Mivi is a familiar name in India's smartphone accessory market, particularly for its audio products. With the One 5G, the company has taken its first step into a far more competitive category, where established smartphone brands have spent years refining their hardware, software and after-sales support.
The timing is significant, too. Rising smartphone component costs are putting pressure on manufacturers to keep prices in check, and some brands have started returning to 4G devices in the budget segment to maintain affordability. Against this backdrop, Mivi is looking to attract Indian buyers with a combination of 5G connectivity and everyday essentials, including a clean Android experience and a 120Hz display, at an accessible price.
I have been using the Mivi One 5G for the past few weeks. For a first smartphone, it makes a reasonable start, but the experience also highlights areas where the company needs to refine its hardware and software.
Here is what I found.
A design that does not try too hard
The first thing I noticed about the Mivi One 5G is that the company has kept the design fairly straightforward. The rear panel has a clean finish, the branding is restrained, and the camera module does not dominate the back of the phone. It is not trying to look like a flagship, and I think that is a sensible approach for a first smartphone.
The phone is available in multiple colours, including blue, green, pink, burgundy and navy blue. The finish gives it some visual character without making the design unnecessarily complicated.
However, this is not a particularly compact phone. It weighs around 210g and measures 9.15mm in thickness. The 6,000mAh battery partly explains the extra bulk, but the phone's size is something to consider for those who prefer lighter devices. The plastic construction is also in keeping with its budget positioning, rather than an attempt to imitate more expensive handsets.
There are a few practical additions worth appreciating. The phone has a 3.5mm headphone jack, USB Type-C connectivity and an IP64 rating for dust and water-splash resistance.
Expandable storage is another useful inclusion, particularly for buyers who would rather add a memory card than pay more for a higher-storage phone.
These are not features that will necessarily make someone choose the Mivi One 5G over every other phone, but they make the device more practical.
The side-mounted fingerprint sensor, meanwhile, is a different story. Integrating it into the power button makes sense from a cost point of view. However, the sensor has been inconsistent during my use. Sometimes it unlocks the phone without fuss; at other times, I have had to try again. It is a small but recurring annoyance.
A 120Hz display is welcome, but resolution is the compromise
The Mivi One 5G has a 6.7-inch HD+ LCD display with a 120Hz refresh rate. On paper, the combination looks reasonable for a budget smartphone, particularly for those who spend a good part of the day scrolling through social media, browsing websites or watching videos.
The high refresh rate is useful in everyday use. Scrolling through menus and feeds looks smoother than it would on a conventional 60Hz or 90Hz screen, while the large display provides enough room for reading articles, viewing photographs and watching videos.
While the display feels smooth, its HD+ resolution is a noticeable compromise compared with the Full HD+ panels available on some competing devices. Text and images remain usable, but the screen lacks the sharpness of a higher-resolution panel, particularly when viewed closely.
Brightness is another consideration. The display is comfortable enough for indoor use, but viewing content under direct sunlight can be more difficult. This is worth keeping in mind for those who frequently use their phones outdoors.
On the audio front, the phone has a single bottom-firing speaker rather than stereo speakers, which is common in the budget segment. However, I found the speaker output too low for comfortable movie watching without earphones. This is where the 3.5mm headphone jack comes in handy, offering a convenient alternative for those who prefer wired earphones.
Clean Android is the experience I would like more budget phones to offer
The software is one of the more interesting aspects of the Mivi One 5G. The phone runs Android 16 with an interface that stays close to stock Android, without a heavy layer of customisation or a collection of unnecessary pre-installed applications.
Mivi has promised two major Android OS upgrades, taking the phone up to Android 18.
I like this approach because a budget smartphone does not necessarily need an elaborate interface to be useful. For everyday tasks such as messaging, browsing, online payments, navigation and video streaming, a straightforward interface can be more valuable than a long list of features that may rarely be used.
Everyday performance is more important than gaming credentials
The Mivi One 5G is powered by Qualcomm's Snapdragon 4 Gen 2 processor, built on a 4nm process. It is paired with up to 8GB of RAM and 128GB of internal storage, depending on the variant.
The processor is designed for affordable 5G devices, and that is the context in which the Mivi One 5G should be assessed. It is not meant to compete with performance-focused smartphones costing considerably more. Instead, the expectation is that it should handle everyday applications without becoming an obstacle to routine tasks.
That includes messaging, browsing, social media, video streaming and switching between commonly used applications. The clean Android interface complements this hardware by avoiding the extra software clutter that can make an inexpensive phone feel unnecessarily busy.
Gaming, however, needs a more measured assessment. Casual games are a reasonable expectation, but this is not a device I would recommend primarily for demanding games or sustained high-performance workloads. Buyers who spend several hours gaming every day should prioritise a phone with stronger graphics performance and better thermal headroom.
The same applies to multitasking. A phone can feel responsive while opening individual applications but behave differently when several demanding apps remain active in the background.
The Mivi One 5G has the right general focus for someone who wants a functional everyday smartphone with 5G connectivity. Its processor is not the problem to solve at all costs; the more important question is whether the company can maintain a consistent experience through software updates.
The camera can handle casual photography, but the experience needs refinement
The Mivi One 5G has a 50MP primary rear camera with phase-detection autofocus (PDAF), alongside an auxiliary sensor. An 8MP front camera handles selfies and video calls.
The main camera is reasonably capable for a phone in this segment. It can produce decent photographs in daylight, with colours that are generally suitable for sharing on social media. The results are not particularly ambitious, but the camera is usable for everyday photography, whether it is capturing a quick photograph outdoors or documenting something during the day.
However, the overall camera experience is not as polished as it could be. The camera application can feel sluggish at times, particularly when switching between shooting modes. Low-light photographs can also look noticeably different from what appears in the viewfinder, while quick shots may require a short wait for the image processing to finish. These inconsistencies make photography less seamless than it should be, even when the camera hardware is capable of producing usable results.
Mivi One 5G: Should you buy it
The Mivi One 5G enters a competitive segment where buyers have several established brands to choose from. Its appeal rests on a fairly straightforward proposition: offer 5G connectivity, a clean Android experience, expandable storage and a large battery without pushing the price too high.
The smartphone starts at Rs 14,999, and makes a reasonable case for someone looking for a straightforward everyday smartphone.
But the phone is not without compromises. The fingerprint sensor needs to be more reliable, the camera application and image processing require refinement, and the HD+ display and 18W charging reflect the effort to keep costs under control. The single speaker is another limitation for those who consume a lot of media without headphones.
For its first smartphone, however, Mivi has established a reasonable foundation. The company has resisted the temptation to overload the device with software features and has focused on several practical essentials.
 "Mivi One 5G review: A promising phone with practical features on budget")
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