What's Missing? How To Setup, Free Memory + Storage
Contents
No 3.5 mm Audio Port
Although it is physically possible to squeeze in a 3.5 mm audio port into the Mi A2’s thin 7.3 mm chassis, Xiaomi chose to limited the 3.5 mm port.
Instead, they included a USB-C to 3.5 mm audio port adaptor. This allows you to continue plugging in your earphones and hands-free kit. You just cannot use them while charging your Mi A2 at the same time.
No MicroSD Card Slot
The Xiaomi Mi A2 (US | UK | MY) has Dual SIM, Dual Standby support, with a SIM tray that accepts two nano SIM cards. However, they chose to eliminate the microSD card slot. They did not even make SIM2 a hybrid SIM slot, that could double as a microSD card slot.
That means you must rely solely on the internal flash storage – there is no way to expand storage in the Mi A2. This is something iPhone users will be familiar with, but not Android users.
So unless you don’t intend to take many photos or videos, or install many apps or games, you should opt for the higher storage capacities of 64 GB or 128 GB.
Setting Up The Xiaomi Mi A2
The Xiaomi Mi A2 (US | UK | MY) comes with Android 8.1 Oreo installed. The setup process is pretty easy, as we demonstrate in this video. You can also see how easy it is to train the fingerprint sensor.
Available Memory & Storage
Xiaomi offers the Mi A2 (US | UK | MY) with either 4 GB or 6 GB of RAM. Our review sample came with 4 GB of RAM. MIUI does not allow us to check the amount of free memory, except through the hidden Developer Options.
From what we can see, about half of the memory is used at all times by MIUI and background apps, leaving you about 2 GB of free memory to use. That is good enough for a few memory guzzling apps to use.
The Xiaomi Mi A2 (US | UK | MY) has storage options of 32 GB, 64 GB and 128 GB. We highly recommend you opt for 64 GB or 128 GB, because it does not come with a microSD card slot, so you can’t add more storage. Our review sample came with 64 GB of storage, of which just over 48 GB is available to use.
This is enough space to store about 12,000 photos, or 5 hours of 1080p videos, or 2.5 hours of 4K videos. If that’s not enough, then you should opt for the 128 GB storage option. Remember – there is no microSD card expansion option.
Next Page > Xiaomi Mi A2 Camera Performance – Photo Samples
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