Xiaomi will launch the Mi A3 Android One phone in India on August 21

The Mi A3 is coming to India. Xiaomi has confirmed that it will launch the Mi A3 Android One phone in India on August 21. Going by the history of these phones, Xiaomi should launch the Mi A3 in India at a price of under Rs 20,000 - which would make it compete with phones like the Realme X and Vivo S1. Not to mention, there will also be Xiaomi’s own Redmi Note 7 Pro vying for customers’ attention. 

The biggest difference between the Mi A3 and the Redmi Note 7 Pro will be the software. While the Redmi Note 7 Pro runs MIUI, the Mi A3 runs stock Android Pie our-of-the-box - because it is an Android One phone. Because it is an Android One phone, the Mi A3 is also expected to get faster software updates and theoretically receive Android Q - which is the next version of Android - before the Redmi Note 7 Pro.

READ | Xiaomi will launch a 64MP camera Redmi phone in India by the end of this year

As for core hardware, because the Mi A3 is already a go in select markets, we already know what’s in store. The Mi A3 is loosely based on Xiaomi’s Mi CC9e. The Mi A3 is in fact the Mi CC9e running stock Android 9 Pie software even as the Mi CC9e runs Xiaomi’s MIUI.

It has the same design with a light-bending gradient paintjob in blue, white and gray. It has the same 6.01-inch 720p+ AMOLED display with a dew-drop notch and Corning Gorilla Glass 5 protection. It has the same Qualcomm Snapdragon 665 processor paired with 4GB RAM and up to 128GB storage which is also expandable. It has the same 4,030mAh battery with USB Type-C fast charging support (18W).

READ | Xiaomi Mi 9, Redmi K20 Pro receive Android Q beta update 

It has the same triple rear camera system consisting of one 48MP main shooter with f/1.78 aperture, an 8MP ultra wide-angle camera with a 118-degree field-of-view, and a 2MP depth sensor for portrait photography. On the front, it has the same 32MP camera. 

The presence of a 720p+ screen may irk many but it’s also nice to see Xiaomi bringing back key essentials like micro-SD card slot and 3.5mm audio jack in the Mi A3 - both of which were missing out in the Mi A2.