The Meizu MX5, launched in India recently, is so beautifully crafted that you are forced to ask yourself: Where have I seen this design? It won’t take you long to figure out. The MX5 looks similar to the iPhone 6. Chinese phone makers have been inspired by Apple even in the past. In a way, that’s a good thing.
The MX5 gets an all-metal body, colours used are impeccable and the moulding is so precise that not even an edge feels out of place. The polishing, similarly, has been finely done. The company says the polishing process is repeated five times and takes more than 40 hours to complete. The effort shows: There is a perfectly uniform colouring on the metal body of the MX5. The phone is 7.6-mm thin and weighs a light 149 gram.
What attracts attention is the “home button” at the bottom of the screen, which incorporates a fingerprint sensor.
The fingerprint feature and the home button are connected through a stainless steel plate on the support board behind the screen. This way, it is possible to make key feedback more straight forward. Meizu claims the fingerprint button has proven to withstand 300,000 presses without any problems.
The screen is bright and clear; it remains so under almost any kind of light conditions. It is actually the high-end AMOLED—which stands for Active Matrix OLED—display from Samsung and comes with amazing specifications such as 350 candela per square metre maximum brightness and an infinite contrast range. Together with MiraVision image-processing engine, the screen produces vivid pictures and even the text is displayed clearly. Its contrast ratio is 10,000:1, which is very close to the limit of the naked eye, and provides the 5.5-inch screen with sharp and expressive colours. The touch is very smooth.
The processor is Mediatek Helio X10 and the RAM is 3 GB. The Helio X10 is known for its finely balanced power consumption, which makes the MX5 run smoothly and save power at the same time. However, on long usage—such as voice calls over 30 minutes, playing games, using multiple applications—the MX5 starts heating up. At times, it can be annoying. While the battery is 3150 mAH, there are so many functions and features in the phone that the battery doesn’t last more than a day.
The MX5 supports dual-SIM with dual-standby. The primary 4G SIM-card provides you with high-speed internet, while the second SIM-card provides you with 2G voice calls. So it is essentially two phones in one.
The camera is one of the best in business. Hold your breath, it is 20.7-megapixels. A unique feature about the camera is its laser-aided focusing technology, which results in outstanding photos. In fact, the MX5 clicks good photos even in low light conditions and in motion. The front camera is 5-megapixels. Video recording is fun, especially since you have at your disposal the 100 frames per second 720P slow motion video technology—you can shoot a film and reproduce it in slow motion to have a detailed view of all the action.
For R19,999, the MX5 is priced competitively. (This price is for the 16 GB storage variant; there are slightly more expensive 32 GB and 64 GB options too.) For the money, you get a phone that compares with some of the best available in the market. What you don’t get, as of now, is the assurance of a manufacturer whose products can be easily repaired if the need arises. However, the good news is that Meizu is working to improve the after-sales service of its handsets and will unveil more than 40 customer service centres across 20 cities—the brand currently has only 28 operational customer service centres across India. In addition, the company is the first smartphone brand in the country to offer a doorstep servicing facility.
** Estimated street price: Rs 19,999