Flashback: Xiaomi's promising but ill-fated Android One phones

03 April 2022
Xiaomi's excellent value-for-money hardware married with a mostly pure Android. What could go wrong?

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  • AnonD-731363
  • ScD
  • 03 Apr 2022

A1 was quiote a beast of a phone at that time.
Saw plenty of happy go users with A2 and A2 lite which sold pretty well in our stores.
Cant say the same about A3 we havent it avalable for sale.

    • D
    • Deus22
    • 8nC
    • 03 Apr 2022

    Still using the Mi A1. Without stock android and with the new high prices, Xiaomi is the worst choice nowadays. Soon to upgrade to a 13 Pro or Pro Max, screw Xiaomi, their software is bad, even worse than Samsung, just bloated trash.

      Still using Mi A1

        • ?
        • Anonymous
        • nxF
        • 03 Apr 2022

        Anonymous, 03 Apr 2022it would be amazing if samsung partnered with google to mak... moreIt was already done - Galaxy S4 Google Play edition.

          • b
          • blue
          • nrH
          • 03 Apr 2022

          Dinesh, 03 Apr 2022Android One partnerships didn't go well with any manuf... moreThe sales were poor and reception was poor too, due to several problems. Eternal death to Android one.

            • B
            • Budo
            • 0uV
            • 03 Apr 2022

            I got a Xiaomi A1 in 2017 and after two and a half years it passed on to my wife, who is still using it without issues. Only problem she had was the earpiece which got quiet and needed to be replaced, but the replacement was bad and already has to be replaced again.

              • b
              • blue
              • nrH
              • 03 Apr 2022

              Anonymous, 03 Apr 2022it would be amazing if samsung partnered with google to mak... moreAnd why would they do that? The One UI makes the difference from stock Android, Exynos is comparable or better than Qualcomm, and Samsung has all the production under control. Why giving up on things that make them Samsung?

                • ?
                • Anonymous
                • ak8
                • 03 Apr 2022

                I bought MiA1 in December of 2017 and when it worked, I loved it. First issue I had was eMMC, I couldn't save anything on the phone but the update fixed it. Then some late Android 9 update destroyed my phone which for some reason erased my IMEI information and the phone is in boot loop now. I also didn't like how the phone was released with Android 7 but quickly updated to 8, I think it was just Xiaomi's way of saying "yeah we got you two major Android updates". This was the first and the last time I ever bought a Xiaomi or any other Chinese phone.

                  I'm writing this on my 3.5 yrs old Mi A1.
                  I do believe this is the best €150 smartphone ever made.Why?Well,first... the build quality.One piece aluminium case instead of cheap plastic.Rather good 1080p display,SD 625 still runs great after all this time.One of the best dual camera setups on something this cheap.Battery life is good so is the "quick" charging.OS?No complaints there.
                  Best bit?By far.... the quality of it's audio output.3 5mm jack is here,but there's Dirac HD audio chip inside, plus 10V headphone amp.I'm using my phone in my HiFi system for years and it's been fabulous,with my marvelous Yamaha A-S500 integrated amp and equally brilliant AKG K 550 headphones..👍👍

                    The phones were great (except the last one with the horrible 720p screen) - the problem was Xiaomi didn't treat them as well as their primary ones with MiUI and Android One was buggy as hell. Too bad I loved Xiaomi Mi A1/A2 but A3 was horrible again for its screen.

                      Android One albeit a stripped and awfully googled OS, still better then any of those chinese OS's . And oneplus's oxygene is gone.

                      iOS or Samsungs One UI are on another level.

                        I tried to take a deeper look at this.
                        First thing, Xiaomi phones and MIUI are inseparable. That is a prime money making business for them. Everything from hardware to software is under their control. Phones were carriers of their custom UI.
                        On other hand, Android One was Google’s initiative post Nexus for a cleaner Android and everything it wanted to deliver for the end users. Software was their domain and wanted OEMs to fall in line.
                        For Xiaomi this was not falling in line with their business.
                        This is where I think that things went wrong.
                        However, I have used MiA1 since it was launched ( I was the first customer of MiA1 at local store). It worked fine for me, but 6 months back I decided to buy a new phone and I gave up using MiA1 as my primary phone. However, MiA1 is still working fine. Never had any issues.

                          My girlfriend is still using her Mi A3, that i bought her for Christmas 2019 and still enjoys it.

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                            • Nik
                            • Hkq
                            • 03 Apr 2022

                            Posting from Xiaomi Mi A1 with Android 12.
                            Using custom ROM Evolution X.
                            I was amazed by the how famous it got, because of which the custom ROM makers still provide support.

                              • n
                              • ns1030
                              • CbC
                              • 03 Apr 2022

                              I purchased two A3s for me and my so which we are still using to this day ,
                              Hardware wise this phone is good , but software ruined it.
                              I don't think Android One died , I am convinced it was killed by manufacturers intensionally.

                              We faced the bricking , bugs and everything on our two devices still we will prefer this phone to any other crap UI.

                              I will really miss Android One

                                • T
                                • Tamil
                                • YQW
                                • 03 Apr 2022

                                I was think about this Android one project's failure by using my Mi A2 mobile.I bought this Mi A2 on seeing its software and hardware.On hardware poit I am totally satisfied,Because nowadays you can't have mobile with Aluminium body in 15k price brocket.On software Xiaomi didn't handle it rightly.Its because of Poco series.

                                  • ?
                                  • Anonymous
                                  • nDN
                                  • 03 Apr 2022

                                  Empty Android interface was a shi.ty thing. On MIUI were much more customization options. Also Call and Messages apps from Xiaomi are more intuitive and better than spygle counterparts

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                                    • Dinesh
                                    • vGc
                                    • 03 Apr 2022

                                    Android One partnerships didn't go well with any manufacturers! Reason? Do both parties not see the scope of sales of such products!

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                                      • Anonymous
                                      • ptP
                                      • 03 Apr 2022

                                      These were the only Xiaomi phones I even considered to recommend people here in Europe. I‘d never tell anyone to go ahead and buy a device with MIUI

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                                        • Anonym
                                        • LiK
                                        • 03 Apr 2022

                                        Bodygard, 03 Apr 2022The poor software support/development/implementation and th... moreThe 720p in the Mi A3 was particularly bad because of the PenTile screen, especially when compared with the Mi A2. Things were so bad that if we were to go to the camera app and show the 3x3 composition grid, despite those lines being demonstrably solid by using an external screen, they would appear as if they were dotted lines on that crappy PenTile screen! The camera focus also wasn't perfect (at least in my unit), but there were so many times where the picture would seem like out of focus, but in fact it was the screen blurring the details that showed it was in fact focused.

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