Posted on by Karan Shah

Exclusive: Xiaomi might launch the Mi A1 on September 5th with Android One

We have received news from our sources that Xiaomi’s “Flagship Dual Camera Smartphone” which will launch on September 5th will be the Mi A1. This is the first Xiaomi device with the Android One branding.

What that means is, it won’t be Mi5x, Mi6, or Mi Mix 2. It will be an entirely new series and will sport a new name.

Here is what Xiaomi’s Twitter account has been posting recently:

We have also seen them post pictures shot on Mi Dual Camera set up on a regular basis, which seems to be a new type of setup.

Xiaomi Hardware, Google Software

There are a lot of people who dislike MIUI – and a very large number of them root their devices and install a custom ROM such as LineageOS on it. Having Google handle software updates is entirely new territory altogether. We know that Xiaomi is pretty good at keeping the MIUI versions of its older devices up to date, but Xiaomi never updates the Android base of their devices beyond one major upgrade.

With the Google branding, it means at least one two guaranteed OS upgrades, as well as one extra year of security updates for the device.

Reports suggest that a modified Mi 5X will be used as the base for this device, so we can expect similar specs, with a different type of camera setup. The Xiaomi Mi 5X comes with 64GB of built-in storage, which is expandable via microSD card (up to 128GB). The connectivity options offered by the handset include 4G VoLTE, dual-band Wi-Fi 802.11ac, GPS/ A-GPS, USB Type-C port, and 3.5mm headphone jack. It houses a 3080mAh battery, measures 155.4×75.8×7.3 mm, and weighs 165 grams.

Business Perspective

Different markets have different expectations from a phone, and Xiaomi has begun to notice that. In India, which is the second largest market for Xiaomi after China, the company has been facing stiff competition in sales by the Lenovo Moto G5 Series, which is selling solely on the point that it has stock android on it.

One of the bigger things at play is here that the Indian market, as well as certain markets, would rather buy a stock android phone, than a phone with a heavily modded custom UI. LeEco saw it’s downfall for this very reason too.

Xiaomi is killing the idea that dual camera should only be for “premium” or “flagship” devices, and that is the most amazing takeaway from this.