The Era of the Mid-Range!
- Avichai Elimelech
- Jul 24, 2018
- 3 min read
We are witnessing these past few years a great trend - mid-range smartphones are getting better and better and yet the price is almost the same, about 300$.
These past few days we've got some interesting announcements and I'm here to share my opinions, with the good and the bad - but the bottom line is still the same - Great products for the price!
All of these smartphones here are a part of the Android One program, which is a pure Android experience with little to non bloatware and fluid operating system which receives constant updates for a least 2 years.
Why are updates so important? Well, bugs are common on mid-range devices and security patches are becoming a necessity for privacy reasons - so constant updates are good for everyone.
Xiaomi Mi A2
Main specifications:
Body: Aluminum body, Gorilla Glass 5 front.
Display: 5.99" IPS LCD, 1,080x2,160px resolution, 18:9 aspect ratio, 403ppi.
Rear camera: Primary 12MP, Secondary 20MP
Front camera: 20MP
OS: Android 8.1 Oreo (Android One)
Chipset: Qualcomm Snapdragon 660
Memory: 4/6GB of RAM; 32/64/128GB storage; no microSD slot.
Battery: 3,010mAh Li-Po
Connectivity: Dual-SIM; LTE, USB-C; Wi-Fi a/b/g/n/ac; GPS; Bluetooth 5.0, IR blaster.
Misc: Rear-mounted fingerprint reader; single down-firing speaker; no 3.5mm jack (adapter in the box)
The Good:
Good construction.
Large high quality display.
Good front and back camera for the price.
Snapdragon 660 is very quick and power efficient.
Battery would probably last 4-5 hours of screen-on-time which is very good and comes to a full day of moderate use easily.
IR blaster isn't that common, but nice to have.
USB-C connector is the new standard.
The Bad:
No 3.5mm headphone jack - not the best trend
Single easy to cover speaker.
No microSD card slot.
The device is large and not comfortable for one handed use.
Xiaomi Mi A2 Lite
Main specifications:
Body: Aluminum body, plastic antenna strips at the back.
Display: 5.84" IPS LCD with a cutout, 1,080x2,280px resolution, 19:9 aspect ratio, 432ppi.
Rear camera: Primary 12MP, Secondary 5MP.
Front camera: 5MP.
OS: Android 8.1 Oreo (Android One)
Chipset: Qualcomm Snapdragon 625.
Memory: 3/4GB of RAM; 32/64GB storage; microSD slot.
Battery: 4,000mAh Li-Po.
Connectivity: Dual-SIM; LTE, microUSB; Wi-Fi a/b/g/n; GPS; Bluetooth 4.2, IR blaster.
Misc: Rear-mounted fingerprint reader; single down-firing speaker; 3.5mm jack.
The Good:
Good construction.
The cheapest of the bunch - around 220$.
Large display with very slim bezels (and a notch...)
Expect phenomenal battery life that would probably last 7-8 hours of screen-on-time which is very good and comes to almost 2 full days of moderate use easily.
IR blaster isn't that common, but nice to have.
MicroSD card slot.
3.5mm headphone jack.
The device is medium sized - comfortable for one handed use.
The Bad:
"OK at best" front and back camera, expect very poor low light photos.
Last year chipset - Snapdragon 625 would probably show it's age sooner rather than later.
Single easy to cover speaker.
MicroUSB connector is outdated at this point.
Nokia 6.1 Plus
Main specifications:
Body: Aluminum body, Gorilla Glass 3 front.
Display: 5.8" IPS LCD with a cutout, 1,080x2,280px resolution, 19:9 aspect ratio, 432ppi.
Rear camera: Primary 16MP, Secondary 5MP.
Front camera: 16MP.
OS: Android 8.1 Oreo (Android One).
Chipset: Qualcomm Snapdragon 636.
Memory: 4GB of RAM; 32/64GB storage; microSD slot.
Battery: 3,060mAh Li-Po.
Connectivity: Dual-SIM; LTE, USB-C; Wi-Fi a/b/g/n/ac; GPS; Bluetooth 5.0.
Misc: Rear-mounted fingerprint reader; single down-firing speaker; 3.5mm jack.
The Good:
Good construction.
Large display with very slim bezels (and a notch...)
Good front and back camera for the price.
Snapdragon 636 is modern, quick and power efficient.
Battery would probably last 4-5 hours of screen-on-time which is very good and comes to a full day of moderate use easily.
3.5mm headphone jack.
USB-C connector is the new standard.
The device is medium sized - comfortable for one handed use.
The Bad:
Single easy to cover speaker.
No microSD card slot.
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