The 'Apple of China' just released an affordable iPhone 7 clone — take a look

On Tuesday, the Chinese smartphone manufacturer Xiaomi unveiled its newest smartphone: the Mi A1.

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Billed as the company's flagship dual-camera phone, the Mi A1 costs about $235 and is powered by Android One, a stock version of Google's smartphone operating system built for lower-end phones. While the phone won't be available in the US, it will be in more than 40 countries worldwide.

Xiaomi Mi A1_03
Xiaomi

The design of Mi A1 may look a bit familiar — as if you took the iPhone 7 Plus, with its dual cameras, metal finishes, and hidden-antenna design but replaced the Apple logo on the back with a fingerprint sensor. Xiaomi even described the phone as "similar to iPhone 7 Plus."

The similarities are even more obvious up close:

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Xiaomi's Mi A1 comes in three colors: black, gold, and rose gold. The iPhone 7 comes in these same colors plus two more: silver and jet black.

Xiaomi Mi A1_02
Xiaomi

The Mi A1 has a 5.5-inch display — the same size as the iPhone 7 Plus' — and an entirely metal body, also like the iPhone 7.

Xiaomi Mi A1_AllColors
Xiaomi
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Also like the iPhone 7 Plus, the Mi A1 features a dual-lens camera system comprising a 12-megapixel wide-angle lens and a 12-megapixel telephoto lens.

Xiaomi Mi A1
Xiaomi

Much like other high-end smartphone cameras, the Mi A1 has a "DSLR effect," meaning it can blur the background while keeping the subject in focus. Only the larger iPhone 7 Plus has this camera feature, which Apple calls Portrait Mode.

Xiaomi Mi A1_04
Xiaomi
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Here are some examples of portraits taken with the phone's camera.

The camera seems to perform well in low light, too.

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Xiaomi says the Mi A1 is fingerprint-resistant and has "discreet separation lines" on its body.

Xiaomi Mi A1_Black_Flatdown
Xiaomi

The Mi A1 uses USB-C charging, but perhaps the phone's biggest difference from the iPhone 7 is its headphone jack.

Xiaomi Mi A1
Xiaomi
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The A1 has a Snapdragon 625 processor and 64 GB of internal storage.

Xiaomi Mi A1_01
Xiaomi

Xiaomi says the A1 has an "all-day battery," but it doesn't say exactly how long the battery will last.

Xiaomi Mi A1
Xiaomi
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The phone runs Android One, a stock version of Android built for lower-end smartphones. It will get Android Oreo, the latest version of Android, by the end of the year.

Xiaomi Mi A1_Black_Slanted
Xiaomi

Source: The Verge

Xiaomi's Mi A1 will cost about $235 but won't be available in the US. Starting September 12, the same day Apple announces its new phones, the Mi A1 will be available in India and over 40 other markets worldwide.

Xiaomi Mi A1_03
Xiaomi

Source: Xiaomi

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