Design of Xiaomi Mi A3
Xiaomi Mi A3 has a glass sandwich design, remember that Mi A2 was launched with metal-clad. Corning Gorilla Glass 5 has been used on the front, back and camera module of the phone, which will help protect the device from scratches to some extent during day-to-day use. The selfie camera has got a place in the dewdrop notch in the front panel of the phone.
The Mi A3 has thin bezels on the sides, but the borders at the top and bottom of the phone are a bit thick. Chrome finish has also been used in Xiaomi Mi A3 along with plastic frame. We have the More Than White color variant for review. Apart from this, Not Just Blue and Kind of Gray color variants of Mi A3 have also been launched.
It seems that the names of the color variants of the Mi A3 are inspired by Google’s Pixel phones. The top part of the phone has a 3.5 mm headphone jack, secondary microphone and IR emitter which can be used to control IR based appliances. There are two grills at the bottom of the Mi A3, but the grill on the right side has a loudspeaker, as well as a USB Type-C port.
Xiaomi has given power and volume button on the right side of the phone, the hand can easily reach the button. Hybrid dual-SIM tray is provided on the left side of the phone. Three rear cameras with single-LED flash are provided in the back of the phone. Like Mi A2, Mi A3 will not have a fingerprint sensor on the back panel of the phone because Mi A3 is equipped with an in-display fingerprint sensor.
Xiaomi Mi A3 specifications and software
Competition is increasing in the price segment of less than Rs 15,000, which is why handset manufacturers are launching smartphones with the best hardware in the market. In this price segment Redmi Note 7 Pro ,review) And Vivo Z1 Pro ,review) phones are already available in the market which are equipped with Qualcomm Snapdragon 675 and Snapdragon 712 processors respectively.
Xiaomi Mi A3 has Qualcomm Snapdragon 665 processor. The same chipset has also been used in the recently launched Realme 5 (Review). This processor is an upgrade to Snapdragon 660, this processor was used in Mi A2. Two variants of Mi A3 have been launched, one with 4 GB RAM / 64 GB storage and the other with 6 GB RAM and 128 GB storage.
We have the 6 GB RAM variant of Mi A3 for review. Xiaomi says that Mi A3 has UFS 2.1 storage. One thing that was surprising was that the company has used HD + display in Mi A3. Whereas both Mi A1 and Mi A2 handsets were launched with Full HD+ panels.
In comparison to the older model which had an LCD panel, the Mi A3 has been launched with an AMOLED panel. We didn’t find any way to adjust the screen’s color output, except that we found it overboosted. Although the panel has sufficient brightness, sometimes it can be difficult to read the display outside in daylight.
To bring life to the Mi A3, a 4,030 mAh battery has been provided, remember that the 3,000 mAh battery works to bring life to the Mi A2. The phone supports 18W fast charging, but Xiaomi has only provided a 10W charger in the retail box. Mi A3 comes with Bluetooth 5, dual-band Wi-Fi, dual 4G VoLTE and four satellite navigation system support.
Since the Mi A3 is part of the Android One program, it runs stock Android instead of MIUI. There’s no bloatware pre-installed, which means you won’t get any spammy notifications. There is a Mi Community app along with some Google apps. There is no app for using the IR emitter, so you’ll have to download one yourself.
Digital Wellbeing feature will also be available in Mi A3. The Mi A3 is guaranteed to receive two years of major Android OS updates and three years of security updates.
Performance and battery life of Xiaomi Mi A3
While using the Mi A3, we did not feel that the phone slowed down. The Snapdragon 665 processor in the phone runs apps without any problem. We have the 6 GB RAM variant of Mi A3 for review, so we were able to do multitasking easily without clearing the apps in the background. The in-display fingerprint sensor is placed slightly below the display. However, it is not inconvenient and also not slow in unlocking the smartphone.
PUBG Mobile was set to the Low Quality preset by default, with graphics set to Smooth and the frame rate set to Medium. We set the graphics quality to Balanced and found that the Mi A3 was able to run the game without any issues. After playing the game for 30 minutes, we noticed that the smartphone got a bit warm and also consumed 10 percent battery.
The Mi A3 offers good battery life compared to the Mi A2. In our HD video loop test, the Mi A3 lasted 16 hours and 21 minutes. With our regular usage, in which we ran all the benchmarks, took photos and videos and used an active WhatsApp account. On a single charge the phone lasted for about one and a half days.
The 10-watt charger that comes with the retail box charges the Mi A3 to 27 percent in 30 minutes and up to 54 percent in an hour. If you want to charge the battery quickly then you can buy an 18 watt charger.
Xiaomi Mi A3 Camera
Xiaomi Mi A2 was launched with good cameras and naturally people are expecting the same from Mi A3. Mi A3 has three rear cameras, it has a 48-megapixel Sony IMX 586 primary sensor and an 8-megapixel secondary camera with a wide-angle lens. A 2 megapixel depth sensor is also provided.
Sony IMX586 sensor is given in premium phones like OnePlus 7 and Redmi K20 Pro. For selfies and video calling, Mi A3 has a 32-megapixel front camera. The camera software of Mi A3 is no different from Redmi smartphones running MIUI. The phone’s camera app has multiple shooting modes including Portrait, Night, Panorama and Pro.
It has separate buttons for HDR, AI, flash and filter. Apart from this, there is a 48-megapixel mode that lets you capture photos at full resolution, but the regular photo mode offers 12-megapixel pixel-binning shots for better clarity. Details were captured well in photos taken in daylight. The phone quickly locks focus and sets the exposure correctly.
Objects and text located at a distance can be easily identified. However, the Mi A3 doesn’t handle HDR very well. With the help of wide-angle sensor, you can capture wide frame but there will be lack of detail.
Taking macro shots with the Mi A3 was not easy as it focuses slowly. It maintains the distance between the subject and the background well and details are also captured well. Portrait mode lets you adjust the background blur before taking a shot. In this mode the edge detection of the phone was good and the colors were also captured properly.
The Mi A3 gives good shots in low light. It locks focus quickly but is a little slow in capturing the image. In shots taken in low-light, details were captured well and noise is also under control. When I switched on Night Mode in Mi A3, the photos were captured brighter and with better details.
Details were captured well in selfies taken outdoors. The app has a beautify mode that can be enabled before taking the shot. Edge detection during selfie portraits was good, and you also get the option to set the level of blur. Details were captured well in selfies taken in low light.
The primary camera is capable of recording video at 4K and the selfie camera at 1080 resolution. The primary rear camera offers video stabilization while shooting at 1080p resolution. Shimmer effect is visible in low light. For your information, let us tell you that stabilization will not be available while shooting at 4K or using the selfie camera.
our decision
Xiaomi has given 3.5 mm headphone jack and the option to increase storage in Mi A3 but has increased the screen resolution to HD+. The Qualcomm Snapdragon 665 is a capable processor at this price and performs well. The Mi A3 has a large battery which provides good battery life. The camera performance of the phone is also quite strong in this price range.
Buying the Mi A3 variant with a starting price of Rs 12,999 may not prove to be a profitable deal, because there are many smartphones with this chipset in the market. Realme 5 Available at a price of Rs 9,999. If you value performance more than photo quality, then Xiaomi’s Redmi Note 7 Pro ,review) is equipped with Snapdragon 675 chipset.
The high-end variant of the Mi A3 priced at Rs 15,999 is not very attractive, as at Rs 16,999 Realme 5 Pro 8 GB RAM and 128 GB storage variant is available. Xiaomi Mi A3 could be a hit for those who want stock Android experience, software updates and good camera performance.