The Mi A2’s build quality, feel iand general operation thanks to Android One make it a capable phone for a price that no other mid-price match.
If you’re staring at the title of this review wondering ‘who on earth is Xiaomi?’ then, let us tell you, it’s a Chinese brand that – based on the evidence of our time with the Mi A2 (known as the Mi 6X in China) – is about to become an even more major player in the European market.
‘Why’s that?’, may be your next logical question. The answer to which is two-fold: the Mi A2 runs on Android One, making it easy-to-use and minus any of the often seen specialist software; and its price point, at €249 (we’ll call that £229), puts it miles ahead of the competition when weighing up the specs-to-price ratio. Design & Display 5.99-inch, 18:9 aspect ratio, 1080 x 2160 resolution IPS LCD display Aluminium body in three colours: Blue, gold, or black Rear-facing fingerprint scanner 158.7 x 75.4 x 7.3mm; 168g
The Mi A2, shown here in its gold finish (which is actually far more pink-gold than the name would suggest; it’s also available in a much more striking blue), bucks the trend of its price point by delivering an all-aluminium body. Even its competition – the Moto G6, Nokia 7 Plus and Samsung A8 – can’t quite muster such a full-on finish, whether they pose a higher price tag or not. Pocket-lint
Front-on the A2 has a design fairly typical of this mid-price market: it doesn’t feature the micro-bezel of its Mi Mix 2S cousin, yet is neat in its finish, delivering a kind-of upsized version of the Samsung A8 in Xiaomi’s own format. The white front in the A2’s gold finish does show-off the front-facing camera and LED flash to excess, which makes the blue and black options that much more appealing in our view. Xiaomi Mi A2 vs Samsung A8 vs Moto G6 vs Nokia 7 Plus
There’s no fingerprint scanner to be seen on that bottom bezel either. Instead the A2 houses a circular scanner to its upper rear, which is hyper responsive and great for speedy logins. Perhaps the phone’s bottom bezel could have been a bit smaller, but it’s hardly a massive ‘chin’ like you’ll find on some other phones in this category (yes, Sony, we’re looking at you).
The Mi A2 is also a slim phone; indeed its 7.3mm measurement makes it far more trim than, well, any of its competition that comes to mind. Which is fine on paper, but it makes the rear dual camera module poke out of the rear quite considerably – as Xiaomi obviously couldn’t make that component part any smaller. This sees the phone wobble about on the table when it’s sat ‘flat’ (an impossibility) – which is a minor irk, but hardly the end of the world. Pocket-lint
In terms of screen, the 5.99-inch panel might sound huge, but thanks to an 18:9 aspect ratio it sits perfectly well in a single hand; the curved back and soft-touch finish feel excellent, too, so we’d rather this than an over-wide iPhone 8.
The A2’s screen isn’t totally special, however, which is to be expected at this price point. It’s perfectly fine, though, with ample detail thanks to the FHD+ resolution. The lacking aspect is that brightness isn’t the best when maxed out (we noticed this in particular in 36C ultra-sunny Spain, where the sun was like that of another planet). There’s no notch, though, which is a bonus (the A2 Lite does have one, bizarrely, despite being the cheaper phone). Hardware, Software & Battery Life Qualcomm Snapdragon 660 platform (2.2GHz), 4GB RAM 32GB/64GB/128GB (& 6GB RAM) storage options 3010mAh battery, USB-C quick recharging Android One software platform
The first thing to note about the Mi A2 in use is that it doesn’t seem like a typical Xiaomi phone. Take that as you will, but the presence of Android One and the absence of Xiaomi’s own MIUI software makes a quite remarkable difference in use. There’s no hurdles, no gimmicks, it just feels like a free-and-easy-to-use user interface – whether this is your first ever phone or you’re an established Android user. Pocket-lint
It’s this simple point that, we believe, will make the Mi A2 a more viable success than many other Chinese makers are currently pushing. Although in different price brackets, we’ve seen, for example, the Vivo NEX S (with FunTouch OS, ugh), Xiaomi’s own Mi Mix 2S (nah-ah), plus the not-yet-Westernised version of the Oppo Find X (which will launch with different software in the UK in the future, but is otherwise a little tricky).
Now, the Mi A2 doesn’t leave everything to Google’s own devices. There are some Xiaomi apps here and there, but they’re not overburdening, comprising File Manager, Mi Drop and Feedback within the pre-assigned Mi folder on the home screen. That’s your lot, which is a deft touch indeed from such a brand. This is more like the approach Motorola takes with its G series phones, only adding a few extra features within its Moto app.
On the hardware front the Xiaomi’s €249 price tag might suggest it’s not got the hottest hardware doing but, actually, there’s little else that can compare for the money. The Nokia 7 Plus has identical hardware for around £100 more (ignoring Euro-to-Sterling conversion), without giving an additional killer feature for that additional 40 per cent price bump. Pocket-lint
As of yet we’ve not dug deep into the Mi A2 for real, but we’ll soon be using it as out day-to-day phone for a week to make a better judgement on how it fares. That should also give us greater insight into the battery life which, given the 3000mAh cell, ought to be good for a day’s life – but not more than this, despite Xiaomi’s ‘two day’ claims.
The other hardware aspect to point out is the lack of a microSD card slot. This is why Xiaomi offers a 32GB (€249), 64GB (€279, i.e. the one everyone will buy), and 128GB (€349, also adding 6GB RAM) models. Cameras Dual rear cameras: 12 & 20MP resolution, f/1.75 aperture Phase-detection autofocus (PDAF) Unlimited Google Photos storage 4K/1080p video at 30fps AI Portrait Mode
the Mi A2’s considerable play, however, is in its camera department. After all, this device updates the Mi A1 (or Mi 5X in China), which was the company’s first Android One device, but a device which didn’t really hit it on the cameras front. Pocket-lint
That’s why the A2 has dual cameras. And not paltry ones either: this 12- and 20-megapixel duo come with f/1.75 apertures, meaning not only is the resolution is more considerable than the competition (useful for various things, as we’ll come to), but that loads of light can reach the sensors, which assists low-light shooting considerably. Xiaomi has also often for a larger-scale sensor in the lower-resolution camera, delivering larger pixel size for, again, better quality potential.
Which all sounds well and good on paper, but most manufacturers are using the same Sony processors, so it’s the hardware and software combination that can really help in performance and processing terms.
