Two of the most hyped mid-range smartphones will be put side-by-side to see which one has the upper hand in each key smartphone aspect. Which one of these two will prevail: Xiaomi Mi A2 or the Huawei Nova 3i? Let’s start!
The Xiaomi Mi A2 is the company’s second Android One smartphone that sports a 5.99-inch FHD+ LTPS display with 2160 x 1080 resolution, a Snapdragon 660 processor, a 4GB/6GB RAM, a 64GB/128GB internal storage, a 12MP + 20MP dual rear cameras, a 20MP front camera, and a 3,010mAh battery with Qualcomm Quick charge 3.0
Huawei Nova 3i is the company’s top contender for the mid-range segment sporting a 6.3-inch IPS LCD display with 2340 x 1080 resolution, a Kirin 710 processor, a Mali-G51 w/ GPU Turbo Tech, a 4GB RAM, a 128GB internal storage, a 24MP + 2MP dual rear cameras, a 24MP + 2MP dual front cameras, and a 3,340mAh battery.
Here are their detailed specs:
| Specification | Xiaomi Mi A2 | Huawei Nova 3i |
|---|---|---|
| Display | 5.99-inch FHD+ LTPS display @ 2160 x 1080px, 403ppi | 6.3-inch 19.5:9 IPS LCD FullView display 2.0 @ 2340 x 1080 pixels, 409ppi |
| Glass type | Corning Gorilla Glass 5 | 2.5D Curved Glass |
| CPU | Qualcomm Snapdragon 660 2.2GHz Octa-core processor | HiSilicon Kirin 710 4x cortex a73 2.2ghz + 4x cortex a53 1.7ghz Octa-core Processor |
| GPU | Adreno 512 | Mali-G51 w/ GPU Turbo Tech |
| RAM | 4GB, 6GB LPDDR4X RAM | 4GB RAM |
| Storage | 64GB. 128GB internal storage | 128GB internal storage |
| SIM | Dual SIM | Dual-SIM (nano, hybrid) |
| MicroSD | - | Expandable via microSD (hybrid) |
| Rear Camera | 12MP + 20MP dual rear cameras with LED flash | 16MP + 2MP AI dual rear cameras w/ Super slow mo 480fps |
| Front Camera | 20MP front camera | 24MP + 2MP AI dual front cameras |
| LTE | 4G LTE | Dual 4G, Dual-VoLTE |
| WiFi | WiFi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac | WiFi 802.11b/g/n, 2.4GHz |
| Bluetooth | Bluetooth 5.0 | Bluetooth 4.2, BLE, HWA, aptX, and aptX HD |
| GPS | GPS, A-GPS, GLONASS, BDS | GPS, GLONASS, BeiDou, A-GPS |
| Port | USB 2.0 Type-C (supports Quick Charge 3.0) | Micro USB 2.0 |
| 3.5mm audio port | - | Yes |
| Biometrics | - Fingerprint scanner - Face unlock | - Fingerprint scanner - 360 face unlock |
| OS | Android One (Android 8.1 Oreo) | EMUI 8.2 (Android 8.1 Oreo) |
| Battery | 3,010mAh non-removable battery w/ Qualcomm Quickcharge 3.0 | 3,340mAh Li-Po battery |
| Colors | Gold, Blue, Black | Gradient, Classic Black, White |
Here are their benchmark scores:
| Xiaomi Mi A2 | Huawei Nova 3i | |
|---|---|---|
| AnTuTu v7 | 131,748 | 138,758 |
| Geekbench 4.2 | 1,653 (Single-core) 4,836 (Multi-core) | 1,522 (Single-Core) 5,841 (Multi-Core) |
| 3DMark SSE - OpenGL 3.1 | 1,269 | 1,086 |
| PCMark Work 2.0 | 6,756 | 4,338 |
| Video Loop | 12 hours and 31 minutes | 13 hours and 30 minutes |
Here are the advantages of each smartphone:
Xiaomi Mi A2
- Better display type
- Better performing GPU
- Gorilla Glass 5
- Higher secondary camera lens resolution
- Bluetooth 5.0
- USB Type-C
- Android One OS
- Quickcharge 3.0
- Larger screen size
- Higher aspect ratio
- Better performing CPU
- Expandable storage
- Higher main rear camera lens resolution
- Higher front camera resolution
- 3.5mm audio port
- Longer battery life
When it comes to displays, the Mi A2 has a better display type with LTPS IPS, drawing less power compared with the IPS LCD of the Nova 3i (read more about smartphone displays here). However, our vote goes to the latter due to its larger screen size and higher aspect ratio making it a better pick if we are fond of watching videos.
Performance is the deciding factor for most users nowadays when choosing smartphones. Based on the AnTuTu benchmark scores, the Nova 3i scored higher than the Mi A2, making it the better pick for overall performance. However, our 3DMark scores show that the latter yielded a higher score than the former making it the better pick for gaming purposes.
Both smartphones have excellent camera capabilities but they have different camera setups. The Mi A2 has a higher secondary rear camera lens while the Nova 3i has a higher front camera lens. Do note that the latter has a super slow-mo (480fps) feature while the former doesn’t. We’ll let you be the judge by checking out our sample photos on both of them here (Xiaomi Mi A2 and Huawei Nova 3i).
We tested both devices in our video loop test and it showed that the Nova 3i lasted longer than the Mi A2. This means that the former is the better pick when it comes to having a longer battery life but, the latter is the more ideal pick for us since it supports Qualcomm Quick charge 3.0 which provides faster-charging speed.
To summarize, the Xiaomi Mi A2 is the better choice if you want to have a device with a Gorilla Glass 5 protection on your screens, a USB Type-C port, a better gaming experience, a Stock Android, and a fast charging capabilities. On the other hand, Nova 3i is the right pick when it comes to having a better viewing experience, an existing expandable storage, a 3.5mm audio port, a better CPU performance, and a longer battery life.
The Xiaomi Mi A2 is priced at Php13,990 while the Huawei Nova 3i is priced at Php15,990. Both of them are already available in their corresponding authorized stores nationwide.
What do you guys think? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.
may MHL support ba ang usbC ni Mi A2?
can someone answer me hehe, may GPU turbo po ba ang Huawei Nova 3i out of the box? or hndi pa dumarating ang OTA update?
they should have killed the micro usb
Hahaha Mi A2 for the win pa din!
Also got Mi A2 for a couple of days. Same with Josh comment. The screen isn’t that great. It was good at the first 3 days, but started noticing the “badness” of the screen after. Still a great phone with its price.
trash yung nova 3i micro usb parin… at 15+k yung 128 GB lang ang mahilab.
I have the Xiaomi A2 for a couple of days now.
My only gripe is the screen: the colors seemed to be muted and they are not as vibrant as I would like.
Otherwise it is a good phone.