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Showing posts with label Meizu. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Meizu. Show all posts
Meizu keeps on teasing the MX4 Ubuntu Edition, due to be unveiled at MWC
For almost two weeks now Meizu has been teasing the upcoming release of the Ubuntu-running edition of its MX4 smartphone. At first, things were pretty cryptic, but yesterday the Chinese company published the first official screenshots of Ubuntu running on the MX4 – so all was clear. Today it’s keeping the teasing campaign going with the image you can see below.
So we get yet another confirmation that the Meizu MX4 Ubuntu Edition will finally become official during MWC next week. Meizu even found time to take an ever so subtle jab at the BQ Aquaris E4.5 Ubuntu Edition, which was the first ever handset to run the mobile version of the OS. But indeed that is no “premium device”.
We expect the Ubuntu-running MX4 to come with the same specs as its Android-touting sibling. That means it will have a 5.36-inch 1,920×1152 touchscreen, a 20.7MP rear camera with dual-LED flash, a 2MP secondary shooter, 2GB of RAM, and a 3,100 mAh battery. At the helm should be MediaTek’s MT6595 SoC, coming with an octa-core CPU with four 2.2 GHz Cortex-A17 cores and four 1.7GHz Cortex-A7 ones.
Meizu not aiming for 20 million sales this year, will still reach it
Chinese smartphone manufacturer Meizu sold a record 1.5 million smartphones in the month of January. At this rate, there are chances that the company could reach the 20 million figure by the end of the year, however, it seems like that's not what it is aiming at the moment.
According to Meizu's VP of Marketing and Sales Li Nan, selling 20 million devices this year is not the company’s goal. He made the comment on his official Weibo (Chinese Twitter) account.
The news comes just over a week after Alibaba Group announced that it will invest $590 million in Meizu. Just Yesterday, the smartphone manufacturer teased a new OS that could be unveiled at this year's MWC.
Meizu teases Ubuntu phone ahead of MWC event
Ubuntu on mobile phones has been a long standing project for Canonical and quite an ambitious one. Much like Microsoft and its new One Windows ideology, Canonical hatched the scheme for a unified cross-device application ecosystem long ago, but progress has been rather slow.
Meizu has been a vital part of the new OS development with various demo builds and rumor of Ubuntu-powered Meizu handset popping up ever since the MX 3 was the company's flagship offer. Today the Chinese smartphone maker posted a rather interesting teaser on Facebook. The image hints at a new OS, which will join the ranks of Flyme and YunOS and probably be unveiled at this year's MWC.
We can instinctively point a finger towards Ubuntu Touch, which we will hopefully see in mass-production devices. This hunch is further backed up by rumors of an Ubuntu MX4 hitting the market early 2015. The current flagship device has been a long-standing candidate for the Ubuntu experience, but we can definitely expect surprises.
Last week Canonical threw a quite unexpected curve ball by announcing that the BQ Aquaris E4.5 will be the pioneer of the Ubuntu on a Smartphone. Keeping that in mind it is not certain if the MX4 or MX4 Pro will offer a high-end hardware home for the new OS or Meizu will bring an entirely new phone to the scene.
In any case the news is exciting. The Ubuntu Touch platform itself is an interesting brain child of Canonical Ltd. The main idea behind it is a uniform kernel and set of base technologies that form a cross device application platform. What this implies is a high level of uniformity and compatibility, allowing you to use pretty much the same set of applications, both on mobile and desktop devices. To further add to the excitement, Ubuntu touch also promises a full desktop experience and perhaps even in the future a full desktop Ubuntu session running straight from the phone or tablet once hooked to a bigger screen.
The latter, also known as "Full desktop convergence" is kind of experimental at this time, so it might be a while until we are actually able to dock our phone and use it as an everyday work PC replacement for example. There are also some hardware requirement for the feature to work but they are definitely not out of reach for current gen mobile devices so here's hoping we finally see a full-featured Ubuntu experience on a Meizu device in Barcelona.
Meizu Blue Charm smartwatch component leaks
It looks like Meizu has a smartwatch coming our way. An alleged photo of a component for the device made the rounds online.
The image is said to showcase the round face of an upcoming Meizu Blue Charm watch. The Chinese manufacturer recently started the Blue Charm range of affordable smartphones with the m1 and m1 note.
With the smartphone business of Meizu already on the upswing, a smartwatch surely looks like a logical step forward for the company. We will surely keep an eye out for more details on the device. Until then, take a pinch of salt while viewing the photo above.
Alibaba Group makes a large investment in Meizu
Alibaba Group announced that it will invest $590 million in the smartphone manufacturer Meizu. The Chinese online behemoth will become a minority owner of Meizu Technology Limited.
Meizu and Alibaba “ will collaborate at both strategic and business levels to achieve a deeper integration of Meizu’s hardware and Alibaba Group’s mobile operating system.” Alibaba has its own YunOS smartphone platform, based on Android. A version of Meizu MX 4 with the OS has been available for some time now.
With market value of $213 billion, Alibaba will surely be a welcome partner for Meizu. The latter will help the retail giant promote its mobile OS and will benefit from its vast network of online stores and users.
Alibaba didn’t disclose how much equity it acquired in Meizu for its investment.
Meizu sold out 1.5 million smartphones in January
The Chinese smartphone manufacturer Meizu shipped a record 1.5 million smartphones last month. Jack Wong, the company’s CEO announced the achievement on the social network Weibo.
Sales of the company have jumped 50% on a monthly basis. Back in December last year, Jack Wong announced that the manufacturer is shipping a million devices monthly.
Meizu’s stellar sales should hardly catch anyone by surprise. In addition to offering the impressive, high-end Meizu MX4 and MX4 Pro, the company took on Xiaomi by launching the budget-friendly, well-equipped Meizu m1and m1 note.
The freshly announced Meizu m1 got 100,000 pre-orders in just a minute yesterday. Therefore, we can certainly expect Meizu to do even better throughout 2015.
New Meizu m1 version certified, 1080p display and 2GB in tow
Meizu m1 went official just a week ago, shortly after its bigger sibling - the Meizu m1 note. Meizu m1 is a very affordable smartphone at $110 with great specs package - a 5" 768p display, MT6732 chip with quad-core Cortex-A53 processor and Mali-T760MP2 GPU, 1GB of RAM and 13MP rear camera.
The Meizu m1 note promotes the display to 5.5" 1080p and brings faster octa-core processor and 2GB of RAM. It costs about $175.
Meizu m1 is a direct rival to the Xiaomi Redmi 2, which we recently reviewed in detail. And just like the Redmi 2, it seems the Meizu m1 will get an upgrade shortly after launch.
A Meizu m1 model dubbed M645A entered the Chinese certification authority. It is supposed to pack a 1080p display and come with 2GB of RAM, but may not run on Flyme OS. There were lots of rumors Meizu is developing phones that run on YunOS and Ubuntu, so this new M465A may as well be one of those.
The information is scarce right now, but we expect more details to surface soon. Meanwhile you can check its connectivity features from the pictured table and stay tuned for more information.
Meizu M1 gets 100,000 orders in just one minute
The flash sale model is really taking off in the mobile world, at least in Asia. Pioneered by Xiaomi just a few years ago, it's now employed by many more companies. One of them is Meizu, which recently announced the M1 smartphone.
It went up for pre-order in China, with 100,000 units being made available. And people managed to order all of those in only 60 seconds.
Unlike what the term "pre-order" generally means in China, in this case it seems that money has changed hands, and those 100,000 M1 units will be shipped to the people who ordered them, at some point in the future.
It's not surprising that the Meizu M1 has proven to be this successful. After all it costs just CNY 699, which is around $111 or €97 right now. For that amount of cash you get a 5-inch 1,280x768 touchscreen, a 13 MP rear camera with LED flash, as well as a 5 MP front snapper.
At the helm we can find the MediaTek MT6732 chipset, which comes with a 1.5 GHz quad-core CPU, aided by 1GB of RAM. Internal storage is 8GB, expandable via microSD, and a 2,500 mAh battery completes the package.
Meizu MX4 and MX 4 Pro will be getting Android Lollipop in March
Meizu is reportedly working on a new Flyme OS version based on the newest Android 5 Lollipop. It should bring all the Lollipop optimizations and will incorporate Google's Material design for a flat and more beautiful UI.
Both Meizu MX4 and Meizu MX4 Pro will be getting the update, though they are a long way from completed.
Meizu plans to start an open beta for the new ROMs this March and everyone will be able to test the new software package.
Currently both MX4 and MX4 Pro are running on Android KitKat and are getting regular software improvements via firmware upgrades, especially the MX4 Pro. It's nice to see Meizu working hard to bring the latest available Android OS available.
The new batch of week's smartphone announcements
The week opened with the announcement of the low-end Asus ZenFone C. It's a minor update to last year's ZenFone 4, retaining the Intel chipset with a 1.2GHz dual-core CPU and 1GB of RAM. Screen size has seen a slight bump to 4.5 inches, requiring an increase in battery capacity to 2,100mAh.
Wednesday was rather eventful, with Meizu's highly-anticipated press conference. The Meizu m1 was unveiled, packing a 5-inch 720p screen and respectable hardware in a colorful body, all for $110. Camera department is where the m1 offers the most bang for its buck, offering a 13MP main sensor and a 5MP selfie snapper.
The ZTE Blade S6 is a more capable LTE-enabled 5-incher rocking a Snapdragon 615 SoC, 2GB of RAM and 16GB of expandable storage. A 13MP/5MP camera combo adds up to a respectable $250 midrange package.
The HTC Desire 526+G slides in between the last two, pricewise. For $170 the Taiwanese company will sell you a 4.7-inch qHD screen, a 1.7GHz octa-core processor, coupled with a single gig of RAM and 8GB of on-board storage. A 16GB version is available for a nominal price increase.
Samsung unveiled a new smartphone as well, pushing its range to even lower grounds. The entry-level Galaxy J1 packs a 1.2GHz dual-core processor, a modest 512MB of RAM and 4GB internal memory, thankfully expandable. The new base model runs KitKat on a 4.3-inch screen.
Motorola quietly launched an LTE-enabled version of the current Moto G, dubbed Moto G 4G (2015). Offering vanilla Android experience and timely updates, the new handset offers dual-sim functionality and retains the hardware of the non-4G version.
Meizu unveils smart home gadgets – bulbs, A/Cs, air purifiers
Meizu is moving into the home automation game with the new Lifekit system that comprises of multiple devices including a smart
bulb, a scale, an air purifier, an smart A/C and a complex four-piece gadget that controls the air quality in your home.These products are developed in partnership with Haier and Alibaba, with mostly identical hardware but will be integrated into Meizu’s Lifekit platform.
The X-Light Plus smart bulbs are LED bulbs that can adjust their brightness to simulate the sunrise and otherwise be controlled your smartphone. Then there’s the RyFit scale, which collects info on weight, body fat percentage, and your metabolic age.
The Air Box – which is quite spherical and the green one looks like an apple – is an air purifier. Beyond that it scans the air for volatile organic compounds and PM2.5 air particulates. It has an IR blaster to control air conditioners in conjunction with your smartphone.
Then there’s the Air Cube – you guessed it, it’s shaped like a cylinder – has four parts that can be assembled and reassembled like Lego bricks. One module is a humidifier, another removes humidity, then there’s an air filter and an aroma therapy module.
Then there’s a Smart A/C, though information on it is scant. The design is particularly Tron-like though.
Meizu, Haier and Alibaba will cooperate to offer additional devices that will integrate into Lifekit and will offer SDK, which enable third-party apps to join in.
Meizu m1 note with Snapdragon 615 unveiled for China
Among the clamor of the Meizu m1 announcement today, a new version of its bigger brother, the m1 note, almost flew under the radar. The China Telecom dedicated variant packs a Snapdragon 615 chipset, as opposed to the Mediatek silicon of the regular version.
The Snapdragon 615 is Qualcomm's upper midrange 64-bit offering, sporting an octa-core processor with performance cores clocked at up to 1.7GHZ (1.5GHz in m1 note's case) and power-efficient cores ticking at 1.0GHz. Graphics are handled by the Adreno 405 chip clocked at 550MHz.
The rest of the hardware has remained unaltered. The smartphone packs a 1080p 5.5-inch display with minimal bezels. 2GB of RAM is on board, internal storage is non-expandable and is either 16GB or 32GB, depending on the version. The main camera sports a 13MP imager behind an f2.2 lens, while selfies are taken care of by a wide angle 5MP snapper.
The Snapdragon 615 version carries a CNY100 price premium over the Mediatek models and the 16GB option costs 1,099CNY ($176) with the more spacious 32GB of storage setting you back 1,299CNY ($208).
5-inch Meizu m1 now official with capable hardware for $110
Just as promised today, at the "connected" event, Meizu announced the latest addition to its smartphone lineup - the Meizu m1. The budget-friendly device is Meisu's answer to the Xiaomi Redmi 2, which recently received a hardware update with 2GB of RAM and 16GB of storage.
The new m1 is a bit larger than the rival Xiaomi with a 5-inch 1280x768 pixel display with 300 ppi density. The chipset was also showcased as being superior - the smartphone uses a 64-bit Mediatek MT6732 SoC, which features a quad-core Cortex-A53 CPU, clocked at 1.5GHz, as opposed to the 1.2GHz Cortex A53 chips in the Redmi 2.
Generally there was prevailing trend of direct comparison between the two devices all throughout the event, which even extended to a slide with benchmark scores as a testament of superiority. Despite the in-depth overview of the m1, Meizu simply skipped over the device's RAM suggesting that the phone will initially ship with only 1GB of RAM, half of what Xiaomi will offer after the upcoming update. This is definitely the weakest aspect of the m1, but perhaps Meizu will decide to go down the same road and quickly churn-out an updated version with 2GB.
Going further down the specs sheet we find 8GB on onboard storage, but with 128 GB microSD card support, presumably again to shine over the Redmi 2 with its 16 GB and 32 GB microSD. However, seeing how we are talking about budget-devices, investing about as much in a huge memory card to go along with it seems highly unlikely and 16GB would have been a better choice, despite what the presentation wanted us to believe.
Cameras on the Meizu m1 seem more than adequate for the price range. The main snapper boasts a formidable 13MP sensor, again dwarfing the 8MP shooter on the Xiaomi front and the front sensor is an equally nice 5MP unit with F2.0 aperture. Meizu did not skimp on the battery either as the m1 is equipped with a 2,610 mAh cell, more spacious that the 2,200 mAh in the Redmi 2.
As far as physical appearance goes, the m1 has a slick unibody design with brightly colored plastic (did someone say iPhone 5c?). Initially it should be available in peppermint green, yellow, pink, blue, green and white. Its exact dimensions are 140.2 x 72.1 x 8.9mm, which is a bid bigger than the Xiaomi, but distinctly thinner.
The first Meizu m1 units should be available for pre order in China on February 5 for CNY 699, or about $110. At this price tag the m1 is indeed a tantalizing alternative to the Xiaomi Redmi 2, especially if Meizu decides to update the handset with more RAM shortly. If you are considering both devices bear in mind that both offer LTE connectivity, but only the Redmi 2 is dual-SIM enabled.
Upcoming Meizu m1 note mini gets scored on GFXBench
As Meizu fans surely remember the company scheduled a conference for January 28 and teased an upcoming new device announcement at the venue. From what we have gathered so far the Chinese manufacturer will probably unveil the Meizu M1 Note Mini, a smaller device meant to complement the Meizu m1 note.
A lot rumors have been circulating around the expected budget handset and first and foremost the naming convention is not clear. The new smartphone could be dubbed the Meizu m1 note mini, or simply m1 mini and the GFXBench specs sheet that surfaced today lists a lot of hardware details but sadly no name.
A quick glance reveals that the phone is powered by an quad-core MediaTek MT6732 SoC with Cortex A53 cores clocked at 1.5 GHz. RAM in the unit should be 1GB and 8GB ROM. Sensors are pretty much standard and include accelerometer, Bluetooth, compass, gyroscope, GPS, light sensor, pedometer, proximity and no NFC support. No information is available on the camera setup, though, but a good guess might be 8MP main shooter and 5MP front.
The screen is where the debate really takes off. If we assume that the m1 note mini and m1 mini are in fact the same device then it is still very much unclear how big the display will be. GFXBench lists the panel as being 4.7-inch with a resolution of 1280 x 768 pixels, which is in tune with some of the rumors. Then again other sources and even a leaked photo point towards a 5-inch display.
There is of course the possibility that Meizu is actually planning to unveil two devices and both sources are correct, but we can't be certain until tomorrow's event takes place to hopefully clear the smoke. Another big point of dispute is the OS that will power the new smartphone. The screenshot at hand says Android 4.4.4, which is expected, but other sources have speculated that Meizu might offer the M1 mini with a choice of platforms, including Flyme OS, the in-house flavor of Android, YunOS, developed in part by Aliexpress and even Ubuntu.
Meizu M1 Note teardown reveals innards
Seemingly every new smartphone out there is bound to get the teardown treatment at some point, and the Meizu M1 Note is no exception. The handset which was unveiled late last year has been carefully dismantled in its home country.
The phone bears all, letting us get one or two (or three) glimpses into the components that make it up. The whole thing is held together by a magnesium alloy chassis which is incredibly light, weighing just 16g.
On the rear shell there’s some UV coating for slight stain protection, and this also adds a rather glossy-looking finish. Overall, the construction of the M1 Note is said to be quite simple, with a main board, a lower PCB, the aforementioned chassis, and the 3,140 mAh battery.
Company VP teases upcoming Meizu M1 mini
We've been hearing about a smaller device meant to complement the Meizu M1 Note joining the company's portfolio since even before that model was unveiled. But after it was made official, rumors and leaks about a purported M1 Mini have intensified. Meizu is holding an event on January 28, and that's where the M1 Mini will see the light of day.
As that event is now just a couple of days away, Meizu has apparently decided to tease the upcoming phone through one of its execs. Namely, we're talking about Meizu VP Li Nan, who posted the following image on his Weibo account.
That's clearly the M1 Mini over there, smiling for the camera in an interesting and unusual hue. Meizu is all about going (very) colorful with the M1 series, and the M1 Mini looks like it was inspired by Apple's love of colors for its iPhone 5C.
Interestingly, there's a digital camera next to the phone, and it sports the exact same green hue. That may be nothing, or maybe Meizu is getting ready to sell its own camera. The latter doesn't seem very likely, though.
The M1 Mini will come with either a 4.7-inch or a 5" 720p HD touchscreen (we've heard a number of conflicting reports on this matter), a 13 MP rear camera, and a 5 MP front snapper. It could be priced as low as CNY 799, which is about $127 or €113 at the current exchange rates.
Meizu MX4 Pro Review
THE BOTTOM LINE
Though not flashy, the Meizu MX4 Pro has got what counts
PROS
- Quad HD display
- Good performance with Exynos 5 Octa
- Great and reliable fingerprint reader
- Surprisingly good sound and speaker quality
- Camera provides a number of good modes, and above average quality
CONS
- Design doesn't really stand out
- No expandable storage
- Battery not replaceable, and life uneven
- Lot of trouble connecting to LTE networks
- Camera is not the fastest shooter
With specifications and features on par with most current flagships, the Meizu MX4 Pro manages to couple high quality and an affordable price tag. The Meizu MX4, despite its shortcomings, proved to be a solid device, but following the release of this flagship, Meizu also launched a Pro version of the smartphone that took everything that was great about its flagship counterpart and brought it to a whole other level. With specifications and features that put this smartphone at par with most current flagships, at a more than competitive price point, this latest large form-factor smartphone from Meizu certainly has a lot to offer. Here is our in-depth review of the Meizu MX4 Pro!
DESIGN
The MX4 Pro retains the design language of its namesake, reminiscent of the iPhone 3GS, down to a home button found at the bottom front, only in a larger form factor, courtesy of the bigger 5.5-inch display. The size puts this device just outside the realm of comfortable one-handed use, but its ultra-thin bezels along the sides of the display certainly make a difference.
As mentioned, the MX4 Pro features a physical home button up front, that offers a great tactile feel, and also comes with an integrated fingerprint scanner. The volume rocker is found on the right side, but the power button is placed at the top, which can be a little difficult to reach, given the size of the device. Up top is also the headphone jack, while at the bottom is the microUSB port and a single speaker unit. All of this is held together with a nice silver lining via the metallic frame, and while this smartphone isn’t too flashy, it does manage to have a look of its own.
The back cover sports a nice non-glossy feel and is removable, but serves as access to the SIM slot, with the battery being non-replaceable. The smooth plastic does have a tendency to slip around in the hand, further exacerbated by the accentuated curves of the MX4 Pro. There weren’t many issues with keeping a grip on the phone, but a little extra care is definitely needed initially while trying to perform the hand gymnastics required to get around the screen. That being said, the reach required is at a minimum compared to some other large form-factor devices out there.
While there’s nothing to dislike about the MX4 Pro in terms of design, it doesn’t particularly stand out either, mostly because of its overt familiarity. Apart from its likeness to the older iPhone, the design language has largely remained the same since the MX3, made only bigger in the case of the MX4 Pro.
DISPLAY
Luckily, the Pro moniker isn’t just to do with the larger size of the device, and shines through in other aspects as well, starting with the display. Apart from the bump in size to 5.5-inches, the IPS LCD display comes with a Quad HD resolution, but because of the aspect ratio that is slightly off kilter, the resolution is 1536p as opposed to 1440p, with pixel density of 546 ppi. The difference is not really noticeable, and while this display is a very nice performer, it is on par with other Quad HD panels out there.
Despite the muted aesthetic of the default Flyme OS theme, colors still look vibrant and stand out due to some good contrast, as well as showcasing the sharpness of the display. Viewing angles are good, and the brightness allows for great visibility even in broad daylight. I had a great experience doing anything on this display, including gaming, and the Gorilla Glass 3 panel offers good protection against scratches.
PERFORMANCE
While the MX4 featured a MediaTek processor, Meizu has replaced that in favor of the Samsung Exynos 5 Octa 5430 processor, backed by the Mali-T628 GPU and 3 GB of RAM. There were no issues in terms of performance, with the device flying through the various elements of the Flyme OS. Multitasking is also a breeze, despite the more minimalistic interface of the Recent Apps screen, but switching between applications was quick and easy.
My main enjoyment was from gaming here, as Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic was nice and smooth at the default settings. The game was still playable when the graphics performance was pushed to the maximum settings, but at normal settings, the game never missed a beat.
HARDWARE
On the hardware front, we start off with the speaker, found at the bottom of the device. While we keep talking about how much better front-facing or side mounted speaker setups are, Meizu has managed to make the sound experience on the MX4 Pro quite compelling. Not only does it get loud, but the sound stage is robust, bringing richness and body to mids and lows, something where a lot of other speakers just aren’t up to the task. With a Hi-Fi enhancement option available in the settings, the same great audio experience is available when a pair of headphones is plugged in.
Mentioned earlier was the fact that the physical home button up front comes with an integrated fingerprint scanner. This is a press type reader, which means that all you have to do is place your finger on it. What makes this implementation so good is the fact that you can wake and unlock the phone in a single motion. Press down the button to wake the device, and continue to hold it to scan your finger and unlock the device. Meizu claims that you can go from asleep to working in about a half a second, and while we haven’t timed it, it certainly is very fast, and extremely reliable. You can also set fingerprints to unlock specific applications and other portions of the phone.
Mobile connectivity is one point of contention for those in the US. While the MX4 Pro hasn’t seen an official release in this market, it was difficult to get more than 3G connectivity on AT&T and T-Mobile’s networks. Despite featuring 4G LTE support, the bands were just not compatible, while there have been other devices from foreign markets that have worked just fine. Of course, if the MX4 Pro does officially make it to the States, a compatible version will be released at the time. That said, call quality was still more than adequate.
Unfortunately, the experience was rather uneven on the battery front, despite MX4 Pro featuring a large 3,350 mAh unit. With the mobile network connectivity problems, administering a day to day battery test was difficult, but one incident worth mentioning is that the battery managed to drain itself overnight, while connected to Wi-Fi, something that happened a couple of times, even after checking whether a background app was the culprit. The frequency of this issue has reduced, but has still happened more times than is negligible. That said, the device does manage to go through a full day of use on a single charge before going into single digits, but this is of course with high-speed internet connectivity being a contributing factor to the battery drain.
CAMERA
When it comes to the camera, a powerful 20.7 MP rear unit provides a very solid performance on the MX4 Pro. Keeping up with the selfie trend, the front-facing camera also sports a little more power at 5 MP.
The camera application provides a slew of different modes and settings, found by swiping side to side on the viewfinder, including panorama and slowmotion video, with a fully manual mode available as well. Settings in the auto mode include HDR, which does a pretty good job of improving color output on a shot, though without the higher saturation, this effect is essentially what Night Mode produces.
The Macro mode proved fun to use, though I found it a little odd that the Auto mode doesn’t automatically activate the macro focus, which basically allows you to focus on a close subject when the regular mode cannot. For all you selfie lovers out there, there is a Beautify Mode available that smartphones from Asian markets are known for. That said, the camera photos from the front-facing unit weren’t bad to begin with, and the Beautify Mode was a little too aggressive for my taste.
Videos can be captured in 4K resolution, and while they look good, a lack of stabilization makes shooting them a little finicky at times. As mentioned, slow motion video capture is also possible at 720p resolution at a speed of 100 fps, exported out at 25 fps.
Picture quality was actually quite good for the MX4 Pro, as details were very well captured and colors looked appealing when you could capture them correctly. I did find the exposure and the white balance in Auto mode to be a bit jumpy, needing you to be sure that what you want to capture is what you see in the viewfinder. Even in low light situations, the camera manages nice results, with HDR and Night Modes available to enhance the shot.
The only real gripe with this camera was the somewhat slow auto focusing time. The camera of the Meizu MX4 Pro may not be the absolute best comparatively, but it is far from the worst as well.
SOFTWARE
Finally, when it comes to software, we get the Flyme OS, a rather different take on Android that is a bit more simplistic than its more well known competitors. What you see is what you get in this interface, as there is no app drawer available, requiring you to use folders if you’re looking to keep things clean and organized.
You may have noticed that there are no capacitive keys available, but contextual softkeys appear on the display when required in applications, while the home button can be used to go backward. The notification drop has a host of different options available, and different panels are used to navigate through the many options in the Settings menu. The only hidden area is the Recent Apps interface, which is accessible via a swipe up from the bottom of the screen.
Of course, everything is customisable via a theme engine, even if it will mostly be in Chinese for the moment. When it comes to translations, there are understandably a few holes in the text of the device, as there was obviously more room to foot many elements in Chinese characters, but not for the long form English phrases they mean. The literal translations themselves are a bit uneven.
That all said, what I like about the Flyme OS interface is that things are pretty simple. The contextual softkey bar that appears at the bottom remains one of my favorite aspects, as it helps keep the screen real estate open for media. Another bright spot was also the keyboard, which was easy to use, allowing me to type really quickly on it, with the useful functionality of just swiping down from the letters to easily get to numbers and symbols. There was nothing that was very overwhelming, and if you can keep things from getting too cluttered on the homescreens, everything should be fine.
PRICING AND FINAL THOUGHTS
Meizu’s current line of flagship devices is slowly making its way out of China and into other markets, though we don’t know if it will make it to the US anytime soon. When converting the price from Asia, the phone comes in at around $400, so we wouldn’t be surprised if the Western retail price would be closer to about $500 unlocked. It’s not a bad price point, but plenty of other phones in the Asian market have compelling experiences to offer and can rock similar or even lower price tags. It is also a good idea to wait because of the network connectivity problems stated above, but if you do want to get your hands on it, it is available from Amazon for $610.
So, there you have it – the Meizu MX4 Pro! The MX4 Pro serves as a great example of the growth we’re seeing out of China. Just a few weeks back at CES 2015, we got to see a few high-quality but affordable devices from Chinese companies, and that is a trend that looks to be on the rise.
Meizu is in the thick of this trend with a phablet offering that manages to be powerful but accessible at the same time. Its design choices aside, the shell is just a casing for all of the power that is found underneath. A QuadHD display, good performance, an enjoyable sound stage, and an above average camera all make the MX4 Pro a package we do hope to see more easily available in the US soon, which should also resolve the network connectivity issues I faced during my testing. It might not stand out very much, but dig a little deeper and you’ll find a pretty fun and powerful phone in the Meizu MX4 Pro.
SPECIFICATIONS
| Display | 5.5-inch IPS LCD 2560 x 1536 resolution, 546 ppi |
| Processor | 2 GHz Exynos 5 Octa Mali-T628 GPU |
| RAM | 3 GB |
| Storage | 16/32/64 GB, no microSD expansion |
| Camera | 20.7 MP rear camera with dual LED flash 5 MP front-facing camera |
| Connectivity | HSPA, LTE Cat4 150/50 Mbps Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, dual-band, Wi-Fi Direct Bluetooth 4.0, GPRS |
| Sensors | Accelerometer, gyro, proximity, compass |
| Battery | 3,350 mAh |
| Software | Flyme OS 4.1 based on Android 4.4.4 Kitkat |
| Dimensions | 150.1 x 77 x 9 mm 158 grams |
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Out of the blue the new Raspberry Pi 2 is official. It’s a successor to the B+ model and features the same hardware arrangement (1x Ethernet... -
Alto’s Adventure is procedurally generated endless snowboarding game. You play as Alto and his friends, going down snow covered slopes on ... -
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REVIEW You should be already familiar with India's second largest smartphone manufacturer Micromax mobiles, recently anoounced an... -
Tech21 Evo Mesh case is part of the company’s extensive iPhone 6 lineup. The protective cover is made for users who like to keep their smar... -
With Windows 10 coming down Skype will be becoming into to a part of the OS itself, both on phones and on the desktop. The new app can now... -
With the Lollipop craze in full steam and the Galaxy Note 3 already up for a soak test in Russia it is only natural to expect that Sam... -
Google’s previous Android ad employed cute animals, but the latest installment in the company’s “Be Together. Not The Same” campaign for i... -
The Mobile World Congress is one of the biggest events in the mobile industry and it's about to start this very Sunday. As usual, th...
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Alleged wallpaper from the upcoming HTC One M9 made the rounds on Twitter. The image seems to confirm that the Taiwanese manufacturer’s ... -
THE BOTTOM LINE Though not flashy, the Meizu MX4 Pro has got what counts PROS Quad HD display Good performance with Exynos 5 Oc...
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OnePlus One will be available every Tuesday without an invite
the company additionally revealed in a blog post that the promotion stretches far wider than that. The open sale will take place every Tuesday from now on and..
How Cortana on Windows 10 came to be a part of it
Cortana gets to know you and helps you get things done, all while letting you interact naturally and easily. By learning more about you over time, Cortana becomes increasingly useful every day.
64GB version of Xiaomi Mi 4 flash sale in India
If you are from India and like the Mi 4 but were hoping for some more built-in space, then you'll have to wait until February..
Micromax Yu Yureka Review
See what this incredible budget offering from micromax can do against the challenge in the full review
‘Game of Thrones – Episode 2' game review
‘Game of Thrones – A Telltale Games Series – Episode 2′ for iOS and Android game review
Microsoft Office 2016 preview is now available
Microsoft Office 2016 preview is now available for users who are willing to commit to a non-disclosure agreement
MWin 10 Tech Preview for phones tipped to release early next week
a couple of days ago, some screenshots of Windows 10 Technical Preview for Phones were spotted in the wild, and now it looks like the first preview build will be available to Windows..
Motorola Moto E gets a price cut in India
Motorola’s entry-level Android smartphone Moto E has received a price cut in India. Originally costing at INR 6,999 ($112), the entry-level Android device is now available..
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LG announced a quartet of mid-range smartphones ahead of MWC. LG Magna, Spirit, Leon and Joy will be showcased in Barcelona next week alon... -
The Samsung domination in weekly chart is breaking records and this week the Korean company's phones have managed to throw out arch-r...
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Google brought live chat with a salesperson to the Play store. The feature allows buyers to have their questions answered before they splu... -
The upcoming Samsung Galaxy S6 hasn't yet surfaced in live images, but based on numerous leaks, we can now paint a pretty accurate p... -
To mark its sixth birthday, the image hosting/sharing service Imgur has announced that it is making its Pro service free for all. Imgur Pr...