Xiaomi is working on a new Android One smartphone, possibly the Mi A3

tech2 News StaffJan 04, 2019 21:45:11 IST

Xiaomi has been known to launch at least one smartphone under Google's Android One program each year and having launched the Mi A2 and Mi A2 Lite in the summer of 2018, the company has now reportedly begun work on the Mi A3 for 2019.

The Xiaomi Mi A2. Image: tech2/ Amrita Rajput

According to a report by XDADevelopers, Xiaomi's Mi A line of Android One smartphones may be joined by a new model, judging by its codename. A developer who goes by the name of 'franztesca' happened to stumble upon a Xiaomi device with the code-name “orchid_sprout” while running through the newest Android Pie-based MIUI 10 firmware on a Mi 8 unit.

The report notes that the '_sprout' suffix in the codename has been used in almost every Android One device certified by Google and is also found in the codenames of Xiaomi's existing Android One smartphones — tissot_sprout, jasmine_sprout, and daisy_sprout for the Mi A1, Mi A2 and Mi A2 Lite respectively.

While that leaves us with little doubt that Xiaomi has begun work on the Mi A3, as far as leaked specifications or renders go, there is little known about the phone so far. Given Xiaomi's usual launch cycle, we should expect to see the Mi A3 launch in July.

That date is a while away but at least we now know that Xiaomi will continue to offer at least one smartphone under the Android One program.