Phones from Chinese manufacturers are slowly coming to the west – and at pretty affordable packages. Though perhaps not entirely new at this point, Meizu’s latest flagship phone made us turn our heads – for more than a few reasons.
Design
Plenty of you have pointed out what seems to be the MX3′s source of inspiration – the iPhone and iOS – but all in all the result is still a very attractive phone, inside and out. Featuring a remarkably thin bezel, the black front is interrupted only by a small white circle at the bottom, which works as the home button. Somewhat impressive, Meizu managed to fit a large 5.1 inch display in a very tight form factor, that fits very nicely in the hand.
The rest of the layout puts the volume rocker on the left side and the power button up top – this button layout is not too common in the Android space and took a bit of adaption coming from more popular button layouts. That being said, it’s certainly not that foreign, and you do get used to it quickly.
Coming around the back, we have glossy plastic that can come in a number of different colors, which is a nice touch. As we know, people love customizing their devices, and Meizu was wise to offer this. On the rear of the device, a subtle but very appreciated curve helps with the handling and assists in the ergonomics of the device. In short, it’s very nice to hold this phone.
Performance
Speedy, responsive operation is definitely no problem for the MX3, as Samsung’s own Exynos 5 Octabrings 8 cores of power to the Meizu flagship, backed by PowerVR SGX graphics and 2GB of RAM. It’s a great combination, and while it might not be as speedy (or power efficient) as Qualcomm’s own Snapdragon line of SoCs, it still delivers where it counts: real world performance, multitasking, robust web browsing, and camera operation.
Multitasking posed no real problems to speak of; granted, I will admit that multitasking in Flyme is probably a little too simplistic. Given that the Flyme operating system is a pretty different OS with many elements built specifically by Meizu, it’s very possible that optimizations help provide for what is a very smooth experience. But we also know too that the underlying hardware is very powerful, even by modern standards.
Design
Plenty of you have pointed out what seems to be the MX3′s source of inspiration – the iPhone and iOS – but all in all the result is still a very attractive phone, inside and out. Featuring a remarkably thin bezel, the black front is interrupted only by a small white circle at the bottom, which works as the home button. Somewhat impressive, Meizu managed to fit a large 5.1 inch display in a very tight form factor, that fits very nicely in the hand.
The rest of the layout puts the volume rocker on the left side and the power button up top – this button layout is not too common in the Android space and took a bit of adaption coming from more popular button layouts. That being said, it’s certainly not that foreign, and you do get used to it quickly.
Coming around the back, we have glossy plastic that can come in a number of different colors, which is a nice touch. As we know, people love customizing their devices, and Meizu was wise to offer this. On the rear of the device, a subtle but very appreciated curve helps with the handling and assists in the ergonomics of the device. In short, it’s very nice to hold this phone.
Performance
Speedy, responsive operation is definitely no problem for the MX3, as Samsung’s own Exynos 5 Octabrings 8 cores of power to the Meizu flagship, backed by PowerVR SGX graphics and 2GB of RAM. It’s a great combination, and while it might not be as speedy (or power efficient) as Qualcomm’s own Snapdragon line of SoCs, it still delivers where it counts: real world performance, multitasking, robust web browsing, and camera operation.
Multitasking posed no real problems to speak of; granted, I will admit that multitasking in Flyme is probably a little too simplistic. Given that the Flyme operating system is a pretty different OS with many elements built specifically by Meizu, it’s very possible that optimizations help provide for what is a very smooth experience. But we also know too that the underlying hardware is very powerful, even by modern standards.
While it might not have expandable storage, it is possible to get the MX3 with up to 128 GB onboard. We’d like to see more manufacturers offer devices with this much on-board memory. Really, it’s only an extra $5 towards the BOM (build of materials) and Meizu hasn’t cut corners with this device.
This version of the MX3 keeps to HSDPA connectivity, so there was no high speed internet to be had – hopefully we’ll see LTE in the western versions. Sound quality in calls was standardly good, with no dropped calls in our testing to speak of.
A 2,400 mAh battery, while seemingly enough, is starting to feel a bit ill equipped these days when compared to more girthy batteries of the Galaxy S4 (2,600 mAh), LG G2 (3,000 mAh), yet remains better than the HTC One, with its substandard 2,300 mAh battery. Increasingly, we are seeing that it’s more than the sum of parts for devices that have been released over the past 6 months. Take the Moto X and G for example – they feature near best in class battery life, and it’s more to do with the tight integration of hardware and software fused together in beautiful harmony.
Getting back to the Meizu MX3′s battery – it is a little small in capacity and, somewhat unfortunately, real world usage supports this. Despite the Octa-core power consumption features, optimization was lacking and thus my testing of the battery drained it in around 8 hours. With power savings on, you are able to eek a bit more out of it, but it’s still nowhere near what we would have liked it to be.
Camera
The Meizu MX3 camera is an 8 MP shooter, with a f/2.0 aperture for lower light shots. The camera boasts of a few interesting features, but overall, the camera app is pretty simplistic, with all the elements and options on one side, which do include some options for creativity and some manual controls, in the menu.
One of the cool features of the camera is Gesture Capturing, which allows you to wave your hand over the proximity sensor to fire the shutter, which makes taking a picture that much easier. While the camera is far from perfect, it is a capable performer, and definitely fun to use, especially via gestures.
Picture quality is hit and miss, although a hit for the most part. Colors do look good and aren’t dull, and details come through quite well. That being said, the general noise level is still quite high, even though we’ve seen worse, and you may get overexposed shots more often than you’d prefer. Auto-focusing wasn’t particularly “auto” either, as I had to touch to focus more often than not, but thankfully, the focus speed is pretty high.
The design aesthetics aren’t the only thing that feature similarities to the iPhone. Flyme OS is a bit of a mashup – yes, iOS 7 elements come to the flat design which is then put on top of an Android base, and makes for a gesture heavy interface.
Having just a home button does simplify things, but the other buttons are softkeys. The good thing is that Flyme brilliantly consolidates them in a thin black bar at the very bottom of the screen, and not once did I see a breakage in the buttons via this bar.
As for the general interface, the flat design comes with many unique ways of expressing otherwise familiar elements of Android – the volume indicator is very understated now, the notification drop down only comes down as far as it needs to display notifications, and the settings area is a long line down of tabs. Simplification done right is always welcomed by us here at Android Authority, but unfortunately, in this case, it does come at the cost of some function. Mainly, it’s the multitasking – it is just way too simple, with it being just swipe ups and selections, without even a preview of those apps.
Simplification also meant doing with the app drawer completely, making literally all apps and widgets on the homescreens. While this might take some getting used to (unless you’re switching over from an iPhone), making folders help, and the good design of the OS does keep things from looking cluttered or unattractive.
Price and Final Thoughts
Meizu told us that they are looking to bring the MX3 to western markets, but until then, it is possible to get this phone for under $500, around 31,000 INR, a price point that is still better than many other flagship devices out there.“Made in China.” A term that is unfortunately saddled with a negative connotation in regards to quality – however, in the smartphone space, companies are making moves to reverse this notion. With offerings like the MX3, we think they are succeeding – and we are very excited to see them continue to come stateside.
Pros:
- Beautiful design
- Many color options
- Good specs and display
- Many storage options, including 128 GB
- Wolfson audio chip
- Attractive price
Cons:
- Unusual button layout
- No SD card slot
- No LTE
- Relatively small battery
- Hit and miss camera
- Simplistic software
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