In recent years, the Chinese manufacturer Meizu began to take the lead in the electronics market. More and more often new models began to appear. Flagships from China demonstrate powerful hardware to everyone for little money. Are these Chinese devices that good? Let's try to figure it out on the example of one of the company's top smartphones - Meizu MX5.

There are a lot of conflicting reviews about this model on the Internet. Although the previous gadgets of this company were received quite warmly by users and were highly appreciated. After examining our Meizu MX5 review, everyone will be able to draw conclusions for themselves on this score.

What did the Meizu developers "stuffed" their flagship with this time?

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

Equipment

First of all, Meizu MX5 has pleased its users with new packaging. Unlike previous models, this box came out much larger.

A brochure with all the latest "bells and whistles" of the flagship immediately catches your eye. Just below the device is a neat bag containing a clip for removing the SIM slot and all documents. Also included is a 2A charging adapter and a standard white USB cable.

The most important addition to the package is a wired headset in the form of headphones. Most often, Chinese manufacturers do not bother about this at all. This time, oddly enough, they showed concern for their users and completed the kit. The headphones are packed in a modern plastic case, somewhat reminiscent of the Apple style.

Design

Appearance gadget Meizu MX5 does not stand out among a large number Chinese smartphones. Someone likes it, and someone says that the device is not to their taste. All this is individual.

But there are two things in design that need to be emphasized. The metal case can be considered an innovation, since in the MX lineup there are mainly plastic shells. However, there is still a small catch here. The body is not all made of metal. The top, bottom and sides are not metal at all. But the main part, indeed, is metal. But do not complain about thrifty manufacturers. It is expedient to replace metal in segments with plastic. The fact is that the antenna is not brought out, so it would be difficult for the communication to work through the aluminum case. The main thing is that the plastic elements cannot be distinguished from the main panel with the naked eye, so this does not affect the appearance in any way.

The second thing you should pay attention to is the weight and dimensions of the Meizu MX5 model. Despite the fact that the screen diagonal is 5.5 inches, it is much more compact than, for example, Apple's gadget. And the weight for this size is generally comic - 150 grams. Thanks to the well-designed details, the MX5 is very pleasant and comfortable to hold in the hand. Matt metal surface back cover protects from prints and prevents slipping.

The lower part of the front panel is equipped with a small key that has a built-in fingerprint sensor. If you choose a model with a light case, you will notice a golden edging around the button. But when studying the black version, the button does not stand out at all, but at a certain angle and lighting it is generally invisible.

But there are also minor flaws. Inserts that are not made of metal have very sharp edges and can catch on something from time to time. The protruding "peephole" of the main camera also looks very strange. He can cling to his pocket and because of this, when the gadget is lying, for example, on the table, typing is extremely uncomfortable. The situation can be corrected by the presence of a cover that will level the surface.

Display

The display of the Meizu MX5 raised a lot of questions during its release. The screen has always been one of the main advantages of the brand. Previously, an IPS matrix was used, but now the developers have stated that the model is based on Super AMOLED from Samsung. A lot of controversy has arisen about whether this is good or bad. Naturally, MEIZU presented this innovation as an advantage.

The display size is 5.5 inches and the screen resolution is 1920 × 1080. Maintaining their corporate identity, the creators of the MX5 left a very narrow bezel on the sides - less than 3 mm. At the same time, there are no problems with use, everything is quite ergonomic. And the well-thought-out housing prevents accidental clicks to the sensor. The front panel's scratch resistance is pretty good.

The brightness of the screen is automatically adjusted, but you can adjust it yourself. Multi-touch Meizu MX5 reads 10 simultaneous clicks. During a conversation with the ear, pressing will not occur due to the lock being triggered when the phone approaches the head.

Sound

As for the sound quality, there are no complaints about the DAC on the Meizu MX5. Despite the fact that the smartphone is equipped with only one external speaker, listening to music does not cause discomfort, just like in a wired headset. Of course, deep bass is something completely transcendental, but their absence is compensated for by a rather loud and rich sound. When the volume is increased to the highest, the sounds are not distorted.

For listening to music, the MX5 offers its users a built-in media player. Like all standard programs, it is not particularly different in functionality. But in the settings there is an opportunity to experiment with the equalizer, which is already good. The only drawback is that the model does not support radio.

Cameras

With cameras, the Chinese flagship is in complete order. MX5 has two modules: one for the main camera - 20.7 megapixels, the second for the front camera - 5 megapixels. The disadvantage of the selfie camera is the lack of autofocus and flash. As a convenience, when taking photographs, you can activate the camera by pressing the volume key. Although the resolution of the front camera is not very high, the quality of the photos is quite good.

In general, the quality of a self-portrait is acceptable, but the main problem is the lack of normal autofocus. That is, when shooting with a selfie stick or a large collective photo, there may simply not be enough sharpness.

The main camera has six lenses and a powerful aperture. Autofocus Meizu MX5 works quickly, making the picture clear. The flash works without problems and is equipped with LEDs.

Photo mode control remains with the standard corporate style menu, as in older Meizu models. The functionality has a full list of possible modes, ranging from automatic, manual, night and ending with macro photography. A nice addition is a barcode scanner. There is also a mode that allows you to change the center of focus on an already finished shot.

The color rendition of the main camera of Meizu MX5 is practically not lame. The white balance is accurately detected by the device automatically. If you shoot in the daytime, then due to natural light, the image quality is significantly improved. But focusing is problematic from time to time. More precisely, the problem is not in focusing itself, but in its activation. There are times when it is very difficult to get to the desired object. In this, Meizu loses a little to her competitors. For example, the same LG offers more accurate and faster focus operation.

The flagship has one very popular HDR feature, but here too, users will be disappointed. There is almost no effect in the photo, and it works too slowly.

Brief characteristics of the main camera Meizu MX5:

• Relatively good night mode;
• Good focus in low light;
• Great indoor photography;
• High-quality detailed shooting;
• With sufficient light, the camera captures the texture;
• In some moments, the color is fixed uneven, but the built-in noise reduction copes with this;
• Macro photography is not bad, but it captures details only in the center;
• When shooting text, the sharpness moves out at the edges, but not critical;
• Slow operation of the camera functionality.

Of course, in terms of the camera, smartphones of the highest price category MX5 are still far away, but as for devices of their level, everything is quite decent.

Memory and memory card

The Meizu MX5 device has 3 GB of RAM.

How much built-in memory for storing media files the user wants to see in the gadget, he can determine for himself. For this, the developers have provided a choice of three models of 16 GB, 32 GB and 64 GB. Here I would like to note right away that the main disadvantage of the MX5 is the lack of a slot for additional storage in the form of a memory card. This is worth considering. When buying a new device, for example, with 16 GB of memory, only 11 gigs are available for use.

That is, what built-in volume was initially chosen, so the user remains with the entire operation of the device.

Connection

Meizu MX5 has support for all the most popular networks:

According to user reviews, the most common problem with Chinese models is that Meizu does not support the LTE signal at the frequency at which Russian networks usually operate. But as an option - try to catch 4G.

The advantages of the flagship include support for two nano-SIM. However, working with two at the same time will not work.

As for the quality of the very reception and transmission of speech, everything works stably.

Battery life and performance

Chinese developers from year to year are trying to "stuff" new model strong "iron". Most often they do it well, at least Meizu tried very hard in this regard when developing the MX5.

The platform on the device is one of the most powerful - MediaTek. It is 64-bit and has a frequency of up to 2.2 GHz. The graphics are based on the modern PowerVR G6200 accelerator.

In general, the hardware part of the model is in perfect order, and you can safely count on the stable and productive operation of the device.

The gadget has plenty of battery life. In terms of battery capacity, most competitors can envy him. The non-removable battery has 3150 mAh in stock. This is a pretty good capacity, and not only for the Chinese line, but for all flagships.

If we focus on the operating time, then this is about 24 hours, 10 hours of which the gadget will actively receive and transmit Internet data, as well as about half an hour of phone calls and an hour of listening to music. If you practically do not use the Internet, then the flagship is ready to work for about four days. With constant phone calls, the battery will last up to 13 hours. For the busiest people, whose work is based on constant calls, this will be a weighty argument when choosing.

Plus, the manufacturers announced their proprietary fast charge technology.

It is worth noting that if you rely not on the developers' statement, but on the reviews about the device, then users complain that the smartphone charges twice as long as stated. But, perhaps, this is not the fault of the gadget, but of the voltage or other external factors.

Operating system

The device runs on the Android 5 Flyme OS operating system. There are a couple of things about the OS that are worth talking about. Flyme OS is a system, the shell of which is convenient and intuitive. A set of tools is available to the user, which cannot be found on all smartphones. There is a short list of pros and cons of this platform.

Advantages:

• Easily manage the rights to any application;
• It is possible to track malware;
• Control of Internet traffic at a glance;
• Neat interface.

Disadvantages:

• The multitasking panel is too clever;
• Inconvenient settings panel.

And yet there are more positive impressions about the "filling" than negative ones.

Competitors

Like any other mobile device The Meizu MX5 has its competitors. The model fights for a place in the sales market mainly with two models:

• Huawei P8;
• LG G4.

As for the first one, in terms of technical characteristics, it lags a little behind in almost all respects. But for a more accurate analysis, it is necessary to carry out a detailed comparison. In terms of price, this Huawei is in the same category as Meizu.

If we talk about the rather well-known and well-known company LG, then the device here is close to the MX5 in performance, but it costs more. The explanation for everything is the brand.

Outcome

What is popular in China will not always be relevant for Russia, for example. This can be concluded if you carefully examine the Meise MX5 phone. With its characteristics on the Chinese market, this device can be purchased almost twice as cheap. Therefore, he gained such popularity in his homeland - “ domestic manufacturer»Released a new competing smartphone model.

But this is not the case in Russia. The problem is that its price in rubles does not allow you to just pick up and buy a gadget. We have to compare for a long time and persistently.

Of course, one cannot complain about the “stuffing” of the Meizu MX5. Everything is done well. But in order to compete with more famous brands in its category, developers should still work not only on the characteristics of their devices, but also on PR. Of course, there is a buyer for each product, so let everyone determine for himself what he needs.

Appearance and ergonomics

Meizu has established itself as a manufacturer that treats the design of devices with particular scrupulousness, for my taste, all their smartphones look good. The current flagship is no exception, but surprisingly, the MX5's looks have flaws. The body of the smartphone is all-metal and has two plastic inserts at the top and bottom, these inserts look sloppy and alien, plus the antenna dividers do not fit into this design in any way.

The rest of the Meizu MX5 is a very pleasant device, and the claims of some reviewers to the allegedly copied design are completely unfounded - the MX5 is no more like an iPhone than any other smartphone with an aluminum body. The entire front surface is covered by Gorilla Glass 3, which, unlike glass in, is glued into a plastic substrate, and not filled with resin.

The weight and dimensions of the device are comfortable, due to the narrow bezels around the screen and the sloping shape of the body, the MX5 for a smartphone with a 5.5-inch screen is very comfortable in the hand. Three mechanical buttons are located under the thumb right hand Finally, Meizu has moved the Power button from the top to the right. There is another mechanical button under the screen with a built-in fingerprint sensor. This sensor works flawlessly and performs its function perfectly, you quickly get used to it, and after that you don't want to use a pin code or password at all.

The sync connector and the main microphone are located on the bottom edge, as well as the ringer speaker, which minimizes the chance of drowning out the ringing signal. The headset connector and the second microphone are on the upper edge, the camera's eye is on the back surface from the top in the center, the module itself protrudes from the body by about a millimeter. There are fears that Gorilla Glass 3 will become covered with minor scratches over time.

Screen

Meizu decided to move away from the tradition of installing screens of non-standard proportions in MX series smartphones. The MX5 has a 5.5-inch SuperAMOLED with FullHD resolution. The pixels are arranged according to the Pentile principle (for every 1 red and 1 blue pixel there are 2 green ones), the artifacts of which are almost invisible due to the high PPI.

The screen has a high contrast and almost absolute viewing angles, however, when the gaze deviates from the normal, the white color acquires a greenish tint. Those who don't like oversaturated colors may not like the screen. the color gamut is larger than the sRGB field, and the correction profiles, as in smartphones Samsung, the Meizu MX5 does not.

The capacitive touch screen can detect up to 10 touches at the same time, it does not respond to gloved hands. The screen has an effective anti-glare filter; in direct sunlight, the image remains readable, although it fades.

Hardware platform and performance

The Meizu MX5 hardware platform is a system-on-a-chip MTK MT6795T, which includes: an eight-core CPU operating at frequencies up to 2.2 GHz (all cores are “weak” Cortex-A53), a PowerVR G6200 GPU operating at frequencies up to 700 MHz and 3 GB random access memory LPDDR3. It's funny to see MTK pushing up the Cortex-A53 core frequencies to force its chips to deliver competitive performance, while Qualcomm is struggling to keep up with the heating of its latest systems-on-a-chip based on the "strong" Cortex-A57 cores. In the singlecore test in Geekbench 3, the smartphone scores more than a thousand points, which allows it to stand on a par with smartphones based on Snapdragon 801/805 in terms of performance.

The actual performance of the chip was a pleasant surprise. Even GTA San andreas with graphics parameters twisted to the maximum, including with 100% drawing distance and 100% resolution, I could not put the smartphone on my knees. Needless to say, simple applications start instantly and work without brakes, there are also no problems with the smooth display of graphical interface animations.

The volume of the internal storage in the sample presented in the review is 32 GB (the actual volume is 29.1 GB), 25.9 GB is available to the user. Traditionally for Meizu, there is no memory card slot in the device.

Cellular and interfaces

On this moment there are several modifications of the smartphone, the model with the number M575M is involved in the review, which is intended for sale in China. At the time of writing Meizu review MX5 supports LTE networks including frequencies: B1, B3, B38, B39, B40 and B41. Unfortunately, the most common B7 frequency in Russia is not supported, theoretically the device can catch 4G, but in practice in St. Petersburg in the Megafon network I have never seen the coveted icon in the status bar.

Meizu MX5 has two slots for nanoSIM cards and one radio module, simultaneous work with two SIM cards is possible only in standby mode. There were no questions about the quality of reception and transmission of speech during the testing process.

The device has standard set wireless interfaces, the wired USB interface supports OTG technology. Traditionally, Meizu lacks NFC and IR-port.

Battery and autonomy

The Meizu MX5 has a non-removable 3150 mAh battery. The manufacturer announced proprietary fast charging technology mCharge, thanks to which, in theory, the battery should be charged from 0% to 25% in 10 minutes and up to 60% in just 40 minutes. So a charger for this was put in the kit with a special one with a variable output voltage of 5, 9 and 12 V and a current of 2 A. In fact, the battery charges much longer: from 0% to 75% in 1 hour and 40 minutes, up to 100 % in two and a half hours.

The smartphone shows very average battery life in mixed mode Meizu operation The MX5 will live from morning to late evening with 4-4.5 hours of screen activity - almost the same as the MX4. In general, these two devices are similar in terms of autonomy, with the exception of video playback time, here the MX5 bypasses its predecessor.

Note. Testing is carried out in the appropriate modes according to the methodology: - listening to music in headphones at maximum volume with the screen off; - viewing 1080p video from the device memory at 50% brightness of the backlight and maximum sound volume in the headphones; - active browsing (constant opening of new tabs, active scrolling of pages, etc.) via Wi-Fi at 50% brightness of the backlight; - 3D games (Real Racing 3) with 50% backlight brightness.

Cameras, photo and video quality

The main camera module in Meizu MX5 is a 20.7 megapixel SONY IMX220 matrix, covered with a lens consisting of 6 lenses with an aperture of F2.2 and EGF = ~ 26 mm. HDR is supported on hardware, the maximum possible ISO is 1600 units. The system camera has several shooting modes, including manual, in which parameters such as shutter speed, ISO, focus, exposure compensation are adjusted.

In conditions of sufficient lighting, the Meizu camera takes excellent photos in terms of sharpness and other parameters. Due to the significantly higher resolution, images taken with the MX5 are more detailed than those taken with the iPhone 6 Plus. CLICKABLE! Left Meizu MX5, right - Apple iPhone 6 Plus:

Photos taken in HDR mode have a lot of tone compression, but the color saturation does not increase significantly. CLICKABLE! Left Meizu MX5, right - Apple iPhone 6 Plus:

The camera did not fail even in low light conditions, however, some pictures come out blurry. CLICKABLE! Left Meizu MX5, right - Apple iPhone 6 Plus:

With panoramic shooting, Meizu is doing much better than most manufacturers, the photopanel taken on the MX5 has a resolution of up to 34 megapixels, as opposed to 1.5 megapixels from other cameras. CLICKABLE! Top Meizu MX5, bottom - Apple iPhone 6 Plus:

5 megapixel front camera covered with F2.0 lens (exif says F2.2 aperture).

Meizu did not worry about the wide-angle front camera, the lens has an EGF even more than that of the main camera ~ 28-30 mm. CLICK !:

The smartphone writes video with a maximum resolution of 3840 * 2176 pixels at 30 fps with a total bitrate of 42 Mb / s. There is a slow-motion mode in 720p, when video is recorded at 100 fps, and encoded at 25 fps, while sound is not recorded.

Sound quality

The call loudspeaker in the MX5 is located at the bottom end, it has a decent headroom and produces a relatively good sound.

The sound in the headphones is also decent, but it does not reach the level of flagships. In addition, for my taste, the volume margin is slightly lacking. The system player has an equalizer and an application for fine-tuning the sound for certain models of Dirac HD Sound headphones, there is no FM radio.

Operating system features

The smartphone out of the box runs on Flyme OS version 4.5 based on. The seller prudently installed the firmware with the index “A” - Flyme OS 4.5.2.1A. The operating system Flyme OS 4.5 is dedicated to the operating system on our website, in this review I will limit myself to describing a couple of points.

I will say right away that I always liked Flyme OS, because this shell gave the user convenience and additional tools for interacting with a smartphone, which were so lacking in pure Android. Today Android has matured and become much more convenient, against this background Flyme OS has faded due to some changes and simplifications. The shell has significant advantages, such as, for example, the Security application, which allows you to manage application rights, track malware, and control Internet traffic.

But there are also creepy, non-intuitive things, like, for example, the multitasking panel, which at first is not clear how to use and which, with its denseness, gives iOS the days of skeuomorphism. I was hoping that the major update of the shell would fix the non-removable panel on the left in Settings, but this did not happen.

Nevertheless, the overall impression of Flyme OS 4.5 is positive, the system works very quickly and smoothly, and the design of the graphical interface is neat and clean.

Overall, the Meizu MX5 looks more like bug fixes than brand new flagship smartphone... Compared to the MX4, the autonomy, performance and operation of the camera have been improved here. But the most important thing in all this is the dollar price, which has remained the same. True, rumors about the official price in Russia are a little alarming, because a buyer who has 26,000 rubles to buy a smartphone is presented with big choice other devices.

Specifications

• Body 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, Corteх A53 at a frequency of 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 charge / synchronization, 3.5 mm for a headset
• Screen: SuperAMOLED (Samsung), diagonal 5.5 ", resolution 1920x1080, ppi 406, automatic backlight level control, safety glass Gorilla Glass 3
• Main camera: 20.7 megapixels, Sony IMX230 sensor, f / 2.2, autofocus, dual LED flash, video is recorded in 4k
• Front camera: 5 MP without autofocus, OV5670 sensor, f / 2.0, video is recorded at 1080p
• Navigation: GPS (support A-GPS), Glonass
• Optional: mTouch fingerprint scanner, accelerometer, light sensor, proximity sensor
• Battery: 3150mAh
• Dimensions: 149.9 x 74.7 x 7.6 mm
• Weight: 149 grams

Contents of delivery

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

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

Introduction

Just last month, another presentation of the Chinese company Meizu took place. It showed a device called the MX5. Let me remind you that the MX4 was released in September 2014, a little later the 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 and the quality of performance will not suffer. After all, according to rumors, Meizu in 2015 is going to update the entire the lineup including the yet to be shown MX5 Pro.

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

Who was the MX5 for? It seems to me that for someone who missed the MX4, the M1 and M2 were considered too budgetary from a technical point of view, and there was not enough money for the MX4 Pro. The new product tried to embody the maximum of interesting chips of different devices: a metal case, 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, if only all these bells and whistles work, and do not exist "on paper". Therefore, I propose to read this review, which tells in detail about each chip of the flagship Meizu MX5 device.

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

Design, dimensions, controls

A lot of time was devoted to the design of the smartphone at the presentation. Officials say it takes up to 30 days for a 250-gram block of T6063 aluminum, which is later transformed into a 21-gram device frame. The whole process takes about 70 steps: rough machining, nano casting, precision machining, polishing, anodizing and diamond cutting. Accuracy of execution - up to 0.01mm.

One more interesting fact... The case is anodized and polished, this process is repeated 5 times and takes more than 40 hours. During the painting process, special clamps are used, they are involved in the work 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 pored over the implementation of the all-metal case for two years, and eventually solved the problem of material compatibility. For example, in the antenna area, Polyphenylene Sulfide (Polyphenylene Sulfide) was used - a special plastic, it is very durable and withstands high temperatures well. This material does not affect the quality of the signal flow.

The backing board is made of magnesium alloy with a thickness of only 0.45 mm. On various resources, you can read even more and more details about the manufacture of Meizu MX5, and we go further.

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

The back 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 the words about the accuracy and completeness of the product, these grooves are made somewhat clumsy: firstly, they are deep, and secondly, they are quite sharp, that is, you can fully feel these grooves with your fingers. A very strange decision, as if you are holding not the final product, but a sample. In addition, dust and small particles of clothing are clogged there over time. I think that in the next gadget it will be "fixed".

The side faces blend into the bezel. Thin polished side, 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 not of the highest quality (in any case, better than on M1 / ​​M2): fingerprints remain, they are noticeable, they are not erased too easily. The finger glides relatively smoothly.

Strength. The metal parts are really tough and not prone to quick abrasion or scratches. I specially tried to carry out crash tests. Nothing terrible happened: the traces remain, but they are easily removed if you move your hand over the problem area.

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

The case is perfectly assembled. No squeaks, no punching to the battery, no crunch.

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

Above center is the speech speaker. It's as good 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 the event indicator. Flashing white. On the right are light and proximity sensors. If there are no questions to the first, then to the second there are. At the moment, it is buggy: either the backlight does not turn off during a call, or it 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 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 front-camera... She is on the right.

Under the display is a mechanical button combined with a fingerprint sensor. The button is called mTouch 2.0. It is flat, slightly recessed into the body. It acts as an exit to the home screen when pressed, when touched - "Back", with a long hold it locks the screen. Quoting from an official source:

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

In MX5 we have added a new mTouch 2.0 ID chip. It works very quickly, in just 0.48s. And with an 81% increase in scanner resolution, mTouch 2.0 can collect more information about a user's fingerprint, 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 a fixed layer of waterproof silicone gel was added under the module, which prevents water from entering and the formation of erosion.

Attention was also paid to safety. MTouch 2.0 technology is based on TrusTonic's TEE security environment. “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 needs to get a review and signature from Meizu to activate the API. The safe area provides only the scan results to a third-party application, without the possibility third party application get fingerprint data directly. "

I don’t think that Meizu users will think too much 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 got confused even about the screws near the connectors:

“Our passion for sophistication and attention to detail has not spared even the smallest details like the mounting screws on the bottom of the case. Take a look at these 5-beam hats, which refract light so beautifully, and you will appreciate our love for unprecedented design. "

I took a look. I noticed that the left screw is not fully tightened. Love is not appreciated :)

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

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

On the right is the power button (turning on the device, activating the backlight) and the volume rocker key. Very comfortable. The power button has a pleasant press and a "click" sound. Very similar to the iPhone 6.

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

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

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

The rest is a cool device.

MX5 and Nokia Lumia 1020

MX5 and Apple iPhone 5

Display

The Meizu MX5 uses a 5.5-inch screen. 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 bezel at the top is 18.5 mm, at the bottom - 19.5 mm, on the right and left - about 3 mm each. There is an anti-reflective coating.

The display resolution of the MX5 is FullHD, that is, 1080x1920 pixels, the density is 400 pixels per inch. The matrix is ​​made 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 1,000 times more sensitive than the previous generation. ”

PenTile grid

The maximum brightness of white 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 level graph, it is almost an ideal case when all colors are within 100%. There is a slight error, but in general everything is fine.

The temperature remains almost unchanged and remains about 7300 K.

Based on the diagram, the resulting data is much larger than the sRGB triangle, especially in the green area.

Almost all gray points are located in the DeltaE = 10 radius, which indicates that other shades of colors will not be present in the gray colors. Serious indicator!

The viewing angles are maximum, the picture slightly greens under certain slopes of the screen.

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

Sun behavior

Behavior in the shade

Viewing angles

In the settings, unfortunately, there were no screen modes - profiles, as 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.

In general, a pleasant screen with not the most vivid colors.

Battery

This model uses a 3150 mAh non-removable battery.

When working with the device, the battery lasted for about 24 hours: about 20-30 minutes of calls a day, about 10 hours of using 3G (constant synchronization of mail, Twitter, WhatsApp, Skype, and so on), about 5 hours of Wi -Fi, dozens of 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), then you can count on 3-4 days. Up to 13 hours of continuous calls.

When auto-adjusting the brightness of the screen backlight, the display works from 3 to 4 hours.

The data is about the same as on the M1 / ​​M2 Note. I did not notice much difference.

Communication capabilities

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

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

Reservation. Not all operators support LTE. For example, 4G works for MTS, but for MegaFon only in certain places. The most successful in this regard was the Meizu M2 Note.

There is no NFC chip.

The rest is standard: Wi-Fi (ac and b / g / n) dual-band Wi-Fi (2.4GHz / 5GHz), Bluetooth 4.1 LE, microUSB connector (USB 2.0, OTG, MHL) for charge / synchronization. GPS navigation works seamlessly.

Memory and memory card

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

Cameras

Two cameras: the main camera is 20.7 MP (6 lenses, aperture F2.2, 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), the front one is 5 MP (F2.0). The flash has two colors: cool and warm. There is laser focusing.

A similar camera module is in the 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:

1. 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.
2. Panoramas tend to be slightly blurred, as if out of focus.
3. 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 "walks" either closer or further.

The laser focus is slightly 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 do 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. LG's camera makes less noise, the picture is clearer.

Insufficient lighting. The clear leader is LG G4. The image is brighter, practically without noise, the detail is high.

In general, 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 turn on the "Metering section" mode. There is no RAW shooting.

Everything else is typical for Meizu smartphones.

The device can shoot video in 4K resolution at 30 fps. The quality is superb. You will not be able to upload a video to YouTube, since the recording is done with the H265 codec.

Sample photos

Performance and software platform

The novelty from Meizu received a chipset called Helio X10 Turbo. It was made by the same Taiwanese corporation MediaTek. Another name for the chip, more familiar - 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, 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. Since the MT6752 is enough for FullHD.

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

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

The MX5 is fast, the interface is smooth, not buggy or jerky. The metal case does not heat up at all, even with a moderate load on the processor.

Total. Powerful processor without overheating, pulls all toys on maximum settings. User interface smooth, no brakes or glitches.

Screenshots from games

Performance Tests for Parrot Lovers

Software platform

The smartphone is running an operating room google systems Android version 5.1. But, unfortunately, nothing remained of the “five” here after the Chinese rolled the Flyme version 4.5 shell onto it. In fact, nothing new and interesting has appeared: animation, icons, general design are the same. It's sad, of course, since Android 5.0 is good without any embellishments.

Multimedia

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

The speaker has a very high volume, I think, higher than the MX4, MX4 Pro and others. The sound is clear, no wheezing. It looks like the speaker is the highest quality I've heard in the last couple of years. Another would add bass notes - it would be super.

The sound in the headphones is loud. The quality is excellent. The manufacturer does not point to a separate music chip, but I am 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. Several presets are included. Dirac HD Sound has not gone anywhere - this is a special software that analyzes and corrects the "color" of the sound. The work algorithm is described in more detail.

There is 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 the connection. The power of the vibration alert is better than that of the M1 / ​​M2.

I tested this device with great pleasure. It feels like Meizu have 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 are right. The novelty has a metal case, a gigabyte more RAM, a slightly better front camera, a slightly faster processor, a larger screen and replaced the LCD with SuperAMOLED. That is, in fact, in front of you MX4s. However, the MX5 will not remain the flagship for long, soon we will be shown the MX5 Pro, and then everything will fall into place.

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

• 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, some users will find the screen too colorful, while others will find it too faded.
• LTE. In fact, it works with only one operator.
• There is nothing left of Android 5.0, which is not very good.

The bugs found are most likely in the firmware

• Incorrect work proximity sensor. Sometimes it doesn't work.
• Camera. Described in detail in the corresponding section.

pros

• Metal case
• SuperAMOLED screen matrix
• Laser autofocus
• Good battery life
• Highly loud speaker
• Quality speech speaker
• Great sound in headphones
• Event indicator
• Good camera
• Excellent 4K video quality
• The fingerprint scanner

Minuses

• LTE. Not all operators work 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 M1 Note, but for 14,000 it's easy to get an LTE smartphone with an M2 Note memory card.

Today we are going to talk about the weaknesses of the Meizu MX5 smartphone, a phone that many of you have probably had an eye on.

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

I would like to remind you that the strength of the phone is not only powerful specifications and a relatively low price, but also the case, which is made from a single piece of aluminum for about a month.

Why not buy a Meizu MX5 smartphone

• The first weak point of the device is the inability to expand its memory and replace the battery on its own. First, it's not a problem for some, because some of us buy a device with 16 GB media. There is also a modification for 64, but the option of increasing the media from this does not begin to seem useless.

If the battery runs out, you will have to carry the phone to the service, and how they will handle your phone is not clear.

Do you like 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 the Meizu MX5 is able to record videos 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. Experimenters already had many samples of this phone in their hands, but this jamb does not disappear. The device starts to boil. Not lightning fast, but it does happen. For 20-30 minutes of games, the system heats up and starts closing applications, which is somehow not very happy, and especially against the background of the fact that MediaTek promised that Helio X10 is a stunned cold processor.

Check out the prices and 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 rendering of the AMOLED screen of this smartphone. The colors are oversaturated, the contrast is off scale. There is a built-in color corrector, but it cannot transfer the color rendition of this screen to the calm range of classic IPS panels. All he can do is calibrate the screen temperature.

• The final 5 reason not to buy a Meizu MX5 smartphone will not be felt by everyone, but those in the know will understand. As you know, Meizu MX5 comes in Flyme OS. The shell is not boring and just oversaturated with cool buns, but this is good news, but the bad news is that if you suddenly do not like this setting on android, you will not be able to escape from it. This already applies more to, and not to this smartphone, but still.

Traditionally for all smartphones from Meizu, MX5 does not have any third-party ROMs yet. Judging by the experience of past models, he will never see those. Yes, for many it is not critical at all, but there are those who often indulge in flashing, trying to find a middle ground. With Meizu, this business will not work - with Flyme he was born, and with him he will die.

During the presentation of the Meizu MX5, the company said that the model was developed with an emphasis not on characteristics, but on user needs. The approach is sound, since in the current environment manufacturers have access to the same components and it is no longer enough for them to be in the spotlight just by offering a fast processor or a high-resolution camera. We need interesting chips, and not for the sake of a tick, but useful ones. Let's find out what makes the MX5 so special.

Our dear reader, remember that officially Meizu smartphones in Russia are sold only by MyMeizu.ru and PixelPhone.ru. There is a guarantee, service and cool accessories :)

Specifications Meizu MX5:

• Network: GSM / GPRS / EDGE (850/900/1800/1900 MHz), WCDMA (900/2100 MHz), FDD-LTE (Band 1, 3)
• Platform (at the time of announcement): Flyme 4.5 based on Android 5.0 Lollipop
• Display: 5.5 ", 1920 x 1080 pixels, Super AMOLED, 401 ppi, contrast ratio 10,000: 1, brightness 350 nits, Gorilla Glass 3
• Camera: 20.7 MP, autofocus, dual LED flash of different tones, laser autofocus, 6-lens optics with f / 2.2 aperture, 1 / 2.3 "Sony Exmor IMX220 sensor, video recording [email protected], [email protected], Gorilla Glass 3
• Front camera: 5 MP, f / 2.0
• Processor: 8 cores Cortex-A53, 2.2 GHz, MediaTek Helio X10 MT6795T
• Graphics chip: PowerVR G6200 @ 700 MHz
• RAM: 3GB LPDDR3
• Internal memory: 16/32/64 GB
• Memory card: no
• Navigation: GPS, GLONASS, QZSS, BDS
• Wi-Fi (802.11b / g / n / ac)
• Bluetooth 4.1 BLE
• microUSB
• 3.5mm jack
• Battery: non-removable, 3150 mAh
• Dimensions: 149.9 x 74.7 x 7.6mm
• Weight: 149g

Video review and unpacking

Design and equipment

The MX5 test unit came from a demo batch for journalists and differs from the commercial one in the kit. There is a smartphone in an impromptu book indicating the main advantages. Under it there is a "pocket" with documentation and a needle for a SIM tray. Even lower is the microUSB cable, charging (2A) and EP-21HD headphones. Unfortunately, the headset will not be available commercially. Also note that the Chinese versions come without a box - in the form of a book with a cardboard cover.

For a long time, the company went to a completely metal case, timidly applying it now in the frame, then in the frame. “In pursuit of technological excellence,” it takes Meizu 30 days to obtain a 21-gram aluminum case (T6063 brand) from a 250-gram bar. The conversion process includes 68 steps, assuming an accuracy of 0.01 mm (10 μm). Four-axis CNC machines are used at all stages of metal processing, eliminating the influence of the human factor and guaranteeing the highest fit. It takes more than 40 hours to polish and paint.

At the presentation, the company paid quite a lot of attention to the production of a smartphone, and on the website it devoted a whole section to this. And for good reason, since the body has become one of the most strengths MX5. Now you won't surprise anyone with the material itself (well, metal and metal, what's wrong with that, even if the budgets from little-known Chinese firms have it), but the implementation deserves praise. The new MX5 is really well assembled, has no cracks, no creaks, no backlash, no squeezing. It is light (149 g for a 5.5 ”device is not much), thin (7.6 mm), has narrow bezels and small indents, fits comfortably in the hand. Tactilely, the MX5 feels flagship and looks expensive, but it tends to get dirty from wet hands (like the iPhone 6/6 Plus). At the same time, not the entire rear area is metal - there are plastic inserts for the antennas at the top and bottom. Between them and the body there are strips treated with a diamond cutter, painted with a special colored varnish. In the press photo, the entire back is the same shade, but the demo has a slightly darker polymer inserts, which does not feel uniform. Perhaps other color solutions do not have such a nuance, or maybe the technical process was debugged in commercial samples. By the way, there are a total of four colors: gold with a gold backdrop, white with a silver backdrop, black with a dark gray backdrop and black with a silver backdrop (our case).

Meizu has completely moved away from the touch mug, promoting a multifunctional mechanical key. An mBack button is built into the budget models, and the older models get mTouch. The functions of the keys are similar (action "back" by touching without pressing, "home" by pressing with a click and "locking" by pressing with a second hold), but the mTouch additionally has a finger scanner. The MX4 Pro has the first revision of mTouch, and the MX5 has an improved version - mTouch 2.0. The finger scanner is connected to the key through a stainless steel plate on the base plate behind the screen. A silicone gel lining is provided between the main button module and the display to prevent moisture from entering. By Meizu's opinion, the control body has not only become simpler and more convenient, but also faster (the reading speed is only 0.48 s), more precisely (the scanner resolution has increased by 81%), and also more durable (the resource assumes over 300 thousand clicks). Actually, everything that the manufacturer claims corresponds to the key in the MX5 - the fingerprint scanner is fast and accurate, the button is convenient to interact with the shell. Personally, I do not regret at all about leaving the circle in the past.

Consider the arrangement of the elements in the case. Above the screen, there are light and distance sensors, an LED indicator, and a front 5-megapixel camera. Below it is the mTouch 2.0 button. On the left is the dual nano-SIM tray (unfortunately, it is not as versatile as the M2 Note tray, which can optionally accept one SIM + microSD). On the right - the volume rocker and the power key brought out to a comfortable height. The lower part has a microphone, a microUSB port, four holes for a multimedia speaker (the volume is slightly above average) and two screws. The top one has an audio jack and an additional microphone. The back has an element that first appeared in Meizu smartphones. We are talking about laser focus, which is designed to help a 20.7-megapixel camera with dual two-color flash.

careful, 10 MB

The MX5 screen is perhaps the most controversial point in the new product. For the first time, the company moved away from a high-quality IPS matrix, choosing Samsung's development - Super AMOLED with a Diamond subpixel layout. The company portrays the choice made as a step forward, making substantial arguments. Among them: the contrast level, which is almost the limit for the human eye (10,000: 1) with deep blacks and rich colors, reduced power consumption (each pixel is highlighted separately), full color gamut with wide viewing angles, small thickness (1.3 mm - on 32% thinner than MX4 screen). As you can imagine, there are no ideals, and Super AMOLED with "pentail" has drawbacks. These include a low maximum brightness (at the presentation of the MX5 it was said about 500 nits, and later on the official website a line with 350 nits appeared - this is 1.5-2 times lower than that of high-quality IPS), a dirty white color due to an unequal number color subpixels (there are more green ones, so the matrix can be called RGBG), greenishness under slopes, looseness of fonts, excessively rich color reproduction. In a nutshell, the MX5's Super AMOLED outperforms the MX4 IPS panel in power consumption (almost twice when watching video) and black depth, while the MX4 IPS panel displays more pleasant colors, whiter, brighter and clearer (Samsung considers the resolution AMOLED screen with PenTile for green subpixels, which are twice as many as red and blue - as a result, the pixel density perceived by the eyes is far from the declared 401 ppi). Subject's display boasts MiraVision technology that dynamically adjusts saturation, sharpness, contrast, and brightness based on lighting conditions and the displayed image. In addition, the MX5 screen is easy to read outdoors in bright sunlight and is comfortable to work with in the dark, as the minimum brightness with ultra-dimming technology drops to just 1.4 nits.

Does all this mean that the MX5 screen is bad? No, because if you do not compare displays, then you quickly adapt to color rendition, there is enough brightness (under the sun the MX5 is more readable than the LeTV One classmate with IPS, for example), and the reduced power consumption for many will be more valuable than the whiteness of the panel. Samsung has been using AMOLED in its top-end devices for many years in a row and nothing - people use and even consider screens with this technology to be the best because of the black color and rich colors. And displays, by and large, very rarely act as a determining factor in the purchase. I don’t know of such examples when a person would refuse a device if he was satisfied with everything, but only PenTile confused him. Even I, with all my dislike for "pentacle", used the Samsung Galaxy S4 and Galaxy S6 as the main ones, I have a positive attitude towards the Motorola Nexus 6, and the MX5 also didn't bother me too much during testing.

Software

As of the moment of the review, the main software is Flyme OS 4.5.2I based on Android 5.0.1 Lollipop. We could not find any differences from Flyme OS 4.2 on Android 4.4 KitKat in MX4 and MX4 Pro - fresh code from Google and fixes are hidden from the eyes of the user, who is usually inclined to evaluate innovations by the shell. And the new interface with Flyme OS 5 will have to wait, apparently, until September, when the MX5 Pro debuts.

I will note the main features of the launcher if you have never encountered Flyme. All applications are placed on desktops, icons can be aligned up or down. Personalization is allowed with a change background pictures and with themes that replace many design elements. The notification shade is lowered by swipe from any height, and the list of active programs pops up if you swipe up from the bottom edge. If you swipe the icon up in this list, then a specific application will close, and if you swipe down, the entire list will be cleared (holding it blocks the program from clearing). Gestures on the screen off are extremely useful: with a double tap, a locker is displayed, swiping from bottom to top unlock, a swipe from top to bottom brings up the notification panel, side swipes switch tracks, and drawn letters start tasks attached to them (for example, display O with your finger to enable camera).

The key points of the settings are shown in the screenshots. These are personalization, Flyme account (for finding a phone, blocking it and getting root access), SIM settings section, balance adjustment white screen(it doesn't make much sense for AMOLED), the choice of the processor operating mode, fingerprint input, gesture settings.

The company pre-installs few programs. Almost everything you need: a drawing tool with the necessary set of tools for creativity, a security center with cleaning unnecessary and distributing permissions to programs, a calculator-converter, a convenient file manager, a gallery with good editor, a video player working in the window, and also a good music player.

Why is it just good? Because earlier the Meizu audio player could download covers and texts from the Web, but now it does not find anything (for M1 Note, M2 Note with fresh firmware a similar situation). Moreover, he even stopped seeing almost all the saved covers. Fortunately, there is nothing special in the player (online services for China were cut out from the international firmware for obvious reasons), so nothing prevents you from using an alternative - PowerAMP or Stellio. Meizu wouldn't be Meizu if it hadn't worked on sound. In terms of sound, the MX5 is several steps higher than the MX4 (the new product plays louder and cleaner, the bass is not bulging) and slightly lower than the MX4 Pro (last year's flagship produces a slightly more detailed sound and has a colossal headroom - thanks to the dedicated amplifier and DAC). I also compared the sound of the MX5 with the LG G4 and the sound from the new Meizu I liked more (more emotionally and louder). I listened to the tracks in FLAC format with Denon D600 headphones. MediaTek hides the marking of the audio chip built into the MT6795, but willingly shares its characteristics: support for 24-bit, 192 kHz, signal-to-noise ratio up to 110 dB. Overall the MX5 sounds great, looking forward to the MX5 Pro with Hi-Fi!

The quality of the wireless connections did not cause any complaints. But the fact of inadequate support of European LTE frequencies, of course, will be unpleasant for many potential buyers. MX5 has only lanes 1 and 3 at its disposal, the first of which is not used by any operator in Russia, and the second is used only in a few cities, and not by all operators. In general, the model should be considered not as 4G, but as 3G. According to the representative of the global office of Meizu, European LTE frequencies at the stage of approving the characteristics of the flagship, they were overlooked (it must be understood that the international market accounts for a microscopic percentage of Meizu's sales in comparison with demand in China, so the Chinese thought of us last), and when they realized it, it was too late. But we were assured that from now on all future models will be with full LTE (at least there will be Band 7, but a bunch of 7 and 20 is not excluded). Two SIM cards in MX5 work in standby mode, if one is busy, the other will be unavailable (one radio module).

Camera

The MX5 uses an improved camera module from the MX4. It includes a 20.7-megapixel Sony IMX220 sensor (1 / 2.3 ”), 6-element optics with f / 2.2 aperture, dual LED flash in different shades, laser autofocus and Gorilla Glass 3. Compared to the MX4 software algorithms have also been changed: new shutter release logic, color settings, white balance, sharpness. The most important innovation is the laser rangefinder, capable of aiming at an object at a distance of half a meter in just 0.2 seconds. In real conditions, the camera almost instantly focuses on objects near, and regardless of the lighting, and focusing from the near-field to infinity takes about 1-1.5 seconds. If you pick up the MX4 and MX5, the difference in favor of the new item will be simply huge - the laser helps to aim up to 5 times faster! Moreover, the MX4 can easily ignore the plan change and have to help it with a finger, or re-target it to trigger the automation. If you pick up the MX5 and the LG G4, which also has a laser, then the Meizu phone picks up the close-up faster, but is slightly inferior when aiming into the distance. The Apple iPhone 6/6 Plus and Samsung Galaxy S6 / S6 Edge are also fast focusing, in which there is no laser rangefinder, but there is a phase focus. These comrades in good light focus even faster than the MX5 and G4, but in semi-darkness they are slightly inferior.

The MX5 interface is the same as that of other current Meizu models. It is still sharpened for vertical use, offers several filters and modes. The manual mode still requires improvement, since it does not imply a white balance setting, and the exposure adjustment does not correspond to the range of + -3 in increments of 1. Exposure metering separate from the focus point is provided. A square and a circle appear in the place of the tapa - the square indicates the place of focus, and the exposure is measured near the circle (geometric shapes can be moved). it useful function, but not very convenient, since dragging is not entirely intuitive, and in some conditions, there may simply not be a bright area to darken the frame. I like the slider change of exposure more, like the iPhone 6, Huawei P8, and Galaxy S6.

the left example is shot on "auto", and the right one is taken in manual mode with ISO400

without HDR and with HDR

In terms of photo quality, the MX5 is in the top of Chinese camera phones: the white balance is almost always selected correctly, the colors are pleasant. Noise reduction does not differ aggressively, that is, noise in difficult conditions now and then pours out, but the picture tries to remain sharp. At night, it makes sense to manually change the ISO. Detail at close distances pleases, but when focusing at infinity, the advantages of the 20.7-megapixel sensor are not revealed, since the frame is less clear than the 8-megapixel iPhone 6 Plus and the 13-megapixel ASUS Zenfone 2. Hopefully, with the updates, this the moment will be corrected, since the camera module used is really good and has high potential.

The front camera has a resolution of 5 megapixels and an aperture of f / 2.0. Photos are noisy and do not differ in clarity, but front cameras in all modern smartphones do not yet deserve an "excellent" grade. For a selfie, it will do. Effects can be applied in real time.

There are several video shooting modes. There is 4K with high detail and a minimum of compression artifacts (not all players and video editors can open the file on a PC, YouTube did not recognize it either, but the HandBrake converter helped), there is a popular Full HD with a not very successful algorithm, there is slow motion shooting, which is carried out with a non-standard resolution of 1280 x 736 pixels at 100 frames per second (the result is reproduced at 25 fps, and for some reason, not all video editors and video players are friends with it). In general, Helio X10 supports shooting at 1080p at 480 fps, but so far there is no smartphone with this function. MediaTek explained to us that Meizu chose the old camera module, which is not capable of producing the maximum. Let's believe. As for the video quality in general, the color rendition is pleasant and the manufacturer can finally be praised for the sound recording - the stereo effect is felt, the voice is written clearly, the surrounding sounds are also well heard. At the same time, the old sores have not gone anywhere: electronic stabilization is either poorly implemented or absent altogether (there is no talk about optical), and it is suggested to focus by touch (sometimes it feels like the laser focus is not involved at all when shooting video).

Benchmarks and performance

For last year's MX4, the top-end MediaTek chipset was chosen and Meizu was probably pleased. So the MX5 also received a top SoC from this manufacturer - MediaTek Helio X10 in a turbo version of MT6795T. It includes 8 Cortex-A53 cores up to 2.2 GHz, a 700 MHz PowerVR G6200 graphics chip and is complemented by 3 GB of LPDDR3 RAM. Internal memory the model can be 16, 32 or 64 GB (without microSD), but I wouldn't be surprised if the 64 GB modification never sees the light of day. At least Meizu has done so in the past. The filling is cool and it would be weird if it didn't handle the latest toys. Watch the demo video above.

According to the manufacturer, the MX5 is 17% faster than the MX4. Let's check this in a separate comparison, but for now take a look at the benchmarks of the current flagship: AnTuTu 5.7.1 - 50,752, Geekbench 3 - 934/5313, Basemark OS 2 - 1233, 3DMark Unlimited - 16,479, GFXBench 1080p - 4.9 / 10/27 fps, Epic Citadel Ultra - 43.4 fps. The numbers are pleasing to the eye, but much more joyful is that throttling is practically absent and fps during the game will not sag due to heating. The proof is six runs in a row in the heavy graphics test GFXBench:

As you can see, the results of the runs are practically the same. But the processor frequency is still not always at the maximum level of 2.2 GHz. We figured out the operating frequencies in all three power saving modes using the half-hour Stability Test and CPU Spy. Here they are:

efficient, balanced and energy-saving modes

Unlike the M2 Note budget, in MX5 it really makes sense to choose the operating mode of the chip, since there is an influence: if you are not playing, you can leave the processor in power saving mode (the interface will still be smooth, and simple applications will have enough speed), for optimum you can choose balanced mode, and hardcore gamers may want to switch to performance mode before a game session.

The 3150 mAh battery in conjunction with the Super AMOLED screen and the latest Helio X10 chip shows very good results. If the MX4 lacked stars from the sky in terms of energy consumption, then the MX5 has become a real long-liver in the Meizu camp. No joke - the device played video with maximum brightness and all active wireless modules for more than 10 hours, which is almost twice as much as the MX4! And the discharge in the game Asphalt 8 for half an hour with a comfortable brightness was 12% (or 24% per hour). The MX5 not only discharges slowly, but also charges quickly. MCharge technology powers the smartphone up to 25% in 10 minutes and up to 60% in 40 minutes (real measurements gave similar results). In fact, this is the development of MediaTek Pump Express 2.0, which Meizu gave its own name.

We are used to the fact that if the body has powerful smartphone is made of metal, while playing games will hardly be pleasant because of the high temperatures and uncomfortable sensations. However, the MX5 was very pleasantly surprised by the fact that even in a long gaming session it heated up tolerably and did not suggest buying a cover. The maximum internal sensor temperature I've seen was only 43 degrees! Compared to MX4 and MX4 Pro new The MX5 heats up significantly less even when idle. It's just that with the desktops open, MX4, MX4 Pro and MX5 heated up in the upper area of ​​the back to 39, 37 and 34 degrees, and their screens warmed up to 38, 37 and 34 degrees, respectively (measured with a pyrometer in the warmest zones). At the same time, the MX5 also cooled down the fastest.

conclusions

On a cursory glance, it might seem like the Meizu MX5 is a small step forward from the MX4. In fact, almost everything in the smartphone has been redesigned and it feels truly new and innovative. In Russian retail, the new product will cost 25 thousand for the version with 16 GB of memory and 27 thousand for the modification with 32 GB of memory. In my opinion, materials and workmanship, battery life, camera and performance fully justify the cost. And Meizu was not cunning when it said that the MX5 was created with an emphasis on user needs. All available innovations are useful and will be appreciated by the happy owners who will join the rapidly growing army of Meizu fans.