Redmi India has launched its latest entry-level smartphone in India, the Redmi A1, and it’s the first Redmi A-Series smartphone priced at ₹6,499. Some highlights we can see are a 6.5-inch display, a 5,000 mAh battery, a leather texture design, and offers a clean Android experience (Android 12 Go Edition). Here’s our Redmi A1 review showing you the design, specs, performance, software, camera samples, and more.
Redmi A1 Specifications
- Display: 6.52-inch IPS LCD display, HD+ resolution, 60 Hz refresh rate, 120 Hz touch sampling rate, 20:9 aspect ratio, 400 nits brightness
- Software: Android 12 (Go Edition)
- CPU: MediaTek Helio A22 quad-core SoC (Cortex-A53 processor) clocked up to 2.0 GHz (MT6762M)
- GPU: IMG PowerVR GE8320 Graphics
- Memory: 2 GB RAM
- Storage: 32 GB internal storage, microSD card support up to 512 GB (dedicated)
- Main Camera: Dual cameras (8 MP main + depth camera), single LED flash
- Selfie Camera: 5 MP
- Others: 3.5 mm audio jack
- Cellular: 4G LTE network, dual SIM, dual 4G standby support, VoLTE, VoWiFi
- Battery & Charging: 5,000 mAh battery, 10W (5V, 2A) charging
- Thickness & Weight: 9.2 mm, 192 grams
- Price: ₹6,499 (2 GB + 32 GB)
Design, Display, Build Quality
The Redmi A1 is an affordable smartphone priced at ₹6,499 and this is the first smartphone under the Redmi A-Series. On the design front, the phone has a slightly premium-looking back, it comes with a smudge-free leather texture design and feels good when you hold, it gives you a good grip.
The smartphone has a 9.2 mm thickness and weighs around 192 grams. It comes in three color variants – Light Green, Light Blue, and Black. We got the Light Green color variant as you can see in the images below. The Redmi A1 has an overall good-looking design and offers decent build quality.
On the backside, you can see dual cameras and it’s surprising to know that at this price, you get two cameras instead of one that we see on some affordable smartphones including the Redmi 9A Sport. The Redmi A1 has an 8 MP primary camera and another depth camera and comes with an LED flash.
The front side has a 6.52-inch IPS display with an HD+ resolution (1600 x 720 pixels) and uses a standard 60 Hz refresh rate. The display comes with a 120 Hz touch-sampling rate, the brightness of the screen is 400 nits and the screen is protected with scratch-resistant glass. The front side also has a notch that holds a selfie camera of 5 MP. No fingerprint scanner is available on the phone.
Moving to the sides, the right side has a power button and volume buttons. The left side has a dual SIM tray and a dedicated microSD card slot that expands up to 512 GB. The SIM Tray supports dual 4G SIM cards with dual standby and support for VoLTE and VoWiFi.
The bottom side has the old micro USB port and not the modern Type-C port. You also get a 3.5 mm audio jack and a microphone at the bottom side. The loudspeaker grill is at the top, and no second microphone is found.
Software, User Interface, Features
About the software, the Redmi A1 runs on the latest Android 12 operating system (Go Edition) with no customized MIUI on top, the interface is stock and no additional apps or bloatware are installed on the phone. The security patch is dated 1st August 2022 on the Redmi A1.
The Android 12 Go Edition is based on the Android 12 with Go apps and it’s designed for budget smartphones with low-end hardware. The Android 12 is rather a more advanced Android update than the Go Edition and comes with better UI performance and with more features.
The performance of the UI is fair as the phone comes with low-end hardware i.e. quad-core Helio A22 and 2 GB RAM. Do not expect anything better as it’s a weak processor, you may encounter a little or some minor lags while using the phone depending on your usage, just know that the phone is powered by the lite version of Android i.e. Go Edition.
Hardware & Performance
The Redmi A1 equips an entry-level quad-core CPU from MediaTek, this is an Helio P22 quad-core SoC with four Cortex-A53 processors clocked up to 2.0 GHz. The GPU on the chipset is an IMG PowerVR GE8320 which is used for lite gaming and some graphics apps. Moreover, you get 2 GB RAM and 32 GB storage on the phone and it’s the only variant you get, no 3 GB or 4 GB RAM and more storage. The storage, however, can be expanded via a microSD card up to 512 GB.
Moving to its performance, you can expect the CPU performance to be suitable for very basic use, it’s just a quad-core CPU with Cortex-A53 cores and the performance is weak, you can compare its power to the old Snapdragon 439, but slightly below it in terms of performance due to their quad-core vs octa-core.
So you will be able to use it for calling, messaging, video streaming, very lite gaming, listening to music, and so on, but don’t expect anything better, this processor is just too weak to multitask or play mainstream games like Battlegrounds Mobile India or PUBG Mobile. You may encounter some minor lags while using the phone. Android Go Edition is build for low-spec hardware and you may be able to use the Go apps efficiently and without any problems.
Cameras
On the camera side, the Redmi A1 packs dual cameras instead of one, you can see the 8 MP AI dual cameras on the phone with the 8 MP being the main camera and the second camera basically being a depth camera. You can see a dual LED flash on the back, but it’s actually a single LED. Although the camera module is designed to look neat and has a very little camera bump.
Opening the camera app and there are a few modes – Photo, Portrait, Short Video, Time Lapse, Tilt-Shift, and Video. You can record up to 1080p at 30 fps videos, no Slow motion, Pro, Panorama, or Night modes are available. Know that at this price you will get just a basic camera. The selfie camera is a 5 MP which can be used for selfies and video calling.
We took some camera samples from its 8 MP main camera to show you how good is the quality of the photos, here are the samples attached below. The photos appear to be good, bright, and sharp given the price, but that’s all you have, you can’t do much with its camera.
Redmi A1 Camera Samples
Battery Runtime & Charging
On the Redmi A1, you get a 5,000 mAh battery with standard charging speed i.e. 10W (5V/2A). The battery can last up to 2 days (or even more depending on your usage) due to its low-spec hardware and HD+ display. Redmi says the phone can last up to 30 days on standby, delivering 171 hrs of music playback, 30 hrs of video playback, and 31.5 hrs of VoLTE calling. If you go a little higher price, you may get fast charging options in some phones like 18W depending on the option you choose.
Verdict – Redmi A1
The Redmi A1 is an affordable entry-level smartphone priced at ₹6,499. The smartphone comes with a good-looking design, a 6.5-inch display, Android 12 out-of-the-box, and offers a large 5,000 mAh battery. The Redmi A1 is a good pick if you are looking for an entry-level Android Go smartphone on a budget. The smartphone is powered by Android Go Edition which is designed for budget smartphones with low-end hardware, so if you want the full Android version, you can choose other options on a slightly higher budget.
