These days it seems all Android phone makers are in a competition to find out who can make the most useless UI (User Interface) and load the most crapware out of the box. Various cloud services including Google themselves are dishing out money to OEMs to make sure their services come preloaded which would hopefully force the phone buyer to become the cloud service’s customer.
Removing the UI or the bloatware often involves using the ADB command line interface which most normal phone users don’t even know exists. Then there is the fact that most phone makers keep dishing out phones without ever bothering to create security patches for them. Even the most high end phone makers like Samsung take their sweet time to push updates.
And then Google made Android One
Android One is supposed to be a solution to all these problems. It is what Android ought to be, a pure unadulterated Android experience without all those fancy bells and whistles that OEMs like to shove on us. To quote Google, Android One is smart, secure and simply amazing.
The Xiaomi Mi A2 is the flag bearer of Android One at the moment and it offers a value for money experience that is going to be hard to beat for some time.
- It is powered by the beefy Snapdragon 660 which means a breezy user experience especially on a platform that’s made the way Mamma Google envisioned it
- 20MP+12MP dual rear cameras for all those fancy photo and video shoots
- A 20MP AI front camera ready to fix all your horrendous photo and video skills on the fly
- All cameras produce excellent photos and videos in low light
- 18:9 aspect ratio on a 5.99″ FHD+ large display
- 2.5D Corning® Gorilla® Glass 5 display all of which gives the optimal drop-resistant, high-resolution touchscreen experience.
- Dual nano SIM
- A 3010 battery which can last a whole 2 days with normal use
- Wireless charging which supports Chi
- A type-C port
- Rear fingerprint sensor
- IR Blaster for all those IR apps including DSTV- seriously the last one means you will always win the remote wars every Saturday afternoon
- The device comes in 4GB/32GB, 4GB/64GB and 6GB/128GB RAM/ROM pairings
- It is currently available in 3 colours: Gold, Lake Blue and Black
- It’s made out of metal no cheap plastic here
- Android Pay which you can use to look cool at those fancy malls whenever you go abroad. Ecocash’s tap to pay thingy never took off so it’s USSD here in Zimbabwe till kingdom come.
The Lite Experience
There is also a slightly cheaper and not by much less awesome Lite version that removes the Snapdragon 660 and replaces it with the less powerful but power efficient Snapdragon 625. The rear cameras also become a 12MP pair.
This version also comes with an SD card slot that can take SD cards with up to 256GB storage. The Mi A2 has no SD card slot. The Mi A2 Lite is actually the Redmi 6 Pro with Android One
Again why Android One
- Fast security patches with updates at the very least once a month from Google
- No bloatware
- Standard stock Android UI
- Fast user exeprience
- Guaranteed updates to future versions of Android. You can install Android P on the previous version of this phone right now when everyone is boasting about Android 8.1 being the thing
Where to buy the phone
- The 4GB/32GB version is going for $229.99 here
- The 4GB/64GB version is going for $249.99 only here
- The 6GB/128GB version can be bought here for only $299.99
- The lite version with 4GB/64GB can be bought for $199.99 here
What if you wanted MIUI
Bloatware or not MIUI the custom skin on Xiaomi’s phones offers a pleasant experience and enhancements that should never be sneezed at. Here is a little secret about the Mi A2, it is just the Redmi 6X which comes with Android One! Yes every feature of it down to wireless charging means the only difference between them is the ROM.
Where to buy the Redmi 6X
- You can buy the 4GB/64GB version here where it is going for $275. And it comes in gorgeous red too. It’s not only Apple that can do these things you know.
The Ecocash Offer
To buy these phones you can click on the links above to be taken to the relevant online stores. You can then complete the payment using either a MasterCard/Visa Card that can make international payments. I would recommend linking these cards to PayPal for your own protection it’s free and makes your online shopping safer.
Now if you cannot make the payment on your own. I the saint can make the payment on your behalf and you can compensate me using Ecocash/ZIPIT. This offer is limited to the Mi A2 4GB/64GB and the Redmi 6X versions for logistical and funds reasons. When this offer expires I will update this article to reflect this. To take advantage of this offer please follow the steps below:
- Get in touch with me via WhatsApp on my number 0772 473 953 ( I detest WhatsApp calls) if you want to call don’t use WhatsApp but the number. You can also email me on my gmail address my handle is garikaib
- After I have given you the go ahead send $405 for the Mi A2 or $442 for the Redmi 6X
- Send me your actual legal name, address and the phone number on which you will be notified by Zimpost once the parcel arrives
- I will make the purchase and the parcel will be send to you
- Once the item is shipped I will send you the tracking number
- Easy as ABC
Again I would strongly recommend the 4GB/64GB version to which you can just add an SD card and I am putting my money where my mouth is by this offer.
7 comments
The Mi A2 and the Redmi 6x do not have an SD card slot, it’s only the Mi A2 lite that has it
Do people still use memory expansion cards in their phones? Isn’t 64GB enough?
Strangely it seems so yeah. That was weird to me too. I make heavy use of Google’s services myself so things like photos and videos are regularly backed up so I can delete them, except the most used, from my phone.
What are the duty rates for cellphones these days. I last saw on your website that it was 25% but on the ZIMRA site its saying 40% can you assist me in truly finding out so as to make necessary plans in context to budgeting.
Duty for phones is 25% as per the current Finance act and ZIMRA tariff handbook
plus 15% VAT?
yes