As expected, Chinese phone maker is launching its first phone to ship with nearly stock Android software rather than the company’s own MIUI user interface. The Xiaomi Mi A1 is a smartphone with a 5.5 inch, full HD display, a Qualcomm Snapdragon 625 processor, 4GB of RAM, and 64GB of storage. It has a 3,080 mAh battery, dual cameras (including a 2X zoom lens), a fingerprint sensor, and a microSD card slot.
The Xiaomi Mi A1 to be available in multiple markets, starting with India, where it will sell for 14,999 rupees, or a little more than $230.
The phone is also an Android One device… but that doesn’t mean exactly what it used to.
Google says that when the Android One program launched 3 years ago, the idea was to offer “high quality, affordable phones,” and for the most part that meant those devices would ship with stock Android software and receive updates delivered directly by Google.
But over the past few years Android One devices have started to show up in a wider range of prices — they’re not exactly premium phones, but there are entry-level and mid-range models, like the Mi A1.
One thing the Mi A1 doesn’t have? Operating system updates handled by Google. Instead, Xiaomi will be responsible for testing and releasing those updates, at least partially because the company developed a custom camera app for the dual-lens rear camera on its phone (something that Google’s stock Android camera app doesn’t yet support).
That said, Google says the Mi A1 will ship with Android Nougat and it will receive and Android Oreo updated by the end of 2017. It’s also expected to be among the first phones to get Android P whenever that’s ready to go.
So what exactly is Android One these days? According to Google, here are a few things to know about the program:
• “Android One phones are Google endorsed devices that run a simple, fresh, and secure experience.”
• They “run a pure Android experience with a clean design and a small, carefully curated set of preinstalled apps.”
• The phone have “the latest technology from Google” built in, such as Google Assistant and Google Photos.
• “Android One devices will receive timely upgrades to the latest Android OS.”
In other words, an Android One phone isn’t exactly the same as a Nexus or Pixel… but it does combine third-party hardware with a software and security model that’s a bit closer to what you’d get from a Google-branded phone.
The Mi A1 is launching in India, but Google says it’ll eventually be sold in “dozens of markets” including Russia, Vietnam, Taiwan, and Indonesia. I suspect that if there were any plans to launch the phone in the US or Europe, Google or Xiaomi probably would have mentioned it. But I wouldn’t be surprised to find stores that are willing to sell you the international model in the States… just don’t expect it to support all US network bands.
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