Xiaomi Mi A1 FAQ – All Questions Answered With Pros and Cons

Xiaomi Mi A1 is a first of its kind smartphone in Xiaomi’s portfolio. As the marketing punch line sums it perfectly- The Mi A1 is ‘created by Xiaomi, powered by Google’. The Mi A1 is all about Xiaomi’s hardware and Google’ pure Android OS. On paper, it seems best of both worlds and its understandable why Xiaomi fans are all super excited about it.

We have spent some time with the Xiaomi Mi A1 (quick review) in the recent times, and if you are planning to buy Xiaomi Mi A1 from Flipkart sale or Mi.com but are not certain about a few particular things about the phone then this article should help you out.

Xiaomi Mi A1 Look and Feel

Question: How is the Xiaomi Mi A1 design?

Answer: Xiaomi Mi A1 is certainly one of the better-looking devices in its price range. The phone’s facade seems to have followed tried and tested formula of large 5.5-inch display layered with 2.5D curved glass.

On the flip side, it has an all metal exterior with U-shaped antenna bands, thus confirming to the current market trends. Like OnePlus 5, the dual rear camera setup is placed at the top left corner. Rounded corners and 7.3mm waist line work well in its favour. What’s not so great about the Mi A1 design is big chin and forehead above and beneath the screen. All in all Mi A1 is ergonomic and a good looking smartphone.

Like OnePlus 5, the dual rear camera setup is placed at the top left corner. Rounded corners and 7.3mm waist line work well in its favour. What’s not so great about the Mi A1 design is big chin and forehead or the bezel above and below the screen. All in all, the Mi A1 is ergonomic and a good looking smartphone.

Question: How is the Xiaomi Mi A1 build quality?

Answer: Xiaomi Mi A1 build quality is right up there with the best in business. It is made of premium quality metal. There are no flexes in the phone.

Question: Is Xiaomi Mi A1 Water resistant?

Answer: No, the Xiaomi Mi A1 is not water resistant.

Question: Does the Xiaomi Mi A1 comes with back cover and tempered glass?

Answer: Xiaomi doesn’t bundle Mi A1 back cover or tempered glass with the phone. We would advise you to order a protective case or cover with Xiaomi Mi A1 along with a tempered glass.

Question: Does Xiaomi Mi A1 have capacitive navigation buttons below the display?

Answer: Yes, the Mi A1 comes with capacitive navigation buttons. They are backlit.

Question: How is the Xiaomi Mi A1 display?

Answer: The Mi A1 features a 5.5-inch LTPS display with a full-HD (1080×1920-pixel) resolution and a pixel density of 403ppi. The display has good brightness levels and colours look realistic. Images and text appear to be sharp. The viewing angles are good too. However, the display is a tad reflective, still sunlight legibility is good enough.

Question: Does the Xiaomi Mi A1 have the option for automatic brightness?

Answer: The Mi A1 has adaptive brightness feature which is similar to the automatic brightness.

Question: Does the Xiaomi Mi A1 display have Gorilla glass protection?

Answer: The Xiaomi Mi A1 display is protected by Gorilla Glass 3.

Xiaomi Mi A1 Performance and Storage

Question: How much internal storage space is free on Xiaomi Mi A1?

Answer: Out of 64GB, about 50GB is available to end user.

Question: How much RAM is free on Xiaomi Mi A1?

Answer: About 2.5 GB RAM was available At the time of Mi A1 first boot.

Question: Does Xiaomi Mi A1 have a separate microSD card slot? 

Answer: No. Mi A1 comes with hybrid SIM slot.

Question: Does Xiaomi Mi A1 support USB OTG?

Answer: Yes, the phone supports USB OTG as well.

Question: Does Xiaomi Mi A1 have a fingerprint sensor? How many fingerprints can you scan and store?

Answer: Yes, it comes with a rear-mounted fingerprint sensor. It can register and store up to 5 fingerprints.

Question: Is the fingerprint sensor on Xiaomi Mi A1 fast and accurate? Is it always-on type?

Answer: The fingerprint sensor on the Xiaomi Mi A1 is always on type, and it’s very fast and accurate.

Question: Does Xiaomi Mi A1 have heating issues?

Answer: The Mi A1 features snapdragon 625 chipset which is famous for being thermally efficient.

Question: Does Xiaomi Mi A1 support Google cardboard and other VR Apps? Does Xiaomi Mi A1 have gyroscope sensor?

Answer: Yes, Xiaomi Mi A1 does feature gyroscope and it also supports Google cardboard.

Camera

Question: How is the Xiaomi Mi A1 camera quality?

Answer: The Mi A1 has dual 12-megapixel cameras at the rear end and a 5-megapixel selfie camera at the front. The dual rear camera setup is one of its key highlights. It has the same implementation as the Apple iPhone 7 Plus or OnePlus 5. It manages to take some decent shots when lighting conditions are favourable. However, it loses its shape pretty quickly when the light starts to fade. Lack of OIS further impacts low light photography and you will have to have steady hands to capture a blur-free 2X image in low light.

Question: How does the dual camera on the Xiaomi Mi A1 work?

Answer: The Mi A1 dual camera implementation is similar to the Apple iPhone 7 Plus and OnePlus 5. The phone uses two 12-megapixel sensors which are paired with 50mm wide angle lens and 26mm telephone lens respectively. Thanks to the secondary camera, it allows you to take 2X zoom photos without losing any details.

Question: How is the selfie camera on Xiaomi Mi A1?

Answer: The 5-megapixel front camera managed to capture clear selfies outdoors. Even indoors, the noise in selfies is minimal.

Question: Can the Xiaomi Mi A1 shoot 4K videos?

Answer: Yes, it can.

Question: Can you record slow-motion videos on Xiaomi Mi A1?

Answer: yes, you can record 720p slow motion videos.

Software

Question: How is the software on the Xiaomi Mi A1?

Answer: The Mi A1 software is one of its key highlights. The phone comes running on stock Android Nougat. There is no bloatware on the phone. Mi Remote, Mi Apps and Mi Camera are only three apps that Xiaomi manages to convince Google to allow it to load.

The Mi A1 uses Google Photos as the gallery app. The phone comes with unlimited high-quality storage for photos and videos. Since the phone is running on stock android it is light on the resources which ensures it doesn’t lag or freezes when it matters the most.

Question: Will Xiaomi Mi A1 get Android O update?

Answer: Both Xiaomi and Google have said that the Mi A1 will get Android Oreo update before the end of 2017.

Miscellaneous

Question: What kind of SIM cards does Xiaomi Mi A1 support?

Answer: It supports nano SIM card on both slots.

Question: Does Xiaomi Mi A1 support FM radio?

Answer: Yes.

Question: Does Xiaomi Mi A1 have IR blaster?

Answer: Yes, it does have an IR blaster.

Question: How is the call quality on Xiaomi Mi A1?

Answer: We didn’t face any issue with call quality.

Question: Does Xiaomi Mi A1 support Reliance Jio SIM cards/ 4G VoLTE? Do both SIM slots support 4G VoLTE? 

Answer: Yes, it supports Jio sim cards, VoLTE on both SIM slots.

Question: Does Xiaomi Mi A1 supports ViLTE?

Answer: Yes, We tested ViLTE on Mi A1 and it worked perfectly for us.

Question: How is the Battery backup on Xiaomi Mi A1?

Answer: The battery doesn’t drain out quickly during heavy usage. It can easily last for more than one day of moderate to heavy usage with multiple e-mail accounts and social media accounts logged in with sync on.Overall, battery backup is pretty good.

Question: Does Xiaomi Mi A1 supports NFC? 

Answer: No NFC is not available in the Xiaomi Mi A1.

Question: Does Xiaomi Mi A1 support fast charging? Is fast charger bundled in the box?

Answer: No, it doesn’t support fast charging. A 5W charger is bundled in the box.

Question: What are the sensors present on Xiaomi Mi A1?

Answer: The handset includes Fingerprint (rear-mounted), accelerometer, gyroscope, proximity and compass.

Question: How loud is the loudspeaker on Xiaomi Mi A1?

Answer: The Mi A1 has a mono speaker mounted on the bottom edge. Audio output is loud and clear.

Question: What’s the Xiaomi Mi A1 Best India Price? Where to buy Xiaomi Mi A1 from? Are there any promotional offers that I can avail?

Answer: The Xiaomi Mi A1 Flipkart price as per the official announcement is Rs. 14,999 however, on the Mi.com it is listed for Rs. 15,999 but Xiaomi is giving Rs. 1,000 flat instant display on Mi.com. Xaiaomi has also bundled 200GB 4G data for Airtel customers. Flipkart could offer some discounts and exchange bonus on the Mi A1 during upcoming big billion sales (20 – 24 September).

Question: Is Android One based Xiaomi Mi A1 available outside India?

Answer: According to Google and Xiaomi plan the Mi A1 Android One smartphone will be offered in 36 countries across Asia-Pacific, Middle East, Africa, Europe, North America & South America region. As per our information, the Mi 5X after India will be made available in Bahrain, Bangladesh, Belarus, Bulgaria, Chile, Colombia, Czech Republic, Egypt, Greece, Hong Kong, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Israel, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Malaysia, Mexico, Myanmar, Nepal, Oman, Poland, Qatar, Romania, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Slovakia, Taiwan, Thailand, UAE, Ukraine, Uruguay, Vietnam and Yemen.

Question: What’re the major Differences between Mi A1 and Mi 5X?

Answer: If you compare Mi A1 vs Mi 5X side by side the only difference you will notice is that Mi 5X, which was launched in China in July, is running on MIUI 9 whereas, the  Xiaomi Mi A1 is officially a part of Google’s Android One project which runs on Pure Android Nougat with no bloatware apps.

Xiaomi Mi A1 Quick Review – Should you buy it?

The arrival of Xiaomi Mi A1 seems to infuse a new lease of life in the Google’s Android One platform. With capable hardware and Google’s stock OS at the helm of things, the Mi A1 makes a strong case for itself with reliable performance and stock Android experience. The dual cameras are good for marketing, but there is a lot of scope for improvement on this front. All in all, the Xiaomi Mi A1 is tailor-made for those who stayed away from Xiaomi’s due to its MIUI.

Xiaomi Mi A1 Advantages and Disadvantages

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