Xiaomi launched its first Android One smartphone - Mi A1 - in India on Tuesday. The Xiaomi Mi A1 offers a stock Android experience to users and as the handset has been developed in collaboration with Google, it has been optimised for Google services. However, the highlight feature of the smartphone is its dual rear cameras. If you are wondering whether Xiaomi Mi A1 is the perfect fit for you, this article comparing the new Xiaomi Handset with other competitors in the same price segment, i.e Moto G5S Plus, Nokia 6, and Lenovo K8 Note, will help you decide.
First talking about the pricing of the smartphones, the Xiaomi Mi A1 has been launched at Rs. 14,999 in India. The Moto G5S Plus is currently available in the country at Rs. 15,999 while the Nokia 6 can be purchased at a price of Rs. 14,999. The Lenovo K8 Note is being offered at Rs. 12,999 in India. If pricing is the only thing under consideration for your purchase, Lenovo K8 Note is the most affordable smartphone among the lot under review.
The new Xiaomi Mi A1 offers a stock Android experience and has been optimised for Google services such as Assistant and Photos. The handset is secured through the search giant's Google Play Protect feature and will receive timely Android updates (with promises for both Android O and Android P). Some of the features of the Mi A1 include a metal unibody design, 2.5D curved glass, and a fingerprint sensor on the rear panel. The smartphone also comes with an IR blaster, and several audio enhancements - a 10V smart power amplifier, DHS Audio Calibration Algorithm, and support for high impedance headphones.
Talking about the Moto G5S Plus, the smartphone comes with fingerprint sensor embedded in its home button, bears a metal unibody design, and features water-repellent nano-coating that makes it splash-proof. The Moto G5S Plus comes with TurboPower charger for fast charging.
Moving to the Nokia 6 smartphone, the handset features an 6000-series aluminium unibody design, dual speakers with Dolby Atmos audio, and a fingerprint sensor. It also offers near-stock Android experience as well and HMD Global has also confirmed that the smartphone will receive Android 8.0 Oreo update.
The Lenovo K8 Note comes along with features such as splash-resistance with water-repellent nano-coating on the metal body (5000-series aluminium) and stock Android 7.1.1.
Notably, Xiaomi Mi A1, Moto G5S Plus, and Lenovo K8 Note feature dual camera setups at their backs and Nokia 6 is the only handset out of the mix to be missing out on this feature.
The Xiaomi Mi A1 is a dual-SIM (Nano-SIM) smartphone that runs Android 7.1.2 Nougat. It features a 5.5-inch full-HD (1080x1920 pixels) display. It is powered by an octa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 625 SoC coupled with 4GB of RAM. In terms of optics, the dual rear camera setup of the Xiaomi Mi A1 bears two 12-megapixel sensors, with one featuring a wide-angle lens with a 1.25-micron pixel sensor and f/2.2 aperture, and the other sporting a telephoto lens, 1-micron pixel sensor, an f/2.6 aperture, and capable of delivering 2x optical zoom.
The smartphone bears a 5-megapixel front camera with a real-time beautification mode. The Xiaomi Mi A1 comes with 64GB of inbuilt storage, which is expandable via microSD card (up to 128GB) in a hybrid dual-SIM configuration. It houses a 3080mAh battery.
The dual-SIM (Nano) Moto G5S Plus runs Android 7.1 Nougat out of the box, and it sports a 5.5-inch full-HD (1080x1920 pixels) IPS LCD display. It is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 625 octa-core SoC clocked up to 2GHz, coupled with 4GB of RAM. In terms of optics, the smartphone comes with a dual rear camera setup with two 13-megapixel sensors with an f/2.0 aperture, depth editing software, and colour correcting dual-LED flash. On the front, it bears an 8-megapixel sensor with an f/2.0 aperture, wide-angle lens, and an LED flash. The Moto G5S Plus bears 64GB of inbuilt storage, expandable via microSD card (up to 128GB). The handset houses a 3000mAh battery.
Talking about the Nokia 6 smartphone, the dual-SIM handset runs Android 7.1.1 Nougat and sports a 5.5-inch full-HD (1080x1920 pixels) IPS display. It is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 430 SoC coupled with 3GB of RAM. In terms of optics, the smartphone features a primary 16-megapixel rear camera with PDAF, an f/2.0 aperture, a 1-micron pixel sensor, and dual-tone LED flash. The Nokia 6 has an 8-megapixel autofocus front camera with an f/2.0 aperture and an 84-degree wide-angle lens. The smartphone comes with 32GB of inbuilt storage, which is expandable via microSD card (up to 128GB). It houses a 3000mAh battery.
Finally talking about the Lenovo K8 Note, the dual-SIM smartphone runs Android 7.1.1 Nougat and sports a 5.5-inch full-HD (1080x1920 pixels) display. The handset is powered by a deca-core MediaTek MT6797 SoC with four Cortex-A53 cores clocked at 1.4GHz, four Cortex-A53 cores clocked at 1.85GHz, and two Cortex-A72 cores clocked at 2.3GHz. The processor is accompanied by either 3GB or 4GB of RAM. In terms of optics, the dual camera setup on the Lenovo K8 Note comes with a 13-megapixel primary sensor that's accompanied a 5-megapixel depth sensor, enabling the smartphone to capture depth-of-field effects like Bokeh. At the front, the Lenovo K8 Note sports a 13-megapixel camera with an LED flash module.
The Lenovo K8 Note ships with either 32GB or 64GB of inbuilt storage, which is expandable via a dedicated microSD card (up to 128GB) slot. The handset houses a massive 4000mAh battery.
If looking only at specifications, the Xiaomi Mi A1 appears to come out on top, followed closely by the Moto G5S Plus - which trails only in terms of Android version and battery size.
On paper, the Xiaomi Mi A1 seems very comparable to Moto G5S Plus, with the Lenovo K8 Note and the Nokia 6 quite far behind. Both Mi A1 and G5S Plus offer near stock Android with very minor customisations, and we can expect a good number of version updates from both manufacturers. Overall, it's very hard to choose between the two smartphones, and you'll have to wait for detailed review of the Xiaomi Mi A1 comparing aspects like camera quality and battery life before taking the plunge. Stay tuned.
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