Xiaomi Mi A3 Reliable Android One

Xiaomi Mi A3

• 48MP Primary camera with
  Sony IMX586 sensor
  (6pc lens, f/1.79 aperture)
  
  
  8MP Ultra wide-angle
  (camera with 118° FOV)
  
  
  Ultra wide-angle edge distortion correction
  
  
  4K video recording
  
  
  (EIS support)

Xiaomi has been setting benchmarks for Android One phones and now, the company has gone a step further with the third generation Android One mobile - Mi A3 in India. It has incorporated several upgrades in terms of internal hardware.

Mi A3 has a lot in common with the recent bunch of Redmi smartphones. It has a glass back finish, a thin bezel design with a teardrop-shaped cutout at the top, and comes in eye-catching colour options such as “Not just blue" and “More than white". The handset doesn’t feel hefty even though it packs a 4,030 mAh battery that was able to muster a full day’s backup comfortably.

Design, build quality

Mi A3 sports a minimalist design language with glossy smooth shell. The company has used Gorilla Glass 5 shield on both the front and the back sides, which assures the device survive daily wear and tear like scratches from keys or other stuff when kept in the pocket or in a bag.

the smooth body makes it a bit hard for the fingers to hold on to the phone. On the bright side, the company is also offering a soft shell case with the retail package, which not only enhances the durability of the Mi A3 but also offers good grip.

Mi A3 is the 3.55mm audio jack, which was sorely missed in the predecessor. It sits on top with IR blaster and a mic. At the base, the Type-C USB port is nestled between two speakers.

Display

AMOLED Display

On the front, it flaunts a drop-notch design-based 6.08-inch HD+ (1560 x 720p) AMOLED screen. It offered a good viewing experience with near-natural color accuracy when HD videos are played on the display. It also boasts an in-screen fingerprint scanner at the base, which is very rare in this price segment.

Performance:

Qualcomm® Snapdragon™ 655 processor

Xiaomi Mi A3 runs on pure Android Pie-powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 665 octa-core (2GHz Kryo 260 x 4 + 1.8GHz Kryo 260 x 4) with Adreno 610 GPU, 4GB/6GB RAM (LPDDR4x) and 64GB/128GB storage (UFS 2.1)

Camera:

Xiaomi houses a triple cameras--48MP rear camera (0.8μm pixel size, F1.79 aperture) + 8MP (with 118-degree ultra-wide-angle lens, 1.12μm pixel size, F2.2 aperture+ 2MP depth sensor (with 1.75μm pixel size and F2.4 aperture) with with Electronic Image Stabilisation (EIS) and LED flash.

48MP primary camera comes with 1/2-inch Sony IMX586 sensor, which is used in top-end phones costing Rs 30,000 and beyond.

On the front, it houses a 32MP snapper with F2.0 aperture and serves well in taking selfies particularly in portrait modes.

Some other pictures taken from Mi A3  

The Mi A3 takes really good images in natural light.

During the low-light condition pictures look sharp thanks to software magic of the night mode feature. Have to say, you need to have a steady hand and patience, as the device takes a few seconds to lock and process the image.

Battery:

Mi A3 houses a 4,000mAh cell, 33% more than the predecessor and it lived up to the expectations. The device consistently gave a full-day battery life under normal usage.

Final thoughts: 

Mi A3 Android One is a good option for consumers who are migrating from keypad-based feature to a touch screen for the first time. With pure Android OS, it is very easy to get the hang of the phone's interface. The Mi A3 is also assured of getting timely software updates and security patches to safeguard from malware

Positive: 

Good display
A full day battery
Pure Android experience
Exceptional camera for its price
3.55mm audio jack is back.

Nagetive:

Fingerprint is slow, but it has low FRR (False Rejection Rate); So, it is not a deal-breaker.