Mi A3 Latest Price and Review | The Pure Android phone with a Twist!
Every discussion or review or content I see about the Mi A3, I see one common theme and that’s “Pure Android”. Everybody touts this phone’s pure Android capabilities. So what is it? And is the Mi A3 a good enough phone or is it great? The Mi A3 is one of the best entry-level phones in the market and although it's been a few years since it hit the shelves, it's still one of the best selling phones. Check out our Mi A3 Latest Price and Review for all the details.
Before we get into a Mi A3 review, let me give you a small recap about the Mi A series. The MiA1 was a super-duper hit that resulted in making the A2. The A2 was an “epic fail” because Xiaomi did the unthinkable. They removed the headphone jack. The Xiaomi Mi A3 is a lot different. And Xiaomi is throwing the kitchen sink at this.
However, it is worth it? Let's get to the review, shall we? Here's the Mi A3 Latest Price and Review.
Mi A3 Latest Price and Review
Inside the Box
The MiA3 phone comes packed with a 10W charger, type-C charging port, the phone and an instruction manual.
Design and Display
The MiA3 without a doubt is a good looking phone. It has a waterdrop notch and a thick bezel at the bottom, which is a sight for sore eyes. The back of the phone has a premium finish because of the presence of glass. The glaring omission I must mention upfront is the lack of water protection. You drop your phone into a tub of water and it’s a goner.
- The phone is packed with features such as an IR Blaster, Headphone Jack and an SD Card slot. The phone already punches above its weight class with the optical under-display fingerprint sensor. Does it work like a charm?
- It works great. You can use it to unlock your phone without having to press any buttons. It also has a face unlock option which is pretty quick for a mid-ranger.
- The display size is 6.01-inches with a Super AMOLED screen with a 720p resolution. When it comes to its pixel density, it’s pretty poor. What does that mean?
The Mi A3 can be priced for ridiculously cheap and also you don’t need much battery power and a powerful chipset to run this. If you can look beyond the screen, the Mi A3 has something in store.
Functions and Use
Powering this phone is the Snapdragon 665 with 4GB RAM and 64GB of minimum storage. Although this chipset isn’t that powerful, the lesser screen resolution ensures that the Snapdragon has to power lesser and that makes this phone really quick and when I mean quick, it’s super quick. How about gaming though?
- Very surprisingly, gaming is fantastic on the MiA3. And it all boils down to the 720p display. It ensures smooth functioning of everything.
- But what are the cons? Some images are pixelated and some icons of some apps are pixelated. If you are a display aficionado, then this might hurt a bit.
- Now let’s get to the Pure Android bit. MiA3 is part of Google’s Android One program and this means this phone runs on stock Android without the trappings of any other skins or themes or layers.
This means you get the cleanest Android experience on the planet. No ads, no unnecessary fluff. BUT, the navigation experience on Android One is pathetic. The pill navigation is one of the worst ways to use your phone and for people who live quick and fast gestures, this will hurt.
Cameras
Always a hot topic. There are three cameras for the MiA3. The 48-megapixel main camera and an 8-megapixel ultra-wide camera and the 2megapixel depth sensor.
- One very huge deficiency is the lack of optical image stabilization. This is an absolute requirement when you are taking photos otherwise you will get a lot of shaky photos.
- The quality of the cameras are fantastic and have very deep detailing. The Night Mode isn’t the best of the lot, but is better than a lot of phones out there especially Huawei.
The camera can shoot good quality videos at 1080p @ 30fps. The front camera is a mammoth 32-megapixels. It’s a fixed focus camera that doles our some juicy high quality photos.
Battery
The battery life on this phone is astounding. The 4030 mAh battery does not have much power and gives you easily 101 hours of standby time that is unseen on most phones. Although the phone supports Quick Charge 3.0, Xiaomi only ships the normal 10W charger.
Final Thoughts
The Xiaomi MiA3 is a super confusing phone to review. It lacks a few basic things, but that lack advances and improves the performance of other things and overall it’s a mixed package. But misses and hits are clear that will help you take the right decision.
The biggest misses are the screen resolution of 1080p and the Xiaomi’s own MIUI Android OS. Although the resolution is lesser, it makes the phone faster and the battery life even better. The lack of the MIUI OS ensures you get a super clean Android experience.
This is a blazing fast phone that works super quickly. The battery life is one of the best in the business but that has its trade offs.
Pros
- Super fast phone
- Surprisingly great for gaming
- Amazing battery life
- Good, solid cameras
Cons
- Navigation experience of stock Android is abysmal
- You can see small pixelations on certain images and apps
Wow. What a value!! Amoled screen; very capable mid range processor so no serious lag, clean android implementation, fantastic front and back cameras (try side loading gcam for an even better experience), microsd expansion slot.
However, things to be aware of: Network Carrier compatibility. Works with Tmobile (and partners : Metro, Mint, etc) but I would only recommend in metropolitan cities and not rural areas that use the newer frequencies for coverage. You lose HD voice calls (no VoLTE), no support for WIFI calling. Also there is some small auto brightness issues that are easily resolved by doing a manual adjust. These issues happens rarely.
I recommend for Tmobile customers that are city dwellers who need a midrange phone at a budget phone price. Its fully network compatible in EU (europe) and Latin America for travelers. Or if you've never had a chinese branded android phone, this is a great impulse buy or backup phone just to play around with. It just doesn't get better than this for the price.
Pat from USA
I bought two of these phones for my husband and I last August (2019). We love these phones! They were an awesome upgrade from our lame Samsung Galaxy S5s.
Performance - these phones are a solid 10. Every once in a while when I swipe up to see my open apps, that part would freeze, which is weird. But we've never had any other issues otherwise. Phone runs smoothly and is quite fast.
Appearance - we love the sleek design of these phones. Just the right screen size and the knotch and chin areas aren't too bad.
Feel - these phones are heavier, as far as phones go but we actually love the weight! It's nice to be reminded that it's there lol. It's not too heavy, though, and it is a nice width which fits into the hand comfortably.
Storage - we have the 64 GB and bought additional storage of 64 GB each. It's more than enough for our present needs.
Software - Android 1, so quite up to date and easy to navigate.
Price - unbeatable price for the quality and specs.
Sorry, I can't give more techy spec stuff but that's my husband's Forte, not mine lol. However, I can tell you that we are pleased with our purchase and highly recommend!
Adel L. from USA
I actually purchased the 128gb version but the 64 is identical despite storage.
Wonderful phone for the price and Android ONE is a fine os. The camera shoots great photos, lacking a bit in low light conditions though. I find the finger print reader to be less than reliable but work keeps my hands rather dirty so that could just be me. Dual SIM or expansion slot, but who needs it at 128gb storage. The lower res screen hasn't been a bother to me at all and the screen is rather easy to see on sunny days. The IR blaster sounds gimmicky but I find it to be a very useful addition.
I've owned the mi a1 and 2, xiaomi seems to make quality phones. My only real gripe for the phone would be The charging port and headphone jack are on opposite ends of the phone. Finger print reader isn't on par compared to my a1 and my camera app gives me a crash notification after I plug it in 75% of the time (doesn't seem to effect the camera but the notification is annoying).
Do your research to see if the specs match your needs but you can't really beat this phone with a nice case and 2 screen protectors for 200$.
Douglas from USA
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