Despite the international success that the original Xiaomi Mi A1 earned for the brand, 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 your daily experience and benefits? We have retrieved it to find out,so keep reading this review.
A design for which almost no time has passed
Observing the Xiaomi Mi A3 from the outside does not leave them 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 around one millimetre and size that, without being small, does remain in what we could consider today as “content. ” Because of six inches of screen, no matter how much the front takes advantage of, they will never give a small mobile.
I am speaking of
screen. This, which is based on AMOLED technology, is the most negative point of the Xiaomi Mi A3. It was so 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.
The drawback of saturation is the biggest problem with the Xiaomi Mi A3: the HD resolution makes viewing content on the phone 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 negatively, 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 out, whether connected by cable or without. 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.
The performance of the Xiaomi Mi A3 is still good.
Two years have passed for our protagonist without him looking like it. We have already seen that the design is kept up to date. And the Android experience that it throws also does it: the mobile flows fast, the menus offer no resistance, it starts the applications quickly and, even, it feels as agile as a Google Pixel—saving the distances, of course.
The Snapdragon 665 already lagged somewhat just two years ago. 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 always appreciated some lags when the Xiaomi Mi A3 did tasks in the background, such as updating applications.
Here are the benchmark tests of the protagonist of this retro analysis:
The Xiaomi Mi A3 completes the list of features with an optical fingerprint reader under the screen that behaves well enough, includes an infrared emitter (no 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 regularly, with minimal consumption with the screen off.
Android One is the great value of the Xiaomi Mi A3.
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 greatest advantages of the Xiaomi Mi A3, the latter with the Android, as mentioned earlier. It has grown in value, not in vain the mobile remains updated: it has Android 11, and the security patch is June (and keeps the monthly security updates guaranteed).
d).
Android One, Android Go, Android Stock and Android AOSP: what are they and how are they different
In Engadget
Android One, Android Go, Android Stock and Android AOSP: what are they and how are they different
The owners of a Xiaomi Mi A3 know well the good and bad of the operating system that equips the phone: Xiaomi had to stop the update to Android 11 on several occasions due to serious problems in 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 for the phone: clean appearance and very close to the Google Pixel, without the, reload of options that MIUI accumulates (it is also, in a certain way, a disadvantage), the phone arrives without bloatware and Xiaomi only includes a handful of own apps (the camera, your store, the support service and little else). The rest of the pre-installed software is from Google.
The sensations that Android One throws in the Xiaomi Mi A3 are not too far removed from those offered by the Google Pixel 4a, for example, clean software, Google apps and no bloatware.
The Xiaomi Mi A3 is proof that Android One continues to be a great success in terms of software, even for those who do not appreciate the “purest” Android benefits. The phone continues to be agile; it maintains a second youth despite its longevity, it is still current, and they still have a long future ahead of them, even though Android 12 is not going to reach it (at least it should not). It is a pity that Android One is no longer among Xiaomi’s priorities.
Better in photography than many mid-range now
One of the few customizations that Xiaomi carries out on the Mi A3 is related to photographic capture: the brand’s 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 many options, including modes for portrait (the crop is not quite good) and for the evening.
The capture at a general level is very good, and it surprises the photos it takes that have been on the market for two years. If you notice something old with the delay between pressing the shot and saving the photo, it can pass up to a second between one point and another (with a certain risk of shake if the phone is moved).