Xiaomi Mi A1 is launching in India tomorrow exclusively on Flipkart running stock Android. Till now we have been hearing speculations that the Mi 5X will be making its India debut, but Flipkart's teaser page has all but confirmed that the Xiaomi A1 with dual cameras will be coming to India tomorrow - 5th September 2017 at 11:30 AM in an event in New Delhi.
While Xiaomi has been talking about the Mi A1's dual cameras, there was a report last month that the company is collaborating with Google to bring back the Android One project to India. The Xiaomi A1 could be the first phone in the series. We have confirmed with our sources, that the phone may share similar specs and design to the Mi 5X however, it will be launched under a new series.
We have already seen Xiaomi call it their new global product launch, which confirms what we have been hearing. Furthermore, on diving deeper into Flipkart's teaser for the new "flagship dual-camera smartphone", you find several mentions of "mia1". In fact just yesterday, the main title of the image read "Mi A1 Teaser Image", but that was later removed.
It would be highly unlikely for Flipkart to conjure up a name for the device, which has already shown up on Geekbench. The major difference between the Mi 5X and Mi A1 would be that the latter will run on Stock Android 7.1 Nougat out of the box and not MIUI 9. Xiaomi works really hard on its skin and adds several features that users of its phones have become used to, so this may seem counterproductive. However, a partnership with Google would allow Xiaomi to break through to new markets and also establish a stronger claim to the sub Rs. 15,000 segment, which it already dominates. Given that the only alternatives to the Redmi Note 4 in the space
Given that the only alternatives to the Redmi Note 4 in the space run on stock Android like the Lenovo K8 Note, Moto G5s and G5s Plus, vanilla Android on the Mi A1 would be a sure shot hit with the crowd. Especially if it enables faster Android updates, similar to what the original Android One smartphones offered.
Coming back to the hardware, the Mi A1 will have a similar build as the Mi 5X with a unibody metal construction, dual 12MP rear cameras. The second lens on the back would be a telephoto lens to allow for 2X optical zoom similar to the iPhone 7 Plus. The Telephoto lens would have a f/2.6 aperture while the main lens would have a f/2.0 lens. You will also be able to take shots in portrait mode and adjust the amount of bokeh or blurriness you want in the background.
In the front, a 5.5-inch display is expected with thin bezels and 1080p full-HD resolution along with a fingerprint sensor at the bottom and 5-megapixel selfie camera. The Snapdragon 625 octa-core processor will power the innards with 4GB RAM and 32GB internal storage although a 64GB storage variant is also rumored. All this would be tucked inside the 7.3mm thin shell of the Mi A1 weighing in at a respectable 163 grams especially with a 3080 mAh battery inside.
Xiaomi Mi A1's pricing in India will be the key to its success. If priced under Rs. 15,000 for the 32GB storage variant then Lenovo's both phones, the Moto G5s Plus and the Lenovo K8 Note will take a huge hit in sales. Similarly, the Coolpad Cool Play 6, Honor 6X and other dual camera smartphones would also see their fortunes turn for the worse.
Although much of this is conjecture at this point, Xiaomi has been known to be very disruptive with its pricing and a partnership with Google is only going to help. So what do you think about a stock Android Xiaomi smartphone? Excited? Let us know in the comments section.
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