Review Meizu M1 Note: The first budget smartphone of Chinese company

Chinese smartphone maker Meizu significantly gaining momentum. Previously, the company produced just one model year, but in recent years the range of products began to significantly expand. And it is obvious that such an extension went Meizu only benefit. According to available information , only the first month of this year, Meizu has sold 1.5 million smartphones, and a not insignificant role in this was the fact that just a few months manufacturer has released four new machine. Among them, after released “on schedule” flagship MX4 , immediately there was a modified version of this model called the Meizu MX4 Pro. But more interestingly, Meizu still decided to release and budget smartphone. Despite statements by the company’s failure to provide the proper level of quality at a low cost, a new device named M1 Note finally saw the light.Moreover, it was later presented another, even cheaper its modification, called M1 Mini Note .

Unfortunately, the cheapest of products Meizu will not be represented in the European market – it is designed only for the regions of Asia. However, the M1 Note we have already sold, and he stands by today’s standards is really inexpensive. At a price of just 16 thousand rubles smartphone demonstrates advanced features so that judicious buyer do now opt for this model, we can only envy. The device is in no way give way and considerably more expensive competitors, such as addition, Samsung Galaxy A7, the price is now up to 25 thousand rubles, and in terms of performance on the results of all tests, the product is well ahead of its Meizu. Budget firstborn from Meizu really was more than interesting, and offer to begin to look at the list of features of the smartphone.

Main characteristics Meizu M1 Note

• SoC MediaTek MT6752, 1,7 GHz, 8 core, ARM Cortex-A53


• GPU Mali-T760 @ 700 MHz


• The operating system Android 4.4.4, Flyme OS 4.2


• Touchscreen IPS IGZO (Sharp) 5,5 “, 1920 × 1080 resolution, 401 ppi


• Memory (RAM) 2GB internal memory of 16/32 GB


• Communication GSM 900/1800 MHz


• Communication 3G HSDPA 900/2100 MHz


• Data transfer LTE Cat.4 (150/50 Mbit / c) 1800/2100 MHz


• Wi-Fi 802.11a / b / g / n (2,4 / 5 GHz), the access point Wi-Fi, Wi-Fi Direct


• Bluetooth 4.0 BLE


• GPS, A-GPS, Glonass


• USB 2.0, OTG


• 13 megapixel camera, f / 2,2, autofocus, 1080p video


• 5 megapixel camera front, OmniVision OV5670, f / 2,0, fix. focus


• A gyroscope proximity sensor illumination gravity electronic compass


• Battery 3140 mAh removable


• Dimensions 151 × 75 × 8,9 mm


• Weight 147 g

Meizu M1 Note: Scope of delivery

Meizu M1 Note goes on sale in the flat and square box of the white solid cardboard. Traditional mobile products from this manufacturer inner caskets made in the form of books, the youngest model has not received. The box itself is sustained in a typical producer minimalist style: outside on a snowy background applied to only a couple of logos and nothing more. Even budget Meizu product supplied to the buyer in a stylish and decent container formed company with the inherent attention to detail.

Accessory Kit is not rich: in a box are only miniature battery charger with an output current of 2 A and the connecting cable Micro-USB, nothing more. Just as is the case with the older models of the series, the headphone was not complete.

Meizu M1 Note: Appearance and ease of use

In appearance Meizu M1 Note is not much different from their older counterparts. It’s all the same recognizable corporate design with rounded on all sides streamlined plastic back cover, make up a large part of the housing unit. Only here a little easier, and the metal frame is usually the side faces of the smartphone Meizu, this time missing.

The entire body, except the screen is made entirely of polycarbonate, without any detachable parts or components. However, this did not prevent developers to equip its budget unit, as well as older models, internal magnesium alloy frame. In appearance plastic housing with sloping sides and rounded corners strongly resembles the design of Apple iPhone 5c.

In size M1 Note turned out quite cumbersome, its size is larger than the flagship MX4, but the screen size in M1 Note also a little more. Despite the apparent gloss shiny surface of the polycarbonate used, in fact, this turned out to be plastic to the touch did not slippery and totally brand. It is reported that after all procedures is exposed to the device body and further applying a special UV coating, adding a glossy surface hardness, water resistance and durability. The result is that the shiny and sleek body M1 Note budget actually turns out to be more practical and ergonomic than the rough and dull, but in reality more slippery flagship MX4. Fingers as if to stick to the surface, M1 Note does not slip out of your hands.

Because removable cover for M1 Note not provided, monolithic device has received the appropriate option card mounting: metal tray is inserted into the side slot and can be removed by using the complete key, having an intricate shape.

There is only one tray, and it can be stacked two cards at a time format Micro-SIM. The device supports two SIM-cards, but the memory card, as before, the smartphone Meizu install nowhere.

Bit position fixes can connect external flash drives using the OTG-Adapter – Micro-USB connector supports this mode. It is also convenient that the acoustic grating correctly deduced here, in the lower end rather than the back surface, it prevents the overlap of the speaker when the device lies on the table.

The front panel is covered with a protective entirety flat glass Gorilla Glass 3. Top in glass cut through a small gap for the sound output from the speaker, are seen near eyes sensors and front camera.

Like other smartphone Meizu, here under the screen installed just one touch button, the other two do not, and it is inconvenient. Buttons should be either hardware or virtual, and here a sort of symbiosis – one hardware, the remaining onscreen – very similar to the control in the Apple iOS.Glowing circle bottom button plays the role of LED events.

At the top end, and the left side edge of the device are still 2 control keys. Until the power button on the top does not necessarily reach – and to lock the screen, and there are alternative ways to unlock. The keys are large enough to have a springy and distinct move easily are blind.

Audio jack under the mini-jack 3.5 mm headphone jack passed here, on the top end. Plugs plugs the device is not covered, not found on the housing and mounting strap. Protection against water and dust the machine did not get support wireless charging – too.

Meizu M1 Note: Screen

Meizu M1 Note has touch IPS panel production Sharp / AUO, made by technology IGZO. Also, in the description of this display technology mentioned Panel Self Refresh (PSR), which should allow to expend less energy when displaying information on the display. The screen is protected by glass Corning Gorilla Glass 3 with full lamination technology GFF, whereby, the assurances of developers, the reflection effect is reduced by 75%.

First smartphone Meizu was familiar to Android-making aspect ratio of standard definition FHD 1920 × 1080 pixels. Physical screen size is 68 × 121 mm, the diagonal – 5.5 inches. Accordingly, the density of dots is equal to 401 ppi.

The thickness of the framework from the edge of the screen to the edges on the sides of the housing is approximately 3 mm and the top and bottom – 15 mm, are quite narrow frame. The display brightness can be adjusted manually, or you can use the automatic adjustment. Multitouch technology here can handle 10 simultaneous touches. Just present your smartphone to your ear the screen is locked by a proximity sensor. At this place is once again reminded that despite the uncomfortable location of the power button on the top screen, and without it, you can unlock several different ways – from the usual double-tapping on the glass to a simple swipe gesture anywhere on the screen, which is very convenient

The front surface of the screen is made in the form of a glass plate with a mirror-smooth surface which is resistant to scratches. Judging by the reflection of objects anti-glare display properties not worse than the screen Google Nexus 7 (2013) (hereinafter referred to simply Nexus 7). For clarity, we present an image which is reflected in the screen off a white surface (left – Nexus 7, right – Meizu M1 Note, further they can vary in size):

The screen Meizu M1 Note even slightly darker (the brightness of the photos 105 against 107 in the Nexus 7). Ghosting objects reflected in the screen Meizu M1 Note very weak, it indicates that between the layers of the screen (specifically between the outer surface of the glass and the LCD matrix) there is no air gap (screen type OGS – One Glass Solution). Due to the smaller number of boundaries (such as glass / air) with very different refractive indices such screens look better in high ambient light, but their repair in case cracked outer glass is much more expensive, as is necessary to change the entire screen. On the outer surface of the screen has a special oleophobic (grease repellent) coating (effective bit better than Nexus 7) so that fingerprints are removed considerably easier, and appear at a slower rate than in the case of conventional glass.

In the manual brightness control in the derivation of the white box at the top of the screen maximum brightness was about 550 cd / m² minimum – 1.7 cd / m². Note that the scale is very nonlinear, since the position of the slider about halfway scale brightness is reduced immediately to 28 cd / m². Not that it was convenient. The maximum brightness is very high, and, given the excellent anti-glare properties, readability, even on a sunny day outdoors will be at a high level. In complete darkness, the brightness can be reduced to a comfortable value. In the presence of automatic brightness control for a light sensor. In automatic mode, when the external lighting conditions as screen brightness increases and decreases. This function depends on the position of brightness adjustment – it exposes the user desired brightness level in the current environment, then the device itself changes its brightness.For lighting conditions artificial light office (approximately 400 lux), we set a comfortable level, it turned out to 170 cd / m² in total darkness Next Auto Brightness function to reduce the brightness of 17 cd / m² (normal), and in a very bright environment (appropriate lighting clear day is premises, but without direct sunlight – 20,000 lux, or a little more) increased to 490 cd / m² (this is enough). That is, the brightness auto adjustment works absolutely adequate. At any level of brightness of the backlight modulation is virtually absent, so there is no and no screen flicker.

As a result, visually colors have a natural saturation. Balance shades on gray scale is good, because the color temperature is not much higher than the standard 6500 K, and the deviation from the blackbody spectrum (ΔE) is less than 10, that the consumer device is considered an acceptable figure. In this case, the color temperature and ΔE little change from shade to shade – it has a positive effect on the visual assessment of color balance. (The darkest areas of the gray scale can not be ignored, since there balance of colors does not matter much, and the measurement error of the color characteristics at low brightness is large.)

To summarize.The screen has a very high maximum brightness and has excellent anti-glare properties, so the device without any problems, it will last outdoors even sunny summer day. In complete darkness, the brightness can be reduced to a comfortable level. Permissible to use and mode with automatic adjustment of brightness, working adequately. The advantages of the screen must be attributed effective oleophobic coating, no flicker and the air gap in the layers of the screen, high contrast, and color gamut sRGB and good color balance. Disadvantages – low stability of black to the rejection of sight from the perpendicular to the plane of the screen. Nevertheless, given the importance of the characteristics specifically for this class of devices, screen quality can be considered high or even very high.

Meizu M1 Note: Sound

In the official specifications Meizu M1 Note undisclosed presence of a dedicated audio chip separately, but in any case, the sound from the device is very decent. The main speaker emits a loud, clear at maximum volume, moderately rich bass sound. The earpiece clearly conveys all the intonation and tone of voice, voice of the caller is recognized confident. In headphones sound too loud and clear, dense, bright and saturated, listen to songs is a pleasure, though branded headphones in regular kit invest greedy. If the sound in your headphones seem not loud enough, you can hold a simple procedure to increase the volume. Do you need the following:

To play music uses a proprietary player. In his settings, it is possible to use an equalizer with preset values. To improve the sound quality of the headphones there is a choice of several different profiles of Dirac HD Sound for the most popular models of headphones.

The device can record telephone conversations with the line, you can just press the corresponding button in the interface of the phone application directly during a call. FM-radio in the smartphone is not provided.

Meizu M1 Note: Camera

Meizu M1 Note has two quite worthy modules of digital cameras with a resolution of 13 megapixel and 5. The front camera is equipped with a 5 megapixel sensor OmniVision OV5670 diaphragm f / 2,0 and has autofocus and flash. The camera takes photos with a resolution of 2576 × 1936, and video shoots 1080p. For shooting in low light conditions you can use mode HDR. To carry out shooting on the front camera can and with hardware volume keys, which is useful when creating self-portraits. The quality of images for the level of self comes out quite decent.

Menu control shooting is the same as in the older models. There are several modes: automatic and manual in addition to the user is given the opportunity to further engage panoramic, portrait, night mode, as well as more specific, such as a change of manual focus, macro, and even built a special mode barcode recognition. For video mode is provided lapse. Curious mode “Focus”, after shooting in which, already in the final photograph, you can touch to the different parts to change focus, alternately focusing on objects that were at the time of shooting at different distances from the camera.Main, rear camera got a 13-megapixel sensor Samsung format 1 / 3.06 inch aperture f / 2,2, fast autofocus and dual LED flash colorful. The lens is covered with glass Gorilla Glass 3.

Shooting modes are scrolled horizontally gesture, and depending on the mode selected in the bottom of the float additional settings specific to each particular mode selected.

The rest of the networking capabilities of the smartphone is also quite worthy: NFC is not supported, but there is Bluetooth 4.0, supports work with wearable gadgets such as smart bracelets; supported by two ranges of Wi-Fi (2,4 and 5 GHz), Wi-Fi Direct, Wi-Fi Display, you can create a wireless access point through the channels Wi-Fi or Bluetooth. Connector Micro-USB 2.0 supports connecting external devices (USB Host, USB OTG), so that you can connect to the port Micro-USB flash drive and mouse with the keyboard. Navigation module works not only with GPS (with A-GPS), also has the support of the national GLONASS. By the module navigation no complaints, the first GPS and GLONASS satellites are found within the first minute. Among the sensors smartphone has a magnetic field sensor, which works on the basis of a digital compass for navigation programs.

Phone application supports Smart Dial, ie during dialing a phone number immediately implemented and search by first letters in contacts. Support Swype not. Standard in the official firmware is available as a pre-installed two alternative keyboard – TouchPal X and Fleksy with a wider set of options.

As the system is used in the device software platform Google Android version 4.4.4 installed on top of it with a proprietary graphical user interface Flyme OS the latest version 4.2 with the ability to further update “on air”. The shell is exactly the same as the older models, both in appearance and capabilities for up to support operation gestures. Gestures necessary to open the menu of recently used applications, gestures smartbar cleaned and removed from the screen. In the settings in the special features section, you can configure smartbara hiding in applications where it is not supported. Work center key under the screen and the whole is based on gestures: Returns to the previous menu – swipe up, lock screen – a long press. Unlock the screen can be moved anywhere in the gesture of the display, or double-tap. Established utilities allow you to scan attachments for viruses, install the guest password, clear the memory, self-check for updates of installed programs, even if this feature is turned off in the Google Play Store.

Meizu M1 Note : OS and Software

The smartphone supports two SIM-cards. When you make a call, you can select the desired card, but can not advance some of the SIM-cards to assign the main organization for voice calls or sending SMS-messages. With 3G / 4G networks can operate SIM-card in any slot, but at the same time in this mode may operate only one of the cards. To change the slot assignments card swap is not required – you can do it directly from the phone menu. Work with two SIM-cards arranged in the standard manner Dual SIM Dual Standby, when both cards may be in the active standby mode, but at the same time can not work – there is only one radio.

Meizu M1 Note : Battery life

As well as the older model with a larger screen, Meizu MX4 Pro, there is provided a specific mode shift of the screen down for comfort and control with your fingers of one hand. To do this, you must use the notification curtain virtual button SmartTouch. After that, the screen displays a translucent circle, clicking on which you can slide halfway down the screen, and use it to switch between screens, returns to the previous screen, or open the Quick Access Toolbar. When you first activate the user manual is demonstrated.In the screenshots, this button does not appear, but in reality it is there.

Meizu M1 Note received less capacious battery (3140 mAh) than the flagship version MX4 Pro, however, the duration of battery life the device ahead of both the older models, including normal MX4. On the one hand, the hero of the review more demanding to energy very large high-resolution screen, but on the other hand, are quite new and not yet very well researched platform. In some ways, of course, it is more economical, better optimized: for example, it is reported that the machine has a special processor power management that optimizes power consumption and system controlled Flyme 4. In any case, the results of testing autonomy Meizu M1 Note very pleased: the apparatus demonstrated superb, nearly a record for its class level of autonomy.

Uninterrupted reading program FBReader (standard, bright theme) at the lowest comfortable level of brightness (brightness was set to 100 cd / m²) lasted until discharged more than 16.5 hours, while for continuous viewing video in high quality (720p) with the same level of brightness through your home Wi-Fi network device lasted nearly 13.5 hours. In the 3D-gaming smartphone worked for more than 4.5 hours, which is very good for such a screen. The developers promise up to 40 hours of talk time and up to 60 hours of music playback. Charging the battery of the smartphone more than three hours.

Meizu M1 Note: Result

As for the cost Meizu M1 Note, it is, of course, much lower than the flagship model MX4. On the one hand, it is quite logical, but on the other – not so far removed from the flagship of its budget counterpart in terms of technical equipment. In Meizu M1 Note excellence bright and large screen with high resolution, high-quality assembly and manufacturing materials, good camera, more than decent sound and performance that would be the envy and other flagships. Networking opportunities at the height of the apparatus, the level of autonomy, too – carp almost to nothing. It is a pity that there are still no full support LTE for all Russian operators and no memory card slot, but at least the manufacturer of any of this and did not promise. For the price of less than 16 thousand rubles for a younger model, this smartphone – just a gift from users Meizu. Another equally powerful and high-quality smartphone among the officially certified for our market units at this price will be difficult to find. It is encouraging that despite the crisis, there are still manufacturers that can offer the market a high-quality and inexpensive product, while many manufacturers from this path have already come down.

Review Meizu M1 Note: The first budget smartphone of Chinese company