There are chances that the Xiaomi Mi 6X will be coming to India as the Mi A2
Chinese smartphone giant Xiaomi on April 25 unveiled a new smartphone called Mi 6X at a special media event in China. This is the phone that succeeds the Mi 5X. But just like the Mi 5X went out of China and into countries like India as the Xiaomi Mi A1, an Android One phone, there are chances that the Mi 6X will be coming here as the Mi A2. And that could make it one of the most significant smartphone launches in India this year.
Given its importance, and given the fact how much Indian consumers loved the Xiaomi Mi A1, lets compare the Mi 6X — or should we call it the Mi A2 — with the previous Android One phone from Xiaomi.
First a quick glance at the specifications of the Mi 6X. The Mi 6X is powered by 2.2 GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 660 system-on-chip (SoC). It is the first device under $300 to feature Snapdragon 660 processor. The phone runs on MIUI 9, which is based on Android Oreo. It features a 5.99-inch full-screen FHD+ display with a resolution of 2160×1080 and it is available in three variants.
While the variant with 4GB RAM and 64GB internal memory is available for 1,599 RMB (around Rs 17,000) in China, the variant with 6GB RAM and 64GB storage is available for 1,799 RMB (around Rs 19,000), and the top model with 6GB RAM and 128GB storage will cost you 1,999 RMB (around Rs 21,000).
While the phone will be available for sale in China from April 27,2018, there is no word on the international availability of the device, more importantly whether the device will make to the shelves outside China. But recently Xiaomi CEO Lei Jun had told India Today Tech that the company will launch more Android One phones in India, and that hints at only one thing: The Mi 6X in some way or other could be the phone on which the Mi A2 will be based.
Coming back to Mi A1. Xiaomi had launched its first ever Android One-based smartphone, Mi A1, in India at a special event in September last year. Priced at Rs 14,999, Mi A1 marked the debut of Xiaomis A series smartphones in the country and was the third smartphone by the Chinese smartphone maker to feature a dual-camera setup in the rare side of the phone.
So how is Mi 6X different from its predecessor Mi A1? Here is a quick comparison.
Processor: Xiaomi Mi A1 is powered by Qualcomm’s extremely popular Snapdragon 625 processor and Mi 6X is powered by the company’s Snapdragon 660 SoC. While Snapdragon 625 comes with a clock speed of 2.0 GHz along with Adreno 506 GPU, Snapdragon 660 offers a clock speed of 2.2 GHz with Adreno 512 GPU. This is a new processor and hence should be slightly more powerful as well as more power efficient. Apart from this, Snapdragon 625 supports Quick Charge 3.0 while Snapdragon 660 supports Quick Charge 4.0. What this means is that, owing to its processor, Mi 6X in theory is faster than Mi A1 and it has better graphics than the latter.
Display: Mi 6X comes with a 5.99-inch full-screen FHD+ display with a resolution of 2160×1080, while Mi A1 features a 5.5-inch 1080p LTPS display. Both the devices come with a pixel density of 403 ppi. What this translates to is that if you like Mi A1 for its brightness and contrast, you will probably also like teh Mi 6X (or the Mi A2).
Operating system: As far as the operating system is concerned, Mi A1 is an Android One phone which runs on Android 7.1.2 (Nougat), which is upgradable to Android 8.0 Oreo. The Mi 6X is a phone that like the Mi 5X uses Xiaomi’s own MIUI 9 user interface, built on top of Android Oreo. But if this phone comes to India, it will almost certainly use Android One. In India, Xiaomi already sells the Redmi Note 5 Pro, which is a MIUI-based phone. Android One is going to be the reap appeal of the Mi A2, just the way it was with the Mi A1.
Camera: The Mi 6X comes with a dual rear camera system (12MP sensor and 20MP sensor). The dual camera setup comes with dual LED flash and is assisted by the power of artificial intelligence (AI). On the front, the smartphone comes with a 20MP camera with a soft LED flash. As far the Mi A1 is concerned, it also comes with a dual rear camera system (12MP wide angle lens and 12MP telephoto lens) with dual LED flash. On the front, the Mi A1 has 5MP camera. We will get to know about the actual camera performance of the Mi 6X in the coming days when people use it, but from the specs it looks that it should click better photos than what the Mi A1 can manage. And that will be quite nice to see in the Mi A2. It’s not that the Mi A1 is shabby in the camera department, but let’s hope that a higher resolution sensors in the 6X front and rear camera will mean even better photos with the Mi A2.
ALSO READ: Xiaomi Mi 6X launched: Full specs, top features, price and everything you need to know
Battery: Xiaomi Mi A1 is backed by a powerful 3080mAh Li-ion battery, while Mi 6X comes with a non-removable 3010mAh Li-ion battery. This might sound as if Mi A1 comes with a better battery, however, it is important to note that Mi 6X comes with a newer processor, which is theoretically built to provide better battery life.
