We all have come to terms that “cheap android phones have become better” and that’s exactly what the Xiaomi Mi A3 comes to represent in the mid-range Android smartphone space.
In this review, I’d touch on all the features of the Xiaomi Mi A3 after over 2 months of intensive use. Herein I talk about its features, specifications, the camera test, battery drain test and all there is to know about the Mi A3 by Xiaomi.
If you’d prefer to watch a video instead, here is a video review of the Mi A3 from our YouTube Channel, otherwise, continue with the written review.
Unboxing
Unboxing the Mi A3 is quite straight forward. You get to see a little white box housing the TPU case, user guide, and SIM ejector tool.
Next up is the smartphone, and probing further, you see the USB type C cable, a 10W charger with no earpiece within this unit.
Setup
Setting up the Xiaomi Mi A3 involves adding the device to your Wifi network, logging in to your Google account, fingerprint, pattern, and face unlock. Basically, it takes roughly 2-3 minutes to get the device up and running successfully.
Design
Honestly, from the moment I purchased this smartphone, I knew for sure that I wasn’t gonna go back to large devices as my daily driver for a while. I mean, the comfort and ease to reach all parts of the phone is one thing I have really missed in a while with every device lately coming in a massive form factor.
The top features a secondary mic, 3.5mm jack port, and an IR blaster. At the opposite end and the bottom, you have two down-firing grills with the left likely housing the mouthpiece and the right side houses the speaker. To the center of those grills is a USB type C port. C’mon, what more could you have wanted.
The left side has a Hybrid dual SIM tray and you get the volume key and power buttons to the right.
The rear of the Mi A3 features a triple camera setup with the amazing results as we’d cover much later, and an LED flash, BTW, the color variant I have here is called, “Mi A3 kinda gray”. You do not get to see the fingerprint sensor and that’s because it is situated within the display, and that brings us to the front side which has a 6.088″ AMOLED panel, with a waterdrop notch to the top and a tiny LED notification light to the left corner.
Display
First off, it is worth noting that this device comes off with approximately 6.1″ AMOLED panel. Note, I did mention AMOLED panel, with a 720p resolution. Now, when it comes to color representation, it really does amaze me how pretty decent this panel is. It is fairly accurate and does a good job. One downside I can point out on this display would be the brightness as I’d have loved a little brighter panel for outdoor use. This isn’t me saying this display is bad for use under direct sunlight, just that, it could be better.
Video streams from youtube obviously get capped at 720p and these are fairly nice looking videos you see on this display.
Camera
One of the places the Xiaomi Mi A3 shines is in the camera department. Now, most smartphones out here have great specs and fail in reality, but that isn’t the case for these set of cameras. You have a 48MP main shooter, 8MP ultra-wide and a 2MP depth sensor setup at the rear.
The reality here is, you get way better photos from the main lens than the ultra-wide and I decided to stick to that for all my shots. When it comes to that main shooter, it actually does deliver with nice dynamic range, great details, and amazing photos. I can arguably say it is the best camera on a smartphone for the mid-range devices. Check out these photos.
Video for both the front and rear cameras can go up to 4k but with no stabilization, and the video stabilization starts at 1080p while the front camera does go up to 1080 in resolution. Video quality is quite decent and I’d give it a 7 out of 10 with the price in view.
Performance
With a snapdragon 665 chip in here running on pure android, BTW, that’s android 9 Pie on this smartphone, you definitely would expect a nice and smooth user experience, right? Well, that’s obviously the case here. Performance is quite amazing, no bloatware, you’d be able to run most 3D games decently on the Mi A3 and most of all, the device is snappy. This processor is paired with 4GB of RAM and 128GB internal storage, there is also a 64GB variant on the smartphone market.
The gaming experience here is quite amazing and one of the best in the midrange space right now next to the Huawei Y9 Prime. Games play smoothly, and I’ve been able to play PUBG at up to Balanced graphics and medium frame rate settings.
Battery
The Mi A3 has really amazing battery life that would last you through a day’s use. A 4030mAH is included within this smartphone and a 10W charger included within the box charges this device up in about 2 and a half hours. It has support for QuickCharge 3.0, that is to say, you can charge this Xiamoi Mi A3 quickly with an 18W charger.
Price
For roughly $200, you should get the 64GB variant of the Mi A3. I got mine, the 128GB model for N80,000 or what converts to about $220 and I don’t really think I have gotten a better deal at this.price till date.
Verdict
So what are my thoughts on the Xiaomi Mi A3? If you want a smartphone that gives you bang for the buck, amazing battery life, super clean photos, portable and a tad better than average computing performance, then this is one of the few smartphones with an affordable price, offering all those right now. It pretty much checks out all the boxes for a good and decent mid-ranger. In one sentence, the more I used the Mi A3, the more I fell in love with it.