[Meizu MX] mdabar:
Meizu has recently presented their new version of their “Note” device and the truth is that after view other releases and announcements like MX4 Pro and MX5, the first impression about the M2 Note is we are facing a mid-range devices.

By the other hand, the M2 Note is presented as the evolution of the M1 Note, however we find some less power inside, although compensated with a lower price, and making of it a very interesting device for many buyers.

[IMG="Meizu M2 Note -- [MENTION=601771]dabar[/MENTION]sm"]http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-RCoLkpeDmFk/VcBxm2jaPqI/AAAAAAAAB8g/tTbLjaQfgK4/s400/2015-08-04%2B09.33.55.jpg[/IMG]

Packaging and Design

It comes on a flat box, reminding us a book (not the iPhone type box) completely white, in the top side we find some Chinese characters (I guess they mean Meizu) and then “note2 FHD”.

[IMG="Meizu M2 Note box - [MENTION=601771]dabar[/MENTION]sm"]http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-NceSyckmF0M/VcBxZUATV7I/AAAAAAAAB8E/5INvzkfEycA/s400/2015-08-03%2B13.42.59.jpg[/IMG]

In the rear part, just a sticker with a lot of Chinese words and some numbers referred to the specifications.

Once opened, we find the M2 Note, a really tiny charger (although with a 2A output!), the USB cable, a cloud-shapped clip to open the cards slot (SIM/microSD) and a fully Chinese quick guide.

[IMG="Meizu M2 Note box 2 - [MENTION=601771]dabar[/MENTION]sm"]http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-5kg_ElWX4Cc/VcBxeOKuq0I/AAAAAAAAB8U/acSWMe1uGO8/s400/2015-08-03%2B13.43.12.jpg[/IMG]

First impressions, it's a quality finish and materials. However, if this brand is highlighting among others and going to global markets, I cannot understand why they have put everything on Chinese.

By the other hand, as we see each time more, no earphones included :-/

When I hold the device on my hand, we feel the same lines we've seen on other models of this brand. Rounded corners and a unique piece made on polycarbonate (which means a non-removable battery, and very pleasant touch.

Going deeper into the details, we'll see on the front (going top-bottom) the secondary camera, the big 5,5” FullHD screen and only one physical button. No other physical or haptic buttons. This button is one of innovations in this device, since when we touch it (without pressing it) once, it works as “back” button, when we press it once it brings us to the Home screen and if we press and hold it, it will show the voice assistant (SmartVoice). It's something strange on the first days (missing the other buttons) but after some time using it, it's very comfortable.

The lock and volume keys are on the left side, so on the right side we just have the slot for the SIM cards (nano or micro) and for the microSD card. Again an interesting concept since there are two places on that tray, the first one will be for a nano SIM and the second can be used either for a micro SIM or a microSD card. Most of Chinese manufacturers go for the dual SIM, even when most of users just put one SIM inside. So with this system we have to choose between more storage or use two SIM cards.

[IMG="Meizu M2 Note on my hand - [MENTION=601771]dabar[/MENTION]sm"]http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-xvQRCHmkWNk/VcBxblzbZ0I/AAAAAAAAB8M/8MdCsgWGInc/s400/2015-08-03%2B13.44.19.jpg[/IMG]

On the bottom part, we have the microphone, the micro USB slot and the speaker. On the top side, we will see the second micro (for noise cancellation) and the jack 3.5 for the (again non included) earphones.

Flipping it, we have the main camera (made by Samsung) with 13Mpx, a dual-tone flash LED and the MEIZU logo on the bottom.

[IMG="Meizu M2 Note back - [MENTION=601771]dabar[/MENTION]sm"]http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-gf4QjvFJVT4/VcBxlfPXwPI/AAAAAAAAB8c/dnMYBfJPF7E/s400/2015-08-03%2B13.44.29.jpg[/IMG]

Hardware

As mentioned on my intro, the specifications of this device are not “outstanding”, but mostly mid-range average. It's equipped with a 64 bits octa core MT6753 chip from Mediatek going at 1,3GHz (while other competitors are delivering 1,7Ghz or 2,0Ghz speeds.

On the RAM side, 2GB what are more than enough for an average use of a smartphone, although many other models come already with 3GB as the standard for this season.

To finish the heart of the M2 Note we have a Mali T20 GPU (also well known) which will be the responsible for doing a good work with FullHD videos and games.

Model	M2 Note

SO	Android 5.1

Processor	MT6753 64bits, octa core at 1,3Ghz

RAM	2GB

Screen	IPS LCD 5,5” FullHD 1920x1080, with 403ppi with 16M colors

Storage	16GB + microSD

Cameras	Main 13Mpx by Samsung with flash dual LED; front 5Mpx; video 1080p @ 30 fps

Connectivity	Wi-Fi 2.4GHz b/g/n with Wi-Fi Direct support // BT 4.0 // MicroUSB (Hi-Speed USB)

Dual SIM	GSM: 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900 Mhz ; 3G WCDMA: 850 / 900 / 1900 / 2100 Mhz; 4G FDD-LTE: B1(2100MHz) / B3(1800MHz) / B7(2600MHz)

Other	G-sensor, P-Sensor, L-Sensor, Wifi, GPS, OTG< Multi-touch, Dual SIM, Schedule Power on/off, E-compass, Hall IC, Gravity Sensor, Proximity Sensor, Light Sensor, Magnetic Sensor, Gyroscope Sensor

Battery	3100mAh by Sony

Dimensions	150.9 x 75.2 x 8.7 mm

Weight	149gr

Price	From $139 with Flash sales

Where we can find more effort is on the screen, Meizu has equipped this model with a 5,5” FullHD (1920x1080) panel which uses the new IZGO technology to reach a very high density of 403ppi with a high contrast 1000:1 and it worth it!

Software and multimedia

It runs the latest version of Android 5.1, nonetheless the user experience is different from standard Android, thanks to Meizu's FlymeOS 4.5 (which in 7 days of use has updated to 4.5.1 and 4.5.2A respectively).

A lot can be said about this customization of Android that in my opinion works smoothly and very well. I'm not really a fan of personalization layers, but this one offers a very nice experience and I'm enjoying (and discovering many interesting things) it.

I don't want to spend more time speaking about Flyme since it's not exclusive of this model and there are already a lot of articles and reviews about it.

Some of the main characteristics are the already mentioned way of working in the “Home” button with its 3 different functions (back/home/voice assistant) and some screen gestures, like showing the notification bar when sliding from the top with the shortcuts (Wifi, Bluetooth, Flight Mode, GPS, flashlight,...).

When we slide from the bottom, we will have a new bar with the open apps (quite similar to iOS 6). We can close any app just moving it out of that bar. Simple and fast.

Finally if we slide our finger bottom-up in the middle of the screen, a search screen is open (similar to the iPhone one, again).

[IMG="Flyme Chinese menus - [MENTION=601771]dabar[/MENTION]sm"]http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-bpzOFJh5B-4/VcB1qcvAtGI/AAAAAAAAB8s/J9hIv5u3-9w/s400/Meizu_noteM2_7.jpg[/IMG]

Flyme comes with a lot of apps pre-installed. My impression is that they work very well... and at the same time they are useless out of China. Even if the full mobile is in English (there are a few other languages available) since I receive it, those applications are only in Chinese and with Chinese content.

It's not a real problem since you can install other applications to perform those tasks, but why not translated them?

I'm thinking specially on the voice assistant app (called SmartVoice and very similar to Siri), a lot of potential, but no use for the moment.

Another of the applications that has greatly surprised me is the Music one. When I received this mobile, I copied some music to test it, and when I opened the app, it always showed me “Music on the device” and “Online Music”.

So I tried it, and everything seemed to be in Chinese with Chinese artists... but when explored a little bit more, I found international groups and artists. So I browsed it and, you can listen AND DOWNLOAD any song without any copyright issue :-O

The catalog is huge, so if you like music, this is another valuable point, you can stream or download the music without having to pay monthly fees.

[IMG="FlymeOS Music app - [MENTION=601771]dabar[/MENTION]sm"]http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-44D7HVLmD00/VcB13GdIoRI/AAAAAAAAB80/DeoGcFktiZk/s400/Meizu_noteM2_1.jpg[/IMG]

Camera

I was not expecting so much from this smartphone camera, because when I saw “13Mpx camera by Samsung” I automatically though in “IMX214 camera manufactured by Sony” that we can see in almost every smartphone nowadays, and which normally means good pictures with good light conditions but very poor results with low light or night pictures (even using flash), and also a slow focus.

Taking great pictures of landscapes during the day, but awful pictures when there is movement (kids, dog,...) or the night is coming.

In the present case, I must say that in addition to Flyme, and the Music app, the camera has been the greatest surprise. It focus and shoots quite fast and if you hold the button, it will shoot a burst of photos. In addition between the photo modes we can find slow-motion and a quite complete manual mode.

Here you have some of the pictures I've taken during a recent trip to Morocco (for full sizes visit the M2 Note entry on my blog).

[IMG="Meizu M2 Note nigth picture 1 - [MENTION=601771]dabar[/MENTION]sm"]http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-9Wt6BKDXpRc/VcB2k9x40WI/AAAAAAAAB9E/RsZYir_Huv0/s320/Meizu_noteM2_2.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG="Meizu M2 Note night picture 2 - [MENTION=601771]dabar[/MENTION]sm"]http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-oKXDvR0sXks/VcB2wdFr4pI/AAAAAAAAB9M/uJN2Kqnmjs4/s320/Meizu_noteM2_3.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG="Meizu M2 Note picture macro - [MENTION=601771]dabar[/MENTION]sm"]http://4.bp.blogspot.com/--QaiD_uvc_o/VcB2iaMKIEI/AAAAAAAAB88/BQaSigfYwCU/s320/Meizu_noteM2_4.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG="Meizu M2 Note picture - [MENTION=601771]dabar[/MENTION]sm"]http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Nf2ptTTxgBk/VcB3LO_gKqI/AAAAAAAAB9U/xTP2i7reUxM/s320/Meizu_noteM2_5.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG="Meizu M2 Note picture Jardin Majorelle YSL - [MENTION=601771]dabar[/MENTION]sm"]http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-yvTLEo2YbkM/VcB3UlpJ6hI/AAAAAAAAB9c/HGkLh8hxiGA/s320/Meizu_noteM2_6.jpg[/IMG]

The front camera, with its 5Mpx also offers quite good results, they could maybe include a flash... but it would increase the costs and anyway the present results are quite good.

Recording video at 1080p shows very good quality and with the option of taking pictures meanwhile.

Last, in the gallery, we have a tab called “Cloud album”, which seemed very interesting. To use it, you have to create a Flyme account (very easy and fast) and link it to “your TaoBao account” which I couldn't create for the moment, mainly because everything is on Chinese and I prefer to know what I'm signing...

Deceiving to see so many features blocked by the language.

[IMG="Meizu M2 Note Flyme Cloud Album - [MENTION=601771]dabar[/MENTION]sm"]http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-F_Mfsxe7gRk/VcCKHcAXwmI/AAAAAAAAB9s/a6UOCACCHPI/s400/Meizu_noteM2_9.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG="Meizu M2 Note FlymeOS TaoBao account - [MENTION=601771]dabar[/MENTION]sm"]http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-2Cw6dalOZqE/VcCKH-mFfVI/AAAAAAAAB9w/7XKKEzZle7M/s400/Meizu_noteM2_8.jpg[/IMG]

Battery

It's a non-removable 3100mAh battery manufactured by Sony, and after a few days of usage I can say much more duration than for example the uleFone Be Touch, even with a heavier use (mainly taking and viewing pictures, WiFi and GPS). Up to now, I never had to charge it before the end of the day.

Conclusions

I've shared good things as well as bad ones (or need to improve) about this model.

In a very first moment, I was sure it's a mid-range device, but after a few days using it, it has make me think if a mid-range from a good brand (even a Chinese one) can be better than a flagship from a new brand... and even now I'm not clear about it, since the user experience has been very good, and I don't know yet if I will start using it more than my uleFone Be Touch.

The pros are very clear, works fast, quality in the materials, light in the hand, an outstanding FullHD screen and very good pictures (even nightly). And with a price under $140 (with current promotions)!

About the things that need an improvement, I'm missing enormously the radio (please why not I use it every day!!) and the bunch of good Chinese applications that make me think continuously “it could be even better, I'm missing some important features of this smartphone”.

We always have to bear in mind the quality-price ratio and keeping to that it's a very good purchase even if it's not the most powerful device.

PS: If you find this info useful, I would appreciate a "Thanks" ;)