Xiaomi Mi 6X: This will probably become the Mi A2 and it’s a big upgrade

Xiaomi’s Mi 6X is finally official. During today’s launch event in Wuhan, China, the company spilled the beans on their brand new Mi device. Why should you care? Well, this phone is very likely going to be the upcoming successor to the Xiaomi Mi A1, which was one of the best budget phones of 2017.

Lets start things off with the specs. Keeping with the awesome trend of shrinking bezels and larger displays, the Xiaomi Mi 6X features a brand new 5.99″ Full HD+ IPS LCD display that pushes 2160×1080 pixels in an 18:9 aspect ratio.

Inside, it packs an upgraded Snapdragon 660 octa-core processor which features eight Kryo 260 cores (4+4) clocked up to 2.2GHz. With this processor, you’re getting a more capable Adreno 512 GPU as well, which should translate to better gaming performance too. The CPU is mated to either 4GB or 6GB of RAM with either 64GB or 128GB of internal storage.

Keeping the lights on is a 3,010 mAh battery which is slightly smaller than the 3,080 mAh cell in the original Mi A1/Mi 5X, so we’ll have to see how that impacts battery life overall. All of these internals are then wrapped up in a neat all-metal unibody that’s only 7.6mm thick. On the back of that slim body, you’ll find a fingerprint scanner, but the phone also has Face Unlock for those who prefer that.

What’s more, the smartphone will come with a USB Type-C port and will support Qualcomm’s Quick Charge 3.0 fast charging standard. With this, you can expect a 50% charge in 30 minutes. Unfortunately, however, the Xiaomi Mi 6X does not feature a 3.5mm headphone jack.

For photographs, Xiaomi’s equipped the Mi 6X with a new dual camera setup at the back. Instead of a telephoto and wide angle combo, the Mi 6X comes with a 12MP + 20MP module with an f/1.75 aperture lens. The main sensor is a Sony IMX486 unit with 1.25-micron pixels while the secondary 20MP sensor is a Sony IMX376 sensor instead.

The camera retains its ability to shoot portrait-mode photos and also adds AI scene recognition that can recognise 25 different labels and up to 206 different scenes, calibrating your camera settings to take the “best” photo for that scene. In front, you’re getting an upgraded selfie camera, featuring a Sony IMX376 sensor, bumping megapixels to 20MP.

This phone will come in five colour variants — gold, black, red, blue and rose gold. Here’s the full Chinese pricing for each Xiaomi Mi 6X variant:

Mi 6X — 4GB RAM + 64GB storage — CNY1,599 (around RM990)
Mi 6X — 6GB RAM + 64GB storage — CNY1,799 (around RM1,114)
Mi 6X — 6GB RAM + 128GB storage — CNY1,999 (around RM1,238)

Now that the China version has launched, the only question remaining is: Will we get a global version running stock Android to succeed the Mi A1?

From where we’re standing, it seems pretty likely. With how well-received the Mi A1 was, we doubt Xiaomi would give up this opportunity. I guess the real question would be what will they call it? What we understood when the Mi A1 launched was that A1 stood for Android One, so what will they call the successor? Mi A2? Mi A1 2? Mi A1 (2018)?

Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!