Despite the international success that the brand won the Xiaomi Mi A1 original, It has been more than two years since we have seen a successor to the most legendary Android One on the technological scene. And we have taken advantage of the anniversary to recover the latest model, the Xiaomi Mi A3. How will it behave today?
The Xiaomi Mi A3 was one of the mid-range mobiles that attracted the most attention during 2019. Heir to the Android One saga, it was the last of the brand with this operating system; a detail that makes this phone even more unique. After more than two years in the market, How do you keep up with daily experience and benefits? We have retrieved it to find out.
| Xiaomi Mi A3 | |
|---|---|
| Screen | 6.1-inch AMOLED |
| Processor | Snapdragon 665 |
| Versions | 4/128 GB |
| Rear camera | 48 megapixels |
| Frontal camera | 32 megapixels |
| software | Android 9 Pie |
| Dimensions and weight | 153.48 x 71.85 x 8.4 mm |
| Drums | 4,030 mAh |
| Connectivity and sound | 4G |
| Others | On-screen fingerprint reader |
| Price at launch | 4/64 GB: 249 euros |
Observing the Xiaomi Mi A3 from the outside does not leave the feeling that the phone is old since its design remains in line with what we can currently see within the brand. Soft edges, plastic for the body of the phone, double-sided glass, lens for the triple rear camera that protrudes by around a millimeter and a size that, without being small, yes it stays in what we could consider today as “content”. Because six inches of screen, no matter how much the front takes advantage of, they will never give a small mobile.
Speaking of screen. This, which is based on AMOLED technology, is the most negative point of the Xiaomi Mi A3. It was in the year of its analysis and it continues to be so now; with the addition that the brand has not corrected part of its defects: the panel is so saturated as standard that even the desks look unreal.
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Along with the problem of saturation is the biggest problem of the Xiaomi Mi A3: the HD resolution makes watching content on the phone throw in a low-end experience. Lack of sharpness, the contrast is adequate and the saturation, as we said, is exaggerated. Xiaomi has not included any temperature or saturation adjustments in the display settings.
The sound maintains a decent quality on the Xiaomi Mi A3. At the time it did not stand out in a negative way, nor does it now: having a headphone jack is a positive extra, so is the power of its speaker (it does not sound bad despite some shrillness and distortion beyond medium volume). With headphones the audio maintains a decent quality without standing outIt does not matter whether they are connected by cable or without it. Android One does not offer audio improvements as Xiaomi usually includes in their phones. It does come well-equipped enough in Bluetooth codecs, including aptX HD, Adaptive audio, and TWS. LDAC falls.
Two years have passed by our protagonist without really looking like it. We have already seen that the design is kept up to date. And the Android experience it throws does it too: mobile flows fast, menus offer no resistance, launches applications quickly and even feels as agile as a Google Pixel. Saving the distances, of course.
The Snapdragon 665 something was left just two years ago. Even so, It is an SoC that offers a good average of power, graphic quality and consumption: This trinomial ensures that time has not made an excessive dent in the phone (the software could also be included, but we will focus on it later). We have appreciated some lags, always when the Xiaomi Mi A3 did tasks in the background, such as updating applications.
Below you have the tests of benchmark from the protagonist of this retro analysis:
From left to right, Geekbench 5, 3D Mark Slingshot and PC Mark Work 3.0
The Xiaomi Mi A3 completes the list of features with an optical fingerprint reader under the screen that behaves well enough, includes infrared emitter (without app, you have to download a compatible one), offers FM radio (with app), has expansion via SD card, USB C and maintains a 4,030 mAh battery. Its duration is ample: despite two years (its use was not intensive), autonomy exceeds a day and a half on a regular basis; with minimal consumption with the screen off.
The appearance of the interface is not too far from that shown by a Google Pixel
The brand has not presented a new model of the cleaner version of Android with Google applications for two years, the so-called Android One. At its launch, this version was one of the biggest advantages of the Xiaomi Mi A3, the latter with the aforementioned Android One. This has grown in value, not in vain the mobile remains updated: have Android 11 and the security patch is June (and it keeps the security monthly security updates).
The owners of a Xiaomi Mi A3 know well the good and also the bad of the operating system that equips the phone: Xiaomi had to stop the update to Android 11 several times for serious problems with certain phones. Saving those problems with updates, the Xiaomi Mi A3 offers a highly rejuvenated software look
.
It seems that the years have not passed by the phone: clean appearance and very close to the Google Pixel, without the reload of options that MIUI accumulates (it is also, in a way, a disadvantage), the phone arrives without bloatware and Xiaomi only includes a handful of its own apps (the camera, its store, the support service and little else). The rest of the pre-installed software is from Google.
The Xiaomi Mi A3 is the proof that Android One continues to be a great success in terms of software, even for those who do not appreciate the benefits of the “purest” Android. The phone continues to be agile, maintains a second youth despite its longevity, is still current and they still have a long future ahead of them, even though it will not reach them. Android 12 (at least it shouldn’t). It is a pity that Android One is no longer among Xiaomi’s priorities.
One of the few customizations that Xiaomi carries out on the Mi A3 is related to photographic capture: the brand’s own app. This is extremely positive: since the application offered by Google for Android One can be greatly improved, Xiaomi’s software enriches the photographic experience with a wealth of optionsincluding portrait (not quite good crop) and night modes.
The capture at a general level is very good, it is surprising the photos it takes to have been on the market for two years. If you notice something old with it delay between pressing the shutter and saving the photo, it may take up to a second between one point and another (with some risk of jitter if the phone is moved).
The processing is very natural, it maintains the details of the image, in good light conditions no problems (On the contrary) and when it is time to activate the night mode, the Xiaomi Mi A3 does not go wrong despite needing several seconds to capture the photo (due to the combination of long exposure shots).
The 48 megapixel main camera handles perfectly in most areas, quite the opposite of the wide angle: here the quality drops. A lot of. The loss of sharpness is appreciated, the watercolors jump to the foreground (even in good light) and the mobile hardly corrects the deformation of the lens at the ends.
The app includes the aforementioned portrait and night modes, it also has the mode Pro with which to manually manage most of the settings. The Xiaomi Mi A3 allows shooting at the 48 megapixel sensor (the results are not much better than the automatic ones) and it includes scene recognition through Artificial Intelligence (it is better to disconnect it).
Below you have a sample of images taken with the Xiaomi Mi A3.
The Xiaomi Mi A3 was presented on July 17, just two years ago from that anniversary. With the time passed after the launch, and without Xiaomi having renewed the “A” line, it is clear that Android One is no longer a value for the brand. And it’s a shame: the mobile feels very good even with two years behind it.
It moves smoothly most of the time, the appearance of the software is clean, it is updated in security and in the Android version, it supports high-capacity games (at medium graphic quality), his photos are better than those of many current mid-range and it even shows content in dimensions. If it loses points on the screen (resolution, saturation and brightness), the wide angle can also be greatly improved. For the rest, the Xiaomi Mi A3 would continue to be recommended if it were not for the enormous rate of renewal that Xiaomi maintains in the line of 200 euros. Not even Android One saves it.
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The news
Back to the Xiaomi Mi A3, the latest Xiaomi with Android One still has a lot to say
was originally published in
Engadget Android
for
Ivan Linares
.
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