Highlights:
Android One phones have been quite popular in the mid-range segment giving tough competition to smartphones running custom OS. Take Xiaomi’s Redmi phones for instance. Last year, the Redmi Note 5 Pro and the Xiaomi Mi A2, the company’s second Android One phone, were offered at the same price initially, and despite the Note 5 Pro’s streak of being sold out in minutes, the Mi A2 managed to remain popular with Xiaomi offering frequent discounts on the phone. Clearly, Android One has a big fan following thanks to its promise of regular updates and clean, stock Android. It’s not surprising that a report now indicates a successor is in the works by Xiaomi.
A report by XDA Developers suggests Xiaomi is working on a device codenamed ‘orchid_sprout’. The codename was discovered by an XDA member “digging through the latest Android Pie-based MIUI 10 firmware on the Mi 8.” Apparently, the previous Android One devices by Xiaomi, Mi A1 and Mi A2 were codenamed “tissot_sprout” and “jasmine_sprout” while the Mi A2 Lite that was launched in Europe was codenamed “daisy_sprout”. Clearly, the ‘_sprout’ suffix is used by Xiaomi to denote Android One devices.
The report only mentioned a codename and nothing else about the design, specs or camera was revealed. It mostly seems like this will be the successor to the Mi A2, possibly called the Xiaomi Mi A3. And considering the high benchmark the Mi A2 set for other mid-range phones with a capable low-light camera, the Mi A3 should offer something similar, if not better. The Mi A2 thankfully skipped on the notch trend and stuck to a metal chassis, but the Mi A3 has a high chance of undergoing a design revamp what with waterdrop-style notch, thin bezels and glass bodies being more popular.
Xiaomi has big, ambitious plans for 2019. The company officially announced the “Redmi” brand will now operate independently. With that, the company now has three independent smartphone brands — Mi, Redmi and Poco. There is a Redmi event scheduled on January 7 in China where Xiaomi is expected to launch the Redmi 7 series phones. Earlier, Xiaomi had revealed it is working on a 5G with the latest Snapdragon 855 under the hood, while a new leak now reveals the company might be working on a triple-display foldable phone.
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