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It appears that Xiaomi may be working with Google on a brand new Android One smartphone, at least according to a leaked picture describing the device – which is said to be named the Xiaomi A1 internally right now. It notes that this device is an Android One device and the software is designed by Google. It does also tout that it has dual-cameras as well as unlimited storage on Google Photos and it also has a 5.5-inch full HD display. Which is a bit of an interesting spec for an Android One smartphone, as these are usually dirt cheap, and full HD doesn’t fit that mold yet.
Xiaomi has worked with Google before on other projects, most notably the Mi Box Android TV set-top box that is sold in the US. This Android One smartphone could make its way to the US, but will likely be sold in emerging markets – like India, a place where Xiaomi already has a fairly large foothold. This smartphone likely won’t be launching in China though, which would be a bit of an interesting thing for Xiaomi since almost everything it announces is available in its homeland of China. But since Google’s services are blocked in China, it makes little sense to sell an Android One device over there.
According to this report, this Android One smartphone is going to be based on the Mi 5X from Xiaomi, which was announced just last month. The Mi 5X has a 5.5-inch full HD display, powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 625 processor, with 4GB of RAM, 32GB of storage and a 3080mAh battery inside powering the device. It does also have dual 12-megapixel cameras on the back of the device, and it is made of metal with the front being made of glass. Compared to the specs that were named in this leaked photo – seen below – it’s very close to the Mi 5X, so it’s possible that Xiaomi could take the Mi 5X and slap stock Android on top of it to make it an Android One device. There’s no word yet on when Xiaomi or Google will debut this device, nor where it will actually be sold.
