Xiaomi Mi A2 Android One series with dual-camera launched: When will it come to India?

After weeks of leaks and speculations, Xiaomi's much-awaited Mi A2 Android One series broke covers at the company's global launch event in Madrid, Spain on 24 July.

As rumoured, Xiaomi is releasing the Mi A2 series in two variants—one a standard Mi A2 and a low-end model Mi A2 Lite. Both the devices' design and hardware are referenced from Mi 6X and Redmi 6 Pro, respectively, which by the way are currently available only in China. The only difference between the two is that the new phones are affiliated to Google Android One series and will come with pure Android Oreo OS. On the other hand, the former models run highly customised MIUI software.

Jumping into the specifics of individual features, the Mi A2 flaunts a metal-clad shell on the back with vertically-aligned dual camera on the top left corner and a fingerprint sensor in the middle for easy access to the finger to unlock the screen. On the front, it sports a 5.99-inch full HD+ screen with 2.5D curved glass on the top.

Inside, the Mi A2 houses a 2.2GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 660 octa-core processor, 4GB/6GB RAM, 64GB/128GB storage and a 3,010mAh battery, which is more than enough to keep the phone running for a whole under mixed usage.

The highlight of the Mi A2 is its photography hardware. It boasts two cameras  -- 12MP (Sony IMX486 sensor) and 20MP (Sony IMX376 sensor). It is being assisted by Artificial Intelligence (AI)-based software that can recognize 24 different scene types to optimize the camera to take the perfect photo. It scans the scene to identify whether the subject is in exotic locations such as hills, beach and is intelligent enough to differentiate between pet animals, flowers, and humans, and optimizes the camera settings to take the best possible snaps. 

On the front too, it will come with an equally impressive 20MP (with Sony IMX376 sensor) camera with F1.75 aperture guaranteeing the users of good quality selfies even under low-light condition. It will also be assisted Smart beauty app to help users edit skin tone and other stuff.

On the other hand, Xiaomi Mi A2 Lite flaunts a 5.84-inch full HD+ screen and comes with Qualcomm Snapdragon 625 octa-core, 3GB/4GB storage, 32GB/64GB storage and a 4,000mAh battery, which is more than enough to last for one-and-a-half day easily under mixed usage.

The USP of the Mi A2 Lite is its camera hardware. It comes packed with a 12MP+5MP dual camera with Artificial Intelligence (AI) Portrait and AI scene detection feature. With this, the phone will be capable of detecting different possible scenarios such as pets, flowers, human face, landscape, snowy conditions, night, food and more.

On the front too, the new Mi A2 Lite features a 5MP front camera with AI Portrait, wherein despite having just a single lens, it will be able to take selfies with Bokeh blur effect. It allows users to adjust the focus on the background and foreground, which suits best to make it look appealing.

Xiaomi Mi A2, A2 Lite price and global availability:

Xiaomi has confirmed to release three Mi A2 variants—4GB RAM + 32GB storage, 4GB RAM + 64GB storage and6GB RAM + 128GB storage for—€249 ($291//Rs 20,068), €279 ($326/Rs 22,485) and  €349 ($408/Rs 28,127), respectively.

On the other hand, the Mi A2 Lite comes in two models—3GB RAM +32GB storage and 4GB RAM+64GB storage—for 3GB RAM + 32GB storage— €179 ($209//Rs 14,435) and 4GB RAM + 64GB storage: €229 ($268/Rs 18,467), respectively.

As far as availability is concerned, the company has announced to release both the products initially in select European markets later this month and early August, and later in other global markets in.

When will Xiaomi Mi A2 Android One series come to India?

In India, Xiaomi will not be wasting time to release the Mi A2 in India. It is expected to make it available in coming weeks, as rival HMD Global Oy is also planning to bring similar Android One series phones— Nokia 6.1 Plus (aka Nokia X6) and Nokia 5.1 Plus (aka Nokia X5) soon.

Also, we'd like to bring to our readers' attention that the aforementioned price is for Europe and the corresponding details are just global exchange rates and do not reflect on the actual Indian market. We believe the newly announced Xiaomi phones will be priced much lower in India, as they will be assembled locally.

Key specifications of Xiaomi Mi A2 and Mi A2 Lite:

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