Xiaomi Mi A2 supports 1080p video recording at 60fps with EIS

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The Xiaomi Mi A2 launched in Spain on July 24 as the successor to the Xiaomi Mi A1. It’s the Android One version of the China-only Xiaomi Mi 6X. The phone launched in India on August 8, and it’s set to go on sale for the first time in the country today at 12PM IST via Amazon and Mi.com. In terms of specifications, the Mi A2 slots in above the Xiaomi Redmi Note 5 Pro as it has a higher-end SoC (Snapdragon 660 vs. Snapdragon 636), a better dual rear camera setup, and additional features such as a USB Type-C port and Qualcomm Quick Charge 3.0 support (the Indian variant also supports Qualcomm Quick Charge 4.0, but users will need to buy a charger as the bundled charger only supports 5V/2A charging).

Xiaomi has been promoting the Mi A2’s camera since launch, to the extent of comparing it with high-end cameras such as the OnePlus 6 and the iPhone X. The phone’s primary 12MP camera has a Sony IMX486 sensor, 1.25μm pixels, and f/1.75 aperture. It’s augmented by a 20MP secondary camera with a Sony IMX376 sensor, 1.0μm pixels, and f/1.75 aperture. The secondary camera aims to improve photos in low light and is also used for Xiaomi’s portrait mode implementation. The Mi A2 combines output from both cameras in low light, by using pixel binning to combine four pixels into a single pixel.

In terms of video recording, the Mi A2 supports 4K video recording out of the box, unlike the Xiaomi Redmi Note 5 Pro which could record only 1080p videos at 30fps at launch. More surprisingly, the Mi A2 also supports 1080p video recording at 60fps, making it the first Xiaomi mid-range phone to support 60fps video recording out of the box. (The Redmi Note 5 Pro supports [email protected] video recording in the latest MIUI 10 beta builds.)

XDA Senior Member pianistaPL posted that the Mi A2 supports 60fps video recording with EIS support in the XDA forum for the Mi A2. I was able to verify this on my Mi A2 unit. The good news here is that the Mi A2 indeed supports EIS (Electronic Image Stabilization) in [email protected] video recording. This is a great feature to have on a mid-range phone as even some flagship phones skip on providing EIS in [email protected] video recording.

The use of EIS for [email protected] videos does mean that the field-of-view is cropped, but this is expected behavior. In my experience, the stabilization is quite effective while walking or when panning during recording. Stay tuned for our full Xiaomi Mi A2 review in the coming days, where we will test the phone’s still image quality as well as the video quality, and much, much more.