Article 'a' altering the meaning of a phrase

Recently, at work, I had an argument with a colleague on the use of article 'a' in the sentence: "Active i is just 'a' little more than a smaller and cheaper Activa."

In the sentence, he meant that 'Activa i is nothing but a smaller and cheaper version of Activa'. He insists that adding 'just a' to the original sentence has changed the meaning.

I disagree: To me none of the two sentences convey the intended meaning.

Please help me sort out the confusion.