? This is the Xiaomi Mi A2 review!
Unboxing
As usual, the Mi A2 doesn’t come with a pair of earphones since the beginning. The box contains the phone itself, jelly case, USB-C to 3.5mm jack adapter, SIM ejector tool, user guide, wall adapter, and USB-C cable. Even though the phone supports Quick Charge 3.0, Xiaomi doesn’t include a quick charger, which is quite disappointing.
That Mainstream Design
The design of Mi A2 is actually quite mainstream, which looks identical to most smartphones in 2018. In case you didn’t know, it actually shares the same body as the Mi 6X. The front of the phone has an 18:9 screen, which is quite common. However, it doesn’t have a notch like most phones in 2018.
Looking at the top of the phone, there’s a microphone and, surprisingly, the IR blaster, not really common nowadays to see a phone has it. The volume rocker and power button are located on the right side of the phone, while the SIM tray is located on the left side. When you look at the bottom of the phone, Xiaomi has followed Apple footsteps by removing the 3.5mm audio jack.
Flipping to the back of the phone, the Mi A2 actually looks quite familiar to a few products, or I should say the combination of a few products. You get the same antenna lines design from the iPhone 7, which also can be found on the Mi A1. Then there’s the dual-camera setup, which has the same look as the iPhone X, and the camera bump is similar huge as the iPhone X as well. Having a huge camera bump means the phone will wobble when you using while it lays on the table. Thankfully, unlike the iPhone X, it has a fingerprint sensor on the back.
5.99″ IPS 18:9 Display
The Mi A2 sports a 5.99-inch Full HD+ LTPS IPS LCD display with an 18:9 aspect ratio. The screen is alright despite the color temperature is more on the cooler side, more towards blue/purple. Additionally, it only has one screen mode with no option to change the color rendition. If you are planning to do color accurate work with this phone, it’s not a wise choice.
Snapdragon 660 SoC
Surprisingly, the Mi A2 packs a Qualcomm Snapdragon 660 processor even though the phone is quite affordable. In terms of storage and RAM, the phone is available in 64GB storage + 4GB RAM and 128GB storage + 6GB RAM. Our review unit is the 64GB storage + 4GB RAM model, just for clarification. Performance wise, the Mi A2 did really well for day-to-day usage such as multitasking with a few apps, even playing games like PUBG Mobile and Brawl Stars is not an issue.
Android One
Like its predecessor, the Mi A2 is part of the Android One program. It runs on Android 8.1 Oreo with stock Android experience and will be upgradeable to Android Pie pretty soon. Like most Android One devices, the amount of bloatware is minimal, I would say it’s zero instead.
Everything is quite identical to stock Android experience with some additional Xiaomi apps, those useful ones. Those apps are Feedback, File Manager, Mi Drop, and Mi Remote (since the phone does have the IR blaster). Oh ya, the camera app is also Xiaomi’s one, which I found it quite nice to use.
12MP+20MP Dual-Camera
Speaking of the camera, the Mi A2 comes with a dual-camera setup on the back — 12MP f/1.75 Sony IMX486 1.25μm pixels + 20MP f/1.75 Sony IMX376 2.0μm pixels. The 20MP camera comes with 4-in-1 pixel binning technique, which is said to improve low-light shots. Selfie wise, there’s also the same 20MP front camera with 4,500K soft-toned selfie light. The phone comes with features like Portrait Mode, Manual Mode, and AI Beautify 4.0.
Let’s talk about the Portrait Mode image quality first, which surprisingly, is pretty good! It did a really great job in terms of edge detection. Its AI Beautify 4.0 did a really great job in making the skin smooth, but sometimes it looks unnatural. Overall, I’m quite satisfied the portrait shots taken with this phone.
As for the rest, image quality generally is quite good, even low-light shots are better than expected. Obviously, you can’t compare it to those top-class smartphones like the Samsung Galaxy Note9 and Google Pixel 2, but I would say it is the best in its class. Additionally, there’s also a manual mode, which has up to 32-second shutter speed, meaning astrophotography is possible with this phone. Unfortunately, it doesn’t support RAW shooting, something I wish Xiaomi could include by default.
3,010mAh Battery
Here comes where the Mi A2 losing out to its competitors — the battery life. It has a 3,010mAh battery, which seems to be quite normal. Based on my usage, I was able to get less than 3 hours of screen-on-time, most of the time I couldn’t make it till the end of the day. Thankfully, the phone at least still supports Quick Charge 3.0, which will charge up in around 1.5 hours.
Final Words
Retailing at RM999 (4GB RAM + 64GB storage) and RM1,199 (6GB RAM + 128GB storage), this is definitely the best mid-range device you can get right now, not just because of its pricing, but the ability to deliver the important aspects of a smartphone experience. It has a pretty good camera and stable software, I’m sure selfie lovers will like it. Sadly, there are still compromises such as the mediocre battery life, the lack of expandable storage, and other tiny things. If you can live with it, surely this is the right option for you.
Yay
- Comes with IR blaster
- Great performance
- Smooth Android One experience
- Impressive camera
- Affordable
Nay
- No quick charger in the box
- No 3.5mm audio jack
- Display not so color accurate
- No MicroSD card expansion
- Unimpressive battery life