Mi A3 Review: HD+ Display, Great Camera & Stock Android

The A-series by Xiaomi is a part of Google’s Android One programme and hence they come with the Vanilla Android and timely software updates. Xiaomi claims that its Mi A series phones are best-selling Android One devices in the world. The first A-series smartphone by Xiaomi was the Mi A1. It was very popular because of the Stock Android experience on a Xiaomi smartphone.  It was hard for Mi A2 to get as popular as Mi A1 due to the removal of the headphone jack and SD Card support. Additionally, the price was a bit higher. Still, Mi A2 was a solid device and one of the best camera smartphones under 20k. Now, Xiaomi just launched the Mi A3 in India and guess what! The headphone jack and SD Card support is back! Not just that but the overall design, camera, battery and performance is improved. The only downside here is in terms of display resolution. Unlike the precursors, the Mi A3 has a 720p HD+ Display but it’s not regular IPS LCD Display but the panel here is an AMOLED. Let’s now check out Mi A3 Review with Mi A3 Camera Samples.

Mi A3 Specifications

Before we jump into the review, have a look at this quick specs.

Mi A3 Review

Design & Build

We would like to describe the design and build of Mi A3 in one word, ‘Classy’! It comes with three colour options, More Than White, Not Just Blue and Kind Of Grey. The 3D curved back panel makes the phone a bit more premium. The front and back of the phone is Gorilla Glass 5 protection. Also, the rear camera setup is also covered with the GG5 protection which is nice.

Anotherarea where the Mi A3 shines is in terms of compactness. We hardly see such compact smartphones nowadays. The 6 inches display with waterdrop notch makes the overall form factor very compact and it feels solid in hand. The weight is relatively less despite made up of Glass and metal. The back panel is almost clean because of the fingerprint sensor is underneath the display. The triple camera setup is present vertically on the top left corner. Xiaomi and Android One branding are present down below.

As we said, the 3.5mm Audio Jack is retained and so the expandable memory option. It has a USB Type-C port for charging and data transfer. IR blaster is also present on the top.

READ MORE: Redmi Note 8 Pro Vs Realme 5 Pro: Full Comparison

Display

Mix feelings for the Display. First, the resolution is only 720p or HD+ which is definitely not ideal at the price of Rs. 13k. Second, the technology used here is Super AMOLED which is rarely seen at this price point. Due to the 720p display, you can not watch 1080p videos on YouTube. Also, the pixel density is less which is clearly visible while reading text or while browsing.

But the AMOLED display produced nice punchier colors and deep blacks which makes the media consumption experience a lot better. Widevine L1 support is present but HD playback on Prime Video is not supported but you can stream HD content on Netflix. The display quality is very good and you will not face major issue while using it. If you read a lot on your smartphone then the lower resolution might be a problem for you.

In-Display Fingerprint Sensor

Other than that the display is vibrant and watching a movie on an AMOLED panel is a nice experience. Another benefit of the AMOLED panel is the ability to implement the fingerprint scanner under the display. Mi A3 is probably the cheapest smartphone with an in-display fingerprint scanner. The 7th gen in-display fingerprint scanner is slower than other smartphone but the accuracy is good. You can also use face unlock which is relatively faster.

Performance

Mi A3 is powered by Snapdragon 665 which a slight upgrade over Mi A2’s Snapdragon 660. There is not a massive upgrade.

Both 660 and 665 are Octa-core processor which includes the company’s own Kryo 260 cores. Cortex-A73 gold cores are clocked at 2.2GHz on 660 while it is clocked at 2.0GHz on 665. Cortex-A53 Silver core is clocked at 1.8GHz on both the SoCs. It means the 660 is slightly better in terms of CPU performance. Snapdragon 665 is better in the GPU department. Adreno 610 GPU present on the 665 is better than the Adreno 512 of Snapdragon 660. There is a big difference in the manufacturing process. Snapdragon 665 works on 11nm manufacturing process while the Snapdragon 660 is built on 14nm process making the 665 more powerful and power-efficient. In terms of AI and camera, the Snapdragon 665 is an upgrade over Snapdragon 660.

That’s enough for the numbers now let’s talk about the real-world performance. The performance of Mi A3 is exceptionally good. Stock Android makes the user interface fast and fluid. We didn’t face any issue while switching between apps and scrolling through social media. The 4GB RAM variant with 64GB ROM is enough for most of the users. The 6+128GB variant is not a good option because at that price you will get better display and performance. The storage is UFS 2.1 which also helps to improve the performance.

The PUBG plays on low settings by default and the gameplay was smooth. There are no noticeable frame drops in low settings however we face few frame drops at high settings. The back panel gets a little warm after an hour of playing but that is normal. The HD+ display helps to improve performance.

READ MORE: iPhone 11 Series launched: Check India release date and price

Software

No Ads, No Bloatware, No annoying notifications! The pure stock Android expreince! That’s how we can describe the user interface of Mi A3. MI A3 is a part of Android One programme and it runs on Android 9.0 Pie out of the box. The CEO of Xiaomi India Mr Manu Kumar Jain confirmed that Mi A3 will be among those first few devices to get Android 10 update. If you want to enjoy Vanilla Android then Mi A3 is one of the best smartphones out there.

Camera

The camera performance of Mi A1 and Mi A2 was great and Xiaomi continues its legacy in the camera department of Mi A3. The triple camera setup includes a 48MP Sony IMX586 primary lens, an 8MP ultrawide angle lens and a 2MP depth sensor. The resolution of the front camera is 32MP with an aperture of f/2.0. The camera UI is the same as other Xiaomi/Redmi smartphone.

Battery Life

Mi A2’s battery life was poor but Mi A3’s battery life is decent. The 4,030mAh battery lasts for one day for all casual users. The lower resolution HD+ AMOLED display and 11nm SoC also helps to increase the battery life. The phone supports 18W fast charging but unfortunately, only 10W charger is included in the box. You can purchase an 18W charger separately to increase the charging speed.

Verdict: Should You Buy Mi A3?

If you want great performance and better display then don’t go for the Mi A3. There are so many options available under 15k which offers better performance and FHD+ Display including Redmi Note 7 Pro, Realme 5 Pro, and Vivo Z1 Pro. If you want similar performance and you want to save some money than Realme 5 might be a good option for you.

But you love stock android and compact phone and want great camera performance than Mi A3 is a very good option for you. Keep in mind that the display resolution is lower. If you can live with an HD+ display and not a heavy user then go for the Mi A3.

Follow Tech Burner Team on our social media handles to get the latest updates:

• INSTAGRAM
• FACEBOOK
• TWITTER

If you have any queries about tech then simply mention @TECHBURNERTEAM on twitter and we will try to answer you as soon as possible.