Meizu MX5 First Impressions: A Great Phone That Has it All

The smartphone world has evolved tenfold since the last couple of years. While it evolved in technology, the category also diversified in terms of the big name offerings as far as the industry is concerned.

Especially the Android market, there was a time when Samsung, LG, HTC and Motorola were the only OEMs which were considered to be offering the best phones in the segment, however, things changed when a growing number of companies in the markets such as China and India started creating waves.

These days, companies including Xiaomi, Micromax and others are offering wonderful models at a global level now and are slowly changing the market conditions, by offering feature-rich smartphones at more and more affordable price points. These devices are spectacular and go head to head with the latest and greatest devices in the world right now.

PROS

• Great built
• Spectacular Camera
• Improved fingerprint scanner

CONS

• At 149 gms, it’s a bit bulky!
• No memory expansion card slot

One such company is Meizu! Recently, the China-based mobile maker announced its latest device in the smartphone category - the Meizu MX5 at a grand launch event in Beijing.

So, before diving into a full review, today, we'll be taking a look at the MX5 unit provided to GizBot, and giving you our first impressions about the Meizu MX5!

Meizu MX5: In-the-box content

If you had been following Meizu devices in the past, you must be pretty familiar with the packaging of their devices which is pretty identical, all the times. For those who are not aware, when you open up the white box you'll find the booklet that houses the device itself. Followed by the micro-SIM pin booklet, which consists of a guide and warranty card, while the slot under the booklet is where the USB wall charging adapter is along with microUSB cable, and there is another slot that will likely hold earphones.

Just like its smaller sibling, the Meizu MX5, comes with a capacitive home button, the Pro iteration features with a new physical home button with an integrated fingerprint scanner.

Design, Display and Dimensions

In terms of design the Meizu MX5 flaunts a fairly sleek design, with a unibody metal frame that's just 7.6mm thin and the phone weighs around 149 grams. It also features a fingerprint scanner in front, promising fast detection, an improved fingerprint app and Alipay support.

"The mBack is the best way for using smartphone in one hand and the mTouch 2.0 saves all the troubles from passwords," said company.

The handset boasts a 5.5-inch full-HD (1080x1920 pixels) Super Amoled display with Corning Gorilla Glass 3 protection. It offers a pixel density of 441ppi. The company detailed that the Super Amoled display on the MX5 smartphone adapted the same technology as Samsung Galaxy S6, reaching 100 percent in NTSC gamut and which was 38 percent higher than iPhone 6. The company also claimed that its display had 10,000:1 contrast ratio which was 7 times higher than the Xiaomi Mi Note.

Going around the device, the volume rocker and power button will be found on the right side; the SIM card slot would be on the left side, along with the microUSB port, speakers at the bottom and headset jack on the top. While some might question the inspiration from Apple iPhone 6, but the way Meizu MX5 the all metal phone has been built it feels great in hand and not slippery at all with curvish back and distinct feel.

Operating System, Interface and Processor

The interface is quite simple, as powering up the device takes you directly into the homescreens, with almost no setup required. You will find a slew of pre-installed applications and widgets. Without the presence of an application drawer, you are limited to using folders to stay organized and keep the user interface clean.

The notification drop down comes with a Quick Settings menu, which can be further extended to access the full list. With Android Lollipop the phone comes slapped with the company's very own customized Flyme OS this time v 4.5 a little different are its unique navigation properties.

Apart from the physical home button, all you have to do is swipe up from the bottom of the display to open the Recent Apps bar, and while in an application, a set of software keys, including a menu button, show up to help navigation within an app.

Basically, the handset runs Android 5.0 Lollipop-based Flyme 4.5 OS which includes over 2,000 customizations and supports dual-SIM with both the SIMs supporting 4G.

As far as the processor power is concerned, Meizu's new MX5 smartphone is packed with MediaTek's recently launched 64-bit Helio X10 octa-core processor (Cortex-A53) clocked at 2.2GHz coupled with 3GB of RAM and PowerVR G6200 GPU.

We still need to do a full review to give a detailed brush up on the performance of the handset.

Camera

The Meizu officials talked a lot about the camera of MX5 which according to them is quite unique. Specs-wise, the Meizu MX5 sports a 20.7-megapixel rear camera with Sony IMX220 Exmor RS BSI sensor, laser autofocus and dual tone LED flash. The rear camera can record videos at 4K resolution. There is a 5-megapixel front-facing camera with f/2.0 aperture also on board.

In a short time, spent with the handset, we took few quick sample shots as seen below and they came out to be pretty good, especially when we tested a phone at this price range.

Battery and Connectivity

The smartphone is loaded with a 3,150mAh battery and supports quick charging via the company's mCharge technology that can charge up to 50 percent in just 30 minutes. It packs a gravity sensor, IR proximity sensor, gyroscope, ambient light sensor, and digital compass. Connectivity options on the smartphone include 4G LTE, 3G, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, GPS/ A-GPS, Glonass, and Micro-USB.

Price and availability

The Meizu MX5 has been priced at CNY 1799 (approximately Rs. 18,450) for the 16GB model; CNY 1999 (approximately Rs. 20,500) for the 32GB model, and CNY 2399 (approximately Rs. 24,650) for the 64GB model. The company has announced that the MX5 smartphone will be available for pre-orders starting Tuesday itself and hit retail stores in China on July 5. Unfortunately, the company has not detailed its global rollout plans for the Meizu MX5 smartphone. But the company officials have quoted that the device will be launched in India in "few months."

GizBot's Early Verdict: First Impression

The Meizu MX5 is a flagship successor of MX4 and it has successfully added to the great design elements of the Meizu MX4 and the MX3 before it, with the standout feature being the ultra-thin bezels on the left and right side of the display. The thin bezels, along with the curved back, not only make the device look good, but feel great in the hand as well, despite boasting a larger 5.5-inch display.

What we feel at this point of time is that the phone is a tough competitor against Honor 7 and the Xiaomi Note range, and if MX5 is launched in India timely, this phone has the potential to create some splashy waves in the market.

Stay tuned to GizBot for our upcoming detailed review of the Meizu MX5! Let us know in the comments section below, about your opinion on the device.