RENITA Xiaomi Mi A1: An all-rounder budget smartphone with flagship-like features

Designed in partnership with Google, it is a brilliant dual camera phone with promising Android One

The Xiaomi Mi A1 seems an identical twin of the Mi 5X; the only difference lies in the operating system these devices run on. The Mi A1 is the first Xiaomi smartphone to use stock Android version along with heavily customised MIUI theme.

It is also a first premium mobile phone to wear the Android One moniker, created with the promise of a pure Android experience and quicker software updates, and earlier limited to budget smartphones. That indeed is the device’s USP, but how does it fare on other parameters?

Business Standard took the Xiaomi Mi A1 for a spin and here are our observations:

Design

At first glance, the smartphone resembles the Google Pixel, with some minor tweaks. The metallic uni-body design feels premium in hand and the 2.5D curved glass on top of the screen accentuates the details. On the back, the dual camera set-up bulges out from the body, enclosed in a metallic frame, accentuating the camera unit. The fingerprint scanner is placed at the upper centre which makes it easier to reach and comfortable to use.

Overall, Xiaomi has not done any fancy design experiment with the Mi A1 and the result is no-frills, neat-looking smartphone.