Does Meizu mx5 16 GB have enough memory? Review of Meizu's flagship – Meizu MX5

Today we will talk about the weaknesses of the Meizu MX5 smartphone, a phone that many of you have probably already had your eye on.

You may know that previously Meizu always released only one device per year, but now, looking at other strong market players such as Apple, Samsung, etc., Meizu began to release two smartphones per year, and now it should Meizu MX5 pro will appear on the Russian market. The PRO version is the most powerful and charged version of the smartphone.

I would like to remind you that the strength of the phone is not only its powerful technical characteristics and relatively low price, but also its body, which takes about a month to make from a single piece of aluminum.

Why you shouldn't buy a Meizu MX5 smartphone

The first weak point of the device is the inability to expand its memory and replace the battery yourself. First, for some it’s not a problem, because some of us buy a device with 16 GB media. There is also a modification for 64, but this does not make the storage expansion option seem useless.

If the battery runs out, you will have to take the phone to a service center, but it is not clear how they will handle your phone there.

Do you like the models? This is great!

The second disadvantage of the Meizu MX5 smartphone concerns its camera. Yes, many of you will call this problem far-fetched, but for professionals it matters, since Meizu MX5 can record video in 4K.

As it turned out in practice, the videos created by this smartphone are very good, but unfortunately, they are written with the H.265 codec. No free player can open it. In order to play such a video, you will have to run it through a converter. Fans of mobile photography will not be happy with this arrangement.

The third reason not to buy a Meizu MX5 smartphone is overheating of the device. There have already been many samples of this phone in the hands of experimenters, but this jamb does not disappear. The device is boiling. Not lightning fast, but it still happens. After 20-30 minutes of gaming, the system heats up and begins to close applications, which is somehow not very pleasing, especially given the fact that MediaTek promised that the Helio X10 is an amazingly cold processor.

Check out the prices and technical specifications of this and other Meizu smartphones in the Chinese online store ru.aliexpress.com ->> .

The fourth reason will not be adequately perceived by everyone, but many (especially those who understand) will not like the somewhat aggressive color rendition of the AMOLED screen of this smartphone. The colors are oversaturated, the contrast is off the charts. There is a built-in color corrector, but it cannot match the color rendition of this screen to the calm gamut of classic IPS panels. All he can do is calibrate the screen temperature.

Not everyone will feel the final, 5th reason not to buy the Meizu MX5 smartphone, but those who know will understand. As you know, Meizu MX5 comes with Flyme OS. The shell is not boring and is simply oversaturated with cool goodies, but this is good news, the bad news is that if you suddenly don’t like this setting on Android, you will not be able to escape from it. This applies more to , and not to this smartphone, but still.

Traditionally for all smartphones from Meizu, the MX5 does not yet have a single third-party ROM. Judging by the experience of past models, they will never see them. Yes, for many this is not critical at all, but there are those who often play around with flashing, trying to find a middle ground. This won't work with Meizu - it was born with Flyme and will die with it.

You have learned 5 reasons why you should not buy Meizu MX5. If you want to know about the strong qualities of this smartphone, you will find them out.

Let us remind you that the best prices for Chinese and other smartphones are in the Aliexpress online store.

Six months ago, my old smartphone began to work poorly: it would turn off spontaneously, or freeze. At that time, I decided to buy the Meizu MX4, but after reading the reviews, I decided to wait a little. The Internet was full of rumors about the new MX5. What they didn’t write there: about a 30 megapixel camera, and about a 4k screen. Rumors are rumors, only the date of presentation/sale was known for certain - June 30. I had to wait patiently. June ended, and I started monitoring the network for the first reviews/feedback. After reading several reviews and talking with my amphibian, I decided to take it. If anyone is interested in what came of it, please see the cut (lots of photos and text).

In the early days there were few MX5 sellers. It was possible to pre-order it on gearbest, but after reading reviews about the store, I had to abandon this idea. There was not a very large selection of sellers on AliExpress, all with good ratings. Having chosen a seller with a low price and a good rating, I ordered the phone.
I wanted to write a little about delivery, but I’m afraid there will be a lot of text, so for those who are interested, let’s open the spoiler.

delivery

I ordered the phone on July 6th. The product description stated that for delivery to Russia you must select the “Seller’s Shipping Method” option. The essence of delivery is that first one transport company (local) delivers it across China to the border, then a “specially trained” smuggler crosses the border with the phone hidden in his pants or under his hat. All questions regarding customs clearance fall on this mysterious subject. Then, through the Russian transport company (in my case CDEK), the phone is sent to the buyer. In practice, delivery to large cities should be around 8-10 days. In the order, one track number is first given, then the seller writes the CDEK track number in a message. I had a trip abroad planned for July 23rd. I thought that the phone should arrive in 15 days.
At first everything went fine. The phone reached the Chinese border within the required 5-7 days. Then the seller gave me a CDEK track number. I waited a day or two, the order tracking page said: the shipment is awaiting delivery from the sender. On the third day, I turned to the seller: “Dear Chinese man, the status of the track number does not change, what will we do next?” Literally the next day I received a response:
“Dear buyer. Have a nice day and happy shopping. May your life be counted in hundreds of years and may you always buy from us in China. We have problems at the border, a trained Chinese guy put on his pants with holes, and the phones fell out along the way, so we need to wait a little. All registrations at CDEK are carried out in secret, and we will soon solve this problem by hiring another Chinese.
If you receive this package within 21-25 days of shipping, we will issue a 5$ refund;
If you receive this package within 26-30 days after shipping, we will make a refund of 8$;
If you receive this package more than 30 days after it was shipped, we will issue a $12 refund
I'm sorry for this bad situation. Let your patience be like the height of the Eiffel Tower.
There was nothing to do, I began to wait. A week flew by unnoticed, there was no change in status. On the eve of departure on July 22, I looked at the status and saw that the goods had been transferred to CDEK and began moving. The saddest thing is that the pre-delivery date was July 27, and at that time I will be outside my homeland. On the tracking page there was a button to change the address and delivery time, but nothing was active there, since the goods had not yet arrived in my city. There was also an online assistant on the CDEK website. Having contacted him via chat, I explained the situation and wrote that I would be in the city on August 1st. The online assistant made a note in the order, and I calmed down.
Already on vacation, I learned that on July 24 the phone arrived in my city. One day was not enough :(. I spent my vacation without a phone.
In total, instead of the required 8-10 days, the phone took 18 days to reach me. Most of the time the phone probably crawled across the China-Russia border.
On August 1 (Saturday) I called CDEK. I found out how they work, canceled the home delivery, since delivery was only on Monday (August 3), got into the car and went to pick up the parcel.
After receiving the package, I opened the package right in the car to look at the phone.

My first impression when I opened the package was how big it was.
Another spoiler for package lovers

In principle, there is nothing interesting under the spoiler.
Packaging CDEK

Inside is the packaging in which it was handed over to the transport company CDEK. There is also a sticker on the back, however, everything is in Chinese

Inside there is a good packaging made of foamed polyethylene, rewound with wide tape

Well, then the egg is in the duck, that duck is in the hare, that hare is in the chest, and the chest stands...

The box is made of thick cardboard so it doesn't get wrinkled easily. In addition to the phone in the parcel, the seller included two protective films, an OTG cable, a silicone case and an adapter for our sockets

The box was a little wrinkled around the edges, but we didn’t buy a box :).
On the back of the box there is a sticker indicating the model and main frequencies. Unfortunately, FDD LTE only has two frequencies available on channels B1 and B3. B7 (2600 MHz) is not there. This is the first discrepancy with the description, I will write about this a little later.

Open the box. The box is made like a book with something written in Chinese on it.

To the right of the phone, under the cardboard, there is a charger and a clip for removing the SIM card slot
Let's look at the charger.

The charger uses Quick Charge technology. That is, voltage up to 12 V can be supplied to the device.
Charger with adapter

The adapter looks alien. At first I didn’t understand that the adapter itself must always be in the socket, and any other devices can be inserted into it.

Everything would be fine, I would leave the adapter in the socket, but it doesn’t stay there securely.
I started checking the dimensions and realized why this happened.
Here's a comparison with a normal fork

Here you can see that the seat is about 3-4 mm smaller, so the adapter plug does not fully fit into the socket.
Here's a comparison of the pins

Here you can also see that the pins are a couple of millimeters shorter. As a result, the adapter does not sit tightly in the socket

Under the phone there is a warranty card and a USB cable

The USB cable is harsh. The cable length is almost 1 meter.

Warranty card in Chinese

Warranty card

So we got to the phone. The phone has stickers on both sides with inscriptions in Chinese that show the main elements of the phone

Let's look at the phone from different angles
Bottom of the phone:

From left to right – speaker holes, micro-USB, microphone holes.

Left-hand side:

On this side there is only a tray for SIM cards.

Top of the phone:

From left to right – headphone jack, microphone hole (for noise reduction)

Right side:

Volume rocker and power button.

At the back there is a camera, LED flash and laser rangefinder.

We turn on the phone. We are greeted by the company logo, and then the Flyme shell is loaded

Since the old smartphone had a regular SIM from 2003, I had to go to the operator’s office and change it to a nano-SIM. Yes, I forgot to say, the MX5 is a dual-SIM phone. Two nano-SIMs are used there. To pull out the SIM card tray, use a special paperclip

The first tray is located closer to the edge. The tray has very fine numbers stamped on it - SIM numbers.

Little by little we got to the internals/components of the phone.
Phone characteristics:

Appearance
After my 4 inch phone, the MX5 with its 5.5 inches seems simply huge. In my opinion, this is a size limit that should not be increased. It is difficult to operate the phone with one hand. My thumb can't reach the top of the screen, and I don't have a small hand.
Phone Dimensions: 149.9mm X 74.6mm x 7.6mm
Weight: 149 g
Meizu releases the MX5 in several colors. The back cover is silver. Front black, white. In the future, they are preparing a gold color scheme, but for now such phones are not on sale.
There is one button on the front panel, which is also a fingerprint scanner.
The scanner works well and quickly, I have never had any false positives.
The back cover is made of aluminum, with plastic inserts at the top and bottom. There is a small groove between these elements.

For some reason, many owners, and even more non-owners of the MX5, write that this groove is in the way, that dirt will accumulate there, and stuff like that. For me this is a normal decision, I don’t see anything bad. I like it and it doesn't give me any comfort.

Screen
Here Meizu abandoned their traditions and did not install a non-standard screen. This phone has a standard Full HD resolution of 1920x1080. Is it good or bad? This is a controversial issue. If in MX4 the width of the screen was increased and due to this, visually it did not look so long. But sometimes problems arose at the software level, since not all programs/toys were optimized for this resolution, and when watching movies there were black bars at the top and bottom.
Meizu also sacrificed tradition and did not install an IPS screen, but installed an Amoled screen from Samsung. While many have come to terms with the screen resolution, Meizu’s latest step has scared many people away from purchasing it. In fact, the eternal debate about what is better is Amoled vs IPS, Intel vs AMD or nVidia GeForce vs AMD Radeon, and each technology/device has both serious pros and cons.
What is the difference between an Amoled screen and an IPS screen?
Let’s dive a little into the technology to understand how the screens differ. I will explain it in a simple way so that everyone can understand it.
An IPS screen consists of a kind of sandwich: lamp (LEDs) - LCD matrix, sensor, glass. If you turn on the IPS screen, the lamp under the matrix is always on. Depending on which pixel on the matrix transmits light and which does not, we see the image.
Amoled has a different sandwich: each pixel is a separate small LED, then a sensor and glass. Naturally, if we use black color on the screen, the LEDs do not light up. This results in savings. But if we use white light, then the LEDs in total consume more energy than the IPS backlight.
If you write down the advantages of Amoled, they will be like this:
1) economical when using dark colors on the screen;
2) the darkest possible black color;
3) high maximum brightness;
4) the ability to use only certain pixels, and not the entire screen;
5) rich colors;
6) maximum viewing angles.

Cons for Amoled will naturally be pros for IPS:
1) IPS screen with more natural colors;
2) white on IPS looks white. On Amoled, white turns green or yellow at high angles.
3) the IPS screen has greater screen clarity at the same resolution. This is due to the fact that Amoled screens have pixels of different colors arranged in a certain way due to the different brightness of the LEDs of different colors.
If we ignore theory and move on to practice, then for the average user, by and large, it doesn’t matter what kind of screen it is. For me this was not an obstacle to buying a phone. And when I evaluated the screen live, after 2 weeks, I can say that the screen is no better or worse than IPS (it’s just a little different). Many people like the juicy picture. With Full HD resolution, the clarity of the screen is such that it is impossible to see a specific pixel without a magnifying glass (15 pixels per 1 mm in length is very difficult to see). White as white, I rarely look at my phone at wild angles. Usually in the morning I see the alarm clock with sleepy eyes, but then I don’t care what white it is :).
The phone uses Gorilla Glass 3 with an oleophobic coating. There are no comments here. The screen is capacitive and supports 10 touches.

Communication and communication
On the 4Pda forum in the MX5 topic, every two pages a question arises whether the MX5 supports 4G. As I wrote above, the supported ranges are b1, b3, b38, b39, b40, b41. Everyone’s favorite b7 range is not there, although it is included in the specifications on the website. Nobody knows whether this range will be in the international version of the phone, which will be officially sold in Russia. There is an opinion that these frequencies were disabled by software, but no one knows how to enable them yet.
Also on the forum the question often arises that 3G does not work. The simplest answer to this question is to update Flyme to version 4.5.2.4A (not lower).
In general, all communications are working fine.
Wi-fi 802.11 a/b/g/n, Support 2.4 GHz/5.0 GHz. The wifi analyzer did not take screenshots, and so the review is overloaded with information, and the signal level is a purely individual parameter, depending not only on the phone, but also on many other factors.
Speed test

My network is 60 Mbps. On a computer and on a tablet via wi-fi, the download speed was 30-32 Mbps.

Navigation and GPS
Everything is fine here too. There is GPS, GLONASS and also a Chinese system. Catches satellites quickly. Navitel started up without problems.

Memory
The phone has 3 GB of memory. This volume is enough for any resource-intensive applications. I bought a 32 gig phone. Out of the box, the memory section was 29.12 GB, and 24 GB was free. To be honest, I don’t understand where 8 gigs can go. In my opinion, this is too much even for the system. Other people with MX5 have a similar problem.

Camera
Rear camera 20.7 MP, front 5 MP.
Let's start from the front. On Skype, the camera picked up normally, the interlocutor sees me perfectly.
Good for a selfie. My face flatly refused to be photographed, despite persuasion :-). Then I noticed a cat who did not suspect anything. She had to take a photo.

The originals can be viewed.

The rear camera has dual flash and a laser rangefinder.
The pictures come out average, but they can’t be called bad either. As an example, I’ll give you a few photos under the spoiler.

Main camera

Photos outdoors in sunny weather

Enlarged part from the boat (100%)

You can read the name here, although it is clear that some kind of processing is present (similar to noise reduction from hand shake).
Next I filmed in the children's room
No lighting, only flash

Same room with lighting

My LED bulbs turn a little yellow, so there is a slight tint. On a DSLR you get similar photos.
Now I'll experiment with the modes
Auto mode

Macro mode (closer did not work, does not focus)

Manual mode with manual focus

Macro mode with manual focus

Played with the focus:
Close object

Distant object

Many on the forums write that the camera is bad... I would say that it is an ordinary point-and-shoot camera. If you shoot wisely and in manual mode, you get pretty decent photos. By the way, I only shoot in manual mode. I don’t understand how you can shoot on automatic. Anyone who learned to shoot with a Smena 8M with a handheld exposure meter and a detachable rangefinder will understand what I mean.
Based on my experience with the MX4, which initially also had a not very good camera, and then in subsequent firmware the situation radically changed for the better, I think that the MX5 camera has potential.
The originals can be viewed.

Sound
Here I pass. No, of course, I can write something like: “The cymbals remained restrained and not very musical. The maracas are somewhat sketchy and lack clarity. In the male vocals, there is a certain exaltation in the upper notes, which not only interferes with listening, but changes the soul of the vocal,” but I have no ear for music. My feelings about the sound may be like this: “this sounds cool... but this is complete crap.” On the forums they write that the sound of the MX5 is between the MX4 and MX4 pro. My feeling is that the sound in the speakers does not choke or wheeze. When talking on the phone, the interlocutor can be heard well and I can also be heard well. That is, no manipulations need to be done to improve the sound, as in MX4. There is sound in the headphones, but I can’t evaluate its quality (sorry, not a music lover).

Hardware and performance
The phone uses a MT6795T processor, 2.2 GHz, 64Bit, 8 cores.
PowerVR G6200 is responsible for graphics
This combination ensures good performance of the smartphone.

synthetic tests

Now let's find out who has more pussy of virtual parrots
AnTuTu

CPU-Z

NenaMark2

Epic Citadel

3D Mark

Quadrant

Battery and autonomy
The MX5 has a non-removable battery with a capacity of 3150 mAh. This battery lasts easily for a day with very intensive use. More precisely, even so, I have never managed to discharge the battery in one day.
Here are screenshots of using the phone for examples. The phone quietly lasted 2 days in productive mode

Antutu Tester tests

On average, with my use, the phone stays calm for 2-3 days (a few calls, a few games, wifi, browser, programs).
I wrote that the charger supports Quick Charge technology; this technology allows you to charge a completely discharged phone in 1.5 hours.

System and interface
Meizu uses its own Flyme skin for its phones. On the one hand this is good, on the other hand it is bad. The good thing is that the phone practically does not need to be configured, like bare Android. By customization I mean that the user will not delve into system files to improve something. For example, some install their own bootloaders and use firmware mods. This cannot be done here. The system, one might say, is closed, like iOS. With this approach, it is almost impossible to obtain a brick from MX5.
On the other hand, the poverty of the settings is a little alarming. In general, the interface is well thought out, but some little things are missing.

conclusions
Have I really gotten to this point? I've been writing a review for several days now.
I probably won’t write pros and cons. I've posted too much information here. Let everyone decide for themselves whether the phone is worth the money and whether it is worth buying. I can only write my subjective opinion after using the phone for two weeks.
Overall, I like it, I don't regret purchasing it. The interface flies, there are no brakes even in heavy toys. In principle, everything suits me.

Happy shopping!

delivery

I ordered the phone on July 6th. In the product description it was said that for delivery to Russia you must select the “Seller's Shipping Method” item. The essence of delivery is that first one transport company (local) delivers across China to the border, then a “specially trained” smuggler crosses border with the phone hidden in pants or under a hat. All questions regarding customs clearance fall on this mysterious entity. Then, through the Russian transport company (in my case, CDEK), the phone is sent to the buyer. In practice, delivery to large cities should be around 8-10 days. In the order, one track number is first given, then the seller writes the CDEK track number in a message. I had a trip planned abroad for July 23. I thought that the phone should arrive in 15 days.
At first everything went fine. The phone reached the Chinese border within the required 5-7 days. Then the seller gave me a CDEK track number. I waited a day or two, the order tracking page said: the shipment is awaiting delivery from the sender. On the third day, I turned to the seller: “Dear Chinese man, the status of the track number does not change, what will we do next?” Literally the next day I received a response:
“Dear buyer. Have a nice day and happy shopping. May your life be counted in hundreds of years and may you always buy from us in China. We have problems at the border, a trained Chinese guy put on his pants with holes, and the phones fell out along the way, so we need to wait a little. All registrations at CDEK are carried out in secret, and we will soon solve this problem by hiring another Chinese.
If you receive this package within 21-25 days of shipping, we will issue a 5$ refund;
If you receive this package within 26-30 days after shipping, we will make a refund of 8$;
If you receive this package more than 30 days after it was shipped, we will issue a $12 refund
I'm sorry for this bad situation. Let your patience be like the height of the Eiffel Tower.
There was nothing to do, I began to wait. A week flew by unnoticed, there was no change in status. On the eve of departure on July 22, I looked at the status and saw that the goods had been transferred to CDEK and began moving. The saddest thing is that the pre-delivery date was July 27, and at that time I will be outside my homeland. On the tracking page there was a button to change the address and delivery time, but nothing was active there, since the goods had not yet arrived in my city. There was also an online assistant on the CDEK website. Having contacted him via chat, I explained the situation and wrote that I would be in the city on August 1st. The online assistant made a note in the order, and I calmed down.
Already on vacation, I learned that on July 24 the phone arrived in my city. One day was not enough :(. I spent my vacation without a phone.
In total, instead of the required 8-10 days, the phone took 18 days to reach me. Most of the time the phone probably crawled across the China-Russia border.
On August 1 (Saturday) I called CDEK. I found out how they work, canceled the home delivery, since delivery was only on Monday (August 3), got into the car and went to pick up the parcel.
After receiving the package, I opened the package right in the car to look at the phone.

My first impression when I opened the package was how big it was.
Another spoiler for package lovers

The box was a little wrinkled around the edges, but we didn’t buy a box :).
On the back of the box there is a sticker indicating the model and main frequencies. Unfortunately, FDD LTE only has two frequencies available on channels B1 and B3. B7 (2600 MHz) is not there. This is the first discrepancy with the description, I will write about this a little later.

Open the box. The box is made like a book with something written in Chinese on it.

To the right of the phone, under the cardboard, there is a charger and a clip for removing the SIM card slot
Let's look at the charger.

The charger uses Quick Charge technology. That is, voltage up to 12 V can be supplied to the device.
Charger with adapter

The adapter looks alien. At first I didn’t understand that the adapter itself must always be in the socket, and any other devices can be inserted into it.

Everything would be fine, I would leave the adapter in the socket, but it doesn’t stay there securely.
I started checking the dimensions and realized why this happened.
Here's a comparison with a normal fork

Here you can see that the seat is about 3-4 mm smaller, so the adapter plug does not fully fit into the socket.
Here's a comparison of the pins

Here you can also see that the pins are a couple of millimeters shorter. As a result, the adapter does not sit tightly in the socket

Under the phone there is a warranty card and a USB cable

The USB cable is harsh. The cable length is almost 1 meter.

Warranty card in Chinese

Warranty card

So we got to the phone. The phone has stickers on both sides with inscriptions in Chinese that show the main elements of the phone

Let's look at the phone from different angles
Bottom of the phone:

From left to right – speaker holes, micro-USB, microphone holes.

Left-hand side:

On this side there is only a tray for SIM cards.

Top of the phone:

From left to right – headphone jack, microphone hole (for noise reduction)

Right side:

Volume rocker and power button.

At the back there is a camera, LED flash and laser rangefinder.

We turn on the phone. We are greeted by the company logo, and then the Flyme shell is loaded

Navigation and GPS
Everything is fine here too. There is GPS, GLONASS and also a Chinese system. Catches satellites quickly. Navitel started up without problems.

The rear camera has dual flash and a laser rangefinder.
The pictures come out average, but they can’t be called bad either. As an example, I’ll give you a few photos under the spoiler.

Main camera

Played with the focus:
Close object

Distant object

Hardware and performance
The phone uses a MT6795T processor, 2.2 GHz, 64Bit, 8 cores.
PowerVR G6200 is responsible for graphics
This combination ensures good performance of the smartphone.

synthetic tests

Now let's find out who has more pussy of virtual parrots
AnTuTu

CPU-Z

NenaMark2

Epic Citadel

3D Mark

Quadrant

Antutu Tester tests

Happy shopping!

I'm planning to buy +8 Add to favorites I liked the review +35 +61

Meizu MX5 is a top-class smartphone at a low price. The device is equipped with productive hardware and also has an advanced design. The presentation of the device took place in June 2015.

Appearance and ergonomics

Meiza MX5 has an all-metal body, which has undergone truly careful processing. A multi-level anodizing process was used here. 12-nozzle 3D sandblasting of metal is also used. The final stage of case production is careful polishing and painting. Some internal areas of the phone are made of magnesium alloy, which significantly strengthens the gadget. The corners of the case are neatly rounded. As for the side edges, they are sloping. It is necessary to note the high-quality assembly, as well as very strong aluminum. There is a protective glass on the front that covers the entire panel. The mTouch 2.0 navigation button along with the fingerprint scanner is located under the screen. At the top end you can only find a headphone jack, and at the bottom there is a microUSB port, a microphone and an external speaker. The device is equipped with a 3150 mAh battery with support for mCharge fast charging. Available colors: silver, gold, dark gray and light gray. Dimensions: height - 149.9 mm, thickness - 7.6 mm, width - 74.7 mm, weight - 149 g.

Display

The MX5 has a 5.5-inch screen with an advanced AMOLED matrix. Thanks to this, the display boasts excellent contrast (10,000: 1) and a high level of maximum brightness. It uses MiraVision technology, which makes the image crystal clear. At the same time, the user’s eyes practically do not get tired. The resolution of this display is 1920 by 1080 pixels, which allows you to enjoy a smooth and realistic picture without individual pixels. It is also worth highlighting the wide viewing angles, and the colors hardly change even when tilted.

Hardware and performance

Inside the MX5 smartphone there is an eight-core Helio X10 Turbo processor with overclocked cores up to 2200 MHz. This chip not only has consistently high power, but also saves battery power. There is a PowerVR G6200 3D accelerator, and the amount of RAM LPDDR3 (dual-channel mode) is 3 GB. Available amount of internal memory: 32 GB or 16 GB. There is no separate slot for MicroSD cards. For its operation, the device uses the Flyme 4.5 shell, which modifies the Android 5 operating system. Thus, in the AnTuTu test, such a gadget scores more than 51,000 points. Many games run with the highest graphic settings. The system works very quickly.

Communication and sound

You can insert two SIM cards into the Meizu MX5 at once. FDD-LTE and TD-LTE networks are supported. The multimedia speaker has an extremely high volume reserve, and with clear sound. The sound quality of the headphones is very good. This is truly a “musical” smartphone. It is also worth noting the high-quality earpiece.

Camera

The progressive 20.7-megapixel camera IMX220 from Sony has undergone some improvements in the software area in the Meiza MX5. Thanks to this, sharpness has improved and the color range has become more natural. Thanks to fast laser focusing and a variety of modes, you can take great photos at any time of the day. There is also a 5-megapixel front camera with an aperture ratio of 2.2 and FotoNation 2.2 technology. Now images are improved in real time without post-processing.

conclusions

With the help of comprehensive improvements, the MX5 turned out to be an almost perfect smartphone with high performance. The advanced cameras and rich display stand out. Includes documentation, tray clip, USB cable, and power adapter.

Pros:

Durable and beautiful metal body.
Very decent performance in real-world tasks.
Two modified cameras.
Excellent sound from speakers and headphones.
Fast fingerprint scanner.

Minuses:

LTE frequencies do not operate everywhere.
May be missing radio and microSD slot.

Technical characteristics of Meizu MX5

General characteristics
Model	Meizu MX5
Date of announcement and start of sales	June 2015 / July 2015
Dimensions (LxWxH)	149.9 x 74.7 x 7.6 mm.
Weight	149
Available colors	gold, silver, dark gray, light gray
operating system	Android 5.0.1 (Lollipop) + Flyme Flyme 4.5.2
Connection
Number and type of SIM cards	two, Nano-SIM, dual stand-by
Communication standard in 2G networks	GSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900 - SIM 1 & SIM 2
Communication standard in 3G networks	HSDPA
Communication standard in 4G networks	LTE
Carrier Compatibility	MTS, Beeline, Megafon, Tele2, Yota
Data transfer
WiFi	Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, dual-band, WiFi Direct, hotspot
Bluetooth	4.1, A2DP, LE
GPS	yes, A-GPS, GLONASS, BDS
NFC	No
Infrared port	No
Platform
CPU	eight-core Mediatek MT6795 Helio X10 (Octa-core 2.2 GHz Cortex-A53)
GPU	PowerVR G6200
Inner memory	16 GB / 32 GB
RAM	3 GB
Ports and connectors
USB	microUSB 2.0, USB On-The-Go
3.5mm jack	There is
Memory card slot	No
Display
Display type	AMOLED capacitive, 16M colors
Screen size	5.5 inches (~74.5% of the front surface of the device)
Display protection	Corning Gorilla Glass 3
Camera
Main camera	20.7 MP (f/2.2, 1/2.3″, 1.2 µm), laser autofocus, dual-LED (dual tone) flash
Functionality of the main camera	Geo-tagging, touch focus, face detection, HDR, panorama
Video recording	2160p@30fps, 1080p@30fps, 720p@100fps
Front-camera	5 MP, f/2.2, 1080p@30fps
Sensors
Illuminance	There is
Approximations	There is
Gyroscope	There is
Compass	There is
Hall	No
Accelerometer	There is
Barometer	No
Fingerprint scanner	There is
Battery
Battery type and capacity	Li-Ion 3150 mAh
Battery mount	non-removable
Equipment
Standard kit	MX5: 1 USB cable: 1 SIM tray eject clip: 1 User manual: 1 Warranty card: 1 Charger: 1

Prices

Video reviews

Characteristics

Case materials: metal, Gorilla Glass 3 (front panel)
Operating system: Android 5.x, Flyme 4.5
Network: GSM/EDGE, UMTS/HSDPA, LTE (TD/FDD-LTE) (two nanoSIM)
Platform: Helio X10 Turbo (MediaTek MT6795T)
Processor: eight-core, 64-bit, Cortex A53 at 2.2 GHz
Graphics: PowerVR G6200 MP4, 700 MHz
RAM: 3 GB
Storage memory: 16/32/64 GB
Memory card slot: no
Interfaces: Wi-Fi (ac/a/b/g/n) Dual-Band, Bluetooth 4.1 (LE), microUSB connector (USB 2.0, MHL, USB-OTG) for charging/synchronization, 3.5 mm for headset
Screen: SuperAMOLED (Samsung), 5.5” diagonal, resolution 1920x1080, ppi 406, automatic backlight level adjustment, Gorilla Glass 3 protective glass
Main camera: 20.7 megapixels, Sony IMX230 sensor, f/2.2, autofocus, dual LED flash, video recorded in 4k
Front camera: 5 MP without autofocus, OV5670 sensor, f/2.0, video recorded in 1080p
Navigation: GPS (A-GPS support), Glonass
Additionally: mTouch fingerprint scanner, accelerometer, light sensor, proximity sensor
Battery: 3150 mAh
Dimensions: 149.9 x 74.7 x 7.6 mm
Weight: 149 grams

Contents of delivery

The device is packaged in a new box: if previously almost all devices were in flat square boxes, then the new MX5 is in a rectangular one. The dimensions are not the most optimal by modern standards.

Traditionally for the MX series, the phone is contained in an improvised brochure with the main features of the gadget. Just below you will find a bag with a paper clip for removing the SIM tray and documentation. In addition, there is a network adapter with an output current of 2 A, and a regular white USB cable. The most interesting thing is that for the first time, at least in my memory, Meizu included headphones in the kit, in this case they are EP-21HD. They come in a nice Apple style plastic case.

Introduction

Just last month, another presentation of the Chinese company Meizu took place. It showed a device called MX5. Let me remind you that MX4 was released in September 2014, a little later MX4 Pro. In addition, there were also M1 Note and M2 Note - inexpensive phablets. An interesting trend, I hope that there will be more devices without compromising the quality of workmanship. After all, according to rumors, Meizu is going to update its entire lineup in 2015, including the yet to be shown MX5 Pro.

In the recent past, Samsung had a similar experience: every year they presented almost identical devices with not entirely clear content. As a result, as I understand it, they abandoned this practice, and now we see only adequate products. I hope that a similar story will not repeat with Meizu; if I were them, I would still “hold my horses.” People have just started buying MX4, and they are already being offered MX4 Pro; They just released the M1 Note, and they immediately showed off the M2 Note.

Who was the MX5 made for? It seems to me that for someone who skipped MX4, M1 and M2 were considered too budgetary from a technical point of view, and there was not enough money for MX4 Pro. In the new product, we tried to implement as many interesting features of different devices as possible: a metal body, a camera module with a large number of megapixels, laser focusing, a fingerprint sensor, a SuperAMOLED matrix, double-tap wake-up and much more. And this is good, as long as all these bells and whistles work and do not exist “on paper”. Therefore, I suggest reading this review, which details each feature of the flagship Meizu MX5 device.

The gadget should appear in Russia in August at a price of about 25,000 rubles.

Design, dimensions, control elements

At the presentation, a lot of time was spent on the design of the smartphone. Officials say it takes up to 30 days to make a 250-gram block of T6063 aluminum into a 21-gram device frame. The entire process takes about 70 steps: rough machining, nano-casting, precision machining, polishing, anodizing and diamond cutting. Execution accuracy – up to 0.01mm.

Another interesting fact. The case is anodized and polished, a process that is repeated 5 times and takes more than 40 hours. During the painting process, special clamps are used; they are used only twice, after which they are disposed of. This is done in order to apply a coating with a thickness of 0.02 mm.

The developers labored over the implementation of an all-metal case for two years, and eventually solved the problem of material compatibility. For example, in the antenna area, Polyphenylene Sulfide was used - a special plastic, it is very durable and can withstand high temperatures well. This material does not affect the quality of signal transmission.

The board substrate is made of magnesium alloy with a thickness of only 0.45 mm. On various resources you can read even more and in more detail about the production of Meizu MX5, and we move on.

The appearance of the device resembles a symbiosis of the Samsung Galaxy S6 and Apple iPhone 6. The corners of the case are rounded, the sides are sloping, and the only thing missing is 2.5D glass. It looks good, but we've seen it all before.

The back area of the device is made of metal. The top and bottom edges are plastic. There are grooves between the edges and the metal part. Despite the fascinating description of the creation of the case and words about the precision and completeness of the product, these grooves are made somewhat clumsily: firstly, they are deep, and secondly, they are quite sharp, that is, you can quite feel these grooves with your fingers. A very strange decision, as if you were holding not the final product, but a sample. In addition, dust and small pieces of clothing get clogged there over time. I think this will be fixed in the next gadget.

The side edges smoothly transition to the front panel. The thin edge is polished and reflects the color nicely. The screen is protected by third generation Corning glass. Naturally, nothing happened to the material in a couple of weeks. There is an oleophobic coating, but it is not of the highest quality (in any case, better than on the M1/M2): fingerprints remain, they are noticeable, and are not erased too easily. The finger glides relatively smoothly.

Strength. The metal parts are really durable and are not subject to rapid abrasion or scratches. I specifically tried to conduct crash tests. Nothing bad happened: the marks remain, but are easily removed if you run your hand over the problem area.

The buttons and bezel of the camera are also made of iron.

The case is assembled perfectly. No squeaks, pressing into the battery, or crunching.

A small minus: the smartphone is quite slippery, especially if you have very dry hands.

At the top center is the speech speaker. It's the same quality as the speakers in the MX4, MX4 Pro, M1 and M2 Note. The volume is high and the clarity and intelligibility are excellent.

To the left of the speaker is an event indicator. Flashes white. On the right are light and proximity sensors. If there are no questions about the first, then there are questions about the second. At the moment it is buggy: either the backlight does not turn off during a call, or does not turn on after you remove the phone from your ear. The problem is not critical and clearly lies in the firmware. Fortunately, here the interface is located at the bottom, and not at the top, as on “pure” Android 5.0, that is, pressing any button with your cheek is quite difficult.

Naturally, there is a front camera. She's on the right.

Below the display there is a mechanical button combined with a fingerprint sensor. They called the button mTouch 2.0. It is flat, slightly recessed into the body. Acts as an exit to the home screen when pressed, when touched – “Back”, and when held for a long time, it locks the screen. Quote from an official source:

“The entire module has been redesigned, resulting in faster recognition speeds, improved user comfort and a more user-friendly design. A completely new capsule button, containing various functionality, is in perfect harmony with the single design of the phone body. Only through continuous improvement can we create phones that are worthy of your attention.

We've added a new mTouch 2.0 ID chip to the MX5. It fires very quickly, in just 0.48s. And with an 81% increase in scanner resolution, mTouch 2.0 can collect more information about the user’s fingerprints, which significantly improves recognition accuracy.”

I won’t copy-paste everything. The manufacturer also says that the button can withstand 300,000 clicks without any problems, and also added a fixed layer of waterproof silicone gel under the module, which prevents water from entering and erosion.

Attention was also paid to safety. mTouch 2.0 technology is based on the TEE security environment from TrusTonic. “Even if the device has administrator rights (root), no one will be able to access the TEE (Trusted Execution Environment) secure area. Any third-party program must obtain a review and signature from Meizu to activate the API. The secure area only provides verification results to the third-party application, without the ability of the third-party application to directly retrieve the fingerprint data."

I don’t think that Meizu users will particularly think about such things; after all, Meizu is not Apple yet.

On the bottom edge on the left is a microphone, in the center is a micro-USB connector, on the right is a speaker. By the way, Meizu even got confused about the screws near the connectors:

“Our passion for sophistication and attention to detail has not bypassed even such a small detail as the mounting screws on the bottom of the case. Take a look at these 5-pointed hats that refract light so beautifully and you'll appreciate our passion for unparalleled design."

I took a look. I noticed that the left screw was not fully tightened. Didn't appreciate love :)

At the top end there is a second microphone and a 3.5 mm audio output.

This model is equipped with two slots for nanoSIM standard SIM cards. Tray on the left.

On the right is the power button (turn on the device, activate the backlight) and the volume rocker key. Very comfortable. The power button has a pleasant click and click sound. Very similar to the one in the iPhone 6.

On the reverse side there is a large (15 mm in diameter) camera lens eye, below – a two-color flash (cold and warm glow), laser autofocus.

Total. The company did a lot of work on creating the case; it turned out to be really high quality and durable. The design ergonomics are excellent. However, there are several complaints:

Body is slippery
The grooves between the metal and plastic parts are sharp

Otherwise, it's a cool device.

MX5 and Nokia Lumia 1020

MX5 and Apple iPhone 5

Display

Meizu MX5 uses a screen with a diagonal of 5.5 inches. Let me remind you that the M1/M2 Note has the same display, the MX4 has 5.36, and the MX4 Pro has 5.5. The physical size of the MX5 display is 68x121 mm, the frame on top is 18.5 mm, on the bottom – 19.5, on the right and left – approximately 3 mm. There is an anti-reflective coating.

The MX5 display resolution is FullHD, that is, 1080x1920 pixels, density is 400 pixels per inch. The matrix is manufactured by Samsung - SuperAMOLED.

“This is the thinnest display in the entire history of MEIZU. Just 1.3mm thick, 32% thinner than the previous generation. The sensor is 1000 times more sensitive than the previous generation.”

PenTile mesh

The maximum brightness of white color is 377 cd/m2 (official data is 350). Contrast – 10,000:1.

The white line is the goal we are trying to achieve. The yellow line is the actual screen data. You can see that we are directly above the target curve at values from 0 to 90%, which means that at each value the image is overexposed, and from 90 to 100% the result is excellent. The yellow line is actually the average amount of red, green and blue.

The average gamma value is 2.24.

Judging by the levels graph, it is almost an ideal case when all colors are within 100%. There is a small error, but overall everything is fine.

The temperature remains almost unchanged and remains around 7300 K.

Judging by the diagram, the data obtained is much larger than the sRGB triangle, especially in the green zone.

Almost all gray points are located within a radius of DeltaE=10, which indicates that gray colors will not contain other shades of colors. Serious indicator!

The viewing angles are maximum; at certain tilts of the screen, the picture turns slightly green.

Screen comparison (Meizu MX5 – left, LG G4 – right)

Behavior in the sun

Behavior in the shadows

Viewing Angles

In the settings, unfortunately, there were no screen operating modes - profiles, like in Samsung smartphones.

The device supports quick wake-up functions: double tap, other gestures. There is SmartTouch. When turned on, a small dot appears on the screen, with which you can perform various actions: clicking on the dot - “Back”, moving from the bottom up - launching the notification panel, and so on.

Overall, a nice screen with not the most eye-catching colors.

Battery

This model uses a non-removable battery with a capacity of 3150 mAh.

When working with the device, the battery lasted for about 24 hours: about 20-30 minutes of calls per day, about 10 hours of 3G use (constant synchronization of mail, Twitter, WhatsApp, Skype, etc.), about 5 hours Wi -Fi, several dozen photos, an hour of listening to music.

In a more gentle mode, the gadget works for up to two days. If you leave only data synchronization (Wi-Fi), you can count on 3-4 days. Up to 13 hours of continuous talk time.

When the screen backlight brightness is automatically adjusted, the display operates for 3 to 4 hours.

The data is about the same as on the M1/M2 Note. I didn't notice much difference.

Communication capabilities

The device is equipped with two nanoSIM slots. Both connectors support 3G/4G networks

GSM/GPRS/EDGE (900/1800 MHz)
WCDMA/HSPA+ (900/2100 Mhz)
LTE (1800/2100 MHZ)

Reservation. Not all operators support the LTE network. For example, MTS has 4G, but MegaFon only works in certain places. The Meizu M2 Note turned out to be the most successful in this regard.

There is no NFC chip.

The rest is standard: Wi-Fi (ac and b/g/n) dual-band Wi-Fi (2.4 GHz/5 GHz), Bluetooth 4.1 LE, microUSB connector (USB 2.0, OTG, MHL) for charging/synchronization. GPS navigation works without problems.

Memory and memory card

Inside the device there is 3 GB of dual-channel RAM (933 MHz LPDDR3). Built-in memory can be 16, 32 and 64 GB. The 16 GB version has approximately 11 GB available.

Cameras

Two cameras: main 20.7 MP (6 lenses, F2.2 aperture, Sony Exmor RS IMX220 with an area of 1/2.3” with a pixel size of 1.2 microns, protected by Corning Gorilla Glass 3), front 5 MP (F2.0). The flash has two colors of light: cold and warm. There is laser focusing.

A similar camera module is found in Meizu MX4 and MX4 Pro. The quality is comparable. Another issue is software. At the moment, it seems to me that it is not completely ready yet, since there are small problems:

HDR images are usually too dry and look harsh. Very often the picture doubles, it seems that a lot of time passes between the first and second frames - up to a second. It is useless to “take pictures” of moving objects.
Panoramas tend to be slightly blurry, as if out of focus.
The most important thing is focusing problems when shooting macro. Almost always, the camera cannot focus exactly on the object you are pointing at - the sharpness “shifts” either closer or further.

Laser focus is a little slower than on the LG G3 and LG G4, but is able to focus on a subject that is poorly lit.

Pros: always accurate white balance, relatively wide viewing angle, fully manual settings for ISO, shutter speed, exposure and focus.

Below is a comparison of the cameras of the LG G4 (left) and Meizu MX5 (right).

When shooting landscapes, the cameras perform about the same. However, it is noticeable that the quality of the MX5 optics is not the best compared to the G4.

When shooting indoors the difference is noticeably greater. The LG camera makes less noise and the picture is clearer.

Insufficient lighting. The clear leader is LG G4. The image is brighter, virtually noise-free, and the detail is high.

Overall, the Meizu MX5 camera is very good, but it needs a software update.

In order to be able to select the focus point and exposure point separately, you must enable the “Metering Section” mode. There is no shooting in RAW.

Everything else is typical for Meizu smartphones.

The device can shoot video in 4K resolution at 30 fps. The quality is superb. It will not be possible to “upload” the video to YouTube, since it is recorded using the H265 codec.

Photo examples

Performance and Software Platform

Meizu's new product received a chipset called Helio X10 Turbo. It was made by the same Taiwanese corporation MediaTek. Another name for the chip, more familiar, is MT6795T. The index “T” just means “Turbo”. We can say that MX5 is the first smartphone on this platform - the most productive among MTK.

Frankly speaking, it is not entirely clear for what purpose such a powerful chipset is used here, because the screen resolution is not QuadHD. Probably only from a marketing point of view. Because for FullHD the MT6752 is enough.

So, SoC Helio X10 is a 64-bit platform, 8 ARM Cortex-A53 cores with a clock frequency of up to 2.2 GHz, a 28 nm process technology, and PowerVR G6200 for graphics. There is MediaTek CorePilot 2.0 technology. Unlike the first version, there is an advanced performance monitoring system while reducing power consumption.

Various resources provide benchmark data for several devices. For some time now I have considered all these numbers useless. The fact is that “parrots” do not play any role, since 90% of success depends on optimizing software and hardware: you can get an infinite number of points, but the games and interface will lag. In addition, there are no games for Android that would only run on top smartphones. The same Meizu M1 “pulls” whatever you want.

The MX5 device works quickly, the interface is smooth, there are no glitches or lags. The metal case does not heat up at all, even under light processor load.

Total. A powerful processor without overheating, runs all games at maximum settings. The user interface is smooth, there are no slowdowns or glitches.

Screenshots from games

Performance tests for parrot lovers

Software platform

The smartphone runs on the Google Android operating system version 5.1. But, unfortunately, there is nothing left of the “five” here after the Chinese “rolled” the Flyme shell version 4.5 onto it. In fact, nothing new or interesting has appeared: the animation, icons, and general design are the same. It's sad, of course, because Android 5.0 is good without any decorations.

Multimedia

The music player is standard for Meizu. It has changed a little - the icons just became round.

The speaker has a very high volume, I think higher than the MX4, MX4 Pro and the rest. The sound is clear, without wheezing. The speaker here seems to be the highest quality I've heard in the last couple of years. If only they could add some bass notes, it would be great.

The sound in the headphones is loud. The quality is excellent. The manufacturer does not indicate a separate music chip, but I’m sure everyone will like the sound! There is an equalizer in the settings. Total bands 5: 100 Hz, 500 Hz, 1 kHz, 4 kHz, 16 kHz. There are several presets. Dirac HD Sound has not gone away - this is special software that analyzes and corrects the “color” of sound. The operating algorithm is described in more detail.

Still no radio. The video player has not changed, but a special button has appeared to display other videos in memory.

Conclusion

I have no questions about the quality of communication. The vibration alert is stronger than on M1/M2.

I had great pleasure testing this device. It feels like Meizu tried to make a really high-quality device from all points of view.

However, those who argue that there is little difference between the MX4 and MX5 would be right. The new product has a metal body, a gigabyte more RAM, a slightly better front camera, a slightly faster processor, a larger screen and the LCD has been replaced with SuperAMOLED. That is, in fact, this is MX4s. However, the MX5 will not remain the flagship for long; soon they will show us the MX5 Pro, and then everything will fall into place.

What would need to be worked on, in my opinion:

The metal groove should stand out less; now it is sharp and deep.

Certain nuances

The SuperAMOLED matrix should have saturation settings, like in Samsung smartphones. Without it, the screen will seem too colorful to some users, and too faded to others.
LTE. In fact, it only works with one operator.
There is nothing left of Android 5.0, which is not very good.

Detected bugs are most likely in the firmware

Incorrect operation of the proximity sensor. Sometimes it doesn't work.
Camera. Described in detail in the appropriate section.

pros

Metal body
SuperAMOLED screen matrix
Laser autofocus
Good battery life
Very loud speaker
Quality speech speaker
Great sound in headphones
Event indicator
Good camera
Excellent 4K video quality
Fingerprint's scanner

Minuses

LTE. Doesn’t work for all operators and not everywhere

If you want to save money on a flagship, then I advise you to take a closer look at the Meizu MX4. If you have enough money for the MX4 Pro, then you can take it and not wait for the MX5 Pro; it will probably differ little from the MX4 Pro. You need a practical device for 15,000 rubles - definitely an M1 Note, but for 14,000 you can easily get an LTE smartphone with an M2 Note memory card.