Meizu might be a new entrant in the Indian smartphone market, but it is taking all the right steps to climb up the popularity charts. Why do we say that? Because of Meizu M2.
What’s Good?
Meizu M2 has a lot going in its favour for an affordable Android smartphone. Priced at Rs 6,999, M2 forms part of Meizu’s entry-level smartphone portfolio. In terms of design, the smartphone looks like a condensed version of Meizu’s M2 Note.
The phone is really thin and light, weighing just 131 grams. The polycarbonate back is smooth and has curved edges, which makes it easy to hold and adds to the good looks. The bottom of the phone, with its speaker grille, charging port with two pins on the sides and a mic instantly reminds us of Apple’s iPhone. The side profile is no different.
The smartphone has a 5-inch 720p display with Dragontrail glass protection. The screen looks bright and sharp, and outdoor readability is decent. The smartphone runs on Android 5.1 with Meizu’s customised UI Flyme 4.5 overlaid. Under the hood, it’s powered by 1.3 GHz Quad-core MediaTek 6735 processor paired with 2GB RAM.
On the front, Meizu has eliminated ‘active task’ and ‘back’ buttons. A central home key is placed instead. The key has a touch sensor, which takes you back on a gentle touch, or takes you to the home screen when pushed. Press it for three seconds and the screen goes off. The active windows can be brought up with a flick of a finger from the lower edge of the screen. This may not be very intuitive, but it is a really cool feature.
The 2,500 mAh battery lasted for 8-9 hours with moderate usage with 3G switched on regularly, Wi-Fi connectivity, WhatsApp messaging, YouTube videos and web surfing. The gameplay on the M2 is smooth and you won’t be bothered by heating problems with the phone.
Meizu M2 has a 13 megapixel camera on the back and a 5 megapixel snapper at the front. The rear camera captures photographs with a lot of detail and natural colours, while the front camera is slightly disappointing with grainy images.
Key Specifications: Meizu M2
- Display: 5-inch HD Display with DragonTrail protection
- Processor: 1.3 GHz Quad-core MediaTek 6735 processor.
- RAM: 2GB
- Rear Camera: 13MP Camera
- Front Camera: 5MP Camera
- Operating System: Android 5.1 (Lollipop)
Storage: 16GB, expandable to 128GB via microSD card - Battery: 2,500 mAh
- Price: Rs 6,999
What’s Bad?
Meizu M2 has dual 4G SIM slots. And comes with 16GB memory on-board, which is expandable to 128GB via a microSD card. So what’s wrong?
The construction of the SIM-SD card tray! The extra storage card and the secondary SIM slot are the same, so you would not be able to use two SIM cards if you want extra storage. And likewise if you want two SIMs, you’ll have to settle for the existing storage.
Another issue that we faced with our review device was a peculiar touch interface. While typing, it would not allow us to come back to a word by directly tapping on it. We had to find our way back to the word in order to correct it.
Why Buy It?
The Meizu M2 punches above its weight when it comes to performance and design, with quality battery life that has been made to last. Get your hands on the Meizu M2 for its sheer value-for-money.
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