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MIUI 9 Is Coming To These 40 Xiaomi Smartphones

Xiaomi has announced 40 of its smartphones, some dating back to 2012, will receive MIUI 9 update soon. MIUI 9 was officially launched in India back in November along with the Redmi Y1 and Redmi Y1 Lite.

The list of the smartphones that can be upgraded to MIUI 9 are Xiaomi Mi Mix 2, Mi Note 3, Mi 6, Mi Max 2, Mi 5X, Mi Mix, Mi Note 2, Redmi 5, Redmi 5 Plus, Redmi Note 4X, Redmi Note 5A, Redmi 5A, Mi 5, Mi 4, Mi 3, Mi 2, Mi 5C, Mi 5s, Mi 5s Plus, Mi Max, Mi 4s, Mi 4C, Mi Note, Redmi 4X, Redmi 3S, Redmi 3X, Redmi 4A, Redmi 4 high version, Redmi Note 2, Redmi Note 3, Redmi Note 4, Redmi Pro, Mi 2S, Redmi 2, Redmi 2A, Redmi 1S, Redmi Note, Mi Pad 3, Mi Pad 2 and Mi Pad.

One of the most noticeable aspects of this announcement is that some smartphones in the list were launched more than six years ago. In a world where new smartphones are launched with old software and two-year-old devices lose support from their OEMs, this move by Xiaomi is commendable.

As far as MIUI 9 is concerned, here are a few key features of the new version of MIUI.

Faster App Launching Speed

One of the main criticisms of MIUI has been its sluggish nature and the slow speed of general usage even in the flagship devices. Keeping that in mind, Xiaomi has promised much faster app launching speeds and navigation between multiple apps will be snappier as well. Performance enhancements are always welcome and this looks to be a step in the right direction for the Chinese giant.

Split-screen

The split-screen feature was one of the major upgrades in Android Nougat and a plethora of phones from mid-rangers to flagships have embraced this handy little feature. Xiaomi, on the other hand, has launched it just now with MIUI 9 and it’s a welcome update.

Under The Hood Updates

Xiaomi has also introduced MIUI 9 with a few features that run in the background for example application prioritisation. This basically means that apps in the foreground will use up more power, but that has been on Android for a while. It also has better cache management, a new file system and a bunch of other tweaks to make the user experience crisper and snappier.

There is no timeline defined by the company regarding the seeding of the update. For 40 devices, the seeding might be a slow process but, owners of smartphones like the Redmi 1S will not mind it.

January 18, 2018
Moto G6 Plus Leaked In Live Images

On the 17th of January, a major leak revealed important details about the upcoming Moto G6 lineup of 2018. While the renders were impressive, there were a few mistakes that made them a little too good to be true. However, new images posted on Reddit reveal a design very similar to the ones we saw in the previous leak.

The images leaked on Reddit reveal the new “Motorola” branding and the thinner bezels around the display. While the images are hazy and taken from a weird angle, the design of the smartphone is quite identical to what we saw in the previous.

Subsequently, more high-quality renders were posted online after the original leak and while we are barely midway through January, these images look closer to the reality than anything else.

According to the leaks, the Moto G6 Plus will have a 5.93 inch display with a 2160 x 1080 px resolution.

Under the hood, the device will have the Qualcomm Snapdragon 630 chipset as opposed to the Snapdragon 625 found on the Moto G5s Plus. The smartphone will come in three variants this time around, 3GB RAM/32GB storage, 4GB RAM/64GB storage and 6GB RAM/64GB storage. The 6GB RAM variant will be interesting at this price point as so far, smartphones above Rs. 25000 have featured so much of RAM till now. The fingerprint sensor is placed on the front of the device, just below the display which will double up as a navigation button as well.

The Moto G6 Plus will be powered by a 3200 mAh battery and run Android 8.0 Oreo out of the box.

The Moto G6 Plus will have a 12MP sensor coupled with a 5MP sensor with a pixel size of 1.4 microns on the back. To the front will be a 16MP camera, similar to the Moto G6.

While the launch of the Moto G6 and G6 Plus is a couple of months away, similar leaks from different sources mean that we could potentially be looking at the what the new mid-range devices from Motorola will look like. There are going to be many more leaks in the coming weeks and we will keep you up-to-date with everything.

January 18, 2018
The $160 Samsung Galaxy Note8 Clone You’ve Never Heard Of

The Samsung Galaxy Note8 was launched in India in late-August at a price of Rs. 67999. It was the first smartphone from Samsung to feature a dual-camera setup on the back and until the Galaxy S9+ is launched, it remains the sole device from Samsung to have that feature. For all its great specifications, display, and a beautiful design, the Galaxy Note8 had a very noticeable flaw which had carried on from the Galaxy S8 and S8+, the fingerprint sensor’s placement. While a lot of quirky moves from big smartphone makers turn out to be iconic, this placement was not appreciated and Samsung has already rectified it with the Samsung Galaxy A8+.

However, it appears that one company decided to leave that aspect of the Galaxy Note8 as it is with its own rendition of the Galaxy Note8. Meiigoo, a Chinese smartphone maker, has launched the Meiigoo Note 8, a Samsung Galaxy Note8 clone with a lot going for it. The company has decided to retain the awkward fingerprint sensor placement found on the original Note but, thanks to the relatively smaller size of the phone, it isn’t too bad.

It has a 5.99 inch IPS LCD display with a 2160 x 1080 px resolution. Even though this isn’t even close to what the Galaxy Note8 has to offer with its 6.3 inch Super AMOLED display with a 2960 x 1440 px resolution, the Meiigoo Note 8 at its price, offers a decent display.

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The bezels around the display are thin but, not as thin as the Galaxy Note8 and that is expected. The company’s decision to go with golden bezels is a bit questionable as black bezels would have definitely looked much better. However, at a price of US $159.99, there are hardly any major things to complain about.

Under the hood, it has the MediaTek MTK6750T chipset, 4GB of RAM and 64GB of onboard storage.

The Meiigoo Note 8 also has a horizontally placed dual-camera setup that looks uncannily similar to that of the Galaxy Note8. It has a 12MP camera along with a 5MP depth sensor for bokeh shots. To the front is an 8MP camera.

While the Samsung Galaxy Note8 is the priciest Samsung available in the market right now, the Meiigoo Note 8 at a price of US $160 (Rs. 10,000 approx.) could be an option for people looking for a ‘Note’ device that won’t break the bank!

Buy it here

January 17, 2018
Lets Game! Budget Gaming PC: Gaming And Benchmarks

One of the most requested series on iGyaan has been building a budget gaming PC. We finally took the onus upon us and decided to build a budget gaming PC which should suffice most of the needs of a gamer who is just starting out and isn’t ready to shell out a lot of cash in the beginning. If you are a novice and testing the waters of the gaming world, then this build should be ideal for you.

After we built the PC, a lot of people had doubts over the capabilities of our PC. We put the gaming PC through its paces and it came out with flying colours. Here are the results of what we built.

Gaming Performance

Game Settings Average FPS

Asphalt 8 Extreme Over 60fps

Tomb Raider Extreme Over 60fps

Gears Of War Extreme 4o-55fps

3D Benchmarks

Cloud Gate 12010

Time Spy 1159

Fire Strike 3191

January 17, 2018
Sony Xperia XZ Pro Specifications Leaked

At the recently concluded Consumer Electronics Show, Sony unveiled three budget-oriented smartphones. A few days ago, all the three devices went up for pre-orders in the US and UK. It appears that Sony is now gearing up to launch a flagship smartphone with a primary dual-camera setup. If the leaks are true, this will be the first ever Sony device with two cameras on the back.

According to a recent leak, the upcoming flagship smartphone from Sony will be called the Xperia XZ Pro. It will have a 5.7 inch OLED display with 4K resolution, thin bezels and possibly, an 18:9 aspect ratio.

Under the hood, the Sony Xperia XZ Pro will have the Snapdragon 845 chipset, 6GB of RAM and up to 128GB of onboard storage. The storage is expected to be expandable via a microSD card. The fingerprint sensor is expected to be housed inside the lock button on the side. Although, with the presence of an OLED display, Sony could go ahead and use a screen embedded fingerprint sensor.

The device will be powered by a 3420 mAh battery which will support QuickCharge 4.0+.

The Xperia XZ Pro will have a dual rear camera setup, with one of the cameras having an 18 MP sensor with 1.33?m pixel size and a 12 MP sensor with 1.38?m pixels. On the front will be a 13 MP camera.

It’s expected to launch in China for over CNY 6,000 which roughly translates to about Rs. 59000 in India. At the price, it would directly compete with the Samsung Galaxy S9 and S9+ which are also scheduled to be unveiled at MWC.

January 17, 2018
Honor 9 Lite

Huawei’s sub-brand, Honor has launched the new Honor 9 Lite in India at a starting price of Rs. 10999. The smartphone will be a Flipkart exclusive will go on sale via the first flash sale on the 21st of January. The 3GB RAM variant is priced at Rs. 10999 while the 4GB RAM variant is priced at Rs. 14999. At this price, the Honor 9 Lite is a great offering by the Chinese smartphone maker.

Buy the Honor 9 Lite here

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January 17, 2018
Samsung Galaxy On7 Prime Launched In India At A Price Of Rs. 12990

Samsung has launched its new budget smartphone in India, the Galaxy On7 Prime at a price of Rs 12990 for the 3GB RAM variant and Rs. 14990 for the 4GB RAM variant. The smartphone will be sold exclusively via Amazon and will go on sale on the 20th of January during the Amazon Prime Sale.

The Samsung Galaxy On7 Prime coincidentally launched the same day as the Honor 9 Lite and both the smartphones have entered the congested budget segment in the Indian market. The Samsung Galaxy On7 Prime is priced on par with the Honor 7X and the Xiaomi Mi A1 as well as the Moto G5s Plus. With the new smartphone, Samsung has extended its budget offering in the Indian market where it already sells devices like the Samsung Galaxy On8 and the Galaxy J7 Prime.

The Samsung Galaxy On7 Prime has a 5.5-inch display with a 1920 x 1080 px resolution.

Under the hood, the Galaxy On7 Prime will have the Exynos 7870 chipset, a 1.6GHz processor, and Mali-T830 MP1 GPU. The smartphone will be available in two variants, one with 3GB RAM and 32GB of onboard storage and the other with 4GB RAM and 64GB of onboard storage which will be expandable up to 256GB via a microSD card.

The Galaxy On7 Prime will be powered by a 3300 mAh battery. The physical home button on the front will house the fingerprint sensor as well.

With the new Galaxy On7 Prime, Samsung has also introduced Samsung Mall. The company has tied up with Amazon, Jabong, Shopclues and Tata CLiQ to provide buying links to products that a user might be interested in, from within the Samsung user interface.

The Galaxy On7 Prime will have a 13MP with an f/1.9 aperture on the front and back along with rear-facing LED flash.

Interested users can register for the device by clicking here.

January 17, 2018
Honor 9 Lite Launched In India At A Price Of Rs. 10999

Huawei’s sub-brand, Honor has launched the new Honor 9 Lite in India at a starting price of Rs. 10999. The smartphone will be a Flipkart exclusive will go on sale via the first flash sale on the 21st of January. The 3GB RAM variant is priced at Rs. 10999 while the 4GB RAM variant is priced at Rs. 14999.

Honor has been on a roll in the past couple of months. It recently launched the Honor 7X at a starting price of Rs. 12999 and the Honor View 10 in India at a price of Rs. 29999. The Honor 9 Lite has a similar design with thin bezels and a tall display with the Honor branding housed in the bottom bezel. At a price of Rs. 10999, the Honor 9 Lite goes up against the likes of the Xiaomi Redmi Y1 and Redmi Note 4, although Xiaomi is expected to soon launch the successor to the Redmi Note 4 in India.

It has a 5.65-inch IPS LCD display with a 2160 x 1080 px resolution which translates into an 18:9 aspect ratio.

Under the hood, similar to the Honor 7X, the Honor 9 Lite has the HiSilicon Kirin 659 chipset, an octa-core processor, the Mali-T830 MP2 GPU, 3GB or 4GB of RAM and storage options of 32GB and 64GB. It is worth noting that the onboard storage will be expandable up to 256GB via a microSD card. The fingerprint sensor is placed at the back and the bottom bezel on the front houses the Honor branding.

Powering the device is a 3000 mAh battery which also supports the Super Charge technology.

The Honor 9 Lite has four cameras. To the front and back, it has a 13MP camera along with a 2MP depth sensor and both the setups record 1080P videos at 30fps.

Buy the Honor 9 Lite here

The Honor 9 Lite at this price is a great alternative for people who like the Honor 7X but, are on a tight budget. Not just that, the Honor 9 Lite is powered by a very able chipset, has a dual camera setup on the front and back and a build quality that is unmatched at this price point.

Watch our unboxing of the Honor 9 Lite here:

January 17, 2018
Moto G6, G6 Plus And G6 Play Images Leaked

Motorola smartphones are few of the most anticipated devices in their respective price segments. The original Moto G, launched in 2013, was the first budget smartphone that did not compromise a lot on performance and build quality. Ever since then, the Moto G lineup has produced some fine smartphones.

The Moto G5 Plus, launched in early-2017, had a great camera and similarly, the Moto G5s Plus impressed as well. The Moto G6 and G6 Plus are also expected to be launched in the coming months and a few leaked images have revealed the design and key specifications of the upcoming Moto G6, G6 Plus and G6 Play.

All the three smartphones have a new design very similar to the Moto X4 with 3D glass on the back and protruded cameras. Similar to what we noticed in the Moto X5 leak, the “Moto” branding is now replaced with “Motorola” on all the three smartphones.

Moto G6

The Moto G6 will be the slightly cheaper variant of the Moto G6 Play. According to the leak, the Moto G6 will have a 5.7 inch display with a 2160 x 1080 px resolution. This translates to an 18:9 aspect ratio and the image also reveals thin bezels around the display which gives it a more modern look.

Under the hood, it will be powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 450 chipset. It will retail in two variants, one with 3GB of RAM and 32GB of onboard storage while the other one will have 4GB RAM and 64GB storage. The storage will be expandable although, there is no word on whether it will have a dedicated microSD card slot or not. The fingerprint sensor is placed on the front of the device, just below the display which will double up as a navigation button as well.

The smartphone will be powered by a 3000mAh battery and in all likelihood, it will run Android 8.0 Oreo out of the box.

Unlike last year’s Moto G5s, the Moto G6 will have a dual camera setup on the back. It will have a 12MP sensor along with a 5MP sensor and a front-facing 16MP camera.

Moto G6 Plus

The Moto G6 Plus will succeed the highly popular Moto G5s Plus in the Indian market. According to the leak, it will have a 5.93 inch display with a 2160 x 1080 px resolution.

Under the hood, the device will have the Qualcomm Snapdragon 630 chipset as opposed to the Snapdragon 625 found on the Moto G5s Plus. The smartphone will come in three variants this time around, 3GB RAM/32GB storage, 4GB RAM/64GB storage and 6GB RAM/64GB storage. The 6GB RAM variant will be interesting at this price point as so far, smartphones above Rs. 25000 have featured so much of RAM till now. The fingerprint sensor is placed on the front of the device, just below the display which will double up as a navigation button as well.

The Moto G6 Plus will be powered by a 3200 mAh battery and run Android 8.0 Oreo out of the box.

The Moto G6 Plus will have a 12MP sensor coupled with a 5MP sensor with a pixel size of 1.4 microns on the back. To the front will be a 16MP camera, similar to the Moto G6.

Moto G6 Play

As far as the Moto G6 Play is concerned, the leak reveals that it will have a 5.7 inch display with a 1440 x 720 px resolution.

It will be powered by a massive 4000 mAh battery and run Android 8 Oreo out of the box.

Unlike the Moto G6 and the G6 Plus, it will have a single camera setup, both on the front and back. The fingerprint sensor will also be housed inside the Moto logo on the back.

January 17, 2018
Moto X5 Leaked Image Reveals An iPhone X-Like Notch

The Moto X4 was launched in India in November with impressive features for its price point. Although a great phone, the Moto X4 had a dated design for a smartphone launching in mid-2017 (global release) with thick bezels around the display. It looks like Motorola has plans to overhaul the ‘X’ series with the upcoming Moto X5.

A new promotional image of the Moto X5 has been leaked which reveals a fresh design on the front and a similar design for the back panel which we saw on the Moto X4. The next interesting aspect here is the display and the notch at the top. The leaked image reveals an iPhone X-like notch which appears to house a dual-camera setup along with the rest of the sensors.

It is also worth noting that the three navigation buttons which are common on all Android devices are missing and there appears to be a Homebar-like button at the bottom. The next big thing missing in the image is the fingerprint sensor. There is no fingerprint sensor on the front where it usually is for Moto devices, and the back of the phone also seems to be without a fingerprint reader. It is possible that the sensor is housed inside the Moto logo on the back, similar to the Moto E5 leak we saw yesterday.

However, there is no denying the exciting possibility of the fingerprint sensor being embedded inside the display, as was showcased by Vivo at CES 2018.

The alleged Moto X5 will have a 5.99 inch display with a 2160 x 1080 px resolution. A giveaway that this might not be the most credible leak is the corners of the display. The bottom corners are rounded while the top corners of the display are not. If true, this will be a different implementation by Motorola. The “Moto” branding is now replaced with “Motorola” branding just below the display as well.

While the Moto X5 launch seems a bit far, there is no denying that this leak seems exciting and a different move by Motorola. The decision to go with a notch, if true, would definitely make it to the headlines at the time of its launch.

January 17, 2018
Limited Edition Samsung Galaxy Note8 PyeongChang 2018 Unveiled

Samsung has unveiled a swanky new variant of the Galaxy Note8 which you may never be able to get your hands on. The 2018 Winter Olympics will take place in PyeongChang, South Korea from the 9th of February to February 25th. Samsung, as one of the main sponsors of the Games, will give more than 4000 personalised Galaxy Note8 devices to athletes and IOC staff. These personalised Note8 devices are called the Samsung Galaxy Note8 PyeongChang 2018 Edition.

The new smartphone variant has a shiny white back panel with the iconic golden five-ring Olympics logo. The Galaxy Note8 PyeongChang 2018 Edition will also have a gold colour finish on the phone’s rim, buttons and parts of the S Pen. The limited edition variant will also have preloaded PyeongChang 2018 themed wallpapers and apps “to help cultivate the utmost Olympic Games experience”. Paralympians will also receive this smartphone and their phones will come with cases that will have the Paralympic Games logo.

While this device is exclusively for athletes as of now, Samsung might change its plans and launch this device for the public as well. The company released the 2016 Olympics edition Galaxy S7 Edge to the public as well, though it only sold a couple of thousand units worldwide.

The Samsung Galaxy Note8 has a 6.3 inch 2960 x 1440 px 18.5:9 aspect ratio Super AMOLED display with an 83.1% screen-to-body ratio and Corning Gorilla Glass 5 on the front and back of the device.

As is with all Samsung flagship devices, the Galaxy Note8 ships with two different chipsets, the Qualcomm Snapdragon 835, 2.45 GHz octa-core processor with Adreno 540 GPU for USA and China, and the Exynos 8895, 2.3GHz Quad-Core (Custom CPU) + 1.7GHz Quad-Core (Cortex-A53) with Mali-G71 MP20 for the remaining markets. The device also has 6GB RAM and onboard storage options of 64GB/128GB/256GB which is expandable via microSD card up to 256GB.

Galaxy S7 Edge Olympic Edition

The smartphone is powered by a non-removable 3,300 mAh battery with QuickCharge 2.0 through the USB Type C port and because of the glass at the back, the phone also supports wireless charging as well. The fingerprint sensor sits at the back of the device right next to the dual-cameras.

Horizontally placed dual cameras on the Regular Galaxy Note8

The Galaxy Note 8 runs Android 7.1.2 Nougat with Samsung UX on top. It is also in line to receive the Android 8.0 Oreo update soon.

The Galaxy Note 8 is the first phone from Samsung to feature dual-cameras with a 12MP dual-camera setup, the primary camera has a wide-angle 12MP lens with an f/1.7 aperture and the secondary camera has a 12MP telephoto lens with an f/2.4 aperture. The dual-cameras are capable of capturing 4K videos at 30 FPS. On the front is an 8MP camera with an f/1.7 aperture and captures 4K videos at 30 FPS.

January 17, 2018
Samsung Galaxy S9, Galaxy S9+ Release Date Details Leaked

Samsung has already confirmed that it will announce its new flagship smartphones at the Mobile World Congress in February 2018. While the trade show will go on for a few days, there was no clarity as to when the company will announce the smartphones and more importantly, when the devices will go on sale. A new leak, however, attempts to shed more light on the possible Samsung Galaxy S9 and S9+ release cycle.

According to a C-level executive at a major casemaker, the go-to-market schedule for Galaxy S9 / S9+ is as follows:

Launch – 2/26
Pre-orders – 3/1
Ships/releases – 3/16
— Evan Blass (@evleaks) January 16, 2018

According to a famous leakster, a “C-level executive at a major case maker” has provided some information regarding this. His intel has suggested that the Galaxy S9 will be announced on the 26th of February, which is Day One of MWC. Subsequently, the pre-orders will start on March 1 and then the devices will start shipping on the 16th of March.

This information falls in line with the general pattern of smartphone releases at MWC as major smartphone announcements happen on the first day itself. While insightful, the leak still doesn’t share any information about the pricing of the smartphones, the only aspect that has so far not been leaked in some manner or the other. However, as we move closer to the announcement, there are chances that the pricing details of the devices will be leaked as well.

According to recent leaks, the Samsung Galaxy S9 will be offered in two options, 4GB RAM/64GB storage and 4GB RAM/128GB storage. The bigger sibling of the two, the Samsung Galaxy S9+ will be available in 6GB RAM/64GB storage, 6GB RAM/128GB storage and 6GB RAM/256GB models in major markets across the world.

According to the specifications listed on a leaked retail box, the Samsung Galaxy S9 will have a 5.8-inch sAMOLED display with a 2960 x 1440 px resolution. Similar to its predecessor, the smartphone will have a single 12MP SuperSpeed Dual Pixel camera. This time around, however, the camera will have an f/1.5 aperture and record super slow motion videos, probably at 960fps.

The Samsung Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S9+ are expected to be priced at around the price of their predecessors. The price and release dates of the devices will be announced at the time of the launch. India is expected to be one of the first few countries to receive the smartphones.

January 17, 2018
Xiaomi Mi Max 3 Leaks Reveal Dual-Camera Setup At The Back

Xiaomi launched the Mi Max 2 back in June of 2017 and is expected to launch the next iteration in the ‘Mi Max’ series by mid-2018. While not a lot is known about the device so far, a new leak has revealed a few key details about the upcoming phablet.

An image was posted on Weibo which has revealed that the Xiaomi Mi Max 3 will sport a 6.99-inch display with an 18:9 aspect ratio. Something that will get increasingly common among smartphones of all price segments.

Under the hood, according to the image, it will be powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 635 chipset, have 3GB or 4GB of RAM along with 64GB or 128GB of onboard storage.

The fingerprint sensor will be placed on the back of the smartphone since the bezels are extremely thin on the display. The smartphone will also be powered by a massive 5500 mAh battery.

There are no details about the launch date of the smartphone yet, but, it is expected to be launched during the same time as its predecessor.

January 16, 2018
Xiaomi Mi A2- What To Expect?

In September of 2017, Xiaomi surprised a lot of people by launching the Xiaomi Mi A1. While a lot of people expected a flagship device in the ‘Mi’ lineup, the Chinese smartphone maker announced its first ever stock Android OS running Mi A1. The device is a part of Google’s Android One program which means that it will receive consistent software updates for a longer period than other smartphones by OEMs that are not a part of the Android One program.

While it could be possible that the Xiaomi Mi A1 was a one-off from Xiaomi since the company truly promotes its own MIUI and there are reports that it has already started working on MIUI 10 called, MIUI X. However, the company won’t be able to ignore the popularity of their stock OS smartphone in India.

If there is a remote possibility of the Xiaomi MI A2 becoming a possibility, what can we expect?

Price

The price of the Xiaomi Mi A1, at the time of its launch, was Rs. 14999 which was marginally cheaper than the Moto G5s Plus. However, the launch of the Honor 7X might have made the company reduce the price of the Mi A1 to Rs. 13999. If the Mi A2 were to be launched in India, the price would remain the same at Rs. 14999.

Display

2018 will, in all likelihood, see a lot of budget and mid-range smartphones launching with a bezel-less design. Xiaomi Mi A2 will have to keep up with its competition, which will be devices like the Moto G6 Plus and Honor 8X. The Xiaomi Mi A2 might have a 6 inch display with a 2160 x 1080 px resolution. Xiaomi is also expected to retain the IPS LCD display as well.

Honor 7X

Hardware

The Xiaomi Mi A1 was powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 625 chipset, a very commonly used chip in the budget segment. 2018 budget-oriented smartphones are expected to be powered by the new gen chipsets by Qualcomm. Qualcomm is expected to launch the Snapdragon 670, 640 chipsets which means that the Mi A2 could be powered by one of these chipsets. It is expected to retain the 4GB RAM/64GB storage specification and it might be the only variant the smartphone will be launched in.

Camera

Up until the Xiaomi Mi A1 was launched, Motorola’s Moto G5 Plus and G5s Plus had the best cameras in the segment. However, the Xiaomi Mi A1 had a great dual-camera setup as well and the Mi A2, in order to sway customers will have to have a great camera performance as well. The Xiaomi Mi A2 is expected to have the same “wide-angle and telephoto lens” combination for the primary cameras. The dual-camera setup on the front is becoming popular as well, meaning the Xiaomi Mi A2 could also have a dual-camera setup on the front as well.

Conclusion

The Xiaomi Mi A2 may never be launched but, it could be a great prospect for Xiaomi to further tap into the segment of consumers which still prefer stock Android OS over a customisable third-party skin. If priced competitively just like its predecessor, the Xiaomi Mi A2 could be a very popular smartphone in the budget-segment.

January 16, 2018
Xiaomi Mi A1 Android 8.0 Oreo Update Rollout Resumes

A few days ago, it was reported that the Android 8.0 Oreo update for the Xiaomi Mi A1 was suspended. Xiaomi launched the Mi A1 back in August of 2017 with stock Android 7.1 Nougat. The company promised an update to Android 8 Oreo by the end of the year. Technically, the company delivered on the promise and released the first software update to Android 8.0 Oreo on the 31st of December.

Xiaomi had to suspend the rollout of Android 8 Oreo because a lot of users were complaining about performance-related issues. Users had complained about issues pertaining to an unresponsive camera and dialer app, battery drain when Bluetooth is turned on, unresponsive ambient light sensor and recent app button.

Xiaomi is now pushing out a new version of the Oreo update for the Xiaomi Mi A1. This new update will fix all the bugs that were reported by users. For people who downloaded the previous version, the new update is only 89MB in size while for people who have are still on Android 7.1 Nougat, then it’s a more substantial 1112MB update.

Xiaomi’s update took a lot less time than expected to release a fix and hopefully, this time around, the company won’t suspend it again.

The Mi A1 has a 5.5 inch 1920 x 1080 px LTPS display with Corning Gorilla Glass 3 on top for protection and aluminium unibody build.

The smartphone has the Qualcomm Snapdragon 625 chipset, 8x ARM Cortex A53 2.0GHz 64-bit processor, 4GB RAM and 64GB of onboard storage which is expandable via microSD card.

The Xiaomi Mi A1 has a 12MP equipped with a wide-angle lens with an f/2.2 aperture while the other one is a 12MP telephoto lens with an f/2.6 aperture. For landscape shots, Xiaomi has introduced a wide angle lens while on the front is a 5MP camera.

January 16, 2018