Hi, this is Wayne again with a topic “The Xiaomi Mi A2 is a crazy good deal…”.
So today, I’ve got a device that I think is interesting for a couple of different reasons. One main reason this is called the me a tube and it features Android one now. I know this is a controversial subject matter regarding the idea of Android one stock Android. Various other skins that exist on Android devices, look I’m a fan of what’s familiar in most cases when it comes to operating systems.
So when I see something that looks and feels the way that Google intended, I get excited now that doesn’t mean it’s gon na be for everyone. Some people, like certain features on certain phones that come via the skin that is installed on there. So this is a personal preference type of thing.
The me a two is the latest Android one device from Xiaomi. I did do a video on the previous one, the a one – and I liked it for the price at that time, especially when you consider how limited the options are for stock and great experiences. Now there are a couple more, but this is still a leader in that department, especially right now, because this thing is actually on sale at Aliexpress I’ll have a link down in the description. It is brand shopping week. Recently I did the video on the Polka phone. You guys, you guys love that you clicked on it.
You watched it. The stuff that’s happening at this end of the market is really interesting. It’S like finally getting some some serious quality at lower price points. Now that device is 300 bucks.
Let’S go even farther in this case to almost 200 bucks. Now. The version I have in front of me is the 64 gigabyte 4 gigs of ram it’s the gold one. Now you can see here you have a dual camera set up on the back dual SIM: a 20 megapixel front-facing camera.
This one has a snapdragon 616, it’s not quite as powerful as the poka phone, but again we’re at a different price point here, and there are some advantages to that processor. It’S very power efficient. So, even though this thing only has a 3000 milliamp hour battery, it’s probably going to be decent on the 660 processor and then, of course, the thing that excites me the most Android 1. It’S like I pop this thing open, no matter where I am in the world with the global version here and I have a familiar interface.
I also get rapid updates. I get security patches, all the nice stuff from Google. I get it more quickly via Android one. I am glad that these types of devices exist. When I was in India, I met a bunch of you guys and men. The me a1 was so popular.
It was probably the phone that I saw most frequently had to do a follow-up on this, because I know how hot this device is in certain parts of the world, pretty straightforward, clear case, but they give it to you. You can’t hate on that. I see a dongle, so unfortunately we do not have a dedicated headphone jack. We are moving into the dongle universe there. It is me a 2 12 megapixel plus 20 megapixel AI dual camera large pixels. The pixels on here are combined to get better low-light performance and there’s various other advantages.
Fingerprint scanner is in a good spot. This off center camera unit. You get a little bounce, type-c connector down on the bottom, there’s also a light version of this phone, which actually has some features. This one. Doesn’T it’s also on promo right now it has slightly higher resolution and it has a headphone jack. So, even though it’s called light – maybe it’s not so light. This looks like an IR blaster. You could use this as a remote control. We have a standard power adapter. Here, though this phone is capable of quick charge.
As far as gold goes, I guess it’s kind of nice. It’S settled, ah the familiar face of Android 1. Now at this point here, you’re looking at an almost 6 inch screen in a universe full of notches. This is somehow kind of refreshing. You don’t have to notch out absolutely everything. Alright.
So, let’s quickly set up the fingerprint on this register my index finger and test this out real quick. You can probably tell it’s not the absolute quickest there’s a bit of a delayed animation there. But again we have to adjust our expectations to match the price point, just over 200 bucks. I can live with that immediately.
I’M comfy, you see, I’m comfortable, it’s looking like a pixel, it’s feeling like a pixel, you swipe up from the bottom, pull down from the top. It’S completely stock experience all the way into the set. Of course, every device I use are at least a lot of them recently they aren’t Stockham right, I’m putting a launcher on, but that launcher doesn’t extend into the settings menu. So there’s a bit of a lack of cohesiveness and relearning – that’s happening to me right now.
In fact, on the p20 Pro where I go into the settings menu and things are just laid out slightly differently and therefore it’s a little less comfy, at least immediately. So when an operating system is consistent across devices, you can change over more rapidly. Now, that’s obviously why manufacturers are reluctant to make stock devices in the first place, then you can flip between them more quickly than if you buy into whatever their ecosystem or whatever their skin and whatever special features they happen to have. I think people are compelled by the fact that you’re getting an OS that looks like it does on a much more expensive phones like the pixel or pixel to excel now I’ve heard the speaker is supposed to be pretty loud on this, so it might not have The best sound quality that I’ve heard, but it’s louder than I expected now. You can pretty much completely cover it on the bottom in I’d, say that speaker exceeds my expectations. Actually it’s quite loud, the camera, okay cool. Now I was hopeful because this is from Xiaomi and because I recently tried out the Polka phone with the 20 megapixel front-facing camera. I was hopeful that this one would be similar, if not the same, because I was impressed with that selfie camera on there.
So let’s go ahead and check out the results and see. If it is, you know, it’s a lower price point actually look quite similar and quite impressive. This is where things are getting crazy once upon a time, if you were spending close to $ 200 on a smartphone, it meant you were making some significant compromises in the camera department. You would get some terrible selfies.
I mean even recent devices like the BlackBerry that I was using. The front-facing camera was terrible, but if you know where to look – and you know where the value lives all of a sudden – it’s like whoa – maybe it’s not the best in the world for the price. It’S like detail holy bananas. The rear camera is a dual setup: 12 plus 5 megapixel.
So first up no depth effect beer in the foreground plant in the background, very little focus fall off their image, wise, not bad again. Yes, we have lighting here but come on now now we will try the same shot but with the portrait mode on and I’ll select the bottle the depth effect boom. The plant is a little bit more blurry, but it’s not really over-the-top. It’S believable kind of yeah.
There’S better ones, probably obviously there’s some better smartphone cameras, but still at the price, it’s like keeps getting harder to justify spending the really big bucks on smartphones. All things considered. Ok, so I know what you’re thinking you’re like glue: where does it stacked up? How do I compare it to other devices in the similar price range similar bracket, because there are so few Android one devices, then you’re limiting your choices, and you probably would choose this one. But if you want to extend your pricing a little bit like you want to go up to 300 bucks into the Polka phone range, then you get a better processor.
You get a bigger battery. No, you don’t get the Android one program, but you certainly get some things you might like. You get a design that I personally like a little bit more as opposed to this more traditional aluminum, which actually happens to be a bit slippery. You kind of have to figure that out for yourself, if you want a deal, I mean this thing is a deal right now via the Aliexpress link that I’m gon na have down in the description. That’S a deal, that’s kind of tough. To be myself.
I have a high level of appreciation for the stock Android experience. You’Ve heard me talk about it before. As far as what that’s worth to you, that’s gon na be up to you. I mean that’s a really hard thing to quantify, whereas the value associated the software interface and the skin that’s on there is is more subjective, it’s more personal. For me, it has a lot of value and if I was in the $ 200 price range for a smart phone decision, I would seriously consider this one, if not just selected straight away. So because of that, this is a major pick for me at the price range and especially at the current promotion there.
It is another Android one development, one thing to remember: if you want to save even more cash and go down to the lite version, the a2 Lite, you actually get some things that this one doesn’t have like a bigger battery, a headphone jack and expandable storage. So the light version is not so light. You, let me know down in the comments: can you name a better phone or a phone? You would rather have at this current promotional price 210 bucks USD starting for the me a 2. Do you have a better suggestion, because if so I want to hear it for me, it will probably be this one Android one.
I think it’s a cool thing and I hope it continues, because options are good. Selections are good. .