The Mi A1 has taken the smartphone arena by storm, everyone wanted to have a taste of Android at its purest form, unblemished and unadulterated. This leaves Mi 5X, its identical twin brother, a little left behind probably in terms of sales. But whats the main difference between the two of them? Lets find out.


Lets take a look at the specs of the two and compare it side by side:







SPECIAL FEATURES


GENERAL


MULTIMEDIA


PERFORMANCE


DESIGN


DISPLAY


STORAGE


CAMERA


BATTERY


NETWORK CONNECTIVITY



Now having seen the specs side by side, I can accurately say that they are identical twins, with different taste.



Now lets take a look at the packaging and see the differences:




Mi A1 sporting the extra sleeve outside, but basically the box are the same.




There is actually no need to indicate that Mi A1 is Global Version, since Google cannot be released in China.


The dimenstion of the box are identical, the contents are also the same. Manual, Sim Ejector Pin, USB C Cable, Quick Charge 2.0 Charger, Phone unit and a free screen protector film.

Now lets take a look at the dimensions and see if there is anything different, maybe a birthmark?


Front screen are exactly the same.


On the right we have the volume rcker, power buton


Infrared and Noise Cancellation Mic are at the top


Sim card tray at the left.


Charging port, 3.5mm audio jack and loudspeaker at the bottom


Dual Camera, Dual LED Flash Fingerprint scanner at the back


Selfie Camera on front


let take a closer look at the camera sensors, looks the same.


lets take another close look again..


Aha! I told you the birthmarks are different, Mi A1 has the AndroidOne logo printed.


Mi 5X dont have the extra birthmark, looks clean on this one.

Lets now explore the UI:


Booting up, Mi A1 has a white screen while Mi 5X has a black one


Mi Logo in Orange for Mi A1, and White Mi Logo for Mi 5X


The Android One Logo appeared on Mi A1, the Android Logo also appeared on Mi 5X


Lock Screen for Both Phones


Homescreen of Both Phones


Menu screens, Mi A1 has a more cluttered arrangement, while Mi 5X is arranged by folders


Camera Mode, Xiaomi has customized it to look the same and works the same. Manual Modes has same functions


Camera Menu


Dial Pad Screen


Contacts Screen


Keyboard Layout and Messaging Screen.


Settings Screen.


About Phone Screen


Mi Account Page.


Notification Drop Down Menu


Sample Photos


Shot on Mi 5X


Shot on Mi A1

Video Comparison:



Software Support:

Mi 5X has rolled out on Android Nougat sporting MIUI 9 and is continuing to receive updates as days past by, while Mi A1 is said to receive Android Oreo by the end of 2017. There is not much updates to roll out on Mi A1 since there is not much to fix, probably its pretty bug-less. But bug-less comes with a price, you need to install everything on your own and your own customization. Now, there is a downside, once your phone bugs down, you are on your own to hunt down the bug, while on MIUI you can report the bug and the developers will work on a fix for your.

Pricing:

Mi A1 has rolled out in India for 14,999 Rupees which is equivalent to 232 USD

Mi 5X has rolled out in China for 1499 RMB which is almost 228 USD

Price are almost of the same level, just a little or no difference at all based on official release.

Verdict:

If you are an adventurous person, you might want to try Mi A1 and probably customized everything to the fullest based on your own taste. But if you are a conventional person and well adopted to the MIUI system, its best to stick with Mi 5X. Cameras are the same, they took the same photos. Both phones are easy to use, its just that I am more accustomed to MIUI.

Read up on my full review on both units here:

[Mi Product Review #13] [Device Team] Mi 5X: Unboxing and Detailed Review!
en.miui.com/thread-732480-1-1.html
(Source: Xiaomi MIUI Official Forum)

[Mi Product Review #26] [Device Team] Mi A1 Review: Google Android All the Way!
en.miui.com/thread-874646-1-1.html
(Source: Xiaomi MIUI Official Forum)





Who is your pick? Team A1 or Team 5X
Share your thoughts below.