Xiaomi Redmi Note 6 Pro vs Mi A2: Price, Specifications Compared

Xiaomi has just released the Redmi Note 6 Pro smartphone in India after making it official in Thailand last month. The smartphone has quite a few highlights, the big ones being that it runs on MIUI 10 out-of-the-box, and that it sports dual front and back cameras. The device is a decent upgrade from its predecessor Xiaomi Redmi Note 5 Pro. The company recently also released the Xiaomi Mi A2 smartphone in India, its stock Android offering, and made its 6GB RAM variant available just last month.

The Xiaomi Mi A2 is slightly more expensive than the Xiaomi Redmi Note 6 Pro in India, but they both fall under the Rs. 20,000 price bracket. We pit the two against each other to see which one fares better, at least on paper.

Xiaomi Redmi Note 6 Pro vs Mi A2 price

The new entrant Xiaomi Redmi Note 6 Pro is priced in India at Rs. 13,999 for the base 4GB RAM/ 64GB inbuilt storage variant, and Rs. 15,999 for the variant with 6GB RAM and 64GB storage. Colour options of the Redmi Note 6 Pro are Black, Blue, Red, and Rose Gold. It will go on sale in India starting 12pm IST (Noon) on November 23, Friday, exclusively via Flipkart, Mi.com, and Mi Home stores as part of the company's 'Black Friday Sale'. Launch offers include Rs. 2,400 Jio Instant Cashback and up to 6TB of Jio data.

Xiaomi Redmi Note 6 Pro Review

Only for the Black Friday Sale, the company is offering a Rs. 1,000 discount on the Xiaomi Redmi Note 6 Pro - bringing the prices down to Rs. 12,999 and Rs. 14,999. HDFC Bank is also offering a Rs. 500 instant discount if the smartphone is purchased during the Black Friday sale using its credit/ debit cards, as well as on EMI transactions.

The Xiaomi Mi A2 was launched in India in August, and its price started from Rs. 16,999 for the 4GB RAM/ 64GB inbuilt storage variant, and Rs. 19,999 for the 6GB RAM/ 128GB inbuilt storage variant. The smartphone has been made available in Black, Gold, Lake Blue, and Rose Gold colour options. During the Diwali sale, Xiaomi was offering both the devices for Rs. 14,999 and Rs. 17,999 respectively. Last week, Xiaomi reduced the price of the Mi A2 by Rs. 1,000, and it now retails for Rs. 15,999 and Rs. 18,999 respectively on Amazon India. The company says that the price cut was possible due to the price reduction of some of its component costs.

Xiaomi Mi A2 Review

Xiaomi Redmi Note 6 Pro vs Xiaomi Mi A2 specifications

Possibly the biggest difference between the two is the software. The Redmi Note 6 Pro runs on MIUI 10 on top of Android 8.1 Oreo out-of-the-box, and the Mi A2 runs on stock Android 8.1 Oreo out-of-the-box. Xiaomi Mi A2 is part of the Android One program, and therefore brings along the promised regular two years of software and security updates from Google. The Redmi Note 6 Pro sports a larger 6.26-inch display possibly because of the more screen real estate thanks to the notch. In comparison, the Mi A2 sports a 5.99-inch display without a notch, and considerable chin on the top and bottom of the display. Both the phones' display sports a 1080p resolution, and offers 4GB and 6GB RAM options. The REdmi variant is powered by the Snapdragon 636 processor, while the Mi A2 is powered by the Snapdragon 660 SoC.

The Redmi Note 6 Pro offers 64GB of inbuilt storage with the option to expand further via a microSD card slot. The Mi A2, on the other hand, offers 64GB and 128GB internal storage options, but lacks a microSD card slot for expansion. Coming to the camera, both the devices sport a vertically stacked dual camera setup at the back. The Redmi Note 6 Pro sports In terms of optics, the Xiaomi Redmi Note 6 Pro bears a vertically aligned dual rear camera setup with a 12-megapixel primary sensor - coupled with f/1.9 aperture and 1.4-micron pixel size - and a 5-megapixel depth sensing secondary sensor. On the front, the Xiaomi Redmi Note 6 Pro sports yet another dual camera setup. There is a 20-megapixel primary sensor (with 1.8-micron pixels) and a 2-megapixel secondary sensor.

The Xiaomi Mi A2 also sports a dual rear camera setup, with a 12-megapixel Sony IMX486 sensor in the primary camera, featuring 1.25-micron pixels with an f/1.75 aperture. It uses a 20-megapixel IMX376 sensor as the secondary rear camera, with 2-micron pixels, 4-in-1 Super Pixel tech, and f/1.75 aperture. The rear camera setup also features a flash module. On the front, the Mi A2 bears the same 20-megapixel sensor, complete with a soft-light flash module.

While the Redmi Note 6 Pro packs a 4,000mAh battery, the Mi A2 packs a smaller 3,000mAh battery. Both the smartphones sport a rear fingerprint scanner and support dual-SIM slots.

Can Redmi Note 6 Pro beat the Nokia 6.1 Plus and Zenfone Max Pro M1? We discussed this on Orbital, our weekly technology podcast, which you can subscribe to via Apple Podcasts or RSS, download the episode, or just hit the play button below.