Xiaomi Mi A3 review

Introduction

Xiaomi Mi A1 was quite the booster for the whole Android One program and paved the way for a fruitful partnership between Xiaomi and Google. The Mi A2 was a significant but controversial upgrade that eventually cemented the Mi A1 as the ultimate deal. And now, the Mi A3 is trying to right all the wrongs and reach for the top once again.

The Android purists can now enjoy the vanilla Google experience on a Super AMOLED screen. There is new Snapdragon chipset promising blazing-fast gaming performance. Then a trending triple-camera should allow you to snap some great pictures day and night. And finally, the large 4,030 mAh battery inside should help you do all these things for many, many hours on.

The Xiaomi Mi A3 introduces a new glass design, departure from the sturdy but somewhat outdated metal shells. And the Mi A3 still likes to keep it as safe as possible as evident by the choice of Gorilla Glass 5 for both the front and the back.

The camera is probably the most interesting new bit, now featuring a 48MP primary shooter and an 8MP ultrawide-angle snapper. The third eye is a depth sensor, which may seem useless, but we are always in for a surprise in them portraits.

Before we put the Mi A3 through its paces, let's take a deep dive into the specs sheet.

Xiaomi Mi A3 specs

• Body: Plastic frame, Gorilla Glass 5 front and back;
• Display: 6.01" Super AMOLED, 1,560x720px resolution, 19.5:9 aspect ratio, 286ppi;
• Triple rear camera: Wide - 48MP f/1.8, 1/2", 0.8µm pixel size, PDAF; Ultrawide - 8MP, f/2.2, 1.12µm pixel size; Depth sensor - 2MP, f/2.4; 2160p@30fps.
• Front camera: 32MP, 0.8µm pixel size, f/2.0; 1080p/30fps video recording.
• OS: Android 9 Pie; Android One.
• Chipset: Qualcomm Snapdragon 665: octa-core CPU (4x2.0 GHz Kryo 260 Gold & 4x1.8 GHz Kryo 260 Silver), Adreno 610 GPU.
• Memory: 4GB of RAM; 64/128GB storage; hybrid microSD slot (uses SIM2)
• Battery: 4,030mAh Li-Po (sealed); 18W fast charging.
• Connectivity: Dual-SIM; LTE-A, 4-Band carrier aggregation, Cat.15/13 (800Mbps/150Mbps); USB-C; Wi-Fi a/b/g/n/ac; Bluetooth 5.0
• Misc: Under-display fingerprint reader; single down-firing speaker; 3.5mm jack

Xiaomi is indeed righting those wrongs by bringing the audio jack back! And the microSD slot! And FM radio! And the larger battery is indeed a wish come true.

The elephant in the room, the 720p screen, definitely stands out and not in a good way. It's been a while since we worked on such a low-res screen, let alone a PenTile AMOLED. But let's stay positive and give it a fair chance, shall we?

Unboxing the Xiaomi Mi A3

The Mi A3 retail box contains what you'd expect from a mid-ranger's bundle - a USB-C cable, a 10W charger, and inside the paper compartment there is a dark gray silicone case.

It's worth noting that while the Mi A3 supports 18W (Quick Charge 3.0), Xiaomi is not shipping the phone with a QC3-compatible charger. Those are not that expensive anymore, though, so it's not that of a biggie.

A lot of Chinese phones usually have a screen protector pre-applied in the factory but the Mi A3 is not among those. It does come with Gorilla Glass 5 protection on both sides and we can understand why Xiaomi decided against a having a protector.

Special thanks to HonorBuy for providing the review unit.