HIGHLIGHTS
- Xiaomi Mi A3 comes with starting price of Rs 12,999.
- Xiaomi Mi A3 will be among the first smartphones in the world to get Android 10 update.
- Xiaomi Mi A3 will go on open sale in India starting August 31.
“The competition under Rs 15,000 price bracket is tough in India. There are phones like the Realme 5 Pro, the Redmi Note 7 Pro, the Samsung Galaxy M30, among others. Despite tough competitors, I believe at Rs 12,999 the Mi A3 is a good deal if not great. Why not great? It’s because of the screen and the overall performance of the smartphone.” This is what I said in the full review of the smartphone.
We also said, “If you don’t like the MIUI and the system ads but love Xiaomi, the Mi A3 makes a lot of sense. There are no Ads here. It also makes sense if you’re looking for an under Rs 15,000 smartphone that offers amazing design, excellent battery, stock Android experience and decent cameras. However, if performance and good screen matter to you then there are other better options available in the market.”
There is no MIUI is this smartphone. This is also one of the key highlights of the Xiaomi Mi A3. It is an Android One smartphone and this means the Mi A3 offers stock Android experience to the users. Stock Android means no MIUI, no Ads or third party applications. Xiaomi Mi A3 brings clean software to the users out there. Android One also means regular software updates and security updates.
–During the launch of the Xiaomi Mi A3 the company said that the Mi A3 will be among the first smartphones in the world to get Android 10 update. The Mi A3 is also eligible to get upgraded to the next Android version or Android 11 – if that’s what Google plans to call it.
–The Xiaomi Mi A3 looks stunning with premium triple Gorilla Glass design. The Mi A3 comes in three beautiful colours — More Than White, Not Just Blue and Kind Of Grey. “My favourite “More than White”.” This is what I said in the review of the smartphone.
he Triple Gorilla Glass protection not only makes the Mi A3 looks stunning but also makes the smartphone durable. This is what I said in the review of the Mi A3 – “The main reason why Xiaomi Mi A3 looks so good is because of the “triple” Gorilla Glass used in the phone. Fancy term, but what does it mean? The Xiaomi Mi A3 includes Gorilla Glass 5 support not just on the back panel and over the display but also on the camera lenses. Xiaomi calls this “triple” Gorilla Glass 5 protection. It is not as fancy as what Xiaomi makes it sound, but it adds to the overall appeal and finish of the phone. I believe all this glass also makes the phone — or should make it — durable. The Mi A3 surely feels sturdy in hands.”
Coming to the screen of the Xiaomi Mi A3 now. The Mi A3 comes with a 6.08-inch sMOLED display that offers HD+ resolution (1560 x 720 pixels). “The Mi A3 sMOLED display shows deep and dark colours most of the time but when you are reading something on this phone, or watching a video in high-resolution you will notice the lack of sharpness” the review mentioned.–The Xiaomi Mi A3 comes with 7th generation in-display fingerprint sensor and also face unlock. In the review I mentioned, “I mostly used the AI face unlock to unlock the lock screen of the phone because I found the in-display fingerprint sensor on the slower side.”Xiaomi Mi A3 comes with three cameras on the rear panel and single sensor on the front. On the rear panel the Xiaomi Mi A3 comes with three cameras — 48MP primary Sony IMX 586 sensor + 8MP ultra-wide lens + a 2MP depth sensor camera. On the front, the Xiaomi Mi A3 includes a 32MP camera. “The cameras of the Mi A3 produce a pretty good result, especially in daylight and outdoor scenario. In good lighting, the Xiaomi Mi A3 clicks pretty detailed pictures with great colours. Some pictures clicked inside the room with the Mi A3 miss out on details but the colours come out pretty good.” This is what I said in the review of the smartphone. The selfie camera also shows great results. The Mi A3 is pretty good with portrait mode.
In terms of performance the Xiaomi Mi A3 feels lag at almost all times. “On paper, the Xiaomi Mi A3 is an upgraded version to the Mi A2. The Mi A2 was powered by Snapdragon 660 processor. The new Mi A series phone aka the Mi A3 is powered by Qualcomm latest 600 series chip – Snapdragon 665. Like I said on paper it looks like an upgrade but in real experience, the Mi A3 running on SD665 seems to suffer some mysterious lags.” The review noted. As I also said in the review of the phone I hope Xiaomi pushes software updates to improve performance of the Mi A3.
–The Xiaomi Mi A3 comes with massive 4000mAh battery. This is great. But the good bit is the phone also supports 18W fast charging support. Overall the Xiaomi Mi A3 offers fantastic battery life and lasts a day and a half on single charge.
Xiaomi Mi A3 cameras
The Xiaomi Mi A2 offered good cameras for the price, and naturally, people are expecting the Mi A3 to fill its shoes. Xiaomi has gone with a triple camera setup on the Mi A3. There’s a 48-megapixel Sony IMX 586 sensor for the primary camera, and an 8-megapixel secondary camera with a wide-angle lens with a 118 degree field-of-view. The third one is a 2-megapixel depth sensor. The Sony IMX586 sensor is also found in premium phones such as the OnePlus 7₹ 29,999 (Review) and Redmi K20 Pro₹ 26,726 (Review). For selfies, the Mi A3 has a 32-megapixel front shooter.
Camera software on the Mi A3 isn’t very different from what we’ve seen on Redmi smartphones which run MIUI. The Mi A3’s camera app has multiple shooting modes including Portrait, Night, Panorama, and Pro, apart from the usual photo and video modes. It also has quick toggles for HDR, AI, the flash, and filters. There is a 48-megapixel mode that lets you take photos at the sensor’s full resolution, but the regular photo mode returns 12-megapixel pixel-binned shots for better clarity.
Photos taken in daylight had good details. The phone managed to lock focus quickly and set the exposure right. Objects at a distance were recognisable, and text at a distance was also legible. However, the Mi A3 does not do HDR very well, lifting blacks a bit too aggressively. This throws the contrast of photos off, causing them to look artificial. The wide-angle sensor helps capture wider frames but you lose out on detail when compared to shots taken with the primary sensor.
Good
- Good cameras
- Premium build quality
- Excellent battery life
- Smooth performance
Bad
- Low-resolution display
- Hybrid dual-SIM slot
- Camera is slow to focus at times
- Aggressive HDR
Our Review For Mi A3 : 8/10
Camera : 9/10
Design : 9/10
Display : 7/10
Software : 9/10
Battery life : 8/10
value of Money : 8/10
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