Review of Meizu's flagship - Meizu MX5. Review of the Meizu MX5 smartphone: center from China Meizu mx5 full review

During the presentation of the Meizu MX5, the company said that the model was developed with a focus not on performance, but on user needs. The approach is sound, because in the current conditions, manufacturers have access to the same components, and to put them in the spotlight, it is no longer enough just to offer a fast processor or a high-resolution camera. We need interesting features, and not just for show, but useful ones. Let's find out what's special about the MX5.

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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 multi-tone LED flash, laser autofocus, 6-lens optics f/2.2, 1/2.3" Sony Exmor IMX220 sensor, video recording [email protected], 720[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 @ 700MHz
• RAM: 3 GB LPDDR3
• Internal memory: 16/32/64 GB
• Memory card: no
• Navigation: GPS, GLONASS, QZSS, BDS
• WiFi (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 unboxing

Design and equipment

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

The company has been moving towards an all-metal case for quite a long time, timidly using it either in a frame or in a frame. "In pursuit of technological excellence," it takes Meizu 30 days to produce 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 devoted a whole section to this. And for good reason, as the chassis has become one of the MX5's greatest strengths. You won’t surprise anyone with the material itself now (well, metal and metal, what’s wrong with it, even if budgets from little-known Chinese firms have it), but the implementation is commendable. The new MX5 is really well built, has no cracks, no squeaks, no backlash, no dents. It is light (149 g for a 5.5” device is not much), thin (7.6 mm), has narrow bezels and small indents, and fits comfortably in the hand. To the touch, the MX5 feels flagship and looks expensive, but it tends to get dirty from wet hands (like the case of the iPhone 6/6 Plus). At the same time, not the entire rear area is metal - there are plastic inserts for antennas at the top and bottom. Between them and the body are strips processed 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 slightly darker polymer inserts, which does not feel uniform. Perhaps other color schemes do not have such a nuance, or maybe the technical process has been debugged in commercial samples. By the way, there are four colors in total: gold with a golden back, white with a silver back, black with a dark gray back and black with a silver back (our case).

Meizu has completely moved away from the touch mug, promoting a multifunctional mechanical key. The mBack button is built into budget models, and older models get mTouch. The capabilities of the keys are similar (the action is "back" by touch without pressing, "home" is performed by pressing with a click and "lock" by pressing with a second hold), but mTouch additionally has a finger scanner. The MX4 Pro has the first revision of mTouch, and the MX5 has got an improved one - mTouch 2.0. The finger scanner is connected to the key via a stainless steel plate on the baseplate behind the screen. Between the main button module and the display, there is a silicone gel lining to prevent moisture from getting inside. According to Meizu, the control body has not only become simpler and more convenient, but also faster (reading speed is only 0.48 s), more accurate (scanner resolution has increased by 81%), and also more durable (the resource involves more than 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 in interaction with the shell. Personally, I have no regrets about leaving the circle in the past.

Consider the arrangement of elements in the body. Above the screen are light and distance sensors, an LED indicator, and a 5-megapixel front camera. Below it is the mTouch 2.0 button. On the left is a tray with two nano-SIMs (unfortunately, it is not universal, like the M2 Note tray, which can optionally accept one SIM + microSD). On the right are the volume rocker and power button placed at a comfortable height. The lower part has a microphone, a microUSB port, four multimedia speaker holes (slightly above average volume) 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 the 20.7-megapixel camera with dual two-tone flash.

carefully, 10 MB

The MX5 screen is perhaps the most controversial point in the novelty. For the first time, the company has moved away from a high-quality IPS matrix, choosing Samsung's Super AMOLED with Diamond subpixel layout. The company presents the choice as a step forward, giving significant arguments. Among them: the almost limiting contrast level 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 understand, there are no ideals, and Super AMOLED with “pentayl” has drawbacks. These include low maximum brightness (at the presentation of the MX5 it was said about 500 nits, and later a line with 350 nits appeared on the official website - 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 inclinations, friability of fonts, excessively juicy color reproduction. In a nutshell, the Super AMOLED on the MX5 outperforms the MX4's IPS panel in terms of power consumption (nearly double when watching videos) and black depth, while the MX4's IPS screen delivers nicer colors, whiter, brighter, and sharper (Samsung considers resolution AMOLED screen with PenTile on 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, which dynamically adjusts saturation, sharpness, contrast, and brightness based on lighting conditions and the displayed image. In addition, the MX5's screen is easy to read outdoors in bright sunlight and comfortable to work in the dark, as the minimum brightness with ultra-dimming technology drops to just 1.4 nits.

Does all this mean the MX5's screen is bad? No, because if you don’t compare displays, you quickly adapt to color reproduction, there is enough brightness (under the sun, the MX5 is more readable than a LeTV One classmate with IPS, for example), and reduced power consumption for many will be more valuable than the whiteness of the panel. Samsung has been using AMOLED in its top 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. Yes, 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 everything suited him, but only PenTile was embarrassing. Even I, with all my dislike for “pentays”, used the Samsung Galaxy S4 and Galaxy S6 as the main ones, I was positively disposed towards the Motorola Nexus 6, and the MX5 also didn’t really bother me during the testing process.

Software

As of the time of the review, the main firmware 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 in background images and with the help of themes that replace many design elements. The notification curtain descends by swipe from any height, and the list of active programs pops up if you scroll 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 blocks the program from clearing). Gestures on the screen off are extremely useful: double-tap displays the locker, swipes up from the bottom to unlock, swipes from top to bottom brings up the notification panel, side swipes switch tracks, and drawn letters launch tasks associated with them (for example, display O with your finger to turn on camera).

The key points of the settings are shown in the screenshots. These are personalization, a Flyme account (for searching for a phone, blocking it and getting root access), a SIM settings section, adjusting the white screen balance (it doesn’t make much sense for AMOLED), choosing a processor operating mode, entering fingerprints, gesture settings.

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

Why just good? Because earlier the Meizu audio player could download covers and texts from the Web, but now it does not find anything (M1 Note, M2 Note with fresh firmware have 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 of the international firmware for obvious reasons), so nothing prevents you from using the alternative - PowerAMP or Stellio. Meizu wouldn't be Meizu if it didn't work on sound. In terms of sound, the MX5 is a few steps above the MX4 (the new product plays louder and cleaner, the bass is not bulging) and just below the MX4 Pro (last year's flagship produces a slightly more detailed sound and has a huge headroom in volume - thanks to a dedicated amplifier and DAC). I also compared the sound of the MX5 with the LG G4 and I liked the sound from the new Meizu better (more emotional 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 wireless connections caused no complaints. But the fact of inadequate support for European LTE frequencies, of course, will be unpleasant for many potential buyers. MX5 has only lanes 1 and 3, 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 a representative of the Meizu global office, the European LTE frequencies were overlooked at the stage of approving the characteristics of the flagship (it must be understood that the international market accounts for a microscopic percentage of Meizu's sales compared to demand in China, so the Chinese thought about us last), and when they realized it, it was already too late. But we were assured that from now on all future models will be with full-fledged LTE (at least there will be Band 7, but a bunch of 7 and 20 is not excluded). Two SIM-cards for MX5 work in standby mode, if one is busy, then 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 (1/2.3”) sensor, 6-element optics with f/2.2 aperture, dual LED flash in different colors, laser autofocus, and Gorilla Glass 3 protective glass. Compared to the MX4, there were software algorithms have also been changed: new shutter release logic, color settings, white balance, sharpness. The most important innovation is a 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 is almost instantly aimed at close objects, regardless of lighting, and focusing from close to infinity takes about 1-1.5 seconds. If you pick up the MX4 and MX5, then the difference in favor of the novelty will be simply huge - the laser helps to aim up to 5 times faster! Moreover, the MX4 can easily ignore the change of plan and have to help it with a finger, or re-target to trigger the automation. If you pick up the MX5 and LG G4, which also has a laser, then the Meizu phone picks up the foreground faster, but is slightly inferior when aiming into the distance. The Apple iPhone 6/6 Plus and Samsung Galaxy S6/S6 Edge also focus quickly, which do not have a laser rangefinder, but have a phase focus. These comrades in good light focus even faster than the MX5 and G4, but in the semi-darkness they are slightly inferior.

The MX5 interface is the same as other current Meizu models. It is still sharpened for vertical use, offers several filters and modes. The manual mode still needs to be improved, as it does not imply white balance adjustment, and the exposure adjustment does not correspond to the range of + -3 in increments of 1. There is a separate exposure metering from the focus point. A square and a circle appear in the place of the tap - the square indicates the place of focus, and the exposure is metered near the circle (geometric shapes can be moved). This is a useful feature, 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 exposure slider 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 chosen correctly, the colors are pleasant. Noise reduction is not aggressive, that is, noise in difficult conditions pours out every now and then, but the picture tries to remain sharp. At night, it makes sense to manually change the ISO. Detail at close range is good, but when focusing to infinity, the advantages of the 20.7-megapixel sensor are not revealed, as the frame is less clear than the 8-megapixel iPhone 6 Plus and 13-megapixel ASUS Zenfone 2. I hope that with 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 f / 2.0 aperture. The photos are noisy and not clear, but the front cameras in all modern smartphones do not yet deserve the “excellent” rating. Good for a selfie. 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, which is conducted 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 feature. MediaTek explained to us that Meizu chose an old camera module that is not capable of delivering the maximum. Let's believe. As for the quality of the video in general, the color reproduction 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 audible. At the same time, old sores have not gone away: electronic stabilization is either poorly implemented or absent at all (we are not even talking about optical), and it is proposed to focus by touch (sometimes it feels like the laser focus is not involved at all when shooting video).

Benchmarks and performance

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

According to the manufacturer, the MX5 is 17% faster than the MX4. Let's check it 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 will not sag during the game due to heating. Six runs in a row in the heavy graphics test GFXBench serve as proof:

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 found out the operating frequencies in all three power saving modes with a half-hour run of the Stability Test and CPU Spy. Here they are:

productive, balanced and energy-saving modes

Unlike the budget M2 Note, in the 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 optimal you can choose a balanced mode, and for hardcore gamers it makes sense to switch to a performance mode before a gaming session.

The 3150 mAh battery paired with the Super AMOLED screen and the latest Helio X10 chip shows very good results. If the MX4 did not have enough stars from the sky in terms of energy consumption, then the MX5 has become a real long-liver in the Meizu camp. It's no joke - the device played video with maximum brightness and all active wireless modules for more than 10 hours, which is almost twice as high as 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 drains slowly, but also charges quickly. mCharge technology feeds 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 of a powerful smartphone is made of metal, then pastime in games can hardly be called pleasant due to 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 case. The maximum temperature on the internal sensor that I saw was only 43 degrees! And compared to the MX4 and MX4 Pro, the new MX5 even heats up noticeably less when idle. Just with the desktops open, the MX4, MX4 Pro and MX5 heated up to 39, 37 and 34 degrees in the upper region of the back, and their screens warmed up to 38, 37 and 34 degrees, respectively (measured with a pyrometer in the warmest areas). At the same time, the MX5 also cooled down the fastest.

conclusions

With a cursory acquaintance, it may seem that the Meizu MX5 is a small step forward from the MX4. In fact, almost everything has been redesigned in the smartphone and it feels truly new and advanced. In Russian retail, the novelty 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 assembly, battery life, camera and performance fully justify the cost. And Meizu wasn't lying when she said that the MX5 was built with a focus on user needs. All available innovations are useful and will be appreciated by the happy owners, who will replenish the rapidly growing army of Meizu fans.

Pros: - Case materials and build quality are top notch. Everything is assembled perfectly, no gaps and backlashes. - Good sound of the external speaker - it is loud, voluminous and without overload. - Fast charging - The camera from Sony makes itself felt, in good light you can get great pictures. Macro mode - very good, not every soap dish shoots like that. - Flyme. Here the guys are great, they did a good job, the animations are all cool, everything works smoothly, it's pleasing to the eye. Special attention deserves the management of the phone by swipes from the locked screen. You have your own account, similar to Apple's iCloud, to which you can link your phone and block it in case of theft. It is also possible to download additional themes, pictures, fonts and much more. The possibility of obtaining Root rights is well implemented. - Fingerprint scanner / home button. The scanner is fast, on par with the flagships of A brands, there were false positives, but rarely. It is possible to block individual applications by fingerprint. The multifunctionality of the button itself is very conveniently implemented - no one else has it more convenient) Disadvantages: - The camera focus is smeared around the edges. Also, the camera does not have optical stabilization, but this is treated by installing applications from the market. - The problem with Push notifications, they may come, they may not come, or they may be delayed .. Maybe the problem of Android itself, but an unpleasant moment. - LTE does not work for all operators. - The battery charge drops from 100% to 70% in 3 hours with complete inactivity. Praised fast charging in combination with an amoled matrix and a not weak battery - smart, in theory, should be long-lived, but in practice it worked out for me so that I took the phone off the night charge at 9 am, did not touch it, and when I took it at 12 noon, then he had a charge left for 70 !! percent, where did he go? Installing the root, searching for energy pumps, etc., etc. did not bring any result. - Screen. This is exactly the element through which we communicate with the phone. The white color here is not white, it is a dull gray, and the slightest tilt of the screen changes the hue. If the angle of inclination is increased, then a rainbow appears. The settings built into the system do not change the picture much. In general, the matrix is ​​worse than that of Samsung. Comment: A good smart with a good filling, you can definitely use it, play games too. If you have an international version, then there will be no problems installing updates and Google services. If not international, then w3bsit3-dns.com will help you. Fortunately, now you can make an international version from a non-international version) During use, I didn’t like jambs with resolution, almost every application had to manually set the screen resolution. Take the same Yandex electric trains, so on half of this big screen you see from which station to which station you should go indecently in capital letters, and you can figure out the schedule itself. The speaker quality is good, but it distorts real voices, at first I didn’t even recognize people.

Meizu smartphones are gradually gaining popularity, plus the company works closely with MediaTek and is funded Alibaba group. So now Meizu can afford to release more models. Meizu MX5 is the latest flagship model at the moment. The release of the Pro version was also expected, however, judging by the latest data, Meizu decided to change its strategy somewhat and there will be no new models in the near future, and something else will appear a little later.

What's this?

Meizu MX5 is the current flagship of the manufacturer with a large screen and powerful hardware, in addition to this, the company decided to make not the frame, but the entire body out of metal.

Why is he interesting?

In Meizu MX5, the manufacturer decided to move away from its usual practice of using IPS screens and installed a 5.5-inch AMOLED. The processor is a powerful 64-bit eight-core MediaTek Helio X10 solution with 3 GB of RAM, which in total should give impressive performance. The case is almost completely made of metal, non-separable. As the main camera, the company decided to again use the Sony module at 20.7 megapixels, but also added a laser rangefinder, which should speed up autofocus. Like all modern top models, the MX5 is equipped with a fingerprint scanner.

What's included?

The smartphone will be delivered in a white box familiar to Meizu. The Chinese variant will be in a flat square like earlier models, the international version will be in a more standard rectangular one. The smartphone itself is traditionally located in the "book", it also describes the main features. A smartphone in such a book came to us for review, without the top box and the rest of the kit. The set will be standard: a smartphone, a charger, a cable, a paperclip to remove the SIM card tray and instructions. In some variants there will still be a simple headset. Judging by her appearance - only for show.

What does it look like?

The smartphone has retained the main features of the latest Meizu models, especially the MX4 Pro and M2 note. One of the main features is the metal case (more precisely, most of it). At the presentation, Meizu paid special attention to this and claimed that the creation of a 21-gram frame takes a 250-gram bar of T6063 aluminum, which is processed for a month and goes through 68 processing steps in total. Machining, nano casting, precision machining, polishing, anodizing and diamond cutting. At the same time, the accuracy of execution reaches 0.01 mm. Sounds serious and promising, but back to the look.

The front panel is covered with a sheet of Gorilla Glass 3 with a slot for the earpiece and a fingerprint scanner. Under the glass is a 5.5-inch display, a set of sensors, a front camera and an LED indicator. The bezels on the sides of the screen are thin, as befits a modern flagship. Along the perimeter, the front panel is surrounded by a thin metal edge with a chamfer, which protrudes just a little above the glass. Black and white front options will be available.

Previously, in Meizu, the role of the indicator was performed by a round touch button under the screen. In the latest models, this solution was abandoned and it is now separate, above the screen:

Under the display is a mechanical button, it is also a fingerprint scanner mTouch 2.0. It is slightly recessed into the body and has an oval shape. On the MX4 Pro, this button was more rectangular. A touch performs the "back" function, a press "home", and a long press locks the smartphone:

All edges have a rounded profile. On the left side there is a tray for two SIM-cards:

The bottom end is familiar to the company's smartphones. It has a MicroUSB connector, four round holes for an external speaker, and a microphone hole:

Meizu listened to users and moved the power button to the side. In the MX5, it is located on the right, along with the volume rocker. I will not say, but it looks like they are also metal (or the paint for the body is very accurately matched). They fit well and are comfortable to use:

Top - 3.5mm headphone jack and microphone for noise reduction:

As we have said, almost entirely the back cover is made of metal. The exception is plastic inserts at the top and bottom, antennas are brought out there. The case looks really very cool and expensive. The metal is very well processed, it does not leave prints and stains. Yes, and leave a scratch on it - you need to try hard:

The camera module looks familiar to Meizu: a large lens and a flash under it. In this case, the lens protrudes slightly above the body and has a metal frame. The flash is double, and under it is a laser rangefinder for fast autofocus:

Plastic inserts differ slightly in color from the main part of the body, and at the junction there is a small furrow, which is felt to the touch, but it cannot be said that it is somehow annoying:

The tray has two nanoSIM card slots. Unfortunately, you cannot insert a MicroSD here instead of one of the SIMs, as in the M2 Note or some Huawei smartphones:

The smartphone is perfectly assembled, monolithic, looks beautiful and expensive. There is no talk of any deflections or backlashes. There is simply nothing to stumble here. Meizu MX5 has a very good body shape and compact (as for a 5.5-inch smartphone) dimensions and lies perfectly in the hand.

How is his screen?

For the first time, Meizu decided to use instead of an IPS screen SuperAMOLED manufactured by Samsung with the same PenTile, Diamond sub-pixel arrangement. The solution is controversial: not without its advantages and disadvantages. Blacks in the MX5 are truly black, very high contrast levels, lower power consumption than IPS and very rich colors. The disadvantages include a lower maximum brightness level than good IPS, some greenishness at low brightness at an angle, and the fuzzy fonts inherent in PenTile.

The screen resolution is 1920x1080, the pixel density is 401 ppi, which is absolutely enough with such a diagonal. The picture looks great and smooth, the colors are very juicy and bright. By eye, from AMOLED problems, I noticed only a minimal greenish white color at low brightness when viewed from an angle. A very special case, so it cannot be called a significant problem. For obvious reasons, the smartphone has no problems with viewing angles:

At the time of testing fell just very hot and sunny days. Despite formally far from the record maximum brightness, there are absolutely no problems with reading information, there is even no need to strain and look closely. The light sensor works very adequately:

The screen is protected by Gorilla Glass 3, but this does not give a 100% guarantee against damage and a scratch, if desired, can be delivered, which was successfully done with a test sample before me. The oleophobic coating is good: fingers glide well, fingerprints remain within reasonable limits and are easily removed. Supports multi-touch up to 10 touches:

The declared maximum display brightness is 350 cd/m 2 , the colorimeter showed a little more: 373.623 cd/m 2 , the contrast ratios are familiar to AMOLED (in the table below). The color reproduction is good, but not perfect: there is a slight bias towards the cold side, which can be corrected using the utility:

Measurement results

Comparison with competitors:

How is the smartphone doing with performance and autonomy?

Meizu usually uses Samsung Exynos or top-end MediaTek processors. Meizu MX5 is no exception: it has a powerful 64-bit octa-core MediaTek Helio X10 (MT6795T) and 3 GB. In some tests, it loses to competitors, although this may be software optimization problems, because in practice it works perfectly, nothing slows down, and the most interesting thing is that it does not get very hot, even with a metal case. Some stoves with less powerful Qualcomm options heat up significantly more. Programmatically provides a choice of performance mode, it really works:

All modern games run fast, without brakes at maximum settings:

The smartphone will be sold with 16 or 32 GB of internal memory, there is no microSD slot, as we recall. So, if you want to play games and listen to music, then the 32 GB option would be a more reasonable choice. With the work of GPS in the smartphone, everything is fine, a cold start takes a minimum of time:

The 3150 mAh battery is non-removable, things are going very well with autonomy. With half an hour of calls a day, always on 3G or Wi-Fi and synchronization of all available accounts, about an hour of games and half an hour of music, the smartphone lasts more than a day. HD video plays for about 10 hours, so the performance is very good. There is a function mCharge, which allows (in theory) to charge 60% in 40 minutes. In practice, we didn’t have a branded charger, and from a third-party phone it was charged by about 50% in an hour.

The NXP TFA9890 chip is responsible for the sound from the external speaker. It plays loudly and with good quality, but the HTC One and MX4 Pro line is subjectively a little better. The Wolfson solution is responsible for the sound in the headphones. The player reads all common formats, there is an equalizer and the usual Meizu enhancer Dirac HD Sound for the most popular headphone models. As for the quality, the sound is really very good, as for a smartphone, but again, it is minimally inferior to the MX4 Pro. The player itself has the same look:

For those who want to know more

The smartphone uses a 64-bit MediaTek Helio X10 ( MT6795T ) with 8 ARM Cortex-A53 cores that operate at up to 2.2 GHz and a PowerVR G6200 graphics accelerator and 3 GB of LPDDR3 RAM. The smartphone absolutely does not slow down in any tasks and pleases with the fact that it does not get very hot during prolonged loads. In benchmarks, the smartphone gives controversial results, which may be due to the software itself and not the final firmware. At the presentation, they promised 53,000 parrots, in practice it gives out stable 47,000, which is also very good, although I'm sure that with more stable firmware it will be even better:

How user-friendly is the interface?

Over the past year, little has changed in the Flyme shell: the Android version is being completed and updated, we have repeatedly considered the shell in reviews Meizu M2 Note, MX4 and MX4 Pro, so it makes no sense to dwell on it tightly. Our sample was running on version 4.5.2.2I, Android 5.0.1:

As usual, it lacks a separate menu with applications:

The curtain is double, the full option is called by a second swipe or a button in the upper right corner:

Fingerprint settings have not changed since the MX4 Pro, the sensor itself has become really more accurate and faster. The fingerprint is read instantly:

There are a number of pre-installed utility applications, some of them are:

We are regularly asked about the Ukrainian language. Our firmware has it, but so far the quality of localization leaves much to be desired. MIUI has been brought to mind in this regard, so that Flyme will be adequately localized over time:

How are things with the camera?

The main camera received the same Sony IMX220 Exmor RS module at 20.7 megapixels, but now with 6-element optics. F/2.2 aperture, dual LED flash and laser autofocus. The camera focuses really quickly and accurately. It would be interesting to compare this figure with the LG G4, for example. Unfortunately, there was no such possibility. Supports HDR, 4K video, and 100 fps slow motion in HD resolution. Front - 5 megapixels.

The interface hasn't changed much since the MX4 Pro. on the main screen there are buttons for shutter release, video, viewing the previous photo / video, settings and mode buttons. In the settings menu, you can select the resolution of the photo, video, enable HDR, grid, electronic level and self-timer:

Standard mode:

Unfortunately, something went wrong with Youtube and 5 attempts to upload test videos ended with Youtube giving an error. More attempts will be made to fill in, as soon as this happens - they will appear in this section.

In the dry matter

It is worth paying tribute to Chinese engineers: the smartphone has a lot of advantages that far outweigh the disadvantages. Meizu MX5 received a practical, beautiful and comfortable body of a fairly compact size, good performance without overheating, traditionally for Meizu good sound quality, impressive battery life, a very fast and accurate fingerprint scanner and an intelligent camera with fast autofocus. Of the minuses, we can note the lack of a slot for memory cards. We will have available options for 16 and 32 GB, which may not be enough if you actively use your smartphone for games and listening to music. The controversial issue is the AMOLED screen, although this is more of a "taste". The smartphone will go on sale on August 20, the price for 16 GB will be UAH 9,000.

6 reasons to buy Meizu MX5:

• Excellent metal body and build;
• high performance;
• decent battery life;
• high-quality camera with laser autofocus;
• fast and accurate fingerprint scanner;
• good sound quality.

1 reason not to buy Meizu MX5:

• no microSD slot.