Review of Xiaomi Mi A1 - a smartphone with a dual camera and a pure version of Android. Memory cards are used in mobile devices to increase the storage capacity for storing data. SIM card is used in mobile devices to save data, identification

Xiaomi Mi A1 is the first smartphone Chinese brand with pure Android on board. According to user reviews, this is its drawback, since the MIUI user interface is much more functional. Its disadvantages also include the absence of an NFC module, which is why you cannot use contactless payments via Android Pay. There is also no fast charging or wireless charging, but the 3080 mAh battery still charges very quickly.

The average price of the Xiaomi Mi A1, which comes with 4 GB of RAM and 64 permanent memory, in Russia is close to 18,000 rubles, which is quite a lot. The high cost is partially offset by the dual main camera, which can take portrait photos and record 4K video. The build quality, data transfer speeds over 4G and Wi-Fi, as well as the 5.5-inch screen are beyond praise.

The body is made of anodized aluminum, which resists the environment very well. Its dimensions are 155.4 x 75.8 x 7.3 mm and its weight is 165 grams. The glass protecting the front panel is made by Corning, and it is manufactured using 2.5D technology, which gives it elegant curves around the edges. The screen-to-body ratio is 70.8%, which is a very good figure.

Speaking about the characteristics of Xiaomi Mi A1, it is based on Snapdragon processor 625, which works in tandem with the Adreno 506 graphics accelerator. Their clock speed is 2 GHz and 506 MHz, respectively. To connect to a computer and charge the battery, a modern USB port Type-C. It supports OTG technology, providing an interface for connection peripheral devices such as a flash drive, mouse or keyboard.

Xiaomi Mi A1 in its characteristics is almost no different from Mi5X, and in appearance it is very similar to the iPhone 7. It has good multimedia capabilities, a pleasant appearance And great cameras. However, its main advantage is the presence of pure Android on the gadget.
Price: 10,990 RUB

Colors: Black/Gold/Pink

Parameters of Xiaomi Mi A1

Appearance and ergonomics

The smartphone has an all-metal non-removable body. For antennas, grooves are cut out along both the upper and lower edges, covered with plastic. The surface is matte, traces of touch are invisible and can be easily removed. The ends are smooth, rounded and well polished. At the top, close to the left edge, there is a two-light, bright flash, and next to it is a camera unit with two lenses. It protrudes noticeably from the body. The fingerprint scanner is installed in the middle of the body just below the dual camera. On sale you can find devices with 3 body colors: pink, gold and black. The front surface of the first two is white, while the front side of the latter is black.

The device has good dimensions for a 5.5-inch gadget. With 165 grams of weight, the width is 76mm and the height is 155mm. Thickness is only 7.3 mm. At the front, most of the surface is given over to the screen. The side frames are narrow - 3.5 mm, at the top and bottom they are approximately 18 mm. There are no inscriptions on the front. There are three touch keys under the screen: home, back and menu, they are backlit. Located on top speaker And front-camera. Next to them - infrared sensor for controlling home appliances and led indicator, for notification of missed events. The assembly of the device is good, there are no backlashes. Weight is evenly distributed throughout the body. The metal pleasantly cools the skin and glides. At the same time, it does not seem massive and is easy to hold.

Display

The screen is made using LTPS IPS technology. The display is covered with 2.5D Gorilla Glass. Pixel density: 403 per inch with a resolution of 19201080. Its physical dimensions are 68121 mm with a diagonal of 5.5 inches. Multi-touch supports up to 10 touches simultaneously. Thanks to the built-in light sensor, the screen brightness can be adjusted automatically. If desired, you can set your own values.

The screen does not have an air gap between the layers, so the device has good anti-glare characteristics. The screen has a grease-repellent coating. The brightness is high, allowing you to use the device even outdoors in good weather. Colorful temperature close to natural (6500 Kelvin). Colors are saturated, tonal distortion is minimal even at large tilt angles.

Hardware and performance

The device runs on the Qualcomm Snapdragon 625 platform. 64-bit processor with 8 cores. Built-in Adreno 506 graphics processor. The device has 4 GB of RAM and 64 GB or 32 GB. internal memory depending on modification. It can be expanded with a micro SD card.

The device runs on pure Android. This is the result collaboration Xiaomi and Google corporations. It was produced as part of the Android One program. The operating system is installed in the smartphone out of the box Android system 7.1, but now you can update your device to version 8.1. The phone contains standard applications Android, but with several proprietary applications from Xiaomi.

The interface is not overloaded and looks nice. The menu works quickly, there are not even any microfreezes. In the AnTuTu test, the gadget scores 63285 points, and in GeekBench it shows a result of 869/4045 points, depending on the testing mechanism. Graphics system also does its job well. In 3DMark Ice Storm Sling it is 457 points, and in GFXBenchmark T-Rex FPS is 21.

As a result: even games filled with 3D graphics run on this device. In some cases, FPS may drop, but even with lower graphics settings you can play comfortably. The battery charge lasts for 5 hours of non-stop gaming.

Communication and sound

The device supports 2G, 3G and 4G networks. Signal reception is good. The device supports two nano-SIM cards. Built-in Bluetooth 4.2, Wi-Fi (works in the 2.4 and 5 GHz bands), GPS and FM radio. There is no NFC module here. The main speaker is located on bottom end gadget: natural sound, loud, without extraneous noise. The speaker is also of good quality, the interlocutor can be heard well. The device, for better sound in headphones, is equipped with a Dirac HD Sound amplifier. Thanks to it, even in simple headphones the sound is rich and detailed.

Camera

Main cameras: color, have a resolution of 12 MP. One for portraits, the other for landscapes, with aperture values ​​of f/2.6 f/2.2. They can work both in pairs and separately. To work with cameras, there is a built-in program from Xiaomi with advanced, manual parameters(exposure, photo effects, slow motion).

The image quality is good during the daytime. Noise reduction works well, even with macro photography details are not blurred. There is autofocus and 2x optical zoom. At night, noise appears, but the tones remain natural. Video recording is carried out in 4K resolution with stereo sound.

Front camera 5 MP, without flash, with recognition of faces and age of people in the frame. Photo retouching is enabled by default.

Buy smartphone Xiaomi Mi A1 64GB

IN official store Xiaomi in Russia

The price for devices starts from 10,990 rubles for the version with 64 GB. In that price range The gadget has no competitors. Xiaomi Mi A1 is a successful combination of quality at a relatively low price.

The presentation of Mi A1 took place in India. In addition to Xiaomi, those responsible for the Android One program also attended. Google said that they decided to expand Android One and produce devices within the framework of this project not only for the budget segment, but also for the middle segment, and the first model was the Xiaomi Mi A1, which is an analogue of the Mi5X on pure Android.

Characteristics

Equipment

• Smartphone
• Charger
• PC cable (also part of the charger)

Appearance, materials, assembly

Mi A1 is similar to many other Xiaomi smartphones from the Redmi line: the scanner is on back cover, panel with touch buttons under the screen, rounded corners and relatively small thickness. There are no design delights here, but nothing will irritate you either.

The body is made of aluminum, it does not slip and does not get dirty. Thanks to this material, the device feels pleasantly cool in your hand when you hold it. At the top and bottom you can see plastic rims; antennas are hidden in them.

The smartphone is sold in three colors: black, silver and pink. It just so happened that I had the pink version on the test.

Over the course of a month of use, I had no complaints about the assembly. The smartphone is beautifully built.

Control elements

Above the display there is a speaker, light and proximity sensors, a front camera and a light indicator.

Under the screen - Touchpad of three buttons: “Menu”, “Home” and “Back”. Unlike smartphones on MIUI, here you cannot configure other actions on the keys or swap them. Short press "Menu" calls up latest apps, long starts the mode Split View, you can view information from two applications at once. Long pressing the Home button brings up Google Now, and no actions are assigned to the “Back” hold.

On the left you can see a tray for two nanoSIM or nanoSIM+microSD, on the right there is a power button and a volume rocker.

At the bottom there is a Type C port, an external speaker, a minijack and a microphone, and at the top there is a second microphone and an IR port.

At the back there is a dual camera and a fingerprint scanner. The scanner has a convenient location; your finger rests directly on it. Unlocking occurs instantly; during the entire time it did not work just a couple of times.

Dimensions

Mi A1 has typical dimensions and weight for its diagonal (5.5 inches). The smartphone does not feel heavy or thick, it is comfortable to hold it with one hand, but you will need both to control it, after all, this model is closer to phablets.

Compared to Apple iPhone 7Plus

Screen

The smartphone has a good display for its price: it has pleasant natural color rendition, maximum viewing angles, a good brightness margin and an excellent oleophobic coating. In the sun the picture fades, but remains readable, and in the dark at minimum brightness the display will not hurt your eyes.

I recently tested the Sony XZ1 Compact and noticed that it does not have those typical black bezels around the display, which are clearly visible on Xiaomi with a white front panel. Unfortunately, they are also present in Mi A1. On the other hand, they didn't really irritate me.

The size of the frames on the sides is small, and during use you will not have any erroneous clicks.

Overall, I really liked the display. Yes, there are not a lot of screen settings like on MIUI, but I didn’t really miss them.

operating system

The main feature of the model is that it is in the Android One program. Thanks to this, we have a smartphone running completely clean Android 7.1.2; they promise to update it to 8.0 by the end of the year. This is very good news for the middle segment.

Xiaomi has added only two of its applications - a camera and a remote control for controlling equipment using the infrared port. The company noted that they would like even on stock Android users were able to appreciate the convenience of the remote app, as well as their efforts to optimize and improve the camera. In my opinion, they managed " little blood": both programs are necessary, and their presence did not cause me irritation.

Now I would like to talk about my impressions of stock Android. From time to time I test Chinese smartphones without a shell, which also seem to have the same pure Android. But there’s always something wrong with them: notifications don’t arrive, they get warm, or something else. Unfortunately, Chinese “tails” still appear.

When you use Mi A1, user experience is as similar as possible to Nexus or Pixel, just in budget option. Everything works as intended: nothing crashes, lags, or overloads. The same “pure Google user experience” that the company loves to talk about.

I would also like to note that there are no problems with notifications here, everything is as clear as on flagship devices.

But there are also disadvantages inherent in pure Android: for example, the dialer still does not have Russian letters, you cannot use the line recording, turn on the charge indicator or use fine tuning, like in MIUI. This is the sacrifice you need to make when buying a stock Android smartphone.

Performance

Perhaps an important positive factor was the good old Qualcomm Snapdragon 625, known for its stable operation on almost all smartphones. In any case, I have only good impressions of it, and Mi A1 was no exception.

The smartphone works quickly wherever possible, does not slow down, does not lag, and does not slow down. It runs most games perfectly at maximum settings, although the device gets warm as expected when playing games or running benchmarks.

Autonomous operation

The smartphone should theoretically support fast charging QC 3.0, however, from my power supply with 3.0 it charged at the usual speed - 25% in half an hour. The device's sleep mode is simply excellent; in 12 hours it lost only 1% of its charge (though in airplane mode with Wi-Fi turned on).

The test results are standard, with everyday use you can count on about four hours of display time ( Mobile Internet, social media, mail, instant messengers, web surfing). In my usage scenario, the smartphone charge lasted for one day.

Picky readers will definitely complain about the low battery capacity, especially if you remember that Redmi series Almost all devices have a capacity of 4000 mAh and above. Personally, I did not feel a lack of capacity when using the A1.

Camera

The presence of a dual camera in the segment under 20 thousand rubles, and even with double optical zoom, is a definite plus for the Mi A1, at least at first glance. And when you start looking at the pictures, the delight quickly passes. For your convenience, all photos will come in pairs: from left to regular camera, on the right - on the television camera.

Both cameras handle daytime shots quite well.

In evening light, detail drops greatly, and on a TV camera small parts lubricated even more.

At artificial lighting the photos come out really bad.

Let's move on to portrait mode. I tested it under artificial light and was not happy with it. See for yourself how much noise there is in the photo.

Selfie shots also lack sharpness. Below are two portraits, the first without beautifier, the second with it.

When shooting video, you cannot switch between cameras. By the way, the quality of the video itself is also not very high.

In general, the camera is one of the weak points of this device.

Wireless interfaces

Well, let's go straight through weak points wireless interfaces. There is no NFC module, and I know how much this upsets those who often use Android Pay, I myself am upset by this fact. On the other hand, in the segment under 20 thousand rubles, only a few smartphones have this module.

For the rest of the modules everything is standard: support latest versions Wi-Fi, Bluetooth LE, dual SIM cards, fast GPS and USB OTG. I will also traditionally praise Xiaomi for adding an infrared port; it’s a small thing, but very pleasant.

Sound

The smartphone has a good speaker and two microphones; during a conversation, you and your interlocutor can hear each other perfectly.

External speaker one, but it is loud and of high quality, it does not wheeze even at maximum volume.

The smartphone sounds good with headphones. In my opinion, it lacks a little detail, but with the naked ear you are unlikely to hear this difference.

Conclusion

In the branded online store Xiaomi Mi A1 is sold for 19 thousand rubles. As part of various promotions, you can purchase it for 17 thousand, but it is not a fact that you will get the device.

In fact, Xiaomi has created a sort of budget Pixel, or, more precisely, a Google Edition version of its Mi5X. And this is great, I admit with a clear conscience that I got more pleasure from this device precisely thanks to its firmware. I know that stock Android will definitely be appreciated by geeks, but I don’t know how big their audience is.

Among other advantages I will highlight excellent display, good operating time, good dimensions and weight, as well as excellent operating speed.

An attentive reader may find fault with the lack of an NFC module and battery capacity, but these “shortcomings” didn’t particularly bother me. But the quality of the camera was frankly disappointing; this model is definitely not worth considering as a photographic solution.

Stock Android significantly influenced my impressions of this model in better side, but if it is not important for you, then you can pay attention to the following competitors:

Better camera, nicer design, has NFC, but runs on a chipset HiSilicon Kirin 658. Price – 17,000 rubles.

Same chipset, but higher battery capacity (4000 mAh), better design, I can’t say anything about the camera, I know that the device is being tested by Roman Belykh. Plus the price is still unknown, perhaps the device will cost more than the Mi A1.

If you don't need a dual camera and stock Android, then it makes sense to pay attention to the Redmi Note 4, which runs on the same 625 chipset, but with a larger battery capacity. Let me remind you that the Qualcomm version is officially sold in Russia, so you won’t find any differences between the Note 4 and 4X.

For those who want an inexpensive smartphone running stock Android optimized by Google, there are no alternatives to this device. And such people will forgive the lack of NFC, and not the most capacious battery, and even mediocre camera. In any case, I would forgive.

But if the question of pure Android is not before you, then, as you can see, many interesting competitors immediately appear.

What do you think of the Mi A1? Share your impressions in the comments.

Information about the make, model, and alternative names of the specific device, if available.

Design

Information about the dimensions and weight of the device, presented in different units of measurement. Materials used, colors offered, certificates.

SIM card

The SIM card is used in mobile devices to store data that certifies the authenticity of mobile service subscribers.

Mobile networks

A mobile network is a radio system that allows multiple mobile devices to communicate with each other.

Mobile communication technologies and data transfer speeds

Communication between devices on mobile networks is carried out using technologies that provide different data transfer rates.

Operating system

An operating system is a system software that manages and coordinates the operation of hardware components in a device.

SoC (System on Chip)

A system on a chip (SoC) includes all the most important hardware components of a mobile device on one chip.

Built-in memory

Each mobile device has built-in (non-removable) memory with a fixed capacity.

Memory cards

Memory cards are used in mobile devices to increase the storage capacity for storing data.

Screen

The screen of a mobile device is characterized by its technology, resolution, pixel density, diagonal length, color depth, etc.

Sensors

Different sensors perform different quantitative measurements and convert physical indicators into signals that a mobile device can recognize.

Main camera

The main camera of a mobile device is usually located on the back of the body and is used for taking photos and videos.

Additional camera

Additional cameras are usually mounted above the device screen and are used mainly for video conversations, gesture recognition, etc.

Audio

Information about the type of speakers and audio technologies supported by the device.

Radio

The radio of the mobile device is a built-in FM receiver.

Location determination

Information about the navigation and location technologies supported by your device.

WiFi

Wi-Fi is a technology that provides wireless communication for transmitting data over close distances between various devices.

Bluetooth

Bluetooth is a standard for secure wireless data transfer between various devices of different types over short distances.

USB

USB (Universal Serial Bus) is an industry standard that allows different electronic devices to exchange data.

Headphone jack

This is an audio connector, also called an audio jack. The most widely used standard in mobile devices is the 3.5mm headphone jack.

Connecting devices

Information about other important connection technologies supported by your device.

Browser

A web browser is a software application for accessing and viewing information on the Internet.

Audio file formats/codecs

Mobile devices support different audio file formats and codecs, which respectively store and encode/decode digital audio data.

Video file formats/codecs

Mobile devices support different video file formats and codecs, which respectively store and encode/decode digital video data.

Battery

Mobile device batteries differ from each other in their capacity and technology. They provide the electrical charge necessary for their functioning.

Specific Absorption Rate (SAR)

The SAR level refers to the amount of electromagnetic radiation absorbed by the human body while using a mobile device.

Brave claim. And we will definitely check it. We simply could not pass by and not try to catch Xiaomi by the tongue - such things are no joke, because the “seven” has been reliably holding the position of one of the main camera phones on the market for a year now, with which only comparable-price Android flagships can compete.

Plus, this is a great chance to see what it's like Android program One. If you've never heard of this, it's a Google initiative in which the corporation helps create high-quality, inexpensive devices in exchange for them being sold with fresh Android version without add-ons and unnecessary pre-installed applications.

Have we met somewhere before?

Of all the Androids released today One version Xiaomi looks the most attractive: one-piece aluminium case, dual camera, 5.5-inch screen, glass slightly rounded at the edges and antenna veins neatly inscribed into the edges of the body... wait, this has already happened somewhere. Well, yes, the iPhone 7 Plus was mentioned at the presentation for a reason - Mi A1 seemed to be designed by two designers from an old joke: one was holding the iPhone, and the second was tracing it. The device also resembles the OnePlus 5 with its narrower frames.

The color palette is almost identical to the iPhone: matte black, pink and gold. The polishing quality is also almost identical, it is pleasant to hold in your hands. In general, the product of the joint efforts of Google and Xiaomi looks quite good, but is completely devoid of individuality - only the branded three buttons under the screen and the fingerprint sensor placed on the back (like the Mi Max 2) save it from complete depersonalization. But these are hardly design solutions can be called unconditionally successful - in 2017, touch buttons instead of on-screen buttons give off a Chinese budget phone a mile away.

Let's be honest - this is not an iPhone

When Jony Ive gets to work in his snow-white workshop in Cupertino, there can be no complaints about ergonomics. You can criticize the relatively nondescript design as much as you like last generations iPhone, but at least the smartphone itself is perfectly balanced and fits in the hand as if it had always been there: pleasantly heavy, smooth, fingers can easily reach everything the necessary buttons- in a word, a Thing. With 5.5-inch iPhone screen The 7 Plus still feels like a shovel and you can’t do it without a second hand; even Apple is not capable of such miracles.

But the Mi A1 lacks this feeling of “Thing” with a capital T. It seems to be the same, almost 30 grams lighter, already a couple of millimeters, and the index finger fits perfectly on the fingerprint sensor, but still something is wrong. It may be a matter of weight, but there are other unpleasant little things. For example, although the edges of the glass are rounded, the joint with the metal is uneven; there is a noticeable “step” with a sharp edge.

And with such a diagonal, it is quite difficult to use the three touch keys under the screen - if you hold the device with one hand, your finger simply cannot reach them all. The iPhone has only one button, multitasking, in the center.

Moreover, for some reason they saved money on the NFC module, so you can forget about Android Pay. In 2017, for a device supported by Google, this looks like an unacceptable redneck.

"Pure" Android is good, but there are problems

It's funny, but be it ordinary Xiaomi smartphone With branded shell MIUI, there would be no problem with the keys. The company's engineers are well aware that with a large diagonal it is impossible to use them, and have long ago added to the firmware the ability to reassign them, add an alternative action for a long press, or even switch to a special universal button that can be freely dragged around the screen.

All this is implemented in the twin brother of Xiaomi Mi A1, which is called Mi 5X - this is literally the same device, but on MIUI instead of pure Android and a couple of thousand rubles cheaper (in China).

In “pure” Android 7.1.1 these options are not provided, even on-screen buttons cannot be activated. But swiping on the sensor on the rear panel opens a curtain with notifications and quick switches, just like on the Google Pixel, and the whole system works faster, more stable and completely in Russian with access to Google Play“out of the box”, no need to bother with firmware.

In addition, Android, starting with version 7.0 Nougat, uses one of the best today on-screen keyboards G-Board, and swiping to the right from the main screen opens the search screen and personal feed - at first an unusual, but very convenient thing that will show the weather, traffic jams on the way home, and interesting news (I don’t know how exactly this happens, but I I almost always find something that I really would like to read). In addition, by the end of the year the device should be updated to Android 8.0 Oreo, and there are also several useful innovations there.

As for the talking Google Assistant, so far it only understands queries in English. But sooner or later it must be adapted for our country.

The only thing Xiaomi app, which sneaked into Mi A1, is Mi Remote, which allows you to use the IR port built into the top edge as Universal remote for any home appliances like a TV or an air conditioner. And this is rather a plus, nevertheless, since version 7.0 Android has become an exemplary operating system with good stability on all devices, which makes no sense to clutter it with unnecessary elements.

There is enough power, but it doesn’t conquer peaks

Inside the Xiaomi Mi A1 there is an eight-core Snapdragon 625 and 4 GB of RAM. This is not a flagship level, but a good supply of RAM and OS optimization allows the mid-level processor to quickly cope with any everyday tasks: menus open and scroll through quickly and smoothly, applications launch and run without lag, and even a heavy PDF document of almost 500 pages was loaded with all the graphics in a matter of seconds.

Mi A1 does not conquer the top of benchmarks, but thanks to the energy-efficient Snapdragon 625, Full HD IPS screen and a 3080 mAh battery, it confidently lives for one and a half to two days with average use (several calls, an hour and a half of Internet and social networks at 80% brightness, two hours of online music, periodic replies in instant messengers and mail with push notifications) and confidently reaches late evening if you use maps a lot, take photos and watch YouTube videos in addition to standard downloads.

The screen is good. For their money

For a device costing 15 thousand rubles, the Xiaomi Mi A1 has a really good, even excellent display. In direct comparison with the iPhone 7 Plus, it is inferior, but not without a fight: with identical resolution, brightness and pixel density, the Chinese budget device has less rich colors and reduced contrast, which makes the image appear flat and less expressive. Viewing angles are excellent, but it could be calibrated better; blacks are a little purple.

The display is covered with a Gorilla Glass 3 panel, but there are some doubts about this - on the very first day a noticeable scratch appeared on the glass, although the smartphone was not put in the same pocket with keys or anything like that. It looks like an ordinary large speck of dust on the table was enough.

Between the white glass of the front panel and the screen, a thin black frame around the display is noticeable, but you can’t get away from it - white iPhone 7s also have it.

Camera - main test

A balanced verdict in the unexpected comparison of Xiaomi Mi A1 and iPhone 7 Plus can be made based on the results of the main comparison - the camera test. Below are examples of images taken from both devices under equal conditions.

When viewing the captured photos on smartphone screens, I was even a little upset; the iPhone 7 Plus looked like the undisputed winner. But upon closer examination on one computer monitor, the difference turned out to be not so significant. Photos from Xiaomi even look brighter and more contrasty!

You can check out more photo comparisons in our gallery. Photos are signed and presented in full resolution.

Apple iPhone 7 Plus

Xiaomi Mi A1

The devices take photographs in the same resolution of 12 megapixels (4000x3000 pixels), matrices with enlarged pixels are used, and pairs of modules consist of one wide-angle lens and one telephoto lens, but the characteristics of individual modules differ. Apple uses fast (f/1.8 and f/2.8) lenses with focal lengths of 28 mm and 56 mm, respectively, while Xiaomi camera simpler: f/2.2 at 26 mm and f/2.6 at 50 mm.

As expected, both smartphones cope well in bright daylight, but Xiaomi produces slightly oversaturated colors (this can be corrected in the camera settings, but we specifically shot at standard values).