the Xiaomi brand doesn't need any introduction these days
their latest most affordable phone
released by the brand subsidiary company Redmi is also the cheapest phone in the Xiaomi portfolio
and has a simple name - it's just A1
in today's video I'm going to show you everything you want to know about Xiaomi Redmi A1
which certainly beats all the competition when it comes to ultra budget range
we'll talk through the design of the phone, we'll check the camera's, gaming performance
I will also take a closer look at its display and discuss through all the features of the Xiaomi Redmi A1 and Redmi A1 Plus
so stay with me
hi what's up guys
my name is Adam - and you're watching #FamilyPopTV YouTube channel
inside the white standard box we can find the phone itself
the manuals
the SIM card ejector
and a standard charger with a USB cable
on the outside the Redmi A1 is designed to be as minimalistic as possible
which isn't surprising given how much it costs
the plastic back has a single tone and has a smudge-free leather-like texture and it feels good when I'm holding
it it gives a good grip
the A1 is surprisingly light, very slim - it's only 9 millimeters and it's easy to hold as it weighs only 192 grams
unlike the most modern phones the Redmi A1 has a flat frame and sides
we got the speaker at the top
the left side has a dual SIM tray and the dedicated micro-SD card slot that expands the storage up to 512 gigabytes
the som tray supports dual 4G som cards with dual standby and support for VoLTE and VoWiFi
on the back side we got a camera compartment we'll discuss and tests the cameras later in this video
the right side has a power button and volume buttons, while the bottom has a headphone jack, microphone and...wait a second...
is it micro USB port?!
it's quite unusual to see micro USB in 2022 considering this standard has been introduced at the beginning of 2007
it's so vintage
when talking design, the A1 comes in three color variants: light green, light blue, and black
and it's worth mention, that the only difference between the Redmi A1
and released month after Redmi A1 Plus is the fingerprint sensor located at the back of the phone
however, all the specs remained identical as in A1
the Redmi A1 and A1 Plus having a 6.52 inch HD+ IPS display
with a resolution of 1600 * 720 pixels and the screen can refresh at 60 hertz
there's a waterdrop-style notch up top for the selfie camera
the display has a decent vivid colors and a pretty good brightness range
with its 400 nits of brightness it's fine for using outdoors even in a sunlight
and its screen is protected with scratch resistant glass - I like it
most phones having speakers at the bottom
but the Redmi A1 has a single speaker placed at the top
it's unusual, however overall sound quality of the A1 is fine
however the sound might feel a bit tiny even when you push the volume to the max level
the A1 has a basic cameras:
8-megapixel main camera at the back and a 0.08mp Q-VGA depth sensor
to be honest, I'm very positively surprised on the quality of the photos
the Redmi A1 can capture pretty decent photos with a good dynamic range
this is very unusual for an entry-level phone!
for comparison the same photos taken by iPhone 13 at the right side - can you tell the difference?
I probably shouldn't be surprised, as Xiaomi is known for bringing up the excellent cameras to their devices
now you can see a video comparison:
the A1 gives a nice contrast and sharpness but hasn't got the electronic image stabilization like the iPhone
and this results in wobbly video
please keep in mind the A1 is about seven times cheaper than the iPhone
at the front we got a basic 5 megapixel selfie camera which also does a pretty good job
for the selfies or for the video calls this is more than enough
we got some Google image processing here and that background cream effect
or masking the facial skin imperfections, wrinkles, etc etc
the Redmi A1 runs on the Android 12 Go Edition tweaked by Xiaomi into MIUI
with the features such as revamped dark mode
improved privacy and security tools
new animations, theme supports, new wallpapers, etc etc
Xiaomi developed this operating system independently of Google exclusively for all Xiaomi devices
the phone has a Widevine L3 certification which isn't as good as Widevine L1
so you can stream only in standard definition from Netflix or Google
the entry level Redmi A1 has an entry-level processor called Helio A22 with four ARM Cortex-A53 cores clocked up to 2.0 gigahertz
with an IMG PowerVR GE-class GPU and has only 2 gigabytes of RAM memory
and 32 gigabytes of internal storage, which can be expanded with additional 512 gigabytes using a Micro SD card
this configuration would be fine for the light gaming
we can also designate an additional 2 gigabytes of storage to be used as a virtual expansion of the RAM memory
which certainly will up the overall performance of the phone
now, let's check the gaming performance and before we carry on make sure you're subscribed
this is a game known as Need for Speed No Limits
the game runs in low quality and 30 frames per second and everything looks pretty smooth
next one - a PUBG also known as Player Unknown's Battlegrounds
again the low graphic level and only 30 FPS
everything looks very basic but its still possible to run this game on this phone
another 3D rendered game - Shadowgun Legends
again, it's playable - but the graphics details are low and with 30 FPS we can still notice the frame drops every now and then
technically, this phone won't install games which are too heavy to be played on this phone
so forget about Call of Duty Mobile - or - Asphalt 9:Legends
these games certainly won't run on A1
when it comes to 2D games, my son has tested some Subway Surface game and Sonic Dash
and also Angry Birds 2
and as you can see these basic games are running very well on this phone
if you like Candy Crush then don't worry,
the Redmi A1 will definitely handle it
the Redmi A1 packs a 5000 mAh battery inside and it's fine - it lasts me solid two days of use
making it a great phone to have if endurance is a must for you
Redmi claims the phone will last up to 30 days on standby mode
but I don't care what they say
the reality is - if you streaming, playing games, making phone calls and photos and flipping through social apps
you will get at least two days, which is over twice as much as my old iPhone 8
the only catch however, is that you get that outdated micro USB port that only supports 10 watts of charging
so topping up that battery will take you around 2 hours
overall, the A1 considering as an entry-level budget smartphone made a good impression
I'm 100% sure in this price segment you won't find the phone which can compete with the Redmi A1
in terms of clean software, excellent display with high contrast and vivid colors,
good battery life, reasonable cameras and ergonomic design and overall good quality
Xiaomi also managed to squeeze everything from that little Helio processor using Android 12 Go Edition
if you would like to check it out - there are Amazon links in this video description
and there are also AliExpress links where you could find even better deals
so make sure you're gonna check that out
okay guys - that's it for today
I hope you enjoyed that video and found it pretty informative and useful
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