Review of Meizu's flagship – Meizu MX5. Review of the Meizu MX5 smartphone: center from the Middle Kingdom Meizu mx5 full review

Appearance and ergonomics

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

Otherwise, the Meizu MX5 is a very nice device, and the claims of some reviewers about the supposedly copied design are completely unfounded - the MX5 looks 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 the glass in, is glued into a plastic backing and not filled with resin.

The weight and dimensions of the device are comfortable; due to the narrow frames around the screen and the sloping shape of the body, the MX5 for a smartphone with a 5.5-inch screen fits very comfortably in the hand. Three mechanical buttons are located under the right thumb; finally, Meizu has moved the Power button from the top to the right. Below the screen there is another mechanical button 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 feel like using a PIN code or password at all.

The sync connector and the main microphone are located on the bottom edge, as is the ringing speaker, which minimizes the likelihood of the call signal being muffled. The headset connector and the second microphone are located on the top edge, the camera eye is on the back surface in the top center, and the module itself protrudes from the body by about a millimeter. There are concerns that Gorilla Glass 3 will become covered with small scratches after some 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 high contrast and almost absolute viewing angles, however, when the view deviates from the normal, the white color acquires a greenish tint. Those who do not like oversaturated colors may not like the screen, because... the color gamut is larger than the sRGB field, and there are no correction profiles in the Meizu MX5, as in Samsung smartphones.

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

Hardware platform and performance

The Meizu MX5 hardware platform is a system-on-chip MTK MT6795T, which includes: an eight-core CPU operating at frequencies up to 2.2 GHz (all cores are “weak” Cortex-A53), PowerVR G6200 GPU operating at frequencies up to 700 MHz and 3 GB LPDDR3 RAM. It’s funny to see how MTK, by raising the frequencies of the Cortex-A53 cores, forces its chips to produce quite competitive performance, while Qualcomm cannot cope 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 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 settings turned up to maximum, including 100% draw distance and 100% resolution, could not bring the smartphone to its knees. Needless to say, simple applications launch instantly and run smoothly, and there are no problems with the smooth display of GUI animations.

The internal storage capacity in the copy 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 slot for memory cards in the device.

Cellular communications and interfaces

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

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

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

Battery and autonomy

Meizu MX5 has a non-removable battery with a capacity of 3150 mAh. The manufacturer has announced a proprietary mCharge fast charging technology, 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 special charger was included in the kit with a variable output voltage of 5, 9 and 12 V and a current of 2 A. In fact, the battery takes much longer to charge: 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 operating mode, the Meizu MX5 will last from morning until late evening with 4-4.5 hours of screen activity - this is 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 is far ahead of its predecessor.

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

Cameras, photo and video quality

The main camera module in the Meizu MX5 is a 20.7 megapixel SONY IMX220 matrix, covered by a lens consisting of 6 lenses with an aperture of F2.2 and EGF = ~ 26 mm. HDR is supported in 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, and exposure compensation are adjusted.

In sufficient lighting conditions, the Meizu camera takes excellent photos in terms of sharpness and other parameters. Due to the significantly higher resolution, photos taken with the MX5 have more detail than photos taken with the iPhone 6 Plus. CLICKABLE! On the left is Meizu MX5, on the right is Apple iPhone 6 Plus:

Photos taken in HDR mode have a strong compression of tones, but little increase in color saturation. CLICKABLE! On the left is Meizu MX5, on the right is Apple iPhone 6 Plus:

The camera did not fail in low-light conditions either, although some pictures come out blurry. CLICKABLE! On the left is Meizu MX5, on the right is Apple iPhone 6 Plus:

With panoramic shooting, Meizu is doing much better than most manufacturers; photo panels taken on the MX5 have a resolution of up to 34 megapixels, as opposed to one and a half megapixel pictures from other cameras. CLICKABLE! Meizu MX5 on top, Apple iPhone 6 Plus on bottom:

The front camera is 5 megapixels, covered by a lens with an aperture of F2.0 (the exif talks about an aperture of F2.2).

Meizu didn’t bother about the wide-angle of the front camera; the lens has an EGF even greater than that of the main camera ~28-30 mm. CLICKABLE!:

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 a speed of 100 fps and encoded at a speed of 25 fps, but no sound is recorded.

Sound quality

The ringing speaker in the MX5 is located at the bottom end; it has a decent volume reserve and produces 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 headroom is slightly lacking. The system player contains 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 the Flyme OS version 4.5 operating system based on . The seller prudently installed the firmware with the index “A” – Flyme OS 4.5.2.1A. Our website is dedicated to the Flyme OS 4.5 operating system; in this review I will limit myself to describing a couple of points.

I’ll 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 pure Android lacked. 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, monitor malware and control Internet traffic.

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

Still, the overall impression of Flyme OS 4.5 is positive, the system runs very quickly and smoothly, and the GUI design is neat and clean.

Overall, the Meizu MX5 looks more like a bug fix than a completely new flagship smartphone. Compared to the MX4, autonomy, performance and camera performance have been improved. But the most important thing in all this is the dollar price, which has remained at the same level. 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 faced with a large selection of other devices.

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

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

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

Why you shouldn't buy a Meizu MX5 smartphone

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

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

Do you like the models? This is great!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

2 years ago 0

Before it there was meizu mx4 pro. I compare with him. The screen is cool... 2K is not needed. The camera is great. In contrast, the mx4 pro focuses instantly. Charges from 0 to 100 in about 1.20. The battery also lasts better, if you don’t force it too much, it lasts for a day. The case is excellent. In 4 months of wearing without a case, not a single scratch. The screen has good armored glass. Therefore, I don’t know how he is without protection. 2 sim. Communication is excellent. Antutu has more than 52,000 points. This is at maximum power. The optimal is somewhere around 47,000, in the economical one it’s 37,000. The sound from the external speaker seemed a little quieter than in the mx4 pro, and a little muffled. Ha mx4 pro has too many highs. The scanner works much better, faster and more accurate. Thin. Unlike mx4 pro, it already fits normally in the hand. As you know mx4 pro is wide due to its format) this is three

2 years ago 0

Screen, assembly, materials, design, processor, sound

2 years ago 0

The phone is bomb, smart, beautiful color design....

2 years ago 0

In official stores, the real Meizu mx5 is simply magical. Keeps up with all the latest mobile advances. I will definitely buy one from an authorized shopping center.

2 years ago 0

Build quality - fits perfectly in your hand! -Screen - after IPS matrices I am delighted! -Great sound in the headphones - almost like in my former Sony player for 7000 rubles. -Speed ​​of firmware operation (I have a Chinese device with Russian firmware 4.5) -Very loud and high-quality speaker for music. -Good earpiece, better only in Nexus 5, but this is my personal IMHO. -You can get good photos with sufficient lighting. -There is slow motion video. -Good cell tower signal reception. -My 3G works at a speed of 18Mbps, I can’t say anything about 4G... -I really like all the buttons, as well as the micro-usb connector, the cable fits into it like clockwork)))) -The battery can last up to 2 days , in my mode, when I don’t let go of the phone throughout the day, it lasts 29 hours. -Fast charge function

2 years ago 0

The main advantage of the phone is the price-quality ratio! I bought it for 24 thousand rubles. Glad! There are many alternatives, but! Either these are outdated models of well-known brands, or budget cars with not the best characteristics. I didn’t need to have a processor that would send me into space, a memory capacity of 128 or even 64GB (that is, a cloud or a home computer), a screen resolution of 4K (I just don’t understand why a 5-5.5-inch display has such a resolution!? By the way, I have Nexus 10 tablet, where the screen resolution is 2560x1600 on 10 inches, but I didn’t understand the joke either. I’m probably not advanced and I’m stupid))). I needed a stylish, metallic phone, with a good large screen (to watch movies and read books on the subway) and with a good camera! And I found it))) I have not yet tested the camera in extreme modes, but with all

2 years ago 0

Excellent operating time, the battery lasts two (!) times longer than my old nexus 5, it also lasts longer than the galaxy s6. Under heavy load, it lives quietly until late at night, and at medium load it works for two days. Beautiful body and appearance from the front, pleasant to the touch, thin frames, adequate size of the phone with such a large screen, smaller than the iPhone 6 plus although it has the same diagonal, got used to the size in a day. Fast work, good processor, fast fingerprint scanner, good speaker (after Nexus 5 heaven and earth), very nice screen, pixels are not visible, Amoled is not scary, and it consumes less energy on a black background. Overall, the phone is very successful, especially considering how much it costs, but with the exception of one BUT.

2 years ago 0

There are only solid advantages here.! I’m very happy with the phone, I spent a long time choosing and doubted the quality of the Middle Kingdom. The firmware is all good, nothing is in Chinese

2 years ago 0

Top design, premium materials, reasonable price, 3Gb RAM, AMOLED, autonomy (see comment), subjectively does not heat up much (compared to the same sgs4mini)

2 years ago 0

Well, the first thing is, of course, the graphics, very good, the camera is simply magnificent, the battery is also very good, the fingerprint scanner is good, the phone’s power is just a monster, not a single game lags or slows down, the phone itself is so smart, fast and powerful that you won’t see something like this everywhere

2 years ago 0

Still delighted! There are no cons for me!

2 years ago 0

Buttons on the side

2 years ago 0

I've been using it for a week and haven't found it yet.

2 years ago 0

Do not buy this phone in the Chinese version! That's horrible! Wi-Fi is glitchy and many downloaded applications simply do not want to work. No official updates. Only through skilled sellers. We fell for such a “venal” scam with the aks70.ru store. Don't buy from them. The seller does not report the above listed disadvantages, and returning the goods, despite their assurance on the website, is not so easy. And even just calling their director, who is always absent from the workplace, is simply not possible.

2 years ago 0

Huge disadvantages:
-I have big hands and almost always hold it with one hand, and the phone is very slippery, just wow! You need to buy a thin, transparent silicone case or something similar.
- Poor Wi-Fi reception.
-Works very slowly with all applications that use the Internet, any, be it 3G or Wi-Fi
-The main camera shoots video very poorly, again compared to the Nexus 5, even 4k doesn’t help it.
-The front camera often blurs photos.
-It gets very hot even in 2D games, which is why the processor frequency drops and lags begin.
Minor cons:
-The chrome edging got scratched on the first day, I just put the smartphone in my jacket pocket and caught the zipper a little. My previous Nexus 5 didn't allow me to do this for a whole year...

2 years ago 0

Of course, the main drawback is the firmware.... Exactly the one that Flyme OS 5.0.0.1A. In general, the letter A, like C and U, means the Chinese version of the firmware. As I understand it, the official firmware supports the Russian language in all endeavors, only with the letter i, that is, international, that is, international. But there is no fifth version of this firmware yet... And when it will appear is also unknown. If you bought a phone with firmware 4.5, and it is completely in Russian, then you should not rush and update to the top five. I ended up with an explosive cocktail of Russian (for the most part), English (the entire settings menu is on it) and Chinese in some moments. BUT! There are times when you can kill yourself, but you don’t know which of the 3-4 points to choose, because they are all HIEROGLYPHS!))) But this can be solved at random or by simple nait

2 years ago 0

Bad camera, before buying I read a lot of reviews, everywhere they praise the camera, talking about the cool quality of the pictures, the only thing they criticized was the work of the laser autofocus on the early firmware. I fell for it, it turns out everything is very bad. Autofocus worked incorrectly and still doesn’t work, although I installed the latest available firmware 5.1.1.1A. Almost all the photos are out of focus, you can’t just take it out and take a photo, because you look like the photo turned out, but in reality everything is not clear. This problem is widespread. And the second disadvantage of the camera is noise, there is a lot of it so that you don’t take pictures. I expected this, but not such horror. The weather now and in the fall in St. Petersburg is cloudy, there is not much light even on the street, and under such conditions the pictures are terrible. If anyone is interested, I can send the photos in a message, you will see for yourself. Tele

2 years ago 0

There is not enough memory, there would be a slot for a card :(

2 years ago 0

By and large, no, but in small things:
there are no our 4g frequencies, but for me this is not important, for mobile applications 3g is enough
on firmware 4.5.4.1I there is a Trojan in the video system application (I nailed it so as not to irritate it;))
The camera is mediocre (but no worse than the previous Gnusmos, that’s for sure) - it’s quite enough for work.

2 years ago 0

There are no downsides, except that there is nowhere to insert a memory card

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

Appearance and ergonomics

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

Display

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

Hardware and performance

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

Communication and sound

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

Camera

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

conclusions

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

Pros:

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

Minuses:

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

Technical characteristics of Meizu MX5

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

Prices

Video reviews

The new flagship of the Chinese company in a metal case and on the latest Mediatek Helio X10 platform

Meizu, a popular smartphone manufacturer in China, continues to gain momentum, introducing its new products more and more often - now this happens several times a year. The next product presented at the beginning of last week in Beijing was the new flagship device Meizu MX5, which heads the company’s family of smartphones.

Representatives of our editorial staff were able to attend the event, and it should be noted that the scale was truly impressive. Several thousand people gathered in the huge Beijing International Convention Center complex, groups of dozens of fans helped warm up the atmosphere, the honor of opening the presentation fell to one of the most popular pop singers in China, everything was grandiose and pathetic. But it is also worth noting the fact that European journalists among those invited could be counted on one hand. This is explained by the fact that Meizu’s entry into the international market, which so far does not account for even a few percent of its sales volumes, is still ahead.

And yet, fame precedes heroes, and those people who until recently had not even heard of such a name are beginning to talk more and more about the quality of Meizu products. Smartphones from this company really sometimes constitute that rare combination of good quality and favorable price, which is called the “golden mean”. Just remember the M1 Note, excellent in most respects, which is still one of the best combinations of price and quality products in its middle class - many people look up to it even now.

The smartphone that will be discussed in today’s review is, of course, more expensive, but this is already on a completely different level. The flagship device called Meizu MX5 not only became the next cutting-edge top product on the mobile market, it was also a kind of work on the mistakes made in its predecessors.

The new Meizu flagship has an increased screen diagonal, the display aspect ratio has been “straightened” (it has become “like everyone else’s”), real metal has become an integral component of not only the chassis, but also the entire body, a fingerprint scanner has been added, autonomy has been significantly improved, and the quality of the The speakers began to sound and the camera started filming. As for the dimensions and weight, they are almost a record for such a large screen; a device with a 5.5-inch display really looks and feels almost miniature.

But there was a fly in the ointment: if replacing an IPS screen with an AMOLED with PenTile still looks like a controversial issue, then the exclusion of the most common frequency in our country, 2600 MHz, from the operating frequencies of the LTE modem will certainly be considered a “low blow” by domestic users. . And yet, even with such shortcomings, the device turned out to be extremely interesting, and today readers of our publication will have the opportunity to be among the first to familiarize themselves in detail with this extraordinary smartphone.

Video review

First, we suggest watching our video review of the Meizu MX5 and LeTV One (X600) smartphones:

Now let's take a look at the characteristics of the new product.

Main characteristics of Meizu MX5 (model M575H)

	Meizu MX5	LeTV One	Nexus 6	LG G Flex 2	HTC One M9
Screen	5.5″, Super AMOLED	5.5″, IPS	5.96″, AMOLED	5.5″, P-OLED	5″, S-LCD 3
Permission	1920×1080, 401 ppi	1920×1080, 401 ppi	2560×1440, 493 ppi	1920×1080, 401 ppi	1920×1080, 441 ppi
SoC	Mediatek MT6795T Octa-core (8 Cortex-A53 cores @2.2 GHz)	Mediatek MT6795 Octa-core (8 cores Cortex-A53 @2.0 GHz)	Qualcomm Snapdragon 805 (4 cores Krait 450 @2.7 GHz)	Qualcomm Snapdragon 810 (4x Cortex-A57 @2.0 GHz + 4x Cortex-A53)	Qualcomm Snapdragon 810 (4x Cortex-A57 @2.0 GHz + 4x Cortex-A53 @1.5 GHz)
GPU	PowerVR G6200	PowerVR G6200	Adreno 420	Adreno 430	Adreno 430
RAM	3 GB	3 GB	3 GB	2 GB	3 GB
Flash memory	16/32/64 GB	16/32/64 GB	32/64 GB	32 GB	32 GB
Memory card support	—	—	—	microSD	microSD
operating system	Google Android 5.0	Google Android 5.0	Google Android 5.0	Google Android 5.0	Google Android 5.0
Battery	non-removable, 3150 mAh	non-removable, 3000 mAh	non-removable, 3220 mAh	non-removable, 3000 mAh	non-removable, 2840 mAh
Cameras	main (20.7 MP; 4K video), front (5 MP)	main (13 MP; 4K video), front (5 MP)		main (13 MP; 4K video), front (2 MP)	main (20.7 MP; 4K video), front (4 MP)
Dimensions and weight	150×75×7.6 mm, 149 g	148×74×9.5 mm, 168 g	159×83×10.1 mm, 184 g	149×75×9.4 mm, 154 g	145×70×9.6 mm, 157 g
average price	N/A	N/A	T-11153512	T-11883628	T-12259334

• SoC MediaTek MT6795T (Helio X10 Turbo), 2.2 GHz, 8 cores ARM Cortex-A53
• GPU PowerVR G6200 @700 MHz
• Operating system Android 5.0 with Flyme 4.5 shell
• Touch display AMOLED, 5.5″, 1920×1080, 401 ppi
• Random access memory (RAM) 3 GB, internal memory 16/32/64 GB
• No microSD card support
• Nano-SIM support (2 pcs.)
• 2G communication: GSM 900/1800/1900 MHz
• 3G Communication: WCDMA 900/2100 MHz
• Data transmission FDD-LTE: 1800/2100 MHz
• Wi-Fi 802.11a/b/g/n/ac (2.4/5 GHz), Wi-Fi Direct
• Bluetooth 4.0 BLE
• Micro-USB 2.0
• GPS (A-GPS), Glonass, BDS
• Camera 20.7 MP, Sony IMX220, autofocus, f/2.2, LED flash
• Camera 5 MP (front), OV5670, f/2.2, fixed. focus
• NXP TFA9890 sound chip
• Proximity sensor, lighting sensor, accelerometer, gyroscope, magnetic compass, fingerprint sensor
• Battery 3150 mAh
• Dimensions 150×75×7.6 mm
• Weight 149 g

Contents of delivery

Meizu MX5 is sold in packaging that has already become traditional for this brand: an ordinary cardboard box contains a flat cardboard “book” with three hard sheets and an internal compartment designed to store the smartphone itself. This unusual way of serving has been rooted in Meizu since the very first flagships of the MX line.

This time, the equipment was a pleasant surprise: Meizu provided its new flagship not only with the usual charger (5 V, 2 A) and a Micro-USB connecting cable, but also with headphones, which have become a rarity for smartphones these days. The headphones, of course, are made in-house, and we know that their company really knows how to make good ones, quite successfully selling such models at retail.

Appearance and ease of use

You can admire the design of the new device in the flagship Meizu series or be neutral about it, but the two most outstanding points must be mentioned. Firstly, Meizu MX5 has a metal body, and this is rare for smartphones of this brand. True, the case here is clearly not all-metal, as the developers stated during the presentation: obviously non-metallic elements are embedded at the top and bottom of the ends, but still the middle part of the case is really made of real aluminum.

As for the upper and lower segments, it would be strange if they were also made of metal. After all, the antennas here are not placed in external grooves, like in HTC or Apple devices, and a solid metal body would shield these elements. And yet, these small caps are made so similar to real metal ones that you can’t tell the difference right away.

And the second point that needs to be especially noted in connection with the design is the unusually miniature dimensions and weight of the device. With a 5.5-inch screen that has already become standard for top smartphones, the Meizu MX5 turns out to be significantly smaller than the same iPhone 6 Plus, and its weight of less than 150 g is a record for modern flagships with this display size.

Due to such outstanding indicators as the unusually small thickness of the case, weight, and overall dimensions of the case, the Meizu MX5 smartphone is very comfortable to hold in the hand. The metal surface here is matte, slightly rough, there is no trace of gloss, so the device does not slip out of your hands and does not become covered with fingerprints. The extremely narrow frame around the screen does not actually cause any discomfort.

Since the back cover of the Meizu MX5 case is non-removable, the corresponding method of attaching cards is used here: a metal truss with SIM cards inserted into it slides into the side slot, and it is removed by pressing a secret button using a paper clip or the supplied key.

The smartphone supports working with two Nano-SIM format SIM cards, but Meizu developers, as usual, did not provide for the possibility of expanding memory using microSD cards at all. It is logical that in this case it is possible to select modifications with different amounts of built-in memory (16, 32, 64 GB), and you can also connect external flash drives via an OTG adapter.

On the right side of the case there are mechanical lock and volume keys as usual. Large metallized buttons are spaced close to each other, protrude quite far beyond the surface of the case, are easy to find blindly, and have an elastic and distinct action. In general, there are no complaints about these elements.

The main speaker of the Meizu MX5 is located not on the rear surface, but on the bottom end, so the sound of the device lying on the table is not muffled at all. The end is beautifully designed in the style of an iPhone, there are also two shiny metal screws screwed in on both sides of the Micro-USB connector, and the grille covering the speaker is made in the form of several large round holes.

The top end is given over to a mini-jack (3.5 mm) for headphones; a second, auxiliary microphone was placed next to it. The connectors are not equipped with plugs, since the device is not protected from moisture and dust.

On the rear surface, you can note the presence of a laser rangefinder for measuring the distance to the photographic object, combined as a single unit with a two-segment multi-colored LED flash. The large round window of the main camera located nearby is slightly raised above the surface and covered with protective Corning Gorilla Glass.

At the bottom of the front panel there is an equally interesting element: this is a mechanical key with a fingerprint scanner built into it. The button reads the fingerprint simultaneously with the press, unlocking the screen. The process of reading the fingerprint and setting the lock is identical to that of the iPhone: there is no need to drag your finger along the button, just a point touch. Naturally, you can add several fingers for recognition, and for reliability you will be asked to come up with a code. Recognition always occurs clearly; we have not recorded any erroneous clicks. The fingerprint scanner is implemented in the new mTouch 2.0 version with an improved controller and increased detection accuracy - the same as in the MX4 Pro model.

It should be noted that in the light version of the front panel, this oval button is additionally surrounded by a golden rim, and this makes it clearly visible. The black panel does not have any rim around the button; it blends into the general background and becomes noticeable only from a certain angle.

As for the color options, in this regard, with the Meizu MX5 everything turned out to be a little more unexpected: now there is neither dark gray nor light gray - instead, both modifications have the same color for the rear of the body and differ only in the white or black color of the front panel . There is also a third, golden color option for the rear surface; its front panel under the glass is also white.

Screen

One of the most significant surprises during the release of Meizu MX5 was related to the screen. The fact is that all previous Meizu flagships were famous for their excellent displays; they were always some of the best IPS screens on the market. And suddenly the developers announced that they were releasing their next flagship with a Super AMOLED screen made by Samsung. During the presentation, such an unexpected turn, naturally, was presented by company representatives as a benefit for the user, although the replacement of magnificent IPS displays with AMOLED, and even with PenTile, was not perceived so clearly by many fans of the brand.

The screen dimensions of Meizu MX5 are 68x121 mm, diagonal - 5.5 inches, resolution - 1920x1080 pixels. The width of the frame from the edge of the screen to the edge of the body is once again record-breakingly small: on the sides it is less than 3 mm, on the top and bottom - approximately 15 mm. The frame is indeed very narrow, but this does not cause discomfort, since the well-thought-out shape of the case with one-sided rounding of the side edges prevents accidental pressing on the edges of the screen.

The brightness of the display can be adjusted manually, or you can use automatic adjustment based on the operation of the light sensor. Multi-touch technology here allows you to process 10 simultaneous touches. When you bring the smartphone to your ear, the screen is locked using a proximity sensor. The screen can be unlocked by double tapping the glass, or by simply swiping anywhere on the screen.

A detailed examination using measuring instruments was carried out by the editor of the “Monitors” and “Projectors and TV” sections, Alexey Kudryavtsev. Here is his expert opinion on the screen of the sample under study.

The front surface of the screen is made in the form of a glass plate with a mirror-smooth surface that is scratch-resistant. Judging by the reflection of objects, the anti-glare properties of the screen are no worse than those of the Google Nexus 7 (2013) screen (hereinafter simply Nexus 7). For clarity, here is a photo in which a white surface is reflected in the switched off screens (on the left - Nexus 7, on the right - Meizu MX5, then they can be distinguished by size):

The screen of the Meizu MX5 is slightly lighter (brightness according to photographs is 106 versus 104 for the Nexus 7) and has a brownish tint. Note that the reflection from bright objects in the Meizu MX5 screen has a pale bluish halo that is slightly more pronounced in the transverse direction. The ghosting of reflected objects in the Meizu MX5 screen is very weak, this indicates that there is no air gap between the layers of the screen (OGS - One Glass Solution type screen). Due to the smaller number of boundaries (glass/air type) with very different refractive indices, such screens look better in conditions of strong external illumination, but their repair in the case of cracked external glass is much more expensive, since the entire screen has to be replaced. The outer surface of the screen has a special oleophobic (grease-repellent) coating (very effective, even better than that of the Nexus 7), so fingerprints are removed much more easily and appear at a lower speed than with regular glass.

When manually controlling the brightness and displaying the white field in full screen, the maximum brightness value was approximately 340 cd/m², the minimum was 1.2 cd/m². The maximum brightness is not very high, but you need to take into account the excellent anti-glare properties of the screen and the fact that in this case, the smaller the white area on the screen, the lighter it is, that is, the actual maximum brightness of the white areas will almost always be higher than the specified value. As a result, readability during the day in the sun is at a fairly good level. The reduced brightness level allows you to use the device even in complete darkness without any problems. There is automatic brightness adjustment based on the light sensor (it is located to the right of the front speaker slot). In automatic mode, as external lighting conditions change, the screen brightness both increases and decreases. The operation of this function depends on the position of the brightness adjustment slider. If it is 100%, then in complete darkness the automatic brightness adjustment function reduces the brightness to 120 cd/m² (too light), in an office illuminated by artificial light (about 400 lux) it sets it to 170 cd/m² (normal), in very bright environment (corresponds to lighting on a clear day outdoors, but without direct sunlight - 20,000 lux or a little more) increases to a maximum - up to 340 cd / m² (which is what is needed). Brightness slider at 50% - the values ​​are as follows: 37, 95 and 340 cd/m² (from our point of view, acceptable values), at 0% - 2.4, 12 and 340 cd/m² (the logic is clear). In general, the automatic brightness adjustment function works adequately.

Only at low brightness levels is there significant modulation at 237 Hz. The figure below shows the dependence of brightness (vertical axis) on time (horizontal axis) for several brightness values:

It can be seen that at maximum and average brightness the modulation amplitude is minimal, its frequency is approximately 59 Hz (screen refresh rate), so there is no visible flicker. However, with a strong decrease in brightness, modulation appears with a large relative amplitude. Therefore, at low brightness, the presence of modulation can already be seen in a test for the presence of a stroboscopic effect or simply with rapid eye movement. Depending on individual sensitivity, this flickering may cause increased fatigue.

This screen uses an AMOLED matrix - active matrix organic light-emitting diodes. A full-color image is created using subpixels of three colors - red (R), green (G) and blue (B), but there are twice as many green subpixels, which can be referred to as RGBG. This is confirmed by a fragment of a microphotograph:

For comparison, you can see the gallery of microphotographs of screens used in mobile technology.

In the fragment above you can count 4 green subpixels, 2 red (4 halves) and 2 blue (1 whole and 4 quarters), and by repeating these fragments, you can lay out the entire screen without breaks or overlap. For such matrices, Samsung introduced the name PenTile RGBG. The manufacturer calculates the screen resolution based on the green subpixels; based on the other two, it will be two times lower. The location and shape of the subpixels in this version is similar to that in the case of the screen of the Samsung Galaxy S4 and some other newer devices from Samsung (and not only) with AMOLED screens. This version of PenTile RGBG is better than the old one with red squares, blue rectangles and stripes of green subpixels. However, some unevenness of contrast borders and other artifacts are still present. However, due to the high resolution, they have a minimal impact on image quality.

The screen has excellent viewing angles. True, the white color, when deviated even at small angles, acquires a slight blue-green tint, and at some angles turns a little pink, but the black color remains just black at any angle. It is so black that the contrast setting is simply not applicable in this case. When viewed perpendicularly, the uniformity of the white field is good. For comparison, here are photographs in which identical images are displayed on the screens of the Meizu MX5 and the second comparison participant, while the brightness of the screens is initially set to approximately 200 cd/m², and the color balance on the camera is forcibly switched to 6500 K. There is a white field perpendicular to the screens:

Note the good uniformity of brightness and color tone of the white field. And a test picture:

The color balance of the screens is slightly different and the colors on the Meizu MX5 are oversaturated and unnatural. Now at an angle of approximately 45 degrees to the plane and to the side of the screen.

It can be seen that the colors have not changed much on both screens and the brightness of the Meizu MX5 at an angle is noticeably higher. And a white field:

The brightness at an angle for both screens has noticeably decreased (to avoid strong darkening, the shutter speed has been increased compared to the previous two photographs), but in the case of the Meizu MX5 the drop in brightness is much less pronounced. As a result, with formally the same brightness, the Meizu MX5 screen visually looks much brighter (compared to LCD screens), since you often have to look at the screen of a mobile device from at least a slight angle.

Switching the state of the matrix elements is performed almost instantly, but at the turn-on (and less often off) edge there may be a step with a width of approximately 17 ms (which corresponds to the screen refresh rate). For example, this is what the dependence of brightness on time looks like when moving from black to white and back when displaying the field in full screen:

In some conditions, the presence of such a step can lead to plumes trailing moving objects, but in normal use these artifacts are difficult to see. Quite the contrary - dynamic scenes in films on OLED screens are distinguished by high clarity and even some “jerky” movements.

The gamma curve, constructed using 32 points with equal intervals based on the numerical value of the shade of gray, did not reveal a blockage either in the shadows or in the highlights. The index of the approximating power function is 2.27, which is slightly higher than the standard value of 2.2, while the real gamma curve practically does not deviate from the power dependence:

Let us recall that in the case of OLED screens, the brightness of image fragments dynamically changes in accordance with the nature of the displayed image: it decreases for generally light images and increases for dark ones. As a result, the resulting dependence of brightness on hue (gamma curve) most likely slightly does not correspond to the gamma curve of a static image, since the measurements were carried out with sequential display of shades of gray on almost the entire screen. In this case, there is no possibility of choosing a color correction profile, and in particular a profile with hardware reduction of the color gamut; as a result, the color gamut of the Meizu MX5 is very wide:

The component spectra (that is, the spectra of pure red, green and blue) are very well separated:

Note that on screens with a wide color gamut, without appropriate correction, the colors of regular images optimized for sRGB devices appear unnaturally saturated. The grayscale balance is good. The color temperature is close to the standard 6500 K, and the deviation from the blackbody spectrum (ΔE) throughout the entire significant part of the gray scale remains below 10 units, which is considered a good indicator for a consumer device. At the same time, color temperature and ΔE change little from hue to hue - this has a positive effect on the visual assessment of color balance:

(The darkest areas of the gray scale can in most cases be ignored, since color balance there is not very important, and the error in measuring color characteristics at low brightness is large.)

This device has the ability to adjust the color balance by adjusting the tint warmer or cooler.

However, even with the default value, the color temperature is close to the standard value, so there is no point in touching this setting.

Let's summarize. The screen does not have a very high maximum brightness, but has good anti-glare properties, so the device can be used outdoors even on a sunny summer day without any problems. In complete darkness, the brightness can be reduced to a comfortable value. It is permissible to use a mode with automatic brightness adjustment, which works quite adequately. The advantages of the screen include a very good oleophobic coating and a color balance close to standard. At the same time, let us remind you about the general advantages of OLED screens: true black color (if nothing is reflected in the screen), good uniformity of the white field, noticeably less than that of LCDs, and a drop in image brightness when viewed at an angle. The disadvantages include screen flickering, which appears at low brightness. For users who are particularly sensitive to flicker, this may cause increased fatigue. Negative properties include an excessively wide color gamut, which makes ordinary images look unnatural. However, overall the screen quality is high.

Sound

In terms of sound, there are no complaints about the Meizu MX5. There is only one external speaker, but the device, equipped with a separate sound chip, produces sound of sufficient quality through both it and headphones for comfortable listening. This is not the level of Oppo or HTC, the smartphone does not abound in excessive volume and deep bass, but still the sound is quite loud, moderately saturated with all frequencies, bright, the sound at any volume level remains clear, without distortion or impurities, low frequencies are partly present, although and not fully.

A proprietary player is used to play music. In its settings it is possible to use an equalizer with preset values. To improve the sound quality of your headphones, you can choose from several different Dirac HD Sound system profiles for the most popular headphone models.

The device can record telephone conversations from the line; to do this, just click on the corresponding button in the telephone application interface right during the call. There is no support for FM radio in the smartphone.

Camera

The hero of this review is in perfect order with his cameras. Meizu MX5 is equipped with two quite decent digital camera modules with a resolution of 20.7 and 5 megapixels. The front one is equipped with a 5-megapixel OmniVision OV5670 sensor and a lens with an f/2.2 aperture without autofocus and flash. The maximum resolution when shooting video with the front camera is 1920×1080 pixels. You can also take pictures with the front camera using the hardware volume control key, which is convenient when creating self-portraits. The quality of the images is more than decent for selfie level.

The main camera in the Meizu MX5, contrary to expectations, turned out to be equipped with the same familiar 20.7-megapixel Sony IMX220 sensor with a six-lens lens and an f/2.2 aperture. The camera has its own laser rangefinder, very fast autofocus and dual-color LED flash. The lens lens is covered with protective glass Gorilla Glass 3. Video recording is carried out with a resolution of up to 4K.

The camera control menu has not changed at all since the previous models in the series. There are several modes: in addition to automatic and manual, the user is given the opportunity to additionally use panoramic, portrait, night modes, as well as more specific ones, such as manual focus change, macro photography, and even a special built-in barcode recognition mode. There is a “Focus” mode, after shooting in which, already on the finished picture, you can touch different areas in turn to focus on objects that were at different distances from the camera during shooting. Changing shooting modes occurs by swiping with a horizontal gesture, and depending on the selected mode, additional settings specific to each specific selected mode pop up at the bottom.

The camera can shoot video in a maximum resolution of 4K, the shooting quality is excellent. It’s a pity that there is no possibility of shooting in a more interesting combination of size and video image quality in 1080p mode at 60 fps, but there is a Slo-mo slow-motion mode: 720p, 100 fps. Examples of test videos are presented below.

• Video No. 1 (82 MB, 3840×2160@30 fps)
• Video No. 2 (22 MB, 1280×720, Slo-mo)

	The camera does night photography relatively well.
	Good close-up for long exposures, low light and high ISO.
	Another example of good indoor work.
	The camera copes well with shooting difficult objects, without unnecessary artifacts.
	In good lighting, pictures are obtained at the level of good compacts. In addition, thanks to careful noise reduction, the camera manages to preserve many details.
	Car numbers can be distinguished without any problems.
	The color of the sky is not too even, but due to the fine grain of the noise reduction it is almost unnoticeable.
	An example of an indoor shot quite decent for a smartphone.
	Even small inscriptions on signs can be made out if desired.
	The camera does macro photography well, but only in the central part of the frame.
	The camera works well with details in all shots.
	The text is worked out well only in the center of the frame; sharpness drops towards the edges, although not very much.

We also tested the camera on a laboratory bench using our method.

Meizu MX5 managed to get a very decent Sony sensor. Despite the seemingly stock software of the MediaTek Camera Application module, the camera works almost perfectly. Its main advantage is its good performance at high sensitivity values ​​in low light conditions. In addition, thanks to the high resolution, the noise reducer manages to get by with fairly fine grain during processing. As a result, many small details are perfectly processed.

However, the camera also has its drawbacks. When shooting macro, the focus shifts somewhat, and blur zones appear at the edges of the frame - not very strong, but unpleasant. It is difficult to say what exactly is the reason for this behavior, but it is possible that such a defect can be corrected programmatically or is a defect of a specific sample. Checking a smartphone for this defect upon purchase is not difficult.

Unfortunately, the MX5 falls a little short of the famous flagships in terms of camera, which is confirmed by the laboratory test. In general, the camera will cope well with both documentary and artistic photography.

Telephone and communications

The smartphone works as standard in modern 2G GSM and 3G WCDMA networks, there is also support for LTE FDD, but, unfortunately, Meizu MX5 can only work at frequencies of 1800/2100 MHz, and does not support the most common frequency of 2600 MHz, that is, with 4G The device will not work in Russia everywhere and not with all operators.

The remaining network capabilities of the smartphone are standard: NFC is not supported, but there is Bluetooth 4.0, which supports work with wearable gadgets such as smart watches and bracelets; Supports two Wi-Fi bands (2.4 and 5 GHz), Wi-Fi Direct, Wi-Fi Display, you can organize a wireless access point via Wi-Fi or Bluetooth channels. The Micro-USB 2.0 connector supports connecting external devices (USB Host, USB OTG), so you can connect flash drives and mice with keyboards to this port. The navigation module works not only with GPS (with A-GPS), but also with the domestic Glonass. There are no complaints about the operation of the navigation module; the first satellites during a cold start are detected within the first minute. Among the smartphone's sensors there is a magnetic field sensor, on the basis of which the digital compass operates in navigation programs.

The phone application supports Smart Dial, that is, while dialing a phone number, a search is immediately carried out by the first letters in contacts. The standard keyboard does not support Swype input, but the device comes pre-installed with an alternative keyboard from a third-party developer, TouchPal, with a wider range of settings and capabilities. For the convenience of working with a large screen with one hand, the Smart Touch function is standard for Meizu smartphones. Enabling this mode displays a virtual round multi-function button, which, among other things, allows you to slide the entire home screen halfway down, exactly like the Apple iPhone 6.

The smartphone supports dual SIM cards. When making a call, you can select the desired card, but you cannot pre-designate one of the SIM cards as the main one for organizing voice calls or sending SMS messages. A SIM card in any slot can work with 3G/4G networks, but only one of the cards can function in this mode at a time. To change the assignment of slots, cards do not need to be swapped - this can be done directly from the phone menu. Work with two SIM cards is organized according to the usual Dual SIM Dual Standby standard, when both cards can be in active standby mode, but cannot work at the same time - there is only one radio module.

OS and software

The system uses the latest Google Android software platform version 5.0.1, but the proprietary features of the fifth version of the LolliPop OS with its Material Design, interactive tiles, its own notification shade, a promising menu of recently opened programs, etc. cannot be found here; the interface is completely modified on your own - the Flyme OS shell is used. The proprietary graphical user interface bears the latest serial number 4.5, but there are almost no innovations; the update of the Flyme shell serial number is mainly due to the fact that it works with the new version of the Android OS, but otherwise remains almost the same in appearance and capabilities as in previous models of the series.

Traditionally, much attention has been paid to gesture control. Using gestures, you need to open the menu of recently used applications, clear the smartbar and remove it from the screen. That is, there is no other way to enter the menu of recent open applications than by swiping upward from the bottom edge of the screen, which is inconvenient. But it’s even more inconvenient to close all programs in it at the same time: if your finger gets even slightly in the wrong place, nothing happens, so training is necessary. This whole idea with the lower smartbar is extremely inconvenient, and what’s most offensive is that users have to suffer with it only because Meizu once set a course for copying the iPhone, so that to this day they refuse hardware control buttons (except for one).

But the use of the central key here is not limited to a simple press: for example, returning to the previous menu can be done by briefly touching it - thus compensating for the lack of a separate hardware “Back” button. You can unlock the screen by swiping anywhere on the display or by double tapping. You can also immediately unlock the screen while simultaneously switching to a specific program (camera, for example), but again, you need to remember in which direction which shift works. The mentioned Smart Touch function with its virtual button, which can be placed anywhere on the screen and used as a starting point when using specific gestures, also adds variety to working with gestures.

Performance

The Meizu MX5 hardware platform is based on the latest and most powerful of the entire family of MediaTek single-chip systems, and it uses an overclocked modification - MT6795T, called Helio X10 Turbo. This 64-bit platform is made on a 28 nm process technology and includes eight 64-bit ARM Cortex-A53 cores with a frequency of up to 2.2 GHz.

The modern PowerVR G6200 video accelerator is responsible for processing graphics in the SoC. The smartphone's RAM capacity is a decent 3 GB. For the user's needs, the device has 16, 32 or 64 GB of built-in flash array available. The memory cannot be expanded by installing microSD cards, but the device supports connecting external flash drives to the Micro-USB port in OTG mode.

Meizu MX5 is not the first device to be released on the latest and most powerful modern SoC from MediaTek. The Chinese company LeTV has already released its own smartphone LeTV One on the Helio X10 platform, and it should be noted that in comparison with it, the results of the new Meizu product were surprising. Perhaps the developers slightly “stifled” the powerful processor so that the metal case did not heat up too much, or the firmware in the Meizu test samples is still damp, but the Meizu MX5 is on the same platform and with a higher core frequency (2.2 GHz versus 2.0 GHz for LeTV One) showed the same or even slightly worse results than LeTV One in all tests.

In comparison with the main opponent, the top Qualcomm Snapdragon 810 platform, the Helio X10 results were also not impressive. In the comprehensive AnTuTu test, both platforms demonstrate parity, and in graphics and browser tests, the Helio X10’s performance was noticeably lower than that of the Snapdragon 810. To sum up, we can say that while mid- and entry-level platforms, such as MT6752 and MT6732, literally “tear "in all tests the competing analogues of Qualcomm (Snapdragon 615 and 410), then at the top level for MediaTek everything is not so rosy - at least that’s what it looks like based on the results of the first signs on the new SoC Helio X10 (MT6795).

Be that as it may, the hardware of the Meizu MX5 smartphone is in any case powerful enough to cope with any tasks posed by demanding programs and heavy 3D games. In this regard, the smartphone will remain relevant for a long time.

Testing in the latest versions of comprehensive tests AnTuTu and GeekBench 3:

For convenience, we have compiled all the results we obtained when testing the smartphone in the latest versions of popular benchmarks into tables. The table usually adds several other devices from different segments, also tested on similar latest versions of benchmarks (this is done only for a visual assessment of the obtained dry figures). Unfortunately, within the framework of one comparison it is impossible to present the results from different versions of benchmarks, so many worthy and relevant models remain “behind the scenes” - due to the fact that they once passed the “obstacle course” on previous versions of test programs.

Testing the graphics subsystem in gaming tests 3DMark, GFXBenchmark, and Bonsai Benchmark:

When testing in 3DMark, the most powerful smartphones now have the ability to run the application in Unlimited mode, where the rendering resolution is fixed at 720p and VSync is disabled (which can cause the speed to rise above 60 fps).

	Meizu MX5 (Mediatek MT6795T)	LeTV One (Mediatek MT6795)	HTC One M9 (Qualcomm Snapdragon 810)	LG G Flex 2 (Qualcomm Snapdragon 810)	Nexus 6 (Qualcomm Snapdragon 805)
3DMark Ice Storm Extreme (more is better)	Maxed out!	Maxed out!	Maxed out!	Maxed out!	Maxed out!
3DMark Ice Storm Unlimited (more is better)	16390	16750	20538	24102	23234
GFXBenchmark T-Rex HD (C24Z16 Onscreen)	27 fps	26 fps	37 fps	46 fps	23 fps
GFXBenchmark T-Rex HD (C24Z16 Offscreen)	27 fps	27 fps	36 fps	46 fps	29 fps
Bonsai Benchmark	3966 (57 fps)	3874 (55 fps)	4092 (58 fps)	3613 (52 fps)	3633 (52 fps)

Browser cross-platform tests:

As for benchmarks for assessing the speed of the javascript engine, you should always make allowance for the fact that their results significantly depend on the browser in which they are launched, so the comparison can only be truly correct on the same OS and browsers, and this is possible during testing not always. For Android OS, we always try to use Google Chrome.

Thermal photographs

Below is a thermal image of the rear surface (the top of the image is on the right; the lighter the temperature, the higher the temperature), obtained after 10 minutes of running the battery test in the GFXBenchmark program:

It can be seen that the heating is higher at the top of the device, which apparently corresponds to the location of the SoC chip. However, localization is weak, as the metal back of the case distributes heat well. Also clearly visible in the picture are plastic inserts on top and bottom, which, due to low thermal conductivity, have a temperature significantly lower than the metal surface adjacent to them. According to the heat camera, the maximum heating was 41 degrees Celsius, which is the average heating for this test among modern smartphones.

Playing video

To test the omnivorous nature of video playback (including support for various codecs, containers and special features, such as subtitles), we used the most common formats, which make up the bulk of the content available on the Internet. Note that for mobile devices it is important to have support for hardware video decoding at the chip level, since it is most often impossible to process modern options using processor cores alone. Also, you shouldn’t expect a mobile device to decode everything, since the leadership in flexibility belongs to the PC, and no one is going to challenge it.

According to the testing results, just like the previous models in the series, the next Meizu flagship was pleasantly surprised by the presence of hardware support for the AC3 audio decoder, but it could not play videos in the XviD container without using a third-party player. But even in a third-party MX Player, to successfully play them, you will need to switch to the additional Hardware+ decoding mode.

Format	Container, video, sound	MX Video Player	Standard video player
DVDRip	AVI, XviD 720×400 2200 Kbps, MP3+AC3		not playable
Web-DL SD	AVI, XviD 720×400 1400 Kbps, MP3+AC3	plays normally with the Hardware+ decoder	not playable
Web-DL HD	MKV, H.264 1280×720 3000 Kbps, AC3	plays normally	plays normally
BDRip 720p	MKV, H.264 1280×720 4000 Kbps, AC3	plays normally	plays normally
BDRip 1080p	MKV, H.264 1920×1080 8000 Kbps, AC3	plays normally	plays normally

Tested video output features Alexey Kudryavtsev.

Playing video

We did not find the MHL interface, like Mobility DisplayPort, in this smartphone, so we had to limit ourselves to testing the output of video files on the screen of the device itself. To do this, we used a set of test files with an arrow and a rectangle moving one division per frame (see “Method for testing video playback and display devices. Version 1 (for mobile devices)”). Screenshots with a shutter speed of 1 s helped determine the nature of the output of frames of video files with various parameters: the resolution varied (1280 by 720 (720p) and 1920 by 1080 (1080p) and 3840 by 2160 (4K) pixels) and frame rate (24, 25, 30, 50 and 60 fps). In the tests we used the MX Player video player in the “Hardware” mode. The test results are summarized in the table:

Red marks indicate possible problems with playback of the corresponding files.

According to the criterion of frame output, the quality of playback of video files on the screen of the smartphone itself is good, since frames (or groups of frames) can (but are not required) be output with more or less uniform alternation of intervals and without skipping frames. With the exception of 60 fps files, in which one frame is skipped about once a second due to the non-standard screen refresh rate (approximately 59 Hz). When playing video files with a resolution of 1920 by 1080 pixels (1080p) on a smartphone screen, the image of the video file itself is displayed exactly along the border of the screen, one to one in pixels, that is, in the original resolution. On the test worlds, the features of PenTile appear - the vertical world through the pixel looks like a grid, while the horizontal world with stripes through the pixel has a typical greenish tint. The brightness range displayed on the screen corresponds to the standard range of 16-235 - in the shadows, only a couple of shades closest to black do not differ from it in brightness, in the highlights all gradations of shades are displayed.

Battery life

Meizu MX5 has a non-removable battery with a capacity of 3150 mAh worthy of any modern flagship, and it should be noted that in terms of autonomy, the Meizu smartphone has significantly outperformed its rival LeTV One on the same platform. And in general, for a smartphone with a huge Full HD screen and top-end hardware, the Meizu MX5 unexpectedly demonstrated very good battery life results - significantly better than the previous model in the line (MX4). In principle, this once again confirms the suspicion that either we are dealing with crude firmware (in terms of achieving maximum performance), or the Meizu developers somehow deliberately “strangled” the productive platform, but in any case, this level of autonomy is not may not make you happy. Naturally, it is possible, if necessary, to use the energy saving mode provided in the smartphone.

	Battery capacity	Reading mode	Video mode	3D Game Mode
Meizu MX5	3150 mAh	15:00	11:00 am	4 hours 10 minutes
LeTV One	3000 mAh	10:30 a.m.	8 a.m. 20 p.m.	3 hours 50 minutes
HTC One M9	2840 mAh	11:00 am	8 a.m. 20 p.m.	3 hours 50 minutes
Samsung Galaxy S6	2550 mAh	20:00	12:00 pm	4:00 am
Samsung Galaxy A7	2600 mAh	22:10	12:00 pm	3 hours 20 minutes
Samsung Note 4	3220 mAh	10:30 a.m.	8:30 a.m.	3 hours 50 minutes
Google Nexus 6	3220 mAh	18:00	10:30 a.m.	3 hours 40 minutes
Lenovo Vibe X2	2300 mAh	13:00	6:00 am	3 hours 15 minutes
Meizu MX4	3100 mAh	12:00 pm	8 hours 40 minutes	3 hours 45 minutes
Meizu MX4 Pro	3350 mAh	16:00	8 hours 40 minutes	3 hours 30 minutes
Sony Xperia Z3	3100 mAh	20:00	10:00 am	4 hours 50 minutes

Our own tests in the most common modes of use showed that continuous reading in the FBReader program (with a standard, light theme) at a minimum comfortable brightness level (brightness was set to 100 cd/m²) lasted 15 hours until the battery was completely discharged, and with continuous viewing high quality video (720p) with the same brightness level via a home Wi-Fi network, the device lasted at least 11 hours. In 3D gaming mode, the smartphone worked reliably for more than 4 hours.

The smartphone supports proprietary mCharge fast charging technology, in which the device can charge the battery up to 25% in the first 10 minutes, and up to 60% in 40 minutes. Full charging time is less than 1.5 hours.

Bottom line

As for the cost of the new flagship, it has not yet been finalized for our market, but for the Chinese market it is 1,799 yuan for the junior model, which in rubles is approximately 16.5 thousand. This is a very attractive figure, but at this price an ordinary retail buyer is unlikely to receive this device, especially a Russian one. According to rumors, the device will be officially presented on the Russian market at a price of 26 thousand rubles.

Meizu's latest flagship is not just solid: the main thing is that the new model can rightfully be called a successful work on bugs. Almost everything that was unsuccessfully implemented in previous models of the series has been corrected, refined and improved here. The smartphone has a practical and at the same time attractive stylish metal case, the quality of materials and assembly are excellent. A good large screen, an improved camera, excellent sound and battery life, and the presence of truly flagship features such as a fingerprint scanner and laser rangefinder complete the rosy picture. The only noticeable disadvantage for the domestic user can be considered the absence of the most common frequency in Russia, LTE 2600 MHz, but at such a stated price this is unlikely to stop the majority of thoughtful buyers looking for the optimal price-quality ratio - after all, in this regard, the Meizu MX5 satisfies most of the requirements like no other .