Review of the smartphone Meizu MX4: a humane flagship. Communication and communication

Touch mobile devices are present in every modern person. Smartphones are convenient, functional, affordable and stylish. World famous manufacturers never cease to amaze their consumers with bold ideas and updates. They systematically improve their models, introduce additional functions, make them lighter and more beautiful, and use innovative solutions.

Phones allow you to stay up to date with all the news, always be in touch with loved ones (through social networks, messages), improve yourself (read books), work, relax (play, watch movies). To become the owner of a popular and functional gadget, you should not only carefully study the characteristics, but also select a worthy seller.

Our online store is considered the country's leader in the sale of mobile devices and accessories. The catalog contains a large and varied selection of models from the manufacturer Meizu. This brand has managed to establish itself on the positive side. His products have a modern filling, stylish design, good build quality and affordable cost.

To make it easier to choose, you can use the filtering window and select models by color, diagonal size, price range, year of announcement, etc.

The Meizu MX4 is a reasonably priced flagship smartphone. The gadget received not only powerful hardware, but also a very attractive design. The device was announced in September 2014.

Appearance and ergonomics

Meizu MX4 has a plastic case with rounded corners. The back cover is very smooth. Between the protective glass and the body there is a spectacular frame made of metal. The sloping edges make the smartphone very comfortable to hold in your hands. Improves ergonomics and porous polycarbonate with a rough surface. This is a very practical solution that helps the device not to slip out of the palm of your hand. There is a small round-shaped touch button under the screen. It is highlighted in bright white. The bottom end has a microphone and microUSB, as well as a multimedia speaker. Above is an additional microphone, a power button and a headphone jack. The lid on the back opens easily, but the built-in 3100mAh battery is non-removable. Available colors: gold, white and gray. Dimensions: height - 144 mm, thickness - 8.9 mm, width - 75.2 mm, weight - 147 g.

Display

The MX4 houses a 5.36-inch screen that was developed by JDI and Sharp. This advanced IPS panel features Nega liquid crystal technology and progressive LED backlighting. This makes the display stand out with increased brightness and excellent contrast. It is worth noting the unusual aspect ratio of the screen - 15: 9. Its resolution is 1920 by 1152 pixels. Since the matrix has no air gap, the image can pleasantly surprise you with its extraordinary realism. It is necessary to highlight the very wide viewing angles, as well as the high-quality oleophobic coating.

Iron and performance

The MX4 smartphone has a powerful eight-core MediaTek MT6595 processor, the frequency of which has been overclocked to 2200 MHz. PowerVR G6200 MP4 3D accelerator is applied. The gadget has 2 GB of LPDDR3 RAM. Designed to improve performance, Smart Core Pilot technology. Compared to its predecessor, this device turned out to be almost twice as powerful. So, in the AnTuTu Benchmark v5 test, the model gains about 53,000 points. Many games run at the highest possible graphics level, and everyday applications run extremely fast. It is noteworthy that the gadget operates on the Android 4.4 operating system with subsequent updates. At the same time, this OS has been seriously modified using the Flyme shell. Built-in memory: 64 GB, 32 GB or 16 GB. There is no way to insert microSD cards here.

Communication and sound

Thanks to the NXP SmartPA audio processor, the Meizu MX4 boasts excellent sound. The bass is especially well developed, and the volume level is seriously increased. The multimedia speaker has become not only louder, but also reproduces more surround sound. The special Wolfson WM8281 chip makes it possible to enjoy music in headphones, since the tracks are played very cleanly. The interlocutor is heard well through the earpiece.

Camera

The Meizu MX4 has a high-quality 20.7-megapixel Sony IMX220 camera. This Exmor RS sensor lets you shoot 4K video and instantly focus on your subject. The dual color LED flash is very helpful at night. There is also a front 2-megapixel camera Sony IMX208 with aperture of 2.0.

conclusions

The flagship MX4 smartphone stands out from the competition with excellent technical characteristics, excellent cameras and an attractive appearance. Includes documentation, USB cable and power adapter.

Pros:

• Gorgeous FHD display.
• High quality speaker and headphone sound.
• Practical and stylish design.
• Advanced main camera.
• A very powerful processor.

Minuses:

• The memory card slot is a bit lacking.
• The autonomy could be higher.

Specifications Meizu MX4

General characteristics
Model	Meizu MX4
Date of announcement and start of sales	September 2014 / September 2014
Dimensions (LxWxH)	144 x 75.2 x 8.9 mm.
The weight	147 g
Available colors	gold, gray, white
Operating system	Android 4.4.4 (KitKat) + Flyme 4.0
Connection
Number and type of SIM-cards	one, Micro-SIM
Communication standard in 2G networks	GSM 850/900/1800/1900
Communication standard in 3G networks	HSDPA 850/900/1900/2100; TD-SCDMA - Chinese version
Communication standard in 4G networks	LTE band 1 (2100), 3 (1800), 7 (2600); LTE band 38 (2600), 39 (1900), 40 (2300), 41 (2500) - Chinese version
Carrier Compatibility	MTS, Beeline, Megafon, Tele2, Yota
Data transfer
Wi-Fi	Wi-Fi 802.11 a / b / g / n / ac, dual-band, Wi-Fi Direct
Bluetooth	4.0, A2DP
Gps	yes, A-GPS, GLONASS, BDS, QZSS
NFC	No
Infrared port	No
Platform
CPU	eight-core MediaTek MT6595 Octa-core (4 × 2.2 GHz Cortex-A17 & 4 × 1.7 GHz Cortex-A7)
GPU	PowerVR G6200
Inner memory	16 GB / 32 GB / 64 GB
RAM	2 GB
Ports and connectors
USB	microUSB 2.0 (MHL TV-out), USB Host
3.5mm jack	there is
Memory card slot	No
Display
Display type	IPS LCD capacitive, 16M colors
Screen size	5.36 inches (~ 75.5% of the face of the device)
Display protection	Corning Gorilla Glass 3
Camera
Main camera	20.7 MP (f / 2.2, 1 / 2.3 ″), autofocus, dual-LED (dual tone) flash
Main camera functionality	Geo-tagging, touch focus, face detection, HDR, panorama
Video recording	[email protected], [email protected]
Front-camera	2 MP, [email protected]
Sensors and sensors
Illumination	there is
Approximations	there is
Gyroscope	there is
Compass	there is
Hall	No
Accelerometer	there is
Barometer	No
Fingerprint scanner	No
Battery
Battery type and capacity	3100 mAh
Battery holder	non-removable
Equipment
Standard kit	MX4: 1 USB cable: 1 SIM Tray Eject Clip: 1 User manual: 1 Warranty card: 1 Charger: 1

Prices

Video reviews

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

The Chinese company Meizu does not have such a large share in the domestic market as the same Xiaomi or even Oppo, however, its smartphones can be safely put on a par with the products of these companies both in quality and in the positioning of manufactured products. Meizu, like Oppo, does not trade for trifles, does not produce anything for the mass market, its smartphones are always top-end flagship devices, with the maximum set of technical characteristics at the moment. 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 the new model is already the fourth in a row, it is called Meizu MX4, and today's story will go 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 item.

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, 400 ppi	1920 × 1080, 440 ppi
SoC	Mediatek MT6595 Octa-core (4x Cortex-A17 @ 2.2GHz & 4x Cortex-A7 @ 1.7GHz)		Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 (4-core 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; video 4K), front (2 Mp)	rear 13 Mp (4K video), front 8 Mp	rear (13 Mp; video 4K), front (5 Mp)	rear (13 Mp; video 1080p), front (2 Mp)
Dimensions and weight	144 x 75 x 8.9 mm, 147 g	139 x 69 x 8.9mm, 152g	153 x 76 x 8.9 mm, 162 g	140 x 69 x 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 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, Lighting, Gravity, Electronic Compass, Hall Sensor, Infrared Distance Sensor
• Non-removable battery 3100 mAh
• Dimensions 144 x 75 x 8.9 mm
• Weight 147 g

Contents of delivery

The Meizu MX4 goes on sale in the exact same packaging as the previous models in the series. A flat box made of thick snow-white cardboard in the form 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 concise text - and nothing else. The packaging of Meizu products is always very stylish, and by this it automatically adds high cost to its contents.

The set of accessories is very limited: the box contains only a miniature charger and a Micro-USB connection cable, nothing else. It is curious that there are no headphones in the kit, although a compartment for their placement is provided in the box (it contains only a paper plug).

Appearance and usability

The updated model has become, as usual, in many ways more powerful and more advanced than its predecessors, but not without a fly in the ointment. The most important negative point is connected with the fact that the manufacturer has once again greatly increased the dimensions of the device, which, in general, is typical now for the actions of all manufacturers of the mobile device market. 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 unusual aspect ratio of 15: 9 for a typical modern smartphone led in the end to the fact that the width of the device became really redundant. That is, with this aspect ratio with the same diagonal, the Meizu screens have more width - this should be taken into account and not bend the stick with an even larger diagonal increase. For a thin and light device, the width of 75 mm is already excessive, it has always been convenient to hold Meizu smartphones in the palm of your hand, but not now. Very thin, sharp, strongly narrowed side edges literally cut into wide-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 case, then all other innovations could be confidently called successful and useful. The ridiculous technology of fastening the back cover has gone into oblivion, when it was necessary to contrive to press the secret button and at the same time, holding the device firmly, pick it out with a pick around the entire perimeter from the case - two hands were not enough. Now everything has fallen into place, the lid of the new case is standardly fastened with plastic latches and removed by simply prying it with a fingernail behind a special ledge, everything is convenient and familiar.

Also, the former translucency of plexiglass has disappeared - the hard and completely inflexible material of the lid literally cracked in the corners during the described manipulations with pulling and prying. Now the back cover is made of thin and flexible plastic, which is gently put on the latches and is securely held without the slightest backlash.

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

The back cover of the device is removable, the body is a monoblock in its structure, only one slot is hidden under the cover, which is accessible to the user: a Micro-SIM card can be inserted into the spring-loaded mechanism for gripping the slot located above the battery. The battery itself is screwed on tightly and is not available for replacement by the user. You cannot find a memory card slot here either, this is a traditional Meizu fad, which the company manically adheres to. The modern realities of the mobile application market are such that the 11 GB remaining after the installation of the system in the younger model will obviously not be enough for all multimedia needs, a memory card slot would obviously not be in the way.

The camera module in the back of the smartphone does not protrude beyond the surface, the protective glass of the Gorilla Glass 3 camera is framed with a metal ring. Near the camera window, you can see the lone eye of the two-section LED flash. The flash can work with a preinstalled program as a flashlight, the corresponding shortcut button is displayed on the notification panel.

The front panel is completely covered with protective Corning Gorilla Glass 3 without an air gap (OGS technology). In the upper part of the panel there is a slit for the earpiece grille; the eyes of the sensors and the front camera are visible next to it. The usual LED status indicator is absent here, its role is played by a pulsating circle framing the central button under the screen, but it does not react to the charging status, it serves only to signal incoming events.

The touch buttons in the lower part of the front panel are traditionally absent for Meizu devices, except for one, the central one, framed by a circle with a bright white backlight. Due to the absence of two adjacent hardware buttons (Back and Menu), applications sometimes have a stupor: for example, the well-known e-book reader FBReader does not open its settings menu to the Meizu MX4 user in any way. Perhaps it's time for the developers in the company to stop showing off and bring everything to one of the two familiar standards: either install three hardware buttons under the screen, or get rid of them altogether and make the whole row of buttons go to the screen in the form of software icons ... Then the problems with the compatibility of third-party applications will disappear by themselves.

Mechanical controls are located at the top and left side of the device. The power and lock button is located here on the upper end, but you don't have to reach for it - there are alternative ways to lock the screen and unlock it. All keys are large enough, have a springy and distinct stroke, and are easily found blindly. In general, there are no complaints about the mechanical controls of the Meizu MX4.

The speaker of the Meizu MX4 is not brought back, but to the bottom end, so that the grill does not overlap with the surface, even if the smartphone is on the table. Here, there is also a universal Micro-USB 2.0 connector with support for connecting external devices in OTG mode. The plugs of the device connectors are not covered, you cannot find the strap mounts on the case. The device did not receive protection from water and dust, and support for wireless charging too.

As for the color options of Meizu MX4, there are not just a few 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 colors are positioned higher and sell, respectively, half a thousand more for the same amount of memory.

Screen

Meizu MX4 is equipped with an IPS sensor matrix from Sharp, called by the developers themselves New Mode 2, with an unusual diagonal size and an even more unusual resolution. The screen dimensions are 70 × 117 mm, the diagonal is 5.36 inches, the resolution is 1920 × 1152 pixels. Accordingly, the density of dots is high, but far from being a record, and reaches 418 ppi. The screen is covered with Gorilla Glass 3 protective glass, with OGS technology.

The thickness of the side frames from the edge of the screen to the edge of the case is only 2.6 mm, and with such large overall dimensions, they seem to be absent from the sides at all. The height of the top and bottom planks is approx. 13 mm. The brightness of the display can be adjusted manually, or you can use automatic adjustment. The multitouch 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 even without it by not only tapping twice on the glass, but also with a simple swiping gesture in any direction, which is extremely convenient.

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

The front surface of the screen is made in the form of a glass plate with a mirror-smooth surface, resistant to scratches. Judging by the reflection of objects, the anti-glare properties of the screen are no worse than those of the Google Nexus 7 (2013) (hereinafter simply Nexus 7). For clarity, we present a photo in which a white surface is reflected in the turned off screens (on the left - Nexus 7, on the right - Meizu MX4, then they can be distinguished by their size):

The screen of the Meizu MX4 is only slightly lighter (the brightness in the photos is 107 versus 105 for the Nexus 7). The doubling 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 type screen - One Glass Solution). Due to the smaller number of boundaries (such as glass-to-air) with greatly different refractive indices, such screens look better in conditions of strong external illumination, but their repair in case of cracked outer glass is much more expensive, since the entire screen has to be changed. 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 slower rate than in the case of ordinary glass.

With manual brightness control and with the display of the white field on the whole screen, the maximum brightness value was about 530 cd / m², the minimum - 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 excellent. In complete darkness, the brightness can be lowered 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. In the presence of automatic brightness control by the light sensor (located to the right of the front speaker slot). In automatic mode, when the ambient light 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 this value will somehow be taken into account. 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 with artificial light (about 400 lux) it sets to 68 cd / m2 (a little dark), in a very bright environment (corresponds to bright daylight outdoors, but no direct sunlight - 20,000 lux or slightly more) increases to a maximum of 460 cd / m² (acceptable). If we set a suitable brightness level in an office environment, we 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 automatic brightness control function can be made to work adequately to the external conditions and user requirements. At any brightness level, there is practically no backlight modulation, so there is no screen flickering either.

This smartphone uses an IPS-type matrix. The micrographs show the typical IPS subpixel structure:

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

The screen has good viewing angles without significant color shift even with large gaze deviations from perpendicular to the screen and without tint inversion. For comparison, we present photographs in which the same images are displayed on the screens of Meizu MX4 and Nexus 7, while the brightness of the screens was initially set to about 200 cd / m2 (along the white field in full screen), and the color balance on the camera was forcibly switched to 6500 K. White field perpendicular to screens:

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

The colors on the screen of Meizu MX4 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 white box:

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

And from a different angle:

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

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

The color gamut is noticeably wider than sRGB:

We 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 a green and red phosphor (usually a blue emitter and a yellow phosphor), which, in combination with special matrix light filters, allows obtaining a wide color gamut. Unfortunately, as a result, the colors of images - drawings, photographs and films - oriented to the sRGB space (and there are the overwhelming majority of them) 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 upside down and presents this drawback as a virtue.

The balance of shades on the gray scale is good, as the color temperature is slightly above the standard 6500 K, and the deviation from the spectrum of the absolute black body (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 the color balance. (The darkest areas of the gray scale can be ignored, since the color balance there is not very important, and the error in measuring color characteristics at low brightness is large.)

Let's summarize. The screen has a very high maximum brightness and has good anti-reflective properties, so the device can be used outdoors without problems, even on a sunny summer day. In complete darkness, the brightness can be lowered to a comfortable level. It is also permissible to use a mode with automatic brightness control, which works adequately after an appropriate setting. The advantages of the screen include an effective oleophobic coating, no flicker and no air gap in the layers of the screen, high contrast and stability of black to deviation of the gaze from the perpendicular to the plane of the screen, as well as good color balance. The significant disadvantages are oversaturated and unnatural colors. Nevertheless, taking into account the importance of characteristics for this particular class of devices, the screen quality can be considered high.

Sound

In terms of sounding the smartphone, everything is at a high level. There were rumors that the device will use the ESS Technology Saber ES9018K2M audio chip, but judging by the fact that 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 great. The main speaker emits a very loud, clear sound at the maximum volume level, moderately saturated with low frequencies. It may not be as good as HTC and Oppo / Vivo devices, but overall the sound is very decent, the maximum volume is not excessive, but sufficient, the speaker does not wheeze, the sound remains clear. The speaker clearly conveys all the intonations and timbre of the voice, the interlocutor's speech is recognized confidently. The sound in the headphones also does not cause the slightest complaints here, the sound is very high quality. True, they did not include branded headphones 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 headphones can do quite well.

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

FM-radio in the standard configuration of the smartphone was not found, but there is a dictaphone. The device is also able to record telephone conversations from the line, for this it is enough to press the corresponding button in the interface of the telephone application 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 and flash. There is no choice in the settings, there is only one photo resolution - 1920 × 1080, and the front camera shoots video at 720p. Despite the low resolution, in good light, the front camera produces pictures of a very decent quality, quite sufficient for taking selfies.

The main rear camera is equipped with a Sony IMX220 Exmor RS 20.7 megapixel module with f / 2.2 aperture, fast autofocus (0.3 s) and dual multi-color LED flash. The lens is protected by 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. Slow motion mode is provided for video. Interesting is the "Focus" mode, after shooting in which, already on the finished shot, you can change focus by touching different areas, alternately focusing on objects that were at different distances from the camera during shooting.

The control menu itself is not quite familiar, but thoughtful and very convenient for control. The shooting modes are scrolled with a horizontal gesture, and depending on the selected mode, additional settings inherent in each specific mode will pop up at the bottom. In general, everything is drawn quite clearly and intuitively for comfortable handling.

The camera can shoot video in maximum 4K resolution, examples of test clips are presented below.

• Movie # 1 (158 MB, 3840 × [email protected] fps)
• Movie # 2 (41 MB, 1920 × [email protected] fps)

	The camera copes well with capturing text.
	The camera works well for macro photography.
	Details on medium and long-range shots are worked out quite well.
	The camera tries to work out even the smallest details.
	The camera does well in close-ups in good lighting.
	With not the best lighting - not much worse.
	Another example of a good macro.
	The grass drains too quickly and is poorly sharpened.
	Car numbers and small writing on the building might well have been distinguishable.
	In this case, the grass has been worked out very well even in medium-sized shots. Apparently, the sharpness of the plans does not always depend on the lighting.
	The small print on the shield is well distinguishable.
	You can make out the minibus number, but the next car is no longer there. The asphalt practically does not "make noise".

Despite the sufficiently high resolution, the camera copes well and fulfills it quite well. Software processing spoils the picture a little. Sharping with noise reduction in vain spoil the middle and long-range shots, and this is due to the very clumsy processing algorithms. Although, if you do not look at the details, everything looks very nice.

In general, the pictures are quite sharp, only to the edges of the frame the sharpness deteriorates slightly. In terms of its physical parameters, the camera of this smartphone may well claim the title of flagship, but the software part does not allow it to be called such. Nevertheless, the camera is quite suitable for documentary and artistic photography, even in poor lighting conditions.

Telephone part and communications

The smartphone works as standard in modern 2G GSM and 3G WCDMA networks, and there is also support for the fourth generation TD-LTE / FDD-LTE networks, that is, the frequencies used in Russia are also supported. In practice, the smartphone recognizes and works with 4G networks with a SIM card of the domestic operator MTS. 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 (2.4 and 5 GHz), Wi-Fi Direct, Wi-Fi Display are supported, you can organize a wireless access point via Wi-Fi channels -Fi or bluetooth. The Micro-USB 2.0 connector supports the connection of 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 domestic Glonass and 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 sensors of the smartphone is a magnetic field sensor, on the basis of which the much-needed digital compass works in navigation programs.

The phone application supports Smart Dial, that is, when dialing a phone number, a search is immediately carried out by the first letters in contacts. There is no Swype support here, as well as the usual for large smartphones the ability to reduce the size of the virtual keyboard for ease of use with fingers of one hand, or, for example, to reduce the size of the entire working screen entirely. Obviously, the developers do not believe that the increased width of up to 75 mm and the huge 5.36-inch screen are a reason for concern about the convenience and comfort of using the fingers of one hand.

OS and software

The device uses the Google Android software platform version 4.4.2 with a proprietary graphical user interface installed on top of it. The Meizu shell also underwent 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 conciseness 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 lurid design and an abundance of unnecessary applications loaded with dozens of "appendages", here the eye, as they say, rests. The design of the icons, according to the new fashion trends, is completely flat, all the icons have been redrawn, they have become even larger, clearer, the colors are calm, the colors 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 there is a possibility of changing their sizes, in the translation of the interface into Russian there are still some annoying and sometimes completely incomprehensible abbreviations (in the Russian Meizu they continue to work on fixes).

A lot of attention, as usual, is paid to gestures. Some things are convenient, but something would be better not left to the mercy of gesture control. For example, you can now unlock the screen with any swipe on the glass anywhere on the display, which is extremely convenient and completely eliminates the unpleasant fact that the power button remains on the top, far from access for any of the fingers. 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 sweep from left to right, you can call literally any application assigned to this gesture by the user himself at will. Thus, for example, you can, by unlocking the screen, go directly to the browser, calendar or dictaphone - any of the programs installed in the smartphone can be opened in this way from the locked state. All this is convenient. But the need to call the lower smartbar containing the menu of the last used programs with a wave and nothing else causes only irritation. If there is a need to quickly switch between applications in multitasking mode, for example, copying and moving part of the text, then such endless swings are completely inappropriate. By the way, holding the button for a long time to call such a menu in smartphones from other manufacturers, for example, from the same Lenovo, is also completely inappropriate when quickly switching applications - it is best when there is a separate hardware device to call up the menu of the last open programs, albeit a touch button, such as , for Sony smartphones. You can clear the smartbar of all previously open 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 button interface, and not completely replace it, Meizu approached this issue too self-confidently, which repels some users - after all, not everyone wants to remember and use a variety of gesture strokes, but in the case of Meizu devices it is impossible to do without them.

In general, the Flyme OS graphical interface is very much redesigned relative to the standard Android and at the same time it 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 pictograms, and a side swing opens more detailed information about them. Naturally, as in all Chinese shells, there is no separate application menu, all installed programs are automatically mixed with widgets on the desktops, which can be added only from one side, the right.

There are almost no additional programs, but those that do exist are useful: there is a much-needed file manager, a handy program for quickly creating notes, the calculator can be reduced in size and moved to any place on the desktop. You can even make a quick freehand sketch in the Drawing app. It is worth highlighting a very detailed instruction, in which all the hidden features of the interface are clearly described with pictures. This is especially useful when studying the control of gestures, which are used here a lot and the presence of which is so easy to guess yourself.

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) coexist with 4 Cortex-A7 cores (1.7 GHz), less productive, but also more economical. The work of the new SoC is built on the big.LITTLE principle, while the previous eight-core platform of the manufacturer had eight low-power equivalent Cortex-A7 cores. Accordingly, the new platform is capable of demonstrating the highest performance to date, for which it can rival the top-end Qualcomm Snapdragon 801.

Graphics processing in the smartphone is handled by the new GPU PowerVR G6200 video accelerator (2 cores, 600 MHz). The amount of RAM of the smartphone is 2 GB, and its own memory is available to choose from, depending on the modification, from 16 to 64 GB. In the youngest modification with a nominal volume of 16 GB, approximately 12 GB remain free for the needs of the user. The built-in memory cannot be increased using 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 such flash drives on sale that have a regular USB connector on one side and a Micro-USB connector on the other. It just can be connected to smartphones that support On-The-Go (OTG) mode directly, without a special adapter. If, say, when going on a long journey, you fill such a flash drive with your favorite TV series, then you can not worry about the small amount of built-in smartphone memory during a long flight: plug it in and watch a movie. By the way, another novelty on the same platform, Lenovo Vibe X2, for some reason does not support OTG mode.

According to the benchmark test results, the smartphone on the new Mediatek platform has shown itself to be one of the most powerful and productive modern mobile devices at the moment, coming close, and in some ways even overtaking the top solutions of the generally recognized market leaders based on Qualcomm Snapdragon 801. What is gratifying, and the new graphics subsystem is also the most powerful here, in gaming tests it demonstrates not outrageous, but maximum figures, practically at the level of the Adreno 330, although it is, of course, slightly inferior to it. Finally, the Chinese have made a really powerful platform of a decent level, it remains only to understand how economical it is at the same time, because the previous eight-core SoC MTK 6592 showed very deplorable 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 you can expect a large influx of new products on this SoC. The CPU and GPU cores in the Lenovo Vibe X2 (MT6595m) have a maximum operating frequency lower than in the Meizu MX4, therefore, naturally, this device showed slightly lower benchmarks. At the same time, Lenovo Vibe X2 could not boast of efficiency, with autonomy it turned out to be quite deplorable. Looking ahead, you can see that the Meizu MX4 is doing better with autonomy, but the battery was prudently installed here with a much larger volume.

Testing with the latest AnTuTu and GeekBench 3 Benchmarks:

All the results obtained by us when testing the smartphone in the latest versions of popular benchmarks, we have summarized in tables for convenience. Several other devices from different 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 of benchmarks, therefore, many worthy and relevant models remain "behind the scenes" - due to the fact that they once passed the "obstacle course" on previous versions of test programs.

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

When testing in 3DMark for the highest performing smartphones, it is now possible 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 evaluating the speed of a javascript engine, you should always make allowances for the fact that the results in them significantly depend on the browser in which they are launched, so that the comparison can be truly correct only on the same OS and browsers, and this possibility is available when testing not always. In the case of Android OS, we always try to use Google Chrome.

Video playback

To test the "omnivorous" video playback (including support for various codecs, containers and special features, such as subtitles), we used the most common formats that make up the bulk of the content available on the Web. Note that it is important for mobile devices to have support for hardware video decoding at the chip level, since it is often impossible to process modern versions using processor cores alone. Also, do not 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 for the successful playback of all our standard test clips. At the same time, no problems were observed with the sound, and in the third-party MX Player you do not even have to switch to playback in the mode 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	Native video player
DVDRip	AVI, XviD 720 × 400 2200 Kbps, MP3 + AC3	reproduced normally	reproduced normally
Web-DL SD	AVI, XviD 720 × 400 1400 Kbps, MP3 + AC3	reproduced normally	reproduced normally
Web-DL HD	MKV, H.264 1280 × 720 3000Kbps, AC3	reproduced normally	reproduced normally
BDRip 720p	MKV, H.264 1280 × 720 4000 Kbps, AC3	reproduced normally	reproduced normally
BDRip 1080p	MKV, H.264 1920 × 1080 8000Kbps, AC3	reproduced normally	reproduced normally

Testing of video output features was carried out by Alexey Kudryavtsev.

We did not find the MHL interface, as well as Mobility DisplayPort, in this smartphone, so we had to limit ourselves to testing the display 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 "Testing technique for video playback and display devices. Version 1 (for mobile devices)"). Screenshots with an exposure of 1 s helped to determine the nature of the frame output of video files with various parameters: the resolution varied (1280 by 720 (720p), 1920 by 1080 (1080p) and 3840 by 2160 (4K) pixels) and the frame rate (24, 25, 30, 50 and 60 fps). In our tests, we used the MX Player video player in the "Hardware" mode. The test results are summarized in a table: Red marks indicate possible problems with the playback of the corresponding files.

According to the criterion for outputting frames, the quality of video playback on the screen of the smartphone itself is good, since frames (or groups of frames) can (but are not required) to be displayed with a more or less uniform alternation of intervals and without frame drops. The smartphone can even display 4K files up to and including 30fps. 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 pixel by pixel, that is, in the original resolution. The brightness range displayed on the screen corresponds to the standard range of 16-235 - in the shadows and in the highlights, all gradations of shades are displayed - which is required for correct playback of typical video files.

Battery life

Meizu MX4 has a powerful rechargeable 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 economy of this solution, the smartphone, as expected, turned out to be quite gluttonous, but it is saved by the large volume of the built-in battery, due to which the novelty looks much better in terms of autonomy than its counterpart on the hardware platform, the smartphone Lenovo Vibe X2, which is much sadder with this. The Meizu MX4 has a huge bright screen, a fairly thin body and a high, non-standard display resolution, but with all this, the device has a complete order with the size of the battery and autonomy. The smartphone is not a long-liver and does not break records, but the test results cannot be called failure either, everything is within the normal range for a modern smartphone with a large screen. At this point, it is worth noting that the testing was carried out in the maximum productive mode of operation without any restrictions, so that with the balanced mode set in the factory default 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	12h 00m	8h 40m	3h 45m
Lenovo Vibe X2	2300 mAh	13h 00m	6h 00m	3h 15m
TCL Idol X +	2500 mAh	12h 30m	7h 20m	3h 00m
Sony Xperia Z3	3100 mAh	20 h 00 m	10h 00m	4h 50m
HTC One M8	2600 mAh	22h 10m	13h 20m	3h 20m
Samsung Galaxy S5	2800 mAh	17h 20m	12h 30m	4h 30m
TCL Idol X +	2500 mAh	12h 30m	7h 20m	3h 00m
Lenovo Vibe Z	3050 mAh	11h 45m	8h 00m	3h 30m
Alcatel Hero 2	3100 mAh	13h 20m	10h 20m	3h 10m
Lenovo Vibe Z2 Pro	4000 mAh	13h 20m	8h 40m	4h 30m
Vivo Xplay 3S	3200 mAh	12h 30m	8h 00m	3h 30m
Oppo Find 7	3000 mAh	9h 00m	6h 40m	3h 20m
Oppo Find 7a	2800 mAh	16h 40m	8h 20m	3h 00m

Continuous reading in the FBReader program (with a standard, light theme) at the minimum comfortable brightness level (the brightness was set to 100 cd / m2) lasted almost 12 hours until the battery was fully discharged, and when continuously watching high-quality video (720p) with the same the brightness level through the home Wi-Fi network, the device lasted almost 9 hours. In 3D games mode, the smartphone worked closer to 4 hours, which is quite good.

At the same time, the battery of the smartphone is charged quite quickly, about two hours.

Outcome

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

And nevertheless, even taking into account the rise in price, Meizu's smartphone turned out to be not only very successful, but also cheaper than counterparts from manufacturers of the first magnitude, which is logical, since Meizu is far from the largest manufacturer even in its own market in China. Perhaps this is the best model of the series, if you do not take into account the greatly increased dimensions, which will not please every user of mobile devices. The smartphone received a nice and stylish body, got rid of the ridiculous and inconvenient structure of the lid and unattractive translucent gloss. They were replaced by a pleasant to the touch, non-slip and non-marking, practical plastic with a wide metal rim - all according to the latest fashion trends. An excellent, high-end screen, the most powerful most modern hardware platform, a stylish and quite comfortable (apart from minor flaws) user interface, excellent sound and camera, good battery life. LTE and USB OTG support complete the already impressive list of advantages. There is practically nothing to find fault with. The device is quite worthy, especially considering the price, but not everyone will fit it because of the greatly increased dimensions - it's time for the developers to finally think about and stop this race for size.

The Chinese company Meizu with its example refutes the stereotype "Chinese means bad". The first smartphone of the MX line went on sale on the first day of 2012 and proved to be quite competitive even among the models of the promoted brands. After 2 years, Meizu is confidently pushing competitors in the high-price segment of the smartphone market thanks to a thoughtful approach to the design and packaging of its products. The flagship model Meizu MX4, which went on sale in October 2014, deserves the most serious attention.

Smartphone Meizu MX4 - performance and economy

The smartphone is powered by the MT6595 chipset with four ARM Cortex-A7.2.2 GHz cores and four ARM Cortex-A17.1.7 GHz cores. The ARM big.LITTLE architecture, on which the processor is made, allows you to use all 8 cores to solve a complex problem or leave 2 A7 cores active in standby mode. In this case, the chipset determines the frequency with which each involved core should work. This technology (PilotCore) maximizes processor performance while minimizing power consumption. The smartphone is controlled by Android 4.4 OS with a proprietary Flyme 4.0 interface.

PowerVR G6200MP4 integrated 4-core graphics accelerator handles heavy gaming and video viewing well.

The Meizu MX4 smartphone is available in 3 versions: 8, 16 and 32 GB of internal memory. It cannot be increased because there is no slot for external memory cards. The RAM size for all models is 2 GB.

The display of the smartphone Meizu MX4 with an aspect ratio of 15: 9, diagonal of 5.36 "and a resolution of 1920 x 1152 pixels is made using Nega liquid crystal technology, which provides high-quality color reproduction and a wide viewing angle. The screen is protected by Gorilla Glass 3. Multi-touch supports up to 10 touches.

The rear 20-megapixel (20.70 million pixels) camera of the Meizu MX4 smartphone is equipped with a two-color LED flash, autofocus and digital Zoom 4x. The ClearMotion function boosts the frame rate for video shooting up to 100 frames per second. There is a front-facing 2-megapixel camera.

The body of the Meizu MX4 smartphone is made of aircraft-grade aluminum and covered with matte plastic covers in three colors: gray, silver and gold. The corners and side edges of the rear panel are rounded, which visually makes the product thinner and more elegant.

Customer reviews of the smartphone Meizu MX4

The owners unanimously note the ergonomics of the case and the pleasant design of the device. Durable plastic resistant to mechanical damage. Heavy games run without freezes, sites with a lot of graphics open quickly. The display is really good as the manufacturer advertises it: excellent color reproduction, high contrast, the screen does not fade in the sun. Sound from stereo speakers is powerful and rich.

Some disappointment is the non-removable battery, which sits down after 5-6 hours of active use with LTE turned on with its not small capacity of 3100 mAh. In general, the Meizu MX4 smartphone is an excellent choice in terms of price / quality ratio.

Technical characteristics of the smartphone Meizu MX4

• Processor - MediaTek MT6595 8-core;
• Operating system - Android 4.4 OS, Flyme 4.0 interface;
• GPU - PowerVR G6200MP4 4-core;
• RAM - 2 GB;
• Permanent memory - 8/16/32 GB;
• Display - IPS 5.36 inches, resolution 1920x1152, multitouch;
• Rear camera - 20.70 Mpx, LED flash, autofocus;
• Front camera - 2 Mpx;
• The maximum video resolution is 3840 x 2160 pixels. / 100 frames / s;
• LTE, 3G, GSM;
• GPS / GLONASS;
• Non-removable battery - 3100 mAh;
• Dimensions - 75.2x144x8.9 mm;
• Weight - 147 g;
• Number of SIM cards - 1 piece;
• The price of Meizu MX4 32 Gb in Russia is about 450-480 dollars, in Ukraine - 7300-8000 UAH.

Video review of the Meizu MX4 smartphone: