The Mi A1 was a success for Xiaomi, so much so that over night they’ve announced two more handsets running Android One, with the Xiaomi Mi A2 and Mi A2 Lite.
The Mi A2 and Mi A2 Lite are running ‘Pure Android’ according to Xiaomi at their launch event, which offers the bonus of fast updates which will keep the phones secure and versatile with both platform and security updates guaranteed for two years. Both handsets will launch with Android 8.1, but will see the Android P update coming later this year, as well as Android Q when it’s released based on their platform update promise.
The handsets are similar in design – though the Mi A2 Lite includes a notch in the display, 3.5mm headphone jack, Infrared port and a microSD card slot, but it also has a microUSB port for charging as opposed to the USB-C port on the Mi A2. There’s also a difference in key specs including the processor, available RAM/Storage options and of course the camera and battery size. The comparison below should let you see the details easily
| Xiaomi Mi A2 | Xiaomi Mi A2 Lite | Release date | — | — | Screen size | 5.99-inch | 5.84-inch | Screen technology | — | — | Resolution | 2,160 x 1,080 | 2,280 x 1,080 | PPI | 403 | 432 | Rear camera | 12MP + 20MP |
| Front camera | 20MP | 5MP | Chipset | Snapdragon 660 | Snapdragon 625 | Core config | — | — | Ram | — | — | Storage |
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| MicroSD | No | Yes, up to 256GB | Battery | 3,010 mAh | 4,000 mAh | Battery removable | — | — | Connector | USB-C | MicroUSB | Headphone Port | — | Yes | Headphone Location | — | Top | Speaker Configuration | — | — | NFC | — | — | Android OS | Android 8.1 | Android 8.1 | Vendor skin | Android One | Android One | Dimensions | 158.7x75.4x7.3 | 149.33x71.68x8.75 | Weight | 168g | 178g | Colours |
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Xiaomi Mi A2:
Xiaomi Mi A2 Lite:
The handsets are launching this month in 40 markets, though from what we can find Australia is not included in those markets. That’s never stopped us from getting our hands on them though with online Chinese e-commerce sites taking up the slack in that respect. In terms of pricing Xiaomi has only announced European pricing :
Mi A2
- 4GB/32GB – €249
- 4GB/64GB – €279
- 6GB/128GB – €349
Mi A2 Lite
- 3GB/32GB – €179
- 4GB/64GB – €229
Does anyone know if these have NFC? The original Mi A1 didn’t.
The Mi A2 does have NFC. The Mi A2 Lite does not.
There’s no mention of NFC on the Xiaomi Specs for the Mi A2, nor in their PR for the phone so we’ve erred on the side of caution to say it doesn’t.
The A2 Lite is also available from Gearbest but does not appear to support B28.
The International version A2 6GB/128GB is $472.59 from Gearbest and it covers Australian frequency bands including B28 and B40.
Xiaomi devices almost never cover B28, i wouldn’t trust Gearbest’s listing. Especially when Xiaomi’s own website show it as being absent.
https://www.mi.com/en/mi-a2/specs/
Unfortunately it does look like B28 is a fantasy.
I checked GearBest website and there doesn’t appear to be a B28 frequency. Also they have a 4GB/32GB version of this phone for AU $361!!