Xiaomi Redmi A1 is decent affordable smartphone that checks all the basics for a phone under ₦60k.
In 2017, Xiaomi unveiled the affordable mid-range line-up, Xiaomi Mi A1 as part of Google’s Android One initiative. The Mi A line-up was later discontinued after the Mi A3 was released
5 years later, Xiaomi has decided to continued A series, but this time around as an entry-level phone under its sub-brand Redmi.
It comes with basic features and it’s first Xiaomi’s phone to be powered by a Helio A22.
But one thing you must know is that it doesn’t lacks fingerprint scanner.
On the flip side, if you want the fingerprint scanner, you simply have to upgrade to A1 plus with few bucks attached.
Xiaomi Redmi A1 Key Specifications
- 6.52 inches IPS LCD Display, 720 x 1600 pixels, ~89.0% screen-to-body ratio
- Android 12 (Go edition), MIUI 12
- Mediatek Helio A22 Quad Core CPU
- 2GB, 3GB RAM
- 8MP (wide) + 0.08MP (depth) Dual Rear Camera
- 5MP Front Camera
- 32GB Built-in Storage
- 4G LTE
- 10W Fast Charging Capacity
- 5000 mAh Non removable Li-Po Battery
Design
The Redmi A1 parades a unibody stylish design, built in sturdy polycarbonate material that feels solid in hand.
The unibody wears a leather-textured finish that adds great grip, and smudge free touch to the device.
To keep a slim and lightweight profile, the phone measures 76.6 x 164.9 x 9.1mm dimension with 192 gram weight, making it easy to carry around even with one hand.
Around the edges are power key and volume rocker on the right side, SIM slot on the left.
Also, the micro USB port sits between the microphone port and the 3.5mm audio jack on the bottom while the speaker grille occupy the top spot.
The Redmi A1 lacks fingerprint sensor, which is a feature that many modern smartphones offer for added security and protection.
The Android phone arrives in three colourways – Black, Light Blue and Light Green colour options.
Display
Moving to the front, is a 6.52-inch display supporting 120Hz touch sampling rate and HD+ resolution of 720 x 1600 pixels.
The display is not that sharp but support 400 nits of peak brightness which is decent for indoor use, but may not be sufficient in well-lit outdoor conditions.
The surrounding bezel offer 88.89% screen-to-body ratio, providing larger display for more entertainment,
Furthermore, Redmi claims the display is protected with scratch resistant glass .
In all, the display on the Redmi A1 is satisfactory for basic tasks and casual use.
Camera
The camera department handles basic photography but don’t expect instagram-ready photos.
The Redmi phone comes with a dual AI camera which include an 8MP main camera paired to a QVGA auxiliary camera which acts as an AI camera to enhance your photography.
In addition, a dual-tone flash is provided, to help in low-light environment.
The front-facing camera has a 5MP selfie camera housed in a dew-drop notch.
Images captured with the rear cameras were quite noisy, with lack of details, sharpness, and clarity.
On the other hand, the front facing camera captures sub-par quality shots.
Overall, the cameras are average at best, capturing decent pictures in well-lit environment.
Hardware and Software
Under the hood, the Redmi A1 rocks a 5 year old entry-level MediaTek Helio A22 processor featured on Tecno Pop 7 Pro with the duo of Umidigi C2 and Umidigi G2.
The 12nm quad-core processor has a maximum clock speed at 2.0 GHz and its matched with a IMG PowerVR GE8320 GPU that takes charge of graphics-intensive tasks.
At best the performance is basically decent on low-powered task but the low 2GB LPDDR4X RAM and 32GB internal memory doesn’t offer much with processing, storage space and multi-tasking.
Thanks to its dedicated card slots that allow an expansion of up to 512GB.
The limited RAM makes the performance very laggy with slow app loading and multi-tasking isn’t great as well.
For software, Redmi A1 breathes on light version (Go Edition) of Android 12 overlaid on Xiaomi’s MIUI 12.
The Go Edition is design for low end android phones and it’s devoid of pre-installed apps that slows down the device.
Connectivity
The budget smartphone comes with 3.5mm audio jack, WiFi and Bluetooth 5.0.
Also available is microUSB port, dual SIM with 4G network support and FM radio.
Battery
The Redmi A1 is powered by a large 5000 mAh non-removable battery that can provide up to two days of uninterrupted power, so you won’t have to worry about running out of power.
However, it only support 10W charging, which is quite slow, takes about 2–3 hours to fully juice the phone from 0% to 100%.
Xiaomi Redmi A1 Price and Availability
The Xiaomi Redmi A1 starts at $72.00. In Nigeria, the Redmi A1 cost about ₦57,000.
The smartphone was announced on September 06, 2022 and was made available for purchase 3 days after.
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