Review of the Meizu MX4 smartphone: a humane flagship. Meizu MX4 smartphone review: human flagship Meizu MX4 smartphone - performance and efficiency

Slim eight-core model on the latest Mediatek MTK6595 platform with LTE support

The Chinese company Meizu does not have as large a share in the domestic market as Xiaomi or even Oppo, but its smartphones can easily be put on a par with the products of the mentioned companies, both in terms of quality and positioning of the products produced. Meizu, like Oppo, does not waste time on trifles, does not produce anything for the mass market, its smartphones are always top-end flagship devices, with the current maximum set technical characteristics. Meizu products are distinguished by a very limited range and a very long life cycle of each of the presented models, some of which have not lost their relevance to this day.

Every year the lineup is replenished with another updated model of the flagship MX line: this time new model this is the fourth one in a row, it is called Meizu MX4, and today’s story will be about it.

Video review

First, we suggest watching our video review of the Meizu MX4 smartphone:

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

Main characteristics of Meizu MX4

	Meizu MX4	Xiaomi Mi4	OnePlus One	TCL Idol X+
Screen	5.36″, IPS	5″, IPS	5.5″, IPS	5″, IPS
Permission	1920×1152, 418 ppi	1920×1080, 440 ppi	1920×1080, 400ppi	1920×1080, 440 ppi
SoC	Mediatek MT6595 Octa-core (4 Cortex-A17 @2.2 GHz and 4 Cortex-A7 @1.7 GHz)		Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 (4 cores Krait 400 @2.5 GHz)	Mediatek MT6592 (8 cores Cortex-A7 @2.0 GHz)
GPU	PowerVR G6200	Adreno 330	Adreno 330	Mali 450MP4
RAM	2 GB	3 GB	3 GB	2 GB
Flash memory	16/32/64 GB	16/64 GB	16/64 GB	16 GB
Memory card support	—	—	—	—
operating system	Google Android 4.4	Google Android 4.4	Google Android 4.4	Google Android 4.2
Battery	non-removable, 3100 mAh	non-removable, 3080 mAh	non-removable, 3100 mAh	non-removable, 2500 mAh
Cameras	rear (20.7 MP; 4K video), front (2 MP)	rear 13 MP (4K video), front 8 MP	rear (13 MP; 4K video), front (5 MP)	rear (13 MP; video 1080p), front (2 MP)
Dimensions and weight	144×75×8.9 mm, 147 g	139×69×8.9 mm, 152 g	153×76×8.9 mm, 162 g	140×69×7.9 mm, 120 g
average price	T-11010064	T-10971773	T-10799144	T-10632117
Meizu MX4 offers	L-11010064-10

• SoC Mediatek MT6595 8 cores (4 cores 2.2 GHz Cortex-A17 and 4 cores 1.7 GHz Cortex-A7)
• GPU PowerVR G6200, 2 cores 600 MHz
• operating room Android system 4.4.2, Flyme OS 4.0
• Touchscreen IPS (New Mode2) 5.36″, 1920×1152, 418 ppi
• Random access memory (RAM) 2 GB, inner memory 16/32/64 GB
• TD-LTE / FDD-LTE / TD-SWCDMA / WCDMA / GSM networks
• Wi-Fi 802.11a/b/g/n/ac (2.4/5 GHz), Wi-Fi hotspot, Wi-Fi Direct
• Bluetooth 4.0 HID
• GPS, A-GPS, Glonass, BDS
• USB 2.0, OTG
• Camera 20.7 MP, Sony IMX220 Exmor RS, f/2.2, autofocus, 4K video
• Front camera 2 MP, Sony IMX208, f/2.0
• Gyroscope, proximity sensor, light sensor, gravity sensor, electronic compass, Hall sensor, infrared distance sensor
• Non-removable battery 3100 mAh
• Dimensions 144x75x8.9 mm
• Weight 147 g

Contents of delivery

Meizu MX4 goes on sale in exactly the same packaging as the previous models in the series. A flat box of thick snow-white cardboard in the shape of a book is made with great care and attention to detail. In the best traditions of style and taste, this box is practically devoid of inscriptions: a couple of logos, a barely noticeable column of small, laconic text - and nothing more. The packaging of Meizu products is always very stylish, and this automatically adds value to its contents.

The set of accessories is very limited: the box contains only a miniature Charger and a Micro-USB connecting cable, nothing else. It is curious that there are no headphones included, although there is a compartment for them in the box (it contains only a paper plug).

Appearance and ease of use

The updated model has become, as usual, in many ways more powerful and advanced than its predecessors, but it was not without a fly in the ointment. The most important negative point is related to the fact that the manufacturer has once again greatly increased the dimensions of the device, which, in general, is now typical for the actions of all manufacturers on the market mobile devices. However, the developers did not take into account or did not want to take into account the fact that their desire to constantly maintain an aspect ratio of 15:9, unusual for a typical modern smartphone, ultimately led to the fact that the width of the device became truly excessive. That is, with this aspect ratio and the same diagonal, Meizu screens are wider - this should be taken into account and not go too far with an even larger increase in the diagonal. For a thin and light device, the width of 75 mm is already excessive; holding Meizu smartphones in the palm of your hand has always been convenient, but not now. Very thin, sharp, strongly tapered side edges literally cut into widely spread fingers, the width of the case is excessive, and the small thickness and lightness of the case further enhance this negative feeling.

If it were not for the greatly increased width of the body, then all other innovations could be confidently called successful and useful. Gone is the ridiculous technology for fastening the back cover, when you had to contrive to press a secret button and at the same time, holding the device tightly, use a pick to pick it out along the entire perimeter from the case - two hands were not enough. Now everything has fallen into place, the cover of the new case is secured with plastic latches as standard and can be removed by simply prying a fingernail onto a special ledge, everything is convenient and familiar.

The former translucency of the plexiglass also disappeared - the hard and completely inflexible material of the lid literally cracked at the corners during the described manipulations of pulling and prying. Now the back cover is made of thin and flexible plastic, which fits gently onto the latches and holds securely without the slightest play.

The smooth and glossy surface of the body has also been replaced with a matte, rough and very pleasant to the touch, like a velvety plastic coating. If it were not for the excessive width of the body, hold new smartphone it would be possible with greater comfort. The plastic of the back cover is not easily soiled or slippery, and the wide painted rim running along the entire side perimeter has the same qualities. A real metal bezel has always been an integral part of Meizu smartphones before, but on the Meizu MX4 it looks exactly like a real bezel, and not like a metal layer visible between plastic parts. This element is made of aircraft aluminum, which was emphasized during the presentation of the new product. However, on the outside it is painted in the same color as the body; only a small side cut chamfer gives off a real metallic shine - we already see this option everywhere, like in Korean Samsung devices ( Galaxy Note 4), as well as from Chinese neighbors Oppo and Vivo. Why all the manufacturers suddenly began to work on painting the metal is not entirely clear - after all, the shine of real metal has always ennobled the overall appearance of any device and made it more expensive. Apparently, modern designers have their own reasons for this.

The back cover of the device is removable, the body is a candy bar in its structure, under the cover there is only one slot accessible to the user: a Micro-SIM card can be inserted into the spring-loaded slot capture mechanism located above the battery. The battery itself is tightly screwed and cannot be replaced by the user. You won’t find a slot for a memory card here either; this is a traditional feature of Meizu, which the company obsessively adheres to. Modern realities mobile market applications are such that the 11 GB remaining after installing the system in the younger model will clearly not be enough for all multimedia needs; a slot for memory cards would obviously be useful.

The camera module on the back of the smartphone does not protrude beyond the surface; the protective glass of the Gorilla Glass 3 camera is framed by a metal ring. Next to the camera window you can see a single peephole of a two-section LED flash. The flash can work using a preinstalled program as a flashlight; the corresponding quick access button is displayed on the notification panel.

The front panel is completely covered with protective glass Corning Gorilla Glass 3 without an air gap (OGS technology). There is a slot cut out at the top of the panel for the grille. conversational dynamics, the eyes of the sensors and the front camera are visible nearby. There is no usual LED status indicator here; its role is played by a pulsating circle framing the central button under the screen, but it does not respond to charging status and serves only to signal incoming events.

Traditionally for Meizu devices, there are no touch buttons at the bottom of the front panel, except for one, central, framed by a circle with a bright white backlight. Due to the absence of two adjacent hardware buttons (Back and Menu), applications sometimes get stuck: for example, the well-known e-book reading program FBReader does not open its settings menu to the Meizu MX4 user in any way. Perhaps it’s time for the company’s developers to stop showing off and bring everything to one of two familiar standards: either install three hardware buttons under the screen, or get rid of them altogether and make sure that the entire row of buttons appears on the screen in the form of software icons . Then there are compatibility problems third party applications will disappear by themselves.

Mechanical controls are located on the top end and left side of the device. The power and lock buttons are located on the top end here, but you don’t have to reach for it - there are alternative methods for both locking the screen and unlocking it. All the keys are quite large, have a springy and distinct stroke, and are easy to locate blindly. In general, there are no complaints about the mechanical controls of the Meizu MX4.

The speaker of the Meizu MX4 is not placed back, but at the bottom end, so that the surface of the grille does not overlap, even if the smartphone is lying on the table. Also located nearby is a universal Micro-USB 2.0 connector with connection support external devices in OTG mode. The connectors of the device are not covered with plugs, and there are no fastenings for the strap on the case. The device does not receive protection from water and dust, nor does it support wireless charging.

As for the color options of Meizu MX4, there are not just several of them - the company also uses them as a reason for varying the cost of the product. Thus, the “standard” white and dark gray colors cost the same money, while the “premium” golden color is positioned higher and is sold, accordingly, by half a thousand more for the same amount of memory.

Screen

Meizu MX4 is equipped with an IPS sensor matrix made by Sharp, called New Mode 2 by the developers themselves, with an unusual diagonal size and an even more unusual resolution. The screen dimensions are 70x117 mm, diagonal - 5.36 inches, resolution - 1920x1152 pixels. Accordingly, the density of dots is high, but far from record-breaking, and reaches a value of 418 ppi. The screen is covered with protective glass Gorilla Glass 3, with OGS technology.

The thickness of the side frames from the edge of the screen to the edge of the body is only 2.6 mm, and with such large overall dimensions, they seem to be completely absent from the sides. The height of the top and bottom bars is approximately 13 mm. The display brightness can be adjusted manually, or you can use automatic adjustment. 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. At this point it is worth noting once again that despite the uncomfortable location of the power button on the top end, the screen can be easily unlocked without it not only by double tapping on the glass, but also by a simple swipe gesture in any direction, which is extremely convenient.

Detailed examination using measuring instruments conducted 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 MX4, then they can be distinguished by size):

The screen of the Meizu MX4 is only slightly brighter (brightness according to photographs is 107 versus 105 for the Nexus 7). The ghosting of reflected objects in the Meizu MX4 screen is very weak, this indicates that there is no air gap between the layers of the screen (more specifically, between the outer glass and the surface of the LCD matrix) (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. On the outer surface of the screen there is a special oleophobic (grease-repellent) coating (effective, maybe a little worse than that of the Nexus 7), so fingerprints are removed much easier and appear at a lower speed than in the case of regular glass.

With manual brightness control and when the white field was displayed in full screen, the maximum brightness value was about 530 cd/m², the minimum was 1.6 cd/m². The maximum brightness is very high, and, given the excellent anti-glare properties, readability even on a sunny day outdoors will be at an excellent level. In complete darkness, the brightness can be reduced to a comfortable value. Note that the adjustment scale is very non-linear, so at half the scale the brightness is only 16 cd/m², which is very inconvenient. There is automatic brightness adjustment based on the light sensor (located to the right of the front speaker slot). In automatic mode, as external lighting conditions change, the screen brightness both increases and decreases. In this mode, the brightness control allows you to set the desired brightness level in the current conditions, and then given value will be taken into account somehow. For example, if you do not touch the slider and leave the factory setting, then in complete darkness the auto-brightness function reduces the brightness to 1.6 cd/m² (almost nothing is visible), in an office illuminated by artificial light (approximately 400 lux) it sets it to 68 cd/m² (a little dark), in a very bright environment (corresponding to lighting on a clear day outdoors, but without direct sunlight - 20,000 lux or a little more) increases to a maximum of 460 cd / m² (acceptable). If we set the appropriate brightness level in an office environment, we will get the following values ​​in the three conditions above: 11, 125-140 and 465 cd/m², which is more or less normal. That is, the auto-brightness function can be made to work adequately to external conditions and user requirements. At any brightness level, there is virtually no backlight modulation, so there is no screen flickering.

This smartphone uses an IPS matrix. The microphotographs show a typical IPS subpixel structure:

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

The screen has good viewing angles without significant color shift even with large viewing deviations from perpendicular to the screen and without inverting shades. For comparison, here are photographs in which the same images are displayed on the screens of Meizu MX4 and Nexus 7, while the brightness of the screens is initially set to approximately 200 cd/m² (over a white field in the entire screen), 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 colors on the Meizu MX4 screen are oversaturated, unnatural and skin tones are clearly shifted to the red area. 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 did not change much on both screens, and the contrast remained at a high level. And a white field:

The brightness at an angle of the screens decreased (at least 4 times, based on the difference in shutter speed), but in the case of Meizu MX4 the drop in brightness is less. When deviated diagonally, the black field is lightened weakly and acquires a red-violet tint or remains almost neutral gray. The photographs below demonstrate this (the brightness of the white areas in the direction perpendicular to the plane of the screens is approximately the same!):

And from another angle:

When viewed from a perpendicular view, the uniformity of the black field is good, there are only very narrow areas along the edge with a slightly increased brightness of the black field:

The contrast (approximately in the center of the screen) is high - about 1300:1. The black-white-black response time is 27 ms (13 ms on + 14 ms off). The transition between halftones of gray 25% and 75% (based on the numerical value of the color) and back takes a total of 46 ms. The gamma curve, constructed using 32 points with equal intervals based on the numerical value of the shade of gray, did not reveal any blockage in either the highlights or the shadows. The exponent of the approximating power function is 2.13, which is slightly lower than the standard value of 2.2. In this case, the real gamma curve deviates little from the power-law dependence:

The color gamut is noticeably wider than sRGB:

Let's look at the spectra:

They are very atypical. Apparently, as in the case of the latest Sony mobile devices, this screen uses LEDs with a blue emitter and green and red phosphors (usually a blue emitter and a yellow phosphor), which, in combination with special matrix filters, allows you to obtain a wide color gamut. Unfortunately, as a result, the colors of images - drawings, photographs and films - oriented to the sRGB space (and these are the vast majority) have an unnatural saturation. This is especially noticeable on recognizable shades, such as skin tones. The result is shown in the photo above. Of course, the manufacturer turns everything on its head and presents this drawback as an advantage.

The balance of shades on the gray scale is good, since the color temperature is slightly higher than the standard 6500 K, and the deviation from the blackbody spectrum (ΔE) is less than 10, which is considered a good indicator for a consumer device. At the same time, at least the color temperature changes little from shade to shade - this has a positive effect on the visual assessment of color balance. (The darkest areas of the gray scale can be ignored, since the color balance does not matter much there, and the measurement error of color characteristics at low brightness is large.)

Let's summarize. The screen has a very high maximum brightness and has good anti-glare properties, so the device can be used outdoors without any problems, even on a sunny summer day. In complete darkness, the brightness can be reduced to a comfortable level. It is also possible to use a mode with automatic brightness adjustment, which works adequately after appropriate settings. The advantages of the screen include an effective oleophobic coating, the absence of flicker and air gaps in the layers of the screen, high contrast and stability of black to the deviation of the gaze from perpendicular to the screen plane, as well as good color balance. Significant disadvantages include oversaturated and unnatural colors. Nevertheless, taking into account the importance of characteristics for this particular class of devices, the quality of the screen can be considered high.

Sound

In terms of sound, the smartphone is at a high level. There were rumors that the device would use an ESS Technology Saber ES9018K2M audio chip, but judging by, there is no separate audio chip in this device (it is promised in the Meizu MX4 Pro model). However, the new MediaTek MTK 6595 platform itself is the first MediaTek SoC with (WM8281), so the sound of the smartphone is really excellent. The main speaker produces a very loud, clear sound at maximum volume level, moderately rich in low frequencies. It may not be as good as HTC and Oppo/Vivo devices in terms of quality, but overall the sound is very decent, the maximum volume is not excessive, but sufficient, the speaker does not wheeze, and the sound remains clear. The speaker clearly conveys all the intonations and timbre of the voice, the interlocutor’s speech is confidently recognized. The sound in the headphones here also does not cause the slightest complaints; the sound is very high quality. However, branded headphones were not included in the kit, although a cell in the box was prepared for this - obviously, the decision was made at the last moment. It's a pity, because Meizu can make headphones of quite high quality.

A proprietary player is provided here to play music. To control sound quality, it is possible to use Dirac HD Sound technology, but all its functions, as well as the ability to use an equalizer with preset values, become available only when headphones are connected.

There was no FM radio included as standard with the smartphone, but there was a voice recorder. The device can also record telephone conversations from the line, to do this, just click on the corresponding button in the telephone application interface right during the call.

Camera

Meizu MX4 is equipped with two digital camera modules with a resolution of 20.7 and 2 megapixels. The front camera here is equipped with a 2-megapixel Sony IMX208 module with an f/2.0 aperture and does not have autofocus or flash. There is no choice in the settings, there is only one photo resolution - 1920x1080, and the front camera shoots video with a resolution of 720p. Despite the low resolution, in good lighting the front camera produces images of very decent quality, quite sufficient for taking selfies.

The main rear camera is equipped with a Sony IMX220 Exmor RS 20.7 MP module with f/2.2 aperture, fast autofocus (0.3 s) and dual multi-color LED flash. The lens is protected using Corning Gorilla Glass 3.

The shooting control menu has 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 slow motion mode for video. An interesting feature is the “Focus” mode, after shooting in which, already on the finished image, you can change the focus by touching various areas, alternately focusing on objects that were on the camera during shooting. at different distances from the camera.

The control menu itself is not quite familiar, but it is well thought out and very convenient to manage. Shooting modes are scrolled through with a horizontal gesture, and depending on the selected mode, additional settings specific to each specific selected mode pop up at the bottom. In general, everything is drawn quite clearly and intuitively for comfortable handling.

The camera can shoot video in a maximum resolution of 4K; examples of test videos are presented below.

• Video No. 1 (158 MB, 3840×2176@30 fps)
• Video No. 2 (41 MB, 1920×1080@30 fps)

	The camera does an excellent job of shooting text.
	The camera does macro photography well.
	The details in the middle and long shots are worked out quite well.
	The camera tries to capture even the smallest details.
	The camera does well in close-ups in good lighting.
	In not the best lighting, it’s not much worse.
	Another example of good macro.
	The grass drains too quickly and is poorly processed by sharpening.
	Car license plates and small inscriptions on the building could well be distinguished.
	In this case, the grass is worked out very well even in medium plans. Apparently, the sharpness of plans does not always depend on the lighting.
	The small print on the shield is clearly visible.
	You can make out the number of the minibus, but the next car is no longer there. Asphalt makes virtually no noise.

Despite the fairly high resolution, the camera copes well and handles it quite well. The software processing spoils the picture a little. Sharping with noise reduction needlessly spoils mid- and long-range plans, and the reason for this is very clumsy processing algorithms. Although if you don't look at the details, everything looks very nice.

In general, the pictures are quite sharp, only the sharpness deteriorates slightly towards the edges of the frame. In terms of its physical parameters, the camera of this smartphone can easily claim the title of flagship, but software part it does not allow to call it such. Nevertheless, the camera is quite suitable for both documentary and artistic photography, even in not the best lighting.

Telephone and communications

The smartphone works as standard in modern 2G GSM and 3G WCDMA networks, and also supports networks fourth generation TD-LTE / FDD-LTE, that is, frequencies used in Russia, are also supported. In practice, with a SIM card from the domestic operator MTS, the smartphone recognizes and works with 4G networks. The network capabilities of the smartphone are standard: there is no NFC support, but there is support for Bluetooth 4.0 HID, two Wi-Fi bands are supported (2.4 and 5 GHz), Wi-Fi Direct, Wi-Fi Display, you can organize wireless point access 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 the Micro-USB port. The navigation module works not only with GPS (with A-GPS), there is also support for the domestic Glonass and the Chinese Beidou (BDS). There are no complaints about the operation of the navigation module; the first GPS and Glonass satellites are detected literally in a matter of seconds, although the smartphone never saw Chinese satellites in the Russian sky. Among the smartphone's sensors is a magnetic field sensor, which is the basis for the much-needed digital compass in navigation programs.

The phone application supports Smart Dial, that is, while dialing phone number A search is also carried out immediately using the first letters in contacts. There is no Swype support here, and there are no options to shrink in size, which are usual for large smartphones. virtual keyboard for ease of control with the fingers of one hand, or, for example, to reduce the size of the entire working screen. Obviously, the developers do not consider that the increased width to 75 mm and the huge 5.36-inch screen are a reason to worry about the convenience and comfort of working with the fingers of one hand.

OS and software

The device uses the Google software platform as a system Android versions 4.4.2 with a proprietary graphical user interface installed on top of it. The Meizu shell has also undergone some changes, albeit not too significant, for which it received a new serial number - now it is Meizu Flyme OS version 4.0. The main feature of the proprietary interface is its laconicism and restraint in everything. After the intricacies of Oppo Color OS with its puzzling transitions between hundreds of subsections, or, say, the same Lenovo Vibe UI, with an eye-catching clumsy design and dominance unnecessary applications, loaded with dozens “in addition”, here the eye, as they say, rests. The design of the icons, according to new fashion trends, is completely flat, all the icons have been redrawn, they have become even larger, more visual, the colors are calm, the color schemes are chosen with taste. For all this, the design of the Meizu Flyme OS graphical interface can rightfully be called elegant. The fonts have also become larger, and although it is possible to change their sizes, the translation of the interface into Russian still contains annoying and sometimes completely incomprehensible abbreviations (in the Russian Meizu they continue to work on corrections).

A lot of attention, as usual, is paid to gestures. Some things are convenient, but some things would be better if they weren’t left to gesture control. For example, you can now unlock the screen by swiping the glass anywhere on the display, which is extremely convenient and completely eliminates the unpleasant fact that the power button remains on the top end, far from access for any finger. But there is no need to reach for it, since you can turn off the screen by briefly pressing the central round touch button at the bottom under the screen. Or, for example, with a side swipe from left to right, you can call up literally any application assigned to this gesture by the user himself at will. Thus, for example, you can unlock the screen and immediately go to the browser, calendar or voice recorder - any of the programs installed on the smartphone can be opened in this way from a locked state. All this is convenient. But having to swipe and do nothing else to call up the lower smartbar, which contains a menu of recently used programs, only causes irritation. If there is a need to quickly switch between applications in multitasking mode, for example, copying and transferring part of the text, then such endless movements are completely inappropriate. By the way, holding the button for a long time to call up such a menu in smartphones from other manufacturers, for example, Lenovo, is also completely inappropriate when quickly switching applications - it’s best when to call up the menu of the latest open source software there is a separate hardware button, albeit a touch button, such as, for example, Sony smartphones. You can clear the smartbar of all previously opened programs with a reverse gesture from top to bottom, and this gesture generally works every fifth time. In general, gesture control should complement the traditional push-button interface, and not replace it completely; Meizu approached this issue too self-confidently, which alienates some users - after all, not everyone wants to remember and use a variety of gesture gestures, but in the case of Meizu devices It is impossible to do without them.

In general, the Flyme OS graphical interface has been greatly redesigned relative to standard Android and is not similar to any of the options found in other manufacturers. A very convenient and concise layout of all sections of the settings menu makes it easy to intuitively select and quickly move from section to section. All section names are listed in one column, briefly indicated by icons, and a side swipe reveals more detailed information about them. Naturally, as in all Chinese shells, there is no separate application menu; all installed programs are automatically distributed mixed with widgets on desktops, which can only be added on one side, the right.

There are almost no additional programs, but those that exist are useful: there is a much-needed file manager, convenient program To quickly take notes, the calculator can shrink in size and move to any place on the desktop. In the Risovalka program, you can even make some quick sketch by hand. It is worth highlighting detailed instructions, in which everything is clearly described with pictures hidden opportunities interface. This is especially useful when learning to control gestures, of which there are a lot used here and the presence of which you yourself cannot easily guess.

Performance

The Meizu MX4 hardware platform is based on the latest single-chip system (SoC) Mediatek MT6595, in which 4 powerful Cortex-A17 cores (2.2 GHz) are adjacent to 4 Cortex-A7 cores (1.7 GHz), less productive, but also more economical. The operation of the new SoC is based on the big.LITTLE principle, while the manufacturer’s previous eight-core platform had eight low-power equivalent Cortex-A7 cores. Accordingly, the new platform is capable of demonstrating the highest performance to date, in which it can compete with the top Qualcomm Snapdragon 801.

Graphics processing in the smartphone is handled by the new GPU PowerVR G6200 video accelerator (2 cores, 600 MHz). Volume random access memory smartphone is 2 GB, and the choice of its own memory is available depending on the modification from 16 to 64 GB. In the youngest modification with a nominal capacity of 16 GB, approximately 12 GB remain free for the user's needs. The amount of built-in memory cannot be increased by microSD cards, the smartphone does not support memory cards. But it is possible to connect external flash drives to the Micro-USB port using a special adapter in OTG mode. This can be useful; there are now flash drives on sale that have a regular USB connector on one side and a Micro-USB connector on the other. So it can be connected to smartphones that support On-The-Go (OTG) mode directly, without a special adapter. If, say, when going on a long trip, you fill such a flash drive with your favorite TV shows, then on a long flight you won’t have to worry about the small amount of built-in memory on your smartphone: plug it in and watch a movie. By the way, another new product on the same platform, Lenovo Vibe X2, for some reason does not support OTG mode.

According to the results of testing in benchmarks, a smartphone on the new Mediatek platform showed itself to be one of the most powerful and productive modern mobile devices at the moment, coming very close, and in some ways even ahead of the top solutions of the generally recognized market leaders based on the Qualcomm Snapdragon 801. What is gratifying is that and the new graphics subsystem here is also the most powerful; in game tests it demonstrates not exorbitant, but maximum figures, almost at the level of Adreno 330, although, of course, it is slightly inferior to it. Finally, the Chinese have made a truly powerful platform of a decent level, all that remains is to understand how economical it remains, because the previous eight-core SoC MTK 6592 showed very disastrous results in this regard. So far there are only a few models on the market based on the new platform (Lenovo Vibe X2, Meizu MX4 and Zopo 999), but next season we can expect a large influx of new products based on this SoC. The CPU and GPU cores in the Lenovo Vibe X2 (MT6595m) have a lower maximum operating frequency than in the Meizu MX4, therefore, naturally, this device showed slightly lower numbers in benchmarks. At the same time, Lenovo Vibe X2 could not boast of efficiency; with autonomy, everything turned out to be quite deplorable. Looking ahead, you can see that the Meizu MX4 is doing better with autonomy, but they also prudently installed a much larger battery.

Testing in latest versions comprehensive tests AnTuTu and GeekBench 3:

All the results we obtained when testing the smartphone in the most latest versions popular benchmarks, we have summarized them in tables for convenience. Several other devices from various segments are usually added to the table, also tested on similar latest versions of benchmarks (this is done only for a visual assessment of the obtained dry numbers). Unfortunately, within the framework of one comparison it is impossible to present the results from different versions benchmarks, so many worthy and relevant models remain “behind the scenes” - due to the fact that at one time they passed the “obstacle course” on previous versions test programs.

Testing the graphics subsystem in 3DMark game tests,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).

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.

Playing video

To test the "omnivorous" when playing video (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 Web. 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.

Meizu MX4 was pleasantly surprised by the presence of full support for all the necessary decoders to successfully play all of our standard test videos. At the same time, no problems were observed with the sound, and in the third-party player MX Player you don’t even have to switch to playback in Hardware+. That is, to put it simply, the device will play any typical video downloaded from the network without any problems.

Format	Container, video, sound	MX Video Player	Standard video player
DVDRip	AVI, XviD 720×400 2200 Kbps, MP3+AC3	plays normally	plays normally
Web-DL SD	AVI, XviD 720×400 1400 Kbps, MP3+AC3	plays normally	plays normally
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.

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), 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 associated with the 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. The smartphone can even display files with a resolution of 4K up to 30 fps inclusive. When playing video files with a resolution of 1920 by 1080 (1080p) on a smartphone screen, the image of the video file itself is displayed exactly along the wide border of the screen, one to one in pixels, that is, in the original resolution. The brightness range displayed on the screen corresponds to the standard range of 16-235 - all shade gradations are displayed in shadows and highlights - which is what is required for correct playback of typical video files.

Battery life

Meizu MX4 has a powerful battery, its capacity is 3100 mAh. The new powerful hardware platform on which the hero of the review is based does not allow us to talk about the cost-effectiveness of this solution; the smartphone, as expected, turned out to be quite power-hungry, but it is saved by the large volume of the built-in battery, due to which the new product looks much better in terms of autonomy than its brother on the hardware platform, Lenovo smartphone Vibe X2, which has a much sadder situation with this. Meizu MX4 has a huge bright screen, enough slim body and a high, non-standard display resolution, but with all this, the device’s battery size and autonomy are in perfect order. The smartphone is not long-lived and does not break records, but the test results cannot be called a failure either, everything is within the normal range for a modern smartphone with a large screen. At this point, it is worth noting that testing was carried out in the most productive operating mode without any restrictions, so with the balanced mode set in the default factory settings, the autonomous life of the smartphone can last even longer than in our test tests.

	Battery capacity	Reading mode	Video mode	3D Game Mode
Meizu MX4	3100 mAh	12:00 pm	8 hours 40 minutes	3 hours 45 minutes
Lenovo Vibe X2	2300 mAh	13:00	6:00 am	3 hours 15 minutes
TCL Idol X+	2500 mAh	12:30 pm	7:20 am	3:00 am
Sony Xperia Z3	3100 mAh	20:00	10:00 am	4 hours 50 minutes
HTC One M8	2600 mAh	22:10	13:20	3 hours 20 minutes
Samsung Galaxy S5	2800 mAh	17:20	12:30 pm	4 hours 30 minutes
TCL Idol X+	2500 mAh	12:30 pm	7:20 am	3:00 am
Lenovo Vibe Z	3050 mAh	11:45 am	8:00 am	3 hours 30 minutes
Alcatel Hero 2	3100 mAh	13:20	10:20 am	3 hours 10 minutes
Lenovo Vibe Z2 Pro	4000 mAh	13:20	8 hours 40 minutes	4 hours 30 minutes
Vivo Xplay 3S	3200 mAh	12:30 pm	8:00 am	3 hours 30 minutes
Oppo Find 7	3000 mAh	9:00 a.m.	6 hours 40 minutes	3 hours 20 minutes
Oppo Find 7a	2800 mAh	16:40	8 a.m. 20 p.m.	3:00 am

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 almost 12 hours until the battery was completely discharged, and when continuously watching videos in high quality (720p) with the same brightness level through home network The Wi-Fi device lasted almost 9 hours. In 3D gaming mode, the smartphone worked for closer to 4 hours, which is quite good.

The smartphone battery charges quite quickly, about two hours.

Bottom line

As for the cost of Meizu MX4, it has already been adjusted upward in the last few days due to changes in the exchange rate, and now in the company’s online store is about 18 thousand rubles for the younger model and 20 thousand for the model with 32 GB, which two thousand more than the original pre-order price. By the way, the entire first batch of devices delivered to Russia was sold out by pre-order; interest in Meizu products here turned out to be even higher than the expectations of the company itself.

And yet, even taking into account the increase in price, Meizu’s smartphone turned out to be not only very successful, but also cheaper than analogues from top-tier manufacturers, which is logical, since Meizu is far from the largest manufacturer even in its own market in China. Perhaps this best model series, if you do not take into account the greatly increased dimensions, which will not appeal to every user of mobile devices. The smartphone received a nice and stylish body, got rid of the awkward and inconvenient lid structure and the unattractive translucent gloss. In their place came pleasant to the touch, non-slip and non-staining, practical plastic with a wide metal rim - all in accordance with the latest fashion trends. Great, top class screen, the most powerful, most modern hardware platform, a stylish and quite convenient (not counting minor shortcomings) user shell, excellent sound and camera, good battery life. LTE and USB OTG support complement the already impressive list of advantages. There is practically nothing to complain about. The device is very worthy, especially considering the price, but it is not suitable for everyone due to its greatly increased dimensions - it’s time for the developers to finally think about it and stop this race for size.

Characteristics

• Class: smartphone
• Case materials: plastic, glass and metal
• Operating system: Google Android 4.4.2
• Network: GSM/WCDMA/4G LTE
• Processor: 8 cores, MediaTek MT6595
• RAM: 2 GB
• Storage memory: 16/32/64 GB
• Interfaces: Wi-Fi (b/g/n/ac), Bluetooth 4.0 HID, microUSB connector (USB 2.0) for charging/synchronization, 3.5 mm for headset
• Screen: capacitive, IPS 5.36"" with a resolution of 1152x1920 pixels
• Camera: 20.7 MP Sony Exmor RS + 2 MP Sone Exmor R, dual flash
• Navigation: GPS+GLONASS
• Additionally: accelerometer, proximity and lighting sensors
• Battery: removable, capacity 3100 mAh
• Dimensions: 144x75x8.9 mm
• Weight: 147 g
• Price: from 18,000 rubles (Q4 2014)

Contents of delivery

The box, made of white cardboard, is packed in a thin transparent cellophane bag. The inscription “MX4” is printed on top, and colored balls are depicted around it.

Inside, traditionally for Meizu, you will find a booklet-box with a smartphone. Under it is a USB cable, a warranty card and a place where the headphones should have been (they are not included in the package, they must be purchased separately). To the right of the booklet is a power adapter with a standard plug.

Introduction

The presentation of Meizu MX4 took place on September 2 in Beijing. Before this event, spy shots were circulating on the Internet, and they were interspersed with shots of the MX4 Pro, so it was immediately clear that the MX4 would be released earlier, then the Pro version would be shown. For those who are not up to date: the presentation of Meizu MX4 Pro took place not long ago. It will go on sale on December 6, the price is not yet known exactly, I think we should aim for 25,000 rubles.

However, today we will talk about the younger model MX4, which is already on sale at a price of 18,000 rubles, depending on the amount of built-in memory.

What is so special about this device? First of all, a metal body, or rather, a metal frame made of aircraft-grade aluminum. It is also worth noting that between the protective glass and the frame there is a special shock-absorbing layer.

The second is the “heart” of the MX4 – the chipset. If in the last generation Samsung's quad-core Exynos was used, this time it is eight-core MediaTek. Tests have shown that the processor is one of the fastest on the market.

Third is the camera. Meizu decided not to waste time on trifles and “slapped” a cool module from the Sony Xperia Z3. Apparently, Chinese programmers have surpassed the Japanese ones in terms of photo processing algorithms, so it seems to me that the footage taken on the MX4 is slightly better than the footage taken on the Z3.

Everything else is familiar, but will be discussed in detail in the text. Below you will find a video review, it is long, 40 minutes. I immediately apologize for the sound quality. In the well-known expression of one of our politicians: “they wanted the best, but it turned out as always,” that is, he tried to increase sensitivity, but “went too far.”

Design, dimensions, control elements

In terms of appearance, the MX4 differs little from the MX3: the same rounded corners, smooth contours of the rear surface, approximately the same dimensions and weight. The MX3 uses a metal frame and a thin frame, the MX4 does everything the same, only the frame has become larger, this time you definitely understand that the body is “not made with bast.”

Of course, it’s worth mentioning that the MX4 resembles the iPhone 6 in many ways. I don’t know whether the Chinese craftsmen were inspired by leaks from the Six network or made it up themselves, the main thing is that it turned out very well. The smartphone has sloping edges, light weight, and interesting materials.

However, it seemed to me that its body shape was too streamlined: it often slipped out of my hands, despite the fact that the back surface is made of porous plastic. Naturally, this is my personal opinion.

I repeat that the back cover is made of porous plastic (polycarbonate) that is rough to the touch. At one time it was fashionable to call plastic the beautiful word “polycarbonate”: thoughts of something unusual immediately arose in my head...

The surface gets dirty over time and marks remain on it: for example, when “soft-touch” black plastic rubs against the body of the MX4. This behavior is quite natural, there is nothing wrong with it, the main thing is that they are easily erased.

By the way, about color solutions. Everything here is like the iPhone: white, dark gray and gold. The latter is not yet available in Russia.

The frame, as already mentioned, is made of aircraft-grade aluminum. It is painted in the color of the body. I don’t know where the fashion for painting metal came from, but there is such a strange “fad”. Samsung Company, for example, released two completely metal gadgets at once, which feel plastic to the touch - it’s all because of the paint :)

The edge of the frame is polished, looks nice, plays great in the light. If we talk about whether the metal is felt in the hand or not, then no is more likely than yes. But in the cold you will immediately understand where the metal is and where the plastic begins :)

The screen is protected by third generation Gorilla Glass. After several weeks of active use, not a single scratch appeared. An oleophobic coating is applied on top. Fingerprints, of course, remain, but are erased quickly. Anti-glare properties are average.

Between the glass and the metal frame there is a special shock-absorbing material. It reduces pressure on the display if the device hits the edges. And I thought it was the Chinese who couldn’t remove the glue from the grooves.

At the top center is a speech speaker covered with a thin black metal mesh. It is very loud, the interlocutor can be heard in any conditions, be it the street or the subway. You can compare it with the iPhone 5/5S, Samsung Galaxy S5/Note 4, only the MX4 has a different sound timbre, it is higher. To the right of the speaker are light and proximity sensors and a front camera.

Below the screen is a traditional round touch button with a bright white backlight. If the screen is on, the button is dimly lit; if you press it, it flashes brightly; if the screen is off, it glows faintly with a greenish tint for some time.

At the bottom end there is a microphone (covered with a thin light mesh), micro-USB and a speaker hidden under four round holes.

On the left side there is a volume rocker key, painted in the color of the case. The silver border indicates that the button is metal. It is thin, long, almost recessed into the body. The pressure is firm, the stroke is minimal. There are no elements on the right.

At the top there is a 3.5 mm audio output, a second microphone (only for noise reduction, since audio is recorded in mono in video) and a power button. It is also metal, painted in the color of the body. The button is tight, the travel is minimal. In my opinion, it would be better if it was on the right - there is space there, and the ergonomics of the design would be much better.

On the reverse side there is a large camera eye, framed by a metal ring. The camera protrudes above the body by about half a millimeter. Just below there is a dual two-color LED flash.

The cover, unlike the MX3 and other Meizu smartphones, can be easily removed, you just need to pry it off by the recess at the bottom end. Below it you will see a non-removable battery and one microSIM slot.

In general, the Meizu MX4 device made an excellent impression in terms of appearance. The device turned out to be quite nice, well-built and sturdy. But the gadget is a little big for my hand. Maybe because I'm used to the dimensions of the Nexus 5 and iPhone 5, which I almost never part with.

Display

Meizu again wanted to stand out and therefore released the MX4, the screen diagonal of which is 5.36". Let me remind you that in the MX3 it was 5.1 inches. Why bother like that when you could have made 5.2" or 5.3", and it would have been better to leave 5.1 ". Moreover, the aspect is non-standard - 15:9.

The physical size of the display is 70x117 mm, the frames on the right and left are 2.6 mm, the top and bottom are 14 mm. That is, the usable screen area is approximately 75%.

The screen resolution is also non-standard - 1152x1920 pixels, density - 418 PPI. The IPS matrix (OGS - without an air gap) was made jointly by Sharp and JDI. The matrix has wide viewing angles without visible image distortion. According to our data obtained by measurements, there is a slight shift to bluish tints. The color gamut slightly exceeds sRGB in the red and green areas. The maximum white brightness is 409 cd/m2, the minimum white brightness is 1.4 cd/m2, the maximum black brightness is 0.44 cd/m2, the contrast is 930:1. Naturally, our indicators may differ from those indicated on the official website. And it says this: contrast ratio 1100:1, maximum brightness 500 cd/m2.

In simple terms, the backlight brightness of the display matrix is ​​enough for you to comfortably read information in direct sunlight, and the minimum brightness will be enough even on the darkest night.

Black color

White color

Viewing Angles

Battery

This smartphone model uses a non-removable battery with a capacity of 3100 mAh. Manufactured by Sony and Samsung. There is no official information about the operating time of the device, so I tested it myself:

• Playing 1080p video (MKV) at maximum screen brightness and headphone volume – approximately 6 hours
• Browsing via Wi-Fi – about 18 hours
• Browsing via 3G – about 10 hours
• The total average operating time of the device (3G, calls, SMS, letters, Twitter) is approximately 20 hours, about 2.5 hours of screen operation.

Communication capabilities

The main thing that I would like to note in this section is support for 4G LTE (TD-LTE / FDD-LTE / TD-SWCDMA / WCDMA / GSM) in Russian networks. Can switch manually between 2G/3G/4G.

There is dual-band Wi-Fi (2.4 GHz and 5 GHz) of not only a/b/n standard, but also AC; Bluetooth version 4.0 with HID protocol.

The USB OnTheGo function works, that is, third-party devices (for example, flash drives) can be connected to USB! By the way, there is no NFC here.

There are no problems with GPS and GLONASS. Below are screenshots from the tracker program.

Memory and memory card

Meizu MX4 has 2 GB of LPDDR3 933 MHz RAM. On this moment This is the typical volume of most smartphones in the mid-price segment, and there are still few devices with 3 gigabytes. For those who don't have enough, they can safely run for the MX4 Pro in December.

Built-in memory 16/32/64 GB depending on model. I advise you to take more, since there is no memory card here, and 20 MP pictures and 4K videos will “eat up” a lot of memory.

Camera

As always, there are two camera modules: the main one is 20.7 MP with an F2.2 aperture, the front one is 2 MP with an F2.0 aperture for the best “selfie” in poor lighting conditions.

The main module came from Sony - it is the well-known CMOS Exmor RS IMX220 with backlight. Matrix size – 1/2.3 (diagonal 7.87 mm), maximum number of pixels – 21.01 M, effective – 20.84 M, active – 20.65 M, cell size – 1.2x1.2 μm. More details can be found.

In my subjective opinion, the Meizu MX4 takes great pictures: accurate and fast focus, almost always perfect white balance, minimal noise (I like the non-aggressive noise reduction). Unlike many smartphones with good cameras, for example, the Samsung Galaxy S5/Note 4, the MX4 tries not to cover up noise. Sony devices behave the same way. However, it seemed to me that they did not quite succeed in achieving a high-quality result.

At the moment, I think that the MX4 camera is one of the best in terms of photo detail and HDR performance (there are glitches when the camera takes a long time to shoot in HDR).

In addition, it is worth noting that the device is equipped with manual settings for shutter speed, ISO value, exposure and focus. This does not function as efficiently as on the Nokia 1020 (I still consider it the best camera phone), but such options are present.

Meizu MX4 can record video at a maximum resolution of 3840x2176 pixels (UltraHD 4K) at 30 fps. The picture is very clear, you can take still pictures and get 8 MP pictures from them. The only thing I didn’t like was the exposure: it “jumps” sharply depending on the lighting, there is no smooth transition in image brightness. Another nuance: the codec for 4K recording is H.265. It is not as widespread as H.264, so some video players on PC or MAC may not open videos; YouTube does not understand this codec. So, it is not yet possible to upload clips shot on MX4 to the Google service.

There is slow motion shooting in HD resolution at 100 frames per second. The video itself is played at 25 fps.

The front camera is normal (4 Sharp lenses with a blue glass filter). Characteristics: Sony CMOS Exmor R module, matrix size – 1/2.3 (diagonal 3.1 mm), maximum number of pixels – 2.22 M, effective – 2.17 M, active – 2.12 M, cell size – 1.4x1.4 μm. More details can be found here

“Tap” adjusts the exposure. Videos are recorded in HD resolution at 30 fps. The angle is not the widest.

The interface is simple: swipe right or left at the top to scroll through the modes, at the bottom there is a video recording button, taking a photo, gallery; even lower - “Back”, flash, effects, front camera and settings.

Modes

• Manual mode
• Portrait
• Panorama
• Changing Focus
• Scanner (Bar/QR codes)
• Slow motion
• Macro

Settings

• Net
• Level
• Countdown
• Photo size (from 5 MP to 20 MP)
• Video size (480p, 720p, 1080p, 4k)

EXIF information

Video file characteristics

• File Format: MP4
• Video codec: HEVC, 42 Mbit/s
• Resolution: 3840 x 2176, 30 fps (or 24 fps at night)
• Audio codec: AAC, 128 Kbps
• Channels: 1 channel, 48 kHz

Sample photos

Day

Twilight

Night

Flash

In room

Examples of photos on front camera :

Performance and Software Platform

At the beginning of 2014, MediaTek announced the MT6595 single-chip SoC with an eight-core processor, LTE modem and hardware support for Ultra HD H.265. If the company called the previous generation of the chip the first true 8-core, then the MT6595 is the first 8-core with support for 4G, ARM Cortex-A17 and the H265 codec.

The system processor is made using the familiar ARM big.LITTLE technology. In short, 4 Cortex-A17 cores (2.2 GHz each) can work simultaneously with 4 Cortex-A7 cores (1.7 GHz each). Naturally, everything depends on the load, so, in theory, the device should save energy.

The graphics are handled by the PowerVR G6200 (4 cores at 600 MHz) codenamed Rogue. Supports DirectX 10, OpenGL 3.x, 4.x, OpenGL ES 3.1.

In practice, without unnecessary marketing words and exaggeration of capabilities, you get one of the most powerful, if not the most powerful, device on the market. The device does not slow down or glitch. Games run ABSOLUTELY ALL at the settings that the games themselves allow.

Screenshots from games

brief information

Performance tests

Meizu smartphone MX4 functioning in the operating room Google system Android version 4.4.2. There is a proprietary Flyme OS shell. Currently (at least on my device) the update is version 4.0.4.

It's time to take a closer look most powerful smartphone this year according to Antutu, not cheap at all, but incredibly attractive Meizu MX4. When purchasing there were several questions, the simplest was 16 or 32 gigabytes inside, and it’s a pity for money and there is no expansion for memory cards, so the advantage here was obviously 32 gigabytes and the second question was between choosing Meizu MX4 - Oneplus One - Xiaomi Mi4. I looked through a bunch of reviews of each, re-read the characteristics, all three smartphones are great, but I only need one. I opened the ancient aphorisms and read: “if you can’t choose the best, choose the worst and discard, in the end the best will remain”, - so I did.
The first to be rejected Xiaomi Mi4 lack of networks 4G Now it’s unacceptable in a flagship, and although my operator does not support 4G, who knows what will happen to us tomorrow. Oneplus One confused by the forum 4pda and the message that there are many batches, half of which are defective, my friend received with dead pixels straight out of the box and of course the huge dimensions of the device. So it remains the best Meizu MX4, the sweetness of this choice was also added by the glory of Meizu as a master of making high quality sound in my devices, and I love clear sound, those who follow my reviews know.
So, it’s October, the price tags for Meizu MX4 make you feel slightly despondent, but on the website groupb.ru- these are group purchases of equipment, a coupon appears for a 100 usd discount on any Meizu MX4, I ordered when the sign “the promotion is closed” already appeared, I managed to break into the remains in the warehouse, although many were offered a 16 gig version or a refund. Here, of course, the readers will have a suspicion, but is it “a sent Cossack?” - I will answer - my Cossack, screenshots are attached, personal information had to be covered up, don’t blame me.

Purchase Information

The smartphone was purchased and news appeared that did not add optimism - the fastest SingPost mail, which sent me the device, is now the slowest, the device took a month to arrive to me, after 7 days I ordered accessories with delivery from China Post and they arrived at the same time. Okay, it’s time to move on to the device itself, and I’ll add more narration as the review progresses.

The box came wrapped in film, that is, no one from the factory touched the device. By the way, both for me and for others, the box was slightly dented, it is unknown who is to blame for this, thanks to the Meizu packaging, not a single smartphone was damaged, at least no cases were identified on w3bsit3-dns.com.

Inside, the charger is right under our sockets, which is nice, at 2 amperes, the device charges for about an hour, I didn’t exactly time it. High-quality cable, before this the best cable was the cable from Xiaomi Red Rice 1S, but I liked this one better. Instead of headphones, I received a plug, as the seller wrote, they had only 100 copies with headphones, I was not included in their number and all that was left was to admire the cardboard informing me that they were not here.

According to Meizu tradition, the smartphone was kept in a little book.


There were films on the front and back, which I immediately removed.

In addition, I saw waste paper, the warranty card does not mean anything, since the warranty only applies to PCT devices.

To begin with, the characteristics:

Let's now look at the hero of the review, Meizu MX4, and carefully discuss all its charms and not-charms, one touch-sensitive round button is clearly visible in the center, it glows phosphor in the dark and flashes as an event indicator, there are no other indicators here, just as there are no buttons to the left and to the right of it, what to do? - I asked myself, before this I had Elephone p6i with one button, everything was decided by the number of clicks, once - back, twice - home, hold down - menu. Here it’s a little different, press the button - home, swipe up - back, quite by the way, it looks cool and convenient, but the menu only appears on the screen in applications where it is needed, here we encounter the first inconvenience - the absence of a “menu” button - Maybe this will be solved, for example, by swiping left or right, but for now there is an inconvenience.

2 megapixel front camera, speaker, light and proximity sensor - everything is in place. Between the screen and the side edges there is a layer, the purpose of which is to prevent damage in the event of a fall, they say it is very useful and no one has such protection.
The back part is the peephole of the main camera, a dual very bright flash. The back cover is plastic.

The upper part is a 3.5" headset (headphone) jack, a noise-canceling microphone, and the second drawback is the power button, look into the eyes of whoever came up with the idea of ​​leaving it on top, there are many reservations about it, that they say it only needs to turn on the smartphone and that’s it, Unlock by double tapping on the screen, lock by pressing the round button touch button, - everything is so, and I’ll be frank, - there is a plus in this, I saw it just the other day, when I had already put my smartphone in the case, then I saw that I hadn’t blocked it, - I just had to press the top button, - I didn’t have to take out my smartphone, - this is a plus, but how to press it in normal use mode, see below, and yes - taking screenshots is also not convenient, you need to hold down the power button and any of the volume keys, hand yoga cannot be avoided.

The bottom part is very interesting, it is as beautiful as an iPhone, there is a latch for removing the cover, it can be removed, unlike older versions of Meizu smartphones, very easily, a MicroUSB socket. Round pieces with a mesh, under which there is a microphone and a speaker - I have never heard such a speaker, very loud and clear with bass, here I take my hat off, really very cool. The increase in volume and bass depth was achieved through the use of the second generation NXP SmartPA audio processor, writes the official website.

The left side edge contains a volume rocker, the metal buttons are pleasant, cool, and the action is elastic.

The right side edge makes us closer to Zen; there is nothing on it. Well, I didn’t just talk about the strips, the purpose of which is not clear, since the back cover is plastic and there is no need to draw conclusions for antennas.

What I liked most about the smartphone, I can’t remain silent any longer, is its squarer screen, I sometimes like to read, and those who share this hobby will understand me, usually the width of the smartphone is narrow, not sufficient, but here it’s simply magnificent, there were doubts Regarding the FullHD+ screen resolution, it is non-standard, but everything is fine, I have never met an application that was not displayed correctly. But here lies underwater rocks, although the frames are very thin, the width makes itself felt. Let's see what it looks like. Basically, your thumb covers the screen and you can reach anywhere.

But pressing the round button is no longer so convenient. Many will say, “you’re nitpicking,” yes, I’m nitpicking, but what can I do, the smartphone is very good, so minor quibbles are all that can be found and I’ll try to point out all of them.

Pulling out the top curtain is very convenient, since the smartphone is wide, but not tall.

In general, the Meizu MX4 feels very pleasant in the hand, I’ll say more, I want to put a bumper on it so that it’s a little thicker and heavier, and protection won’t hurt, but hiding such beauty is recklessness.

In addition to the screen, we can add that it is good, improved IPS, vibrant colors, brightness from almost completely absent to high, but the light sensor works so well that we didn’t have to adjust the brightness. Everything is perfectly visible in the sun, see the angles of inclination below.

Screen at angles

What else I would like to point out is the lack of MicroSD - this is obviously a minus, - I got out of the situation by reasoning, - I have a lot of cards, you can carry at least a dozen of them with you, which means you need a convenient reader, and I found one, earlier in my reviews you can find it. With such a reader, even a 16 GB version will be enough, because you can always transfer excess information to a card or, conversely, transfer the missing information to a smartphone. So the issue with the amount of internal memory disappeared by itself, I highly recommend the reader.

It remains to remove the cover to finish describing the appearance. The cover is thin with a plug for NFC - it's not here.

The smartphone itself is milky white inside, and only has a slot for MicroSim; it’s very good that the cover is removable, since Ali has something for every taste, bamboo, leather, and anything else.

Antutu
Let's look at the tests, Antutu squeals with delight, 51000 or 52000 for me depends on whether the Internet is connected, unfortunately, it is slow for me.

CPU-z
The latest eight-core MTK 6595 processor (4 Cortex A17 cores and 4 Cortex A7 cores), operating at frequencies up to 2.2 GHz and a whole bunch of sensors. The MTK website mentions that Meizu helped in the development of this processor.

epic citadel

Nenamark

What can I say, yes, Meizu MX4 is powerful, gamers will be absolutely delighted.

WiFi b/g/n/ac format

Photo, next to the router, one and two walls.

Mobile frequencies Full spectrum 2G 3G 4G LTE available

Job GPS and Glonass I was 100% satisfied, and my demands, as a tourist, are quite high, I caught the satellites themselves at the window in 3 seconds, the positioning accuracy increased for another 5 seconds. Compass on board.

Meizu MX4 works great with a smart bracelet Xiaomi Mi Band, but it does not support unlocking, you need miui.

The built-in antivirus monitors installed applications and warns in case of danger, a very nice feature, since not all applications are installed from the play market.

I will provide screenshots about the device and basic settings:

The smart bar, as you can see here, can be hidden, it will be shown only when necessary, a convenient feature. I was not pleased with the built-in keyboard, but I easily installed the keyboard from Xperia. Three types of work, the most optimal is balanced, others, in fact, are needed only in rare situations.

Open access to the system - this is an installation root rights. Route is installed in Meizu MX4 out of the box and is obtained by registering on the Meizu website. The sensor supports 10 clicks. Shell Flyme It is slightly inferior to MIUI, but overall it is very interesting, it has an antivirus, over-the-air updates, a drawing program and other additional applications.

Meizu MX4 battery capacity is 3100 mAh The manufacturer is Sony, and the reputation of the Meizu company is conducive to trust, the battery is not removable, it lasts for 2-3 days with my use, Internet, calls, photos and a little games and Youtube. The device hardly heats up during tasks and there is no waste of charge due to temperature as in the Snapdragon, which is why I always liked MTK better.
Camera
This is one of the most praised advantages of Meizu MX4, here the device received the latest camera 20.7 megapixels from the flagship Sony Z3. The possibilities are listed below.

The quality of the images is truly amazing in detail and significantly surpasses the camera of my Xiaomi Red Rice 1S even at a comparable image resolution.

The front camera is 2 megapixels, which is enough for video calls and selfies.

Shooting with the rear camera in a dark room simply amazed me; there is nothing to say but emotions of admiration.

There are a lot of examples of pictures on the Internet, so I don’t see any point in repeating them. I myself don’t shoot at 20 megapixels, this feature is very useful when traveling, but for everyday shots, 12 megapixels, which are set by default, are enough, and even they are quite impressive.

The last thing left is what I love most - sound, for the test I used my favorite Vsonic VSD1S headphones and compared them with Cowon player J3, there is no point in comparing it with the sound of my Xiaomi Red Rice 1S, since the quality surpasses it many times over; here we can only compare it with players with a good sound level on high-quality headphones. The Meizu MX4 itself does not have a dedicated audio chip, but the MTK 6595 has a fairly high-quality chip built into it Wolfson WM8281 During the comparison of MX4 and Cowon J3, no obvious differences were revealed, I can say that they sound at approximately the same level, the sound of Meizu MX4 is a little softer, a little missing volume is compensated by engineering menu changing the maximum volume value from 126 to 150 (maximum 160), that is, the reserve is left with interest. Low Frequencies very lively and intelligible, the bass is excellent, the mids are also excellent, there is a slight lack in the upper frequencies, but just a little. I highly recommend purchasing high-quality headphones for this device and enjoying the soundscapes.

The result is

Minuses:
- one SIM card;
- no map support MicroSD memory;
- no NFC;
- power button at the top;
- no hardware “menu” button;
- wide, not for any hand.

Pros:
- excellent camera from Sony 20.7 megapixels;
- decent sound;
- very high quality screen;
- most powerful processor MTK6595;
- loud high-quality speaker;
- Wi-Fi ac class;
- Sony 3100 capacity battery;
- more square screen;
- narrow screen frames;
- very light for its battery (147 grams);
- 4G LTE support.

What can be said as a conclusion, it is obvious that the smartphone is great, do I recommend it? - of course I recommend it, anyone who picks up the Meizu MX4 will never let it go. It's really best smartphone this year.

I looked at the Pro version, I can only note an even better sound chip, everything else is not significant, like a higher resolution, increased dimensions, a slightly better front camera, the processor is not the latest from Samsung. Some may find it tempting Pro version, but the price is still high.

Everyone have a nice shopping, Black Friday is coming, you still have time to buy Meizu...

Great news, the MINUS100 coupon for 100 bucks still works on Meizu.

I'm planning to buy +25 Add to favorites I liked the review +61 +108

Meizu has been standing out from the rest for many years now: there are still no smartphones similar to Meizu devices. This manufacturer is already developing its own corporate style, its own recognizable style, which is only improving from device to device. And this despite the fact that the development of Meizu smartphones began with such a direct copy of the iPhone that Apple, even just in case, put pressure on the Chinese and forced them to stop producing their first-born, the Meizu M8. Until recently, the Chinese company produced only smartphones that could compete with the flagships of top brands. And in 2014, Meizu, remarkably, showed not one device, as it did before, but two at once: MX4, which we are studying today, and MX4 Pro (doesn’t remind you of anything?). The latter is distinguished by a slightly larger screen diagonal, Quad HD resolution, a different system-on-chip and the presence of a fingerprint scanner. We'll talk about it in detail another time.

Meizu MX4 is rather an evolutionary product: it is a development of the ideas contained in the MX3. MX4, as expected, increased the size and resolution of the display, received a modern system-on-a-chip with eight cores, learned to work in fourth-generation networks and, in general, raised the level of Meizu devices to smartphones at the level of the end of 2014.

⇡ Technical specifications

Specifications
	Meizu MX3	Meizu MX4
Touch screen	5.1 inches, 1800 × 1080, IPS; Capacitive, up to 10 simultaneous touches	5.36 inches, 1920 × 1152 pixels, IPS; Capacitive, up to 10 simultaneous touches
Air gap	No
Protective glass	Corning Corilla Glass 3 with oleophobic coating and polarizing filter
CPU	Samsung Exynos 5 Octa 5410: four cores ARM Cortex-A15 (ARMv7), frequency 1.6 GHz; four ARM Cortex-A7 cores (ARMv7), frequency 1.2 GHz; process technology 28 nm LP HKMG	MediaTek MT6595: four cores ARM Cortex-A17 (ARMv7), frequency 2.2 GHz; four ARM Cortex-A7 cores (ARMv7), frequency 1.7 GHz; process technology 28 nm LP HKMG
Graphics controller	Imagination Technologies PowerVR SGX 544MP3	Imagination Technologies PowerVR G6200MP4
RAM	2 GB LPDDR3-1600
Flash memory	16/32/64/128 GB	16/32/64 GB
Connectors	1 × Micro-USB 2.0 1 × 3.5mm headset jack 1 × Micro-SIM
cellular	2G: GSM/GPRS/EDGE 850/900/1800 MHz 3G: HSPA+ (21 Mbps) 850/2100 MHz 4G: no Micro-SIM	2G: GSM/GPRS/EDGE 850/900/1800/1900 MHz 3G: HSPA+ (42 Mbps) 850/900/1900/2100 MHz 4G: LTE Cat. 4 (150 Mbit/s) band 1, 3, 7 Micro-SIM
WiFi	802.11a/b/g/n, 2.4/5 GHz	802.11a/b/g/n/ac, 2.4/5 GHz
Bluetooth	4.0
NFC	Eat
IR port	No
Navigation	GPS, A-GPS, GLONASS
Sensors	Light sensor, proximity sensor, accelerometer/gyroscope, Hall sensor (digital compass)	Light Sensor, Proximity Sensor, Accelerometer/Gyroscope, Hall Sensor (Digital Compass), Gravity Sensor, Pedometer
Main camera	8 MP (3264 × 2448), Sony Exmor RS (IMX179) matrix with back-illumination, autofocus, LED flash	20.7 MP (5248 × 3936), Sony Exmor RS (IMX208) matrix with back-illumination, autofocus, LED flash
Front-camera	2.1 MP (1920 × 1088), Sony back-illuminated sensor
Nutrition	Non-removable battery 9.1 Wh (2400 mAh, 3.8 V)	Non-removable battery 11.78 Wh (3100 mAh, 3.8 V)
Wireless charger	Not supported
Size	139 × 72 mm Case thickness 9.2 mm	144 × 75 mm Case thickness 8.9 mm
Weight	146 g	147 g
Water and dust protection	No
operating system	Google Android 4.2.1 (Jelly Bean) Own Flyme 3.1 shell	Google Android 4.4.2 (KitKat) Own Flyme 4.0 shell
recommended price	17,990 rubles for the 16 GB version 20,990 rubles for the 32 GB version	21,990 rubles for the 16 GB version 23,990 rubles for the 32 GB version

Meizu MX4 - information about the system and hardware according to the CPU-Z application

⇡ Appearance and ergonomics

Meizu MX3 had one interesting feature that migrated to MX4. The fact is that the screen aspect ratio of both devices is non-standard - 15:9 instead of the usual 16:9. Because of this, the relative width of the display is larger than usual. And if this added some charm to the MX3, then the larger display width of the MX4, which has grown in size, is perhaps rather a hindrance. To grasp the smartphone, you have to spread your fingers properly. To be honest, holding the gadget is not very convenient. Of course, you can talk on Meizu MX4, but for many the device will be too bulky. Especially for the fair sex.

Meizu MX4 - front panel

It is noteworthy that the frames around the screen are very thin - their width is only 2.6 millimeters, that is, the display occupies almost the entire front panel of the device. This solution looks great. At the bottom of the panel there is a single touch key with which you can lock the smartphone (you need to hold your finger on it for a few seconds). At the top is the earpiece mesh and the 2.1-megapixel front camera lens.

Meizu MX4 with screen on

The body thickness of the MX4 is quite impressive by modern standards - 8.9 millimeters. True, due to the bevels of the back panel and the rounding of the side ends, it may seem that the gadget is thinner than it actually is.

Meizu MX4 - left side

The placement of the hardware keys on the device is not very good. The fact is that the physical power button of the smartphone is located on the top end. To reach it, you have to stretch your index finger pretty much until your joints crack. Fortunately, you can unlock your smartphone by double tapping the display - this is much more convenient. The volume keys are located on the left side.

The layout of the interfaces is quite convenient. The Micro-USB connector is located on the bottom edge of the case, next to it there is a slot for an external, rather loud speaker. A universal 3.5 mm audio jack is placed on the top end.

Meizu MX4 - MHL connector (combined Micro-USB and video output)

On the back panel there is a lens of the main 20.7-megapixel camera, which protrudes slightly beyond the body. To prevent the front lens from being damaged when the smartphone is lying on the table, there is a barely noticeable metal rim around the lens.

Meizu MX4 - rear panel

The body of the device essentially consists of two parts: an aluminum frame and a thin polycarbonate “back”. Meizu engineers abandoned the use of unusual fasteners that were in the MX3, making it very easy to remove the back cover - just pick it up with your fingernail and unclip it from the fasteners.

Meizu MX4 with the back cover removed

Like its predecessor, the MX4 does not provide access to the battery: they will show it to you, but they won’t let you “try it”. Under rear panel There is a slot for installing a Micro-SIM card. Unfortunately, there is no slot for memory cards in the smartphone - Meizu for some reason diligently avoids it. The gadget is assembled quite well. The body of the smartphone feels monolithic - there is no play or creaking.

⇡ Display

The diagonal of the Meizu MX4 screen is, to put it mildly, non-standard - 5.36 inches. Its resolution is even more unusual - 1920 × 1152 pixels, that is, slightly more than Full HD. The screen aspect ratio, as we said earlier, is 15:9. Despite this unusualness, the MX4 display is quite comfortable for watching movies and playing games; the non-standard aspect ratio of the screen does not interfere at all. True, we didn’t see any practical benefit from it either. The meaning of this resolution is that the Flyme shell tries to show the user the standard on-screen buttons at the bottom as little as possible: it is believed that they are not there, and if so, the area that they occupy in other phones can be cut off to reduce the vertical size.

The MX4 has a high pixel density of almost 418 ppi. Accordingly, you won’t be able to see the ladder of pixels, no matter how hard you look at the screen. In our opinion, values ​​of about four hundred PPI are close to optimal - more pixels, as, for example, in the LG G3 matrix, are clearly not needed so as not to waste the battery, and with lower pixel density values, the pixels can be seen with the naked eye if desired, and There will probably be a perfectionist who will be upset by this.

The display is made using IPS technology. The device uses a high-quality matrix with wide viewing angles. It is noteworthy that the contrast of the screen practically does not drop if you look at it at an angle - you can watch a movie on it together. The display is responsive: it responds to touch quickly and accurately, and handles gesture recognition, which, by the way, there are a lot of in the Flyme proprietary shell, without any problems. True, the screen does not respond to taps with loose gloves, but this can be forgiven. The display “feels” up to ten simultaneous touches.

Meizu MX4 - AnTuTu MultiTouch Test results

The display is made to last: its matrix is ​​“glued” to the protective glass of the front panel (OGS technology - One Glass Solution) - as is known, this reduces the number of unwanted reflections. A decent polarizing filter can also help combat glare. Used as “protection” for the screen strained glass Corning Gorilla Glass 3, which is not prone to collecting small scratches and break down over trifles. It has a layer of oleophobic coating, thanks to which it is easy to remove “fingers” and other dirt from the front panel.

Meizu MX4 - display settings are very few

Gadget manufacturers rarely publish data on the brightness and contrast of their device displays, but Meizu is an exception to the rule in this matter too. Details about the MX4 screen are available on the company's official website. It is stated that its brightness is 500 cd/m2, and its contrast is 1100:1. Of course, we could not help but check the published data.

Meizu was not lying: the results of our measurements practically coincided with the official ones. Deviations are within the margin of error; they could arise due to different testing methods and the use of different colorimeters. The maximum luminosity of the white field of the Meizu MX4 display is 486 candelas per square meter, the minimum is only 8 cd/m2. The boundaries of the screen backlight are very wide: the device is equally comfortable to use both in pitch darkness and in bright light. In the first case, the display does not burn your eyes, and in the second, it does not fade even in direct sunlight. The device is equipped with a light sensor, thanks to which it can independently adjust the comfortable brightness level.

The black field luminosity of the MX4 screen is moderate. At the maximum backlight level, it barely reaches 0.43 candelas per square meter (in this case, less is better). Black color remains quite saturated even at 100% display brightness. We measured the contrast using the “domino” method, filling the screen half with white and half with black (to deceive the dynamic adjustment of brightness depending on the image displayed on the screen). The result was impressive - 1130:1.

The color temperature of grayscale levels is uniform—the values ​​do not “jump” when transitioning from dark gray to white. On average, it is 7350 K, that is, slightly higher than the ideal value of 6500 K. The deviation is small, the picture looks just a little “colder” than it should. However, in practice this is not really noticeable - the white balance seems quite natural.

The Meizu MX4 screen is configured very well. The grayscale gamma curve is almost identical to the reference curve. Accordingly, all shades of gray are exactly as bright as needed, without overexposure or “dips.” The curves of the color components are slightly raised in the middle part - the halftones of blue, red and green look just a little brighter than they should be. True, such a minor deviation can be neglected. Color rendition does not deteriorate much from this setting.

Meizu MX4 - smartphone screen color gamut (yellow triangle) compared to the sRGB reference space (white triangle)

The color gamut of the MX4 display is very wide - even wider than the sRGB color space, which is considered the standard. Colors on the screen look quite deep, and greens and reds are even more saturated than necessary. True, this is not as noticeable as, for example, with various AMOLED displays. In general, there are minor shortcomings in the calibration of the Meizu MX4 screen, but nothing critical.

⇡ Hardware and performance

The smartphone runs on the new MediaTek MT6595 platform. Meizu MX4 is one of the first gadgets to have this system-on-chip installed. It is an implementation of the ARM big.LITTLE MP idea, that is, it has at its disposal two groups of cores adapted for different types tasks. Four ARM Cortex-A7 cores operating at a frequency of 1.7 GHz are designed to save energy - processing simple functions like web surfing or multimedia is transferred to them, that is, what they can handle without slowing down the operation of the smartphone. If the power is suddenly not enough, four more, much more powerful ARM Cortex-A17 cores operating at a frequency of 2.2 GHz are connected. It is noteworthy that these groups of cores can work either individually or all together. The previous generation of big.LITTLE - IKS - could not do this. The MT6595 chip is made using a 28-nanometer process technology.

We should take a closer look at the ARM Cortex-A17 cores - this is the first time we’ve encountered these. According to the manufacturer, Cortex-A17 is approximately 60% more powerful than its, to put it mildly, well-worn predecessor - Cortex-A9. The new cores use the ARMv7-A instruction set. Out-of-order execution of tasks with a pipeline length of 11 stages is assumed. The advantages of the MediaTek MT6595 chip include the presence of built-in codecs for processing H.265 Ultra HD video. It is noteworthy that the manufacturer promises to release a more powerful version of this platform: MT6595 Turbo, which will feature higher frequencies of Cortex-A17 cores - 2.5 GHz versus 2.2 GHz.

ARM Cortex-A17 - official block diagram

The smartphone has two gigabytes of RAM. By modern standards, this is not much; All Sony flagship devices, for example, come with three gigabytes of RAM. Of course, the fast memory type LPDDR3-1600 is used. The amount of built-in flash memory depends on the version chosen - it can be 16, 32 or 64 GB. Unfortunately, as is usually the case with Meizu devices, the MX4 does not have a slot for memory cards. True, you can connect to the gadget external drive or another peripheral device via an OTG (On-the-Go) adapter, but with a regular microSD it would be much more convenient.

In terms of “dry” computing, the MediaTek MT6595 shows simply excellent results. In the synthetic test AnTuTu Benchmark 5, he scored more than 53 thousand “parrots”! This best result among all the devices we tested. Meizu MX4 effortlessly left behind absolutely all of its direct competitors. Unfortunately, he was unable to repeat this success in other tests.

While testing the smartphone, it became obvious that it is not as powerful as one might think about it after the Antutu task. He coped with game tasks of varying degrees of difficulty not at all as well as we expected. No, don’t think anything bad - the results are very decent, plus or minus the same as those of your opponents. But in some places it’s even a little worse—for example, in Basemark X.

It is difficult to say for sure why this happened. Perhaps the new graphics controller from Imagination Technologies, the PowerVR G6200MP4 installed in the MX4, turned out to be slower than the top Adreno 330 from Qualcomm. Perhaps the relatively small amount of RAM failed... There could be many reasons, but the fact remains: when performing resource-intensive game tests, the device did not allow itself to render the picture smoothly enough. True, at the same time, many popular 3D toys worked on the MX4 without image twitching.

Numbers are numbers, but in reality the device works very smoothly, without the slightest hint of slowdown. It quickly switches between applications and displays animations smoothly operating system. Obviously, part of the credit for this goes to the remarkably optimized Flyme proprietary shell, which we will talk about below. The gadget easily copes with playing videos in high definition format; its built-in player knows many different video containers - there will be no problems with video. In the simple Basemark 2 Taiji gaming test, the smartphone quite expectedly scored 60 frames per second - like most of its competitors. Probably, in the new year this “benchmark” will finally go into a well-deserved retirement, as Nenamark 2 did in its time.

In general, the MediaTek MT6595 turned out to be quite a vigorous chip. It has very fast processor cores and generally good graphics - a little slower than its classmates, but also quite fast. In other words, due to lack of power Meizu owners MX4 will definitely not have to complain in the coming year.

⇡ Contact

The advantages of the used system-on-chip include support for the relatively new Wi-Fi protocol 802.11ac, which is more high speed data transfer and reduced power consumption. It operates at a frequency of 5 GHz. "Blue tooth" in the device of the fourth version. Meizu MX4 has neither NFC support, no infrared port. All wireless modules work stably, without problems.

Unlike MX3, MX4 has learned to work in fourth-generation networks - and this is perhaps the most important change. The maximum theoretical download speed is 150 Mbit/s, upload speed is 50 Mbit/s (LTE Cat. 4). The list of supported frequencies is quite small, but Band 7, which is important for Russia, is present in it. The smartphone clearly maintains a connection to the network no worse than its competitors - the signal did not disappear during the test for no apparent reason. The volume of the conversational speaker is decent - the interlocutor can be heard even in noisy rooms.

Meizu MX4 - AndroiTS GPS Test results

The set of supported navigation systems in the MX4 is standard: the smartphone can work with GPS and GLONASS satellites, because the Chinese Mediatek is in no way going to master the Chinese Beidou. It’s not even worth talking about Galileo - the full constellation of satellites of this system will appear in the sky only in 2019, unless, of course, any plans fall through. The navigation module works quite quickly: within half a minute after starting the test, the device detected 12 satellites of two systems and navigated the terrain using 11 of them. The error radius was extremely small - only three meters.

⇡ Camera

The front camera of the Meizu MX4 is quite ordinary - a 2.1-megapixel backlight sensor from Sony. Like all its competitors, the MX4 allows you to use it to take some kind of self-portraits and make video calls even in dim lighting. True, the picture in this case will turn out to be quite “noisy”, but this is absolutely normal.

Meizu MX4 - main camera

The rear camera of the smartphone, on the contrary, is quite impressive. It is a 20.7-megapixel Sony Exmor RS matrix of the IMX220 modification measuring 1/2.3 inches. The pixel area in this case is quite large - 1.44 μm 2, which allows you to capture more light when shooting with poor lighting. Of course, the main camera has autofocus, as well as dual LED flash.

By default, the MX4 camera shoots with a resolution of thirteen megapixels, instead of the stated twenty. This is probably done to save space on precious flash memory, which cannot be expanded using memory cards. We did not change this setting - it is more convenient to compare images with the same resolution. With sufficient lighting, the Meizu MX4 camera takes excellent pictures. Photos are rich and contrasty, well detailed, sharp across the entire field, without falling off to the edges. The balance between the level of fine details and noise is maintained very well - there are not many artifacts in the images.Software

Standard desktops

The icons are made in a “flat” style - another small nod to iOS 8. They are drawn very nicely - simply and clearly, and their captions are in a fairly large font. The color scheme was chosen very well - calm, non-flashy colors were taken as its basis. The notification panel is also made in a very pleasant, uncluttered style.

Meizu MX4 - notification panel

The lower “thrust” has lost the brightness adjustment slider - now there is only a list of recently opened programs. To open it, you need to swipe up from the bottom of the screen. The set of built-in applications is practically no different from the standard package Android programs. It is only supplemented file manager, a service for creating “quick” notes and a “drawing tool”.

Meizu MX4 - lower “smart bar”

Subjectively speaking, Flyme is one of the most non-standard launchers for Android. It's quite easy to use, but it's not like most other launchers. The firmware runs reliably and smoothly, without any unpleasant slowdowns. Perhaps its only drawback is the lame localization in places. But this is not at all critical.

Meizu MX4 - shutdown screen

Offline work

I remember that the MX3 had a tiny battery of only 2400 mAh. By modern standards, this is a very small capacity, so the smartphone was discharged quite quickly. The error of the previous generation should be corrected by a more capacious 11.78 Wh battery (3100 mAh, 3.8 V) installed in the Meizu MX4. Let us remind you that users do not have access to it, despite the fact that the back cover of the device is removable - the battery is recessed into the case, it cannot be removed from there (and it will not be possible unless you disassemble the device).

Our expectations for the MX4's battery were, frankly, not met. Despite the fact that the battery capacity this time is quite decent, the device still discharges quite quickly. In continuous HD video playback mode with an active Wi-Fi connection, the device lasted about five and a half hours - a worse result than its competitors. Probably the reason is the not very optimized operation of the MediaTek MT6595 platform. The smartphone has three operating modes: “Energy Saving”, “Balanced” and “Productive”. The manufacturer does not specify how they differ from each other. The test was carried out in a balanced mode.

Meizu MX4 - power saving settings

Nevertheless, with everyday use, the battery is enough for a working day, even under relatively high loads (3 hours in navigator and music player mode, an hour of talking, two hours of web surfing). The gadget is charged using a standard charger in three hours.

⇡ Conclusion

The week with Meizu MX4 turned out to be very interesting. At first, the smartphone seems somehow unusual, unlike all other Android handsets. This is understandable: the company’s programmers have made a lot of effort to ensure that “Android” is noticeable here to a minimum. I must admit: they did it, and it turned out well - the interface was thought out to perfection. Perhaps this is the main advantage of the MX4.

The smartphone is very fast: in terms of the power of processor cores, it has no competitors at all, plus it can cope with modern 3D toys without any problems. The gadget is universal - you can browse the Internet, play games, use a navigator, or watch a movie. Its display is very good, with wide backlight boundaries and very good calibration. Among other things, the smartphone is very well assembled, which is why it is simply a pleasure to use. And finally, the device, unlike its predecessor, has support for LTE networks.

The list of advantages of Meizu MX4 could be quite long. Unfortunately, the device has one drawback that can easily cancel them all out. The thing is that this smartphone, to put it mildly, is not very comfortable to hold in your hands. It is not clear how the manufacturer could allow this to happen, but making calls using the Meizu MX4 and generally using it every day is uncomfortable - the width of the case is too wide. This is probably why we would buy the Meizu MX4 instead flagship smartphone from another manufacturer. And within five minutes you would regret not buying Meiza - it’s good. And by modern standards - inexpensive.

It can be very difficult to find a smartphone or, in general, a thing that you not only enjoy using, but simply enjoy holding in your hand and working with. Many companies are completely chasing marketing indicators, stuffing their products with a huge number of technologies, not adapting them for ease of use, but putting them “for the sake of a tick”... All the more valuable are companies that carefully approach ease of use, work out various use scenarios and bring their devices to almost to the ideal.
Let's look at an example of such work today - the Meizu MX4 smartphone and think about why it is so good...

Meizu has been known in the market for a long time. It has existed since 1998 and for a long time specialized in the production of audio players, where it gained some fame. In 2008, the company's first phone, Meizu M8, was released and the company immediately gained popularity.

Since then, Android has conquered the world, and Meizu has become firmly associated with its phones, not players. All this is not just like that, it’s about the careful approach with which the company creates all its devices. This is what helped the company find itself in the market and confidently remain in it. Meizu followed the path of Apple - releasing 1 smartphone per year and it is bearing fruit. In the fall of 2014, Meizu MX4 entered the market and immediately gained great popularity in the media and among buyers.

Let's look at characteristics:

• SoC Mediatek MT6595 8 cores (4 cores 2.2 GHz Cortex-A17 and 4 cores 1.7 GHz Cortex-A7)
• GPU PowerVR G6200, 2 cores 600 MHz
• Operating system Android 4.4.2, Flyme OS 4.0
• Touch display IPS (New Mode2) 5.36″, 1920×1152, 418 ppi
• Random access memory (RAM) 2 GB, internal memory 16/32/64 GB
• TD-LTE / FDD-LTE / TD-SWCDMA / WCDMA / GSM networks
• Wi-Fi 802.11a/b/g/n/ac (2.4/5 GHz), Wi-Fi hotspot, Wi-Fi Direct
• Bluetooth 4.0 HID
• GPS, A-GPS, Glonass, BDS
• USB 2.0, OTG
• Camera 20.7 MP, Sony IMX220 Exmor RS, f/2.2, autofocus, 4K video
• Front camera 2 MP, Sony IMX208, f/2.0
• Gyroscope, proximity sensor, light sensor, gravity sensor, electronic compass, Hall sensor, infrared distance sensor
• Non-removable battery 3100 mAh
• Dimensions 144x75x8.9 mm
• Weight 147 g

And all this for about $300 (in China)! Fantastic!

The phone for China and for the rest of the world comes in different configurations. The version in the review is Chinese. It differs only in the delivery package and the initial absence of Russian in the firmware, therefore everything described in the article is true for a smartphone.

You can watch a video review of the smartphone here

It comes in a very modest box, but very laconic and opens like a “book”.

The kit only included a charger and a warranty. This version in China costs about $320 for 32 GB...

Meizu MX4 assembly video

Appearance

The phone fits perfectly in the hand, which is helped by the sloping shape of the body and rounded corners. Due to the very narrow frames and the manufacturer’s work with weight (only 140 grams!), the smartphone can be easily held in one hand, including a woman’s.

Battery

A non-removable 3100 mAh battery manufactured by Sony is used. This capacity is quite enough for reliable work during daylight hours.

You can watch a video on a smartphone with maximum brightness for about 7 hours, surf the net for 15 hours.

Communications and communication

This smartphone is based on a new MediaTek processor and has 4G LTE support in addition to standard GSM 2G and 3G frequencies.

4G works great in Moscow! A test is presented during working hours in the industrial zone of Moscow on MTS, which has the worst LTE in Moscow so far.

OTG works, there are no problems with BlueTooth 4.0 or WiFi either!

The only thing missing is NFC, but it’s strange to regret this in Russia.

Navigation and GPS

Traditionally, it was believed that navigation was the sore spot of MediaTek-based smartphones. Large manufacturers tried to fight this by installing expensive antennas and shamanic settings, but the accuracy of tracking along the highway was deadly, and in large cities it was deadly.

The new chip from MediaTek also supports GLONASS and Chinese system Beidou positioning and here...everything is fine! As an example, I gave a track of movement along the road.

Memory

Meizu MX4 has 2 GB of LPDDR3 933 MHz RAM. Only the MX4 Pro version will have 3 GB, but 2 GB is enough for the eyes.

Built-in memory 16/32/64 GB depending on model. Memory cards are not supported, so we recommend that you carefully select the version. It won’t hurt to master cloud services for cleaning up memory.

Camera

One of the main advantages apparatus.

The main camera is 20.7 MP with F2.2 aperture and CMOS Exmor RS IMX220 with back illumination, the front camera is 2 MP with F2.0 aperture for better “selfies” in poor lighting conditions.

She takes photos beautifully - good focusing, high detail, color reflections...

But the video presented an unpleasant surprise. Video can be shot in resolutions up to 3840×2176 pixels (UltraHD 4K) at 30 fps. There is slow motion shooting in HD resolution at 100 frames per second.

Great on paper, but in reality there are problems with exposure, especially in difficult lighting conditions. Examples below.

As you can see, there are noticeable problems with focusing. The cheaper Jiayu G4s copes better with video in difficult conditions... Although it’s better not to say anything about the quality of detail in general.

Perhaps the manufacturer will correct this oversight in future firmware.

Hardware and performance.

The “heart” of the smartphone here is represented by MediaTek’s current flagship – MT6595. This is an 8-core processor, made using ARM big.LITTLE. It implies that 4 Cortex-A17 cores (2.2 GHz each) can work simultaneously with 4 Cortex-A7 cores (1.7 GHz each). Depending on the load, “unnecessary” cores are turned off, the device should save energy.

The graphics are handled by the PowerVR G6200 (4 cores at 600 MHz) codenamed Rogue. Supports DirectX 10, OpenGL 3.x, 4.x, OpenGL ES 3.1.

As a result... Games run ABSOLUTELY ALL at the settings possible for them. You can see this in my video review.

This is the most powerful smartphone on the market as of December 2014.

System and interface

The smartphone runs Android KitKat 4.4.2. There is a proprietary Flyme OS 2.0 shell.

Compared to regular Android, there are a lot of changes and you need to get used to it.

Great emphasis is placed on gestures. To unlock the screen, you can press the round button and “swipe” up as before, or you can set the unlock in the settings by simply swiping your finger up on the locked screen. The status bar is called up from top to bottom. From right to left – the camera starts, from left to right – calls. “Double tap” also works to turn on the backlight. A “bottom-up” gesture on an unlocked display starts the search.

I suggest you get acquainted with Flyme Os in

In general, I would rate the ease of working with the system as a 5-, with a discount for the need to get used to it. During the entire period of use, I did not notice any system reboots.

Conclusions.

Let's start with the pros and cons.

Excellent FullHD screen
- Great camera
- Uncontested performance
- Excellent build
- Thoughtful interface
- Excellent build
- Easy
- Availability of 4G LTE

Problems with the video camera (exposure performance in difficult lighting conditions)
- No microSD slot
- Non-removable battery

Missing “whistles” that are of real benefit - 0.01

No NFC
- no QHD screen with a diagonal of 55 inches. And yes, this is not a TV
- no 4 stereo speakers and built-in subwoofer
- no case included
- android not version 5
- does not read eye position for unlocking

At a price of 350-400 dollars, this smartphone outperforms much more expensive rivals. In comparison with OnePlus One or Mi4 it also has advantages over one and the other. Which? Camera he immediately leaves no chance for any of these contenders. There are many comparative tests of smartphone cameras on the Internet, where the MX4 is head and shoulders above all smartphone competitors. The system based on MTK6595 also surpasses Qualcomm in tests, this is confirmed by tests. Also important is the initial “dampness” of the firmware, which plagued the OnePlus One (and not only the firmware). I would also note that the Meizu MX4 is the only one of these smartphones that is sold in Russia officially and with a guarantee, which will be an extremely significant advantage at current prices.
Among the “branded” competitors, it is also worth remembering Sony Z3, LG G3, ZTE Z7, Samsung Note 3. Each of these smartphones has its own pros and cons; it is better to read more about each separately.

I held both MI4 and OnePlus One in my hands, even when gripping with my hand, the MX4 had a more pleasant experience. That’s why I confidently recommend it this phone for those who want to get a high-quality and powerful thing for good money. Although at the moment there is also a Pro version of MX4 with 3 GB of RAM and a number of additional improvements, but that’s another story.

Meizu MX4 review - the best Chinese smartphonehttps://i0.wp.com/www..jpg?fit=560%2C519https://i0.wp.com/www..jpg?resize=150%2C150 2017-01-15T17:49:47+03:00 Komandin Reviews Smartphones meizu It can be very difficult to find a smartphone or, in general, a thing that you not only enjoy using, but simply enjoy holding in your hand and working with. Many companies are completely chasing marketing indicators, stuffing their products with a huge number of technologies, not adapting them for ease of use, but putting them on “for the sake of a tick”... All the more valuable...Komandin Andrey Komandin [email protected] Administrator Real Review