Google’s Open-Source AI Data Center Cooling Design Raises Commoditization Concerns 
Qualcomm Nears $4 Billion Acquisition of AI Chip Startup Modular 
US-Iran De-Escalation Shifts Washington’s Focus to AI Regulation and Crypto Legislation 
Trump’s Quantum Push Lifts IBM Stock as CEO Arvind Krishna Receives White House Praise 
SK Hynix Overtakes Samsung as South Korea’s Most Valuable Company 
Oracle Cuts 21,000 Jobs as AI Reshapes Workforce and Cloud Expansion Accelerates 
Apple Signals Product Price Hikes Amid Rising Memory Chip Costs 
SK Hynix Moves Closer to New York ADR Listing Amid AI Chip Boom 
Today’s space race could turn fatal if we don’t agree on new rules 
Tencent Reviews Marvelous Stake as Gaming Giant Reassesses Global Investment Strategy 
Samsung Electronics Stock Surges on Report of Massive $59 Billion Share Buyback Plan 
Meta Seeks Legal Shield From Child-Harm Lawsuits Amid KOSA Talks 
Cerebras Revenue Forecast Tops Expectations, but Margin Concerns Weigh on Stock 
Google Gemini Co-Lead Noam Shazeer Leaves for OpenAI Amid AI Talent Race 
Trump Says Anthropic No Longer Seen as National Security Threat 
The Xiaomi Mi A2 is out and it is making a lot of budget smartphone hunters quite happy. The device represents a good balance between low costs and decent features. On that note, it is concerning that Xiaomi did an Apple and got rid of phone’s 3.5mm headphone port. The device was also pitted against the similarly impressive Nokia 7 Plus and held its own.
As Ars Technica notes in its coverage of the Xiaomi Mi A2, it seems that even budget smartphones are now getting rid of the headphone jack. Is this the beginning of the end for the feature that has been a part of the tech industry for decades? At this point, it doesn’t seem so, but one can never really tell.
In terms of the other features and specs of the Xiaomi Mi A2, its OS is the Android 8.1 Oreo and has a 5.99-inch screen. The display resolution is 2160×1080 and it sports an Adreno 512 GPU. The processor is a bit on the mid-range side with the Qualcomm Snapdragon 660. However, with a retail price of $290, customers can hardly complain about that.
In terms of competitors, it’s clear that the Xiaomi Mi A2 was intended to compete in the same arena as the Nokia 7 Plus. HMD Global, which has acquired the rights to distribute the Nokia brand, has been doing quite well and is actually seeing a resurgence.
To see which of the two would serve users best, Android Authority compared the Xiaomi Mi A2 and the Nokia 7 Plus, and the results seem to put the devices on an even playing field. Granted, the price of the Xiaomi Mi A2 gives it an advantage, but the Nokia 7 Plus does feature a headphone jack and a bigger battery. So it basically comes down to what customers are looking for.
