Xiaomi Mi A3 with Android One launched in India from ₹ 12,999

India is one of Xiaomi's key markets and the company is taking every opportunity to boast of its leadership position in this market for the eighth consecutive quarter. Much of this success comes from devices in the Redmi and Redmi Note ranges, but Xiaomi also continues to tinker with other product lines to try to diversify and offer greater choice to the consumer. The Redmi K series is Xiaomi's attempt to provide an affordable flagship experience in 2019, while the Mi A Series represents an escape from the MIUI experience in the warm embrace of Android within the program Android One. After launching the Xiaomi Mi A3 internationally, Xiaomi is now launching the Mi A3 in India.

Xiaomi Mi A3 – Specifications

Xiaomi Mi A3 XDA Forums

The Xiaomi Mi A3 uses the same hardware as the Xiaomi CC9e that was launched in China. For better or for worse, some dubious decisions made by Xiaomi on the CC9e have also been postponed on the Mi A3. The main point of contention will be switching to a screen with a resolution of less than 1560 x 720 pixels with a pixel density of only 286 dpi. The situation is further aggravated by the use of an PenTile OLED matrix with fewer subpixels than a conventional RGB LCD. Idrees has written an excellent informative article on different smartphone display technologies, and I recommend checking this to learn more about the technical details explaining why this lower resolution PenTile AMOLED display is a sub-optimal replacement for a screen LCD FHD.

The transition to an HD panel should theoretically help the Mi A3 to improve its gaming performance and its exceptional life, thanks to the abundant battery of 4,030 mAh and the efficiency of the integrated Snapdragon 665 system. The Mi A3 also improves the Mi A2 from last year by reducing the headphone jack and the microSD extensibility. Other highlights include the rear triple camera system which should significantly strengthen the device by its versatility. You also have an integrated fingerprint sensor, made possible through the AMOLED display. This decision therefore has at least one benefit, in addition to reducing costs.

The highlight of the Xiaomi Mi A3 is that it runs on the latest version of Android 9 Pie, thanks to its inclusion in the Android One program. This phone is the perfect opportunity for anyone looking to try Xiaomi's hardware but absolutely hate Xiaomi's software and some of its choices. With Android One, you get two years of software upgrades and guaranteed security. Xiaomi has also released the kernel sources for the Xiaomi CC9e / Xiaomi Mi A3, so that's another benefit.

Price and availability

The Xiaomi Mi A3 will be available in India in two variants: 4GB + 64GB and 6GB + 128GB; and three color options inspired by Google's naming scheme for Google's pixels: Not only blue, Gray, More than white. The basic variant will cost you ₹ 12,999 (~ 182 $), while the variant of RAM and higher storage will cost you ₹ 15,999 (~ $ 224). The first sale for the A3 Mi will take place on August 23, 2019 at noon, on mi.com, Amazon.in and Mi Home.

The pricing of the Xiaomi Mi A3 in India is much cheaper than the European pricing of 249 € / 279 €. On the other hand, the Mi A3 is launched when competitors such as Realme have launched quad-camera camera smartphones such as Realme 5 and Realme 5 Pro, from € 2999 and € 1499 from 259 £ 99, offering significant material improvements. So the question you have to ask yourself is: how important is Android One to you?