Mi A1 - the second device I've played with, & the 1st A/B device I've ever used.
Summary : Good bootloader unlocking protocol, bad repairability, performance not fit for gamers.
The A1 feels forgettably fine.
The Mi A1 has all audio modules (headphone jack & mono loudspeaker, in that order) at the bottom of the device, flanking the USB-C port.
The speaker's quality is fine enough, despite being a mono.
The headphone jack quality is quite fine, with no major flaws whatsoever.
The 5.5' 16.9 LCD display is fine enough for daily usage & is somewhat visible out in the sunlight at max brightness.
The bootloader unlocking process is foolproof & simple : plug phone to PC, enable OEM unlocking & USB debugging in stock OS' developer options & fastboot oem unlock in fastboot. No connecting to internet (if you have the adb/fastboot tools ready).
Repairability is an area where the A1 suffers. In theory, it is similar to Poco F1 & OnePlus 3T in which they start out by removing the back shell, however, the A1's back shell is somehow harder to open.
Inside however, everything is straightforward, except for the button, which connects with latches (not ideal IMO, considering the size & how fragile it is).
My repair story:
Initially, all I wanted to do was switch the back panel, gloss up the looks. As I pried the back shell, parts of the LCD frame broke off & I accidentally hit the power button, rendering it in a state where it works, but that button essentially becomes a capacitive button just like the HTC U12's.
Months later, I tried again, with the intent of replacing both the LCD frame & the button. While the replacement worked, somehow the display's top section stopped responding to touches. I promptly sent it to a service center, concluding that I suck at this one. Turns out the service center somehow managed to fuck up the connection point between the button & motherboard - which basically rendered the entire A1 inoperable.
In terms of custom ROMs, the A1 is unfortunately very weak, with the only decent ROM being LineageOS, and the rest is pretty much GApps-only crap (Evo-X, Elixir, PixelExperience) or the too-much-stuff SparkOS.
Kernel development is pretty much nonexistent, though it should also be noted that every ROM has been upstreamed to 4.9 as opposed to the A1's default 3.x kernel.
Aside from the unfortunately bad performance & repairability, I couldn't find any other damning issues than:
The Mi A1 is pretty bad. Sure, Xiaomi got the bootloader protocol right (by not using their shit Mi Unlock Tool), but weak gaming performance & questionable repairability (especially for the power & volume buttons) kills it for me.
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