According to a verified source, Xiaomi is planning on an update to its entry level Redmi A1. The update is the Redmi A2.

The Redmi A series is a lineup of entry level phones that took over from the Redmi Go series. The A series are designed for minimal and light use. As a result, you will not get good performance, gaming or good cameras here.

Entry level phones are meant for social media, calls, SMS and light gaming with the odd selfie here and there. This is why they’re very cheap.

The Redmi A1 stuck to this tradition but the Redmi A2 improves on its predecessor by some margin. This new phone however retains the older design of its predecessor.

This could cause a bit of confusion later on so prospective buyers should do their due diligence.

Redmi A2
Redmi A2+ 1

Redmi A2 specs

  • SoC: MediaTek Helio G36
  • Camera: 8MP (main) + 0.08MP (depth)
  • Selfie: 5MP
  • Display: 6.5″ HD+ LCD
  • Battery: 5000mAh (10W)
  • Price: N60,000

Performance

The SoC on this phone is the latest Helio G36 which is making its debut. There’s no difference between the Helio G37, G35 and the new G36. In fact, the G36 is actually slower and would have a slightly reduced performance with the trade-off being that it would have slightly better battery life.

Some outlets and blogs have announced that the G36 is a budget gaming processor but I beg to differ. Both the G35 and G37 cannot run eFootball and I highly doubt that the G36 will. Do not buy this if you’re looking to play games.

If you require a cheap phone to run games then the Redmi 12C is probably where you should be looking at.

So long as you’re sticking with light social media apps (no IG or Snapchat), general communication and multimedia, then you’re good to go. Anything else would be asking too much.

Read: Redmi A1 vs Itel S18 vs Samsung A03 Core

Cameras

The Helio G36 on board the Redmi A2 can support cameras of up to 25MP but Xiaomi decided to go with an 8MP main camera supported by a depth sensor. In front, you’ll most likely find a 5MP selfie camera. Do not expect stellar images from this camera. It’ll produce passable images in good lighting and nothing more.

The same can also be said of the videos that will be produced by this phone. This phone can give you 720p @30fps video, but the videos will only be passable under good lighting conditions.

Display

There is a 6.5″ HD+ display on board. It’s not the best but it’s not that bad either. It’s good enough to display whatever you want it to.

Battery

There’s a 5000mAh battery here which should give you a decent amount of battery life but the charging is capped at 10W. This means that the battery will take quite a while to charge fully.

Network and Connectivity

This A2 supports 2G, 3G and 4G LTE connectivity although the LTE speed are capped at Cat.7 or 300Mbps. There’s Bluetooth 5 and Wifi 5 as well as a Micro USB port.

Prices

At the moment, the phone sells for N60,000 (Nigerian Naira) for the 2/32GB version.

Conclusion

The Redmi A2 is an entry level phone that should handle social media, calls, SMS and light games with very little fuss. Anything else is probably asking for too much.

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