Xiaomi’s new Mi A3 is now official but it is not what we were expecting for — a minor specs bump to already available Mi A2 and Mi A2 Lite.
The Mi A3 is based on the Mi CC9e with little to no upgrades in terms of specs. The phone gets a 6.1-inch OLED display with a resolution of 1560 x 720-pixel which contradicts our prediction of a 1080p display. This also means that the newest model has a lower resolution than its predecessor: Mi A2 and Mi A2 Lite.
Internally the phone has a Snapdragon 665 chipset which is a slight improvement to Mi A2’s Snapdragon 660. There’s a 4GB of RAM and 64GB variant that will cost €250, while the 4/128GB variant costs €30 more. Thankfully, there’s an option for expansion through the microSD card slot.
One major upgrade though can be seen in terms of optics. The phone has an improved 48MP snapper at the rear with a bright f/1.78 aperture which pairs with an 8MP ultra-wide-angle camera with 118-degree field of view. And then there’s a 2MP depth sensor.
The rear camera is capable of capturing 2160p video at 30fps or 1080p at up to 120fps. Finally, there’s a 32MP selfie snapper up top inside the notch.
Likewise, the battery also sees an upgrade to 4,030mAh over last year’s 3,000mAh. It supports 18W of fast charging, similar to last year, but out of the box, you only get a 10W power brick to juice it up.
Besides this, the good news is that the phone has a 3.5mm headphone jack which was missing from the previous model. Also, the fingerprint scanner has been shifted from backward to inside the display, a testament to current trends. And of course, being an Android One device it will potentially get quicker updates as well.
The Xiaomi Mi A3 will be available in three color variants: White, Blue, and Gray. The phone will go on sale in Spain with shipments beginning on the 24th of July. As for Nepal, the device could hit within a month or two for a price of around NPR 25,000.
