Flashback: Xiaomi's promising but ill-fated Android One phones
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- Anonym
- LiK
- 04 Apr 2022
Rkm, 04 Apr 2022By the time when a2 was launched, there were several nokias... moreIn all fairness, the Xiaomi was much cheaper than the Nokias or Motorolas. There is a common misconception that Google was in charge of all updates in the Android One program. That was only true in the very first iteration, with the very cheap devices for the emerging markets. In the case of the Mi A1, A2, A3 and similar devices it was up to the manufacturers to do the updates according to the program guidelines. Some were better at following the guidelines (e.g., Nokia and Motorola) while others were noticeably worse at it (e.g., Xiaomi).
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- Anonym
- LiK
- 04 Apr 2022
rizki1, 04 Apr 2022this phones is android one program so all the updates strai... moreThat's not how this program worked, do your research. I'm more than familiar with the matter.
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- Rkm
- Dk@
- 04 Apr 2022
rizki1, 04 Apr 2022for me is google, they can't give stable OS and delaye... moreBy the time when a2 was launched, there were several nokias and Motorolas and they were much better with their software. So it was a xiaomi issue.
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- Bull
- Hxf
- 04 Apr 2022
Sill have an A1. Solid device. They could have slapped a decent camera and an 7XX processor with android one, it would have been an awesome midranger.
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- rizki1
- Kif
- 04 Apr 2022
Anonym, 04 Apr 2022What do you mean? Google only licensed the use of their nam... morethis phones is android one program so all the updates straight from google.
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- Anonym
- LiK
- 04 Apr 2022
rizki1, 04 Apr 2022for me is google, they can't give stable OS and delaye... moreWhat do you mean? Google only licensed the use of their name and branding, in the end it was Xiaomi doing all the updates. All that crap happened, but it was Xiaomi's own doing, not Google!
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- rizki1
- Kif
- 04 Apr 2022
Rkm, 04 Apr 2022Tbh, xiaomi did bottleneck it themselves because they feare... morefor me is google, they can't give stable OS and delayed updates too. Remember when Mi A1 too late getting Oreo? Mi A2 bugs on android 10 and A3 bricking the phones.
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- Rkm
- Dk@
- 04 Apr 2022
Tbh, xiaomi did bottleneck it themselves because they feared it would eat onto their miui devices.
They removed sd card slot and 3.5mm jack from mia2.
They bought it back on mia3 but it had a 720p pentile amoled display.
They simply didn't want it to succeed properly. If they actually wanted to succeed, they could have just used the corresponding note/ note pro and Android ones to it.
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- John V
- sxr
- 04 Apr 2022
I can say that in my past experiences with my Mi A1 since 2018 performance was great and build quality is up par, most of my friends mistook it for an iphone because of the dual camera setup. Overall I'm satisfied with my Mi A1 its sad though that Xiaomi have scrape the affordable Mi A series with Android One, it would still fit those market that really wanted a decent capable phone with updates
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- blue
- Mx6
- 04 Apr 2022
Anonymous, 03 Apr 2022one ui is very good, that's not up for discussion, but... moreMan, that's a lot of nonsense in one paragraph.
First - Qualcomm really does not beat Exynos 99 % time, that's just kid's talk and pure hatred.
Second - Keeping alive something, that no one really buys, is double nonsense.
Third - You talk about "Galaxy hardware" and yet deny Exynos, that's absolute nonsense. Galaxy hardware IS Exynos.
Finally - Price of the device would be comparable to any other, based on hardware. But you expect it to be cheaper for a top quality hardware. Samsung would never do that.
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- Anonym
- LiK
- 04 Apr 2022
Anonymous, 03 Apr 2022Xiaomi was awesome under the leadership of Hugo Barra with ... moreYou are absolutely right, Hugo Barra's contributions to Xiaomi's successes cannot be underscored. It is similar to what is now happening in OnePlus, there was a "game winning" playbook that (somehow) the "know it better" upper management types felt like they had to change (for worse). Fortunately for Xiaomi their brand identity troubles aren't as bad as in OnePlus, and I still see a bit of the original identity in a few Poco models. However, it must be noted that if Xiaomi kept investing in a proper Android One-like program, they would have been eating OnePlus'es whole marketshare in the west very easily!
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- Goku412
- 8BR
- 04 Apr 2022
reading and writing this article, from Mi A3
It's already two and a half years old, the battery doesn't have the same duration as before... but the software works like the first day, the apps that I use the most for my work run fast and light.
today I use it as a second phone and backup, for my work.
I still can't find a phone with similar camera quality, good price, and "compact" form factor like this one, to replace.
Two months ago I installed Gcam and although it works a little slow, it improves more photos even more than the original app.
I upgraded to android 10 and 11 without problems, and to this day I still receive monthly security patches. (I just installed the March 2022 patch).
It's a shame, I've always waited anxiously for a Mi A4, maybe Android one doesn't have many customization options, but for those of us who want a fast phone without blotware, it's ideal.
HMD just makes electronic garbage, I wouldn't waste my money just to have android one.
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- Anonymous
- mE0
- 04 Apr 2022
Anonymous, 04 Apr 2022Nothing is perfect. But it is still the best.To you yes
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- Anonymous
- M}3
- 04 Apr 2022
Dogspurt, 03 Apr 2022A Xiaomi without bloatware and baked-in UI ads? It could ne... moreRepeat sales? Unless you're a brand fan(boy), from looks of it, everyone is jumping between brands every single time they are buying new phone. And Android phone makers don't seem to care, otherwise they'd make better effort to retain existing users and make them come back. If I just look at my history of phones as well, I haven't ever bought same brand consecutively. Now with iPhone, it's really the first time in some 12 years that I am seriously considering to go with another iPhone. Because for whatever reason, Apple seems to be the only brand that makes you want to stick with it. And no, I'm not dependent on Apple because I'd be "locked" into their ecosystem. I can go with Android phone tomorrow if I wanted. I'd just prefer not to because I just like how absolutely smooth iOS is and it's long term support way more.
Only other option would be Samsung as they have the best software support on Android side of things, but I really really dislike their shenanigans with Exynos on their top Galaxy S models because I live in Europe. And how they even degraded mid range. That Galaxy A53 absolutely doesn't feel exciting when you know a year older A52s beats it hands down in pretty much everything. So, they are excellent on software front, but totally poop on hardware side. Removing chargers and stuff isn't helping at all either (A52s also had it in the box). I guess I'll stick with XR for some more time and see if Galaxy A54 will be any better and worthy as an option...
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- Bob
- x3@
- 04 Apr 2022
Well still stuck with Android 10 with my A2 lite, it grew slow on apps running now. well guess the only peeps need to get pure android is the Pixel line. the overprice line of phones, kinda happy to jump to ios iPhone X for updates software.
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- Domestoboto
- vxX
- 04 Apr 2022
Bottom line, Xiaomi deliberately made their Android One phones look bad, specced badly, and performed progressively worse after every update so they wouldn't steal mindshare and marketshare from their significantly more profitable (through ads in system apps, sales in the theme store, selling of apps in some territories) MIUI phones .
They had over five YEARS to release a true tier one flagship with their super cheap pricing but with Stock Android, and they chose not to. It's honestly sad!
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- Pritam
- rJj
- 04 Apr 2022
Will mi A3 get a best Android 12 update / Android 12 BETA
Then the phone mast satisfaction and best
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- Anonymous
- 6wN
- 04 Apr 2022
Anonymous, 03 Apr 2022One UI is fine I agree , but it’s not perfect. Nothing is perfect. But it is still the best.
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- Anonymous
- 8Kf
- 03 Apr 2022
joe nodden, 03 Apr 2022I just liked the A1 for the telephoto camera. 50mm, while new 12 Pro has 48mm.
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- 6cc
- 03 Apr 2022
Xiaomi iPhone 7 Plus