Meizu M3s is a high-quality smartphone belonging to the budget class. The device has a metal body and decent characteristics. Its official announcement took place in June 2016.
Appearance and ergonomics
Featuring a sleek metal body and elegant rounded corners Meizu M3s looks very stylish. From the front you can see a spectacular 2.5D glass that covers the entire front side of the device. Below the display there is a mechanical mTouch 2.1 button. It is not only responsible for navigation, but also allows you to instantly unlock your smartphone using the built-in fingerprint scanner. The screen is framed by a thin chrome frame, making the device even more attractive. The symmetrical bottom end has multimedia speaker grilles and a MicroUSB connector. The back is made of durable aluminum, but there are plastic inserts for antennas on the top and bottom. But the audio jack is located on the top end. It is worth highlighting the high-quality materials of the case and good assembly. At the same time, the smartphone looks quite expensive, and thanks to its compact size it is really convenient to use. A 3020 mAh battery is built inside, which demonstrates excellent battery life. Available colors: silver, gold, pink and grey. Dimensions: height - 141.9 mm, thickness - 8.3 mm, width - 69.9 mm, weight - 138 g.
Display
M3s has a compact 5-inch screen with excellent contrast. The resolution of the IPS matrix is 1280 by 720 pixels. When creating such a display, full lamination technology was used. There is no air gap here, so the picture is natural. There is an advanced oleophobic coating that is an excellent anti-scratch and anti-marker. Maximum viewing angles are complemented by rich images. The color temperature can be freely adjusted in special settings.
Hardware and performance
The M3c device has an eight-core MediaTek MT6750 processor, which is very energy efficient. Such a chip can operate at a frequency of 1500 MHz. There is a Mali-T860 graphics accelerator. Traditionally for this manufacturer, there are several versions of the gadget on sale: with 16 GB of internal memory and 2 GB of RAM, as well as with 32 GB of RAM and 3 GB of RAM. There is support for memory cards up to 128 GB. I received the smartphone out of the box operating system Android 5.1, as well as the exclusive Flyme shell. For example, in the AnTuTu test the gadget confidently scores about 40,000 points. Modern games run well, but demanding projects may lower the graphics.
Communication and sound
The speaker in Meizu M3 s is moderately loud. The sound in headphones is even better, there is a kind of power reserve even taking into account an advanced headset. There are no problems with communication, as the interlocutor can be heard clearly. It is possible to install two SIM cards. The phone supports LTE networks.
Camera
Meizu M3s is equipped with a 13-megapixel camera with f/2.2 aperture and dual LED flash. The photos are of good quality, especially during the day. There is a manual mode, and there are also some other settings. There is also a front-facing 5-megapixel camera with an aperture ratio of 2.0.
conclusions
In many respects, the M3s appears to be a high-quality budget smartphone, which, of course, is not without certain shortcomings. But for the money, this is definitely a worthwhile option. The following accessories are included in the package: charger, original clip, power cable and documentation.
Pros:
- Very high quality display.
- Excellent materials and workmanship.
- Convenient and fast fingerprint scanner.
- Long battery life.
- Nice appearance.
Minuses:
- The main camera doesn't shoot well in the evening.
- There are some problems with Chinese firmware.
Technical characteristics of Meizu M3s
| General characteristics | |
|---|---|
| Model | Meizu M3s |
| Date of announcement and start of sales | June 2016 / June 2016 |
| Dimensions (LxWxH) | 141.9 x 69.9 x 8.3 mm. |
| Weight | 138 |
| Available colors | gold, silver, gray, pink |
| operating system | Android 5.1 (Lollipop) + Flyme 5.1 |
| Connection | |
| Number and type of SIM cards | two hybrid, Nano-SIM, dual stand-by |
| Communication standard in 2G networks | GSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900 - SIM 1 & SIM 2 |
| Communication standard in 3G networks | HSDPA 900 / 1900 / 2100 |
| Communication standard in 4G networks | LTE |
| Carrier Compatibility | MTS, Beeline, Megafon, Tele2, Yota |
| Data transfer | |
| WiFi | Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n, dual-band, hotspot |
| Bluetooth | 4.0, A2DP, LE |
| GPS | yes, A-GPS, GLONASS |
| NFC | No |
| Infrared port | No |
| Platform | |
| CPU | eight-core Mediatek MT6750 (Octa-core 1.5 GHz Cortex-A53) |
| GPU | Mali-T860MP2 |
| Inner memory | 16 GB / 32 GB |
| RAM | 2 GB / 3 GB |
| Ports and connectors | |
| USB | microUSB 2.0 |
| 3.5mm jack | There is |
| Memory card slot | microSD, up to 128 GB (combined with SIM 2 slot) |
| Display | |
| Display type | IPS LCD capacitive, 16M colors |
| Screen size | 5 inches (~69.5% of the front surface of the device) |
| Display protection | 2.5D glass |
| Camera | |
| Main camera | 13 MP, f/2.2, autofocus, dual-LED (dual tone) flash |
| Functionality of the main camera | Geo-tagging, touch focus, face detection |
| Video recording | 1080p@30fps |
| Front-camera | 5 MP, f/2.0 |
| Sensors | |
| Illuminance | There is |
| Approximations | There is |
| Gyroscope | There is |
| Compass | There is |
| Hall | No |
| Accelerometer | There is |
| Barometer | No |
| Fingerprint scanner | There is |
| Battery | |
| Battery type and capacity | 3020 mAh |
| Battery mount | non-removable |
| Equipment | |
| Standard kit | M3s: 1 USB cable: 1 SIM tray eject clip: 1 User manual: 1 Warranty card: 1 Charger: 1 |
Prices
Video reviews
The smartphone in my hands was ordered on AliExpress and arrived directly from China. Then the seller offered a white Meizu M3s mini with 2 GB of RAM and 16 GB of permanent memory for eight thousand rubles. The phone firmware is Chinese, but there is a Russian language. Simply put, there were no problems using this version of the smartphone.
At the time of writing the review, the same seller was offering a white Meizu M3s mini with 2 GB of RAM and 16 GB of storage, already with international firmware, and at a price of 7,620 rubles. The black smartphone cost 7,957 rubles, the gold one - 8,221 rubles. The pink one was not on sale yet.
The cost of the older Meizu M3s mini model with 3 GB of RAM and 32 GB of permanent memory was 10,097 rubles for the black version and 10,493 rubles for the white or gold version. There was no pink either.
In the official Russian online store MyMeizu.ru, white and black M3s mini cost the same, namely 11,990 rubles for the 2/16 GB model and 13,990 rubles for the 3/32 GB model. Gold and pink options were not available.
Why such an overpayment in the official Russian store? Firstly, for saving time. When choosing free delivery on AliExpress, you need to mentally prepare for a month-long wait for your parcel. Buyers in Russia will have to wait much less.
Secondly, Meizu does not have an international warranty. By purchasing a device intended for the Chinese domestic market, you are left without any consumer rights and will have to solve any problems that arise with the smartphone yourself. When purchasing from an official Russian store, you receive a guarantee and service.
I will not describe in detail every little detail of the tested device. You can read long, tedious reviews with a bunch of information that is useless for the average user on other sites, but here it’s all to the point.
Design and execution
M3s mini is the only one currently available on this moment metal Meizu smartphone with a 5-inch screen. It is followed by the audiophile ten-core flagship with a diagonal of 5.2 inches, recently tested by Lifehacker.
All other Meizu models, including the M3 Note, Pro 5, MX5 and the recently announced MX6, are equipped with a screen with a diagonal of 5.5 inches or more, that is, they are phablets with quite impressive sizes and not everyone likes them.
Following a good tradition, Meizu engineers made an aluminum case incredibly similar to the iPhone for the M3s mini.
From an aesthetic point of view, there is no fault with the execution. The weight of the smartphone is only 138 grams with a thickness of 8.3 millimeters. Neat, sophisticated lines with rounded corners look great. If you like the design of the iPhone, then you will also like the appearance of Meizu.
WITH technical point There are also no complaints about the M3s mini body. Not only did Meizu engineers forge this budget phone in metal, but they also did not cheat and accurately adjusted the details. Surprisingly, the super-cheap M3s mini is built just as well as the flagship Pro 6.
To reduce the cost, aluminum corners of the case and sophisticated plugs hiding the antennas were used under the knife. The top and bottom of the M3s mini's rear panel are made of plastic.
The photo shows that it is quite difficult to distinguish plastic elements from metal. The colors are identical, the difference in texture is not felt even when touched, and only shiny decorative grooves reveal the place where the metal transforms into plastic.
On the front panel there is a single mechanical button, which is also an mTouch 2.1 fingerprint scanner. Touching the button is equivalent to the “Back” action, and pressing it returns the user to home screen or duplicates the power button when the display is off.
The front location of the scanner is certainly more convenient if you often access your smartphone lying on the table. The scanner accepts a fingerprint from any angle and operates in a fraction of a second.
The power button and volume rocker are located on the right. If you do not press them, but only slightly touch them, a tiny play will be noticeable. In general, there are no complaints about the buttons.
On the left there is a hybrid slot for two nanoSIM cards, one of which can be replaced with a microSD card with a capacity of up to 128 GB inclusive.
The external speaker, microphone and microUSB port are located at the bottom.
The only thing where the designers and engineers of the Meizu M3s mini screwed up was the position of the headphone jack.
Well, why do it on top? After all, we put the smartphone in our pocket with the top first. With this location of the socket, additional mechanical stress occurs on the plug and wire, which means inevitable breaks and premature failure.
Another disadvantage common to all Meizu smartphones is the lack of protection against water. It’s time to catch up with Samsung and release equipment that meets at least the IP67 standard, and better yet IP68.
Screen
Meizu M3s mini is equipped with a 5-inch IPS HD display with a resolution of 1280 × 720 pixels.
If you think that the lack of Full HD in 2016 cannot be forgiven even for a budget smartphone, then just look at the ppi value, which here is 296 pixels per inch. Jobs said that at 300 ppi the pixels are narrower, and it’s unlikely that a shortfall of 4 ppi would greatly affect the quality of the picture. At least my eyes couldn't detect any pixels on the M3s mini's screen.
The use of IPS provides color fidelity typical for this type of display without wild, unnatural shades and white distortion. It is clear that it would be naive to count on a top-end matrix in a smartphone for 8 thousand, but the picture looks acceptable even with a strong tilt of the screen, the colors are only slightly distorted towards yellow and purple.
The presence of an anti-reflective coating allows you to comfortably work with your smartphone in the bright summer sun, and the use of the now fashionable 2.5D glass adds even more streamlinedness to the body.
I have never found information about the type of protective glass used in the M3s mini. But it’s definitely there, and it’s good, because in two weeks of active use of the smartphone, not a single scratch appeared on the screen.
Filling
Inside the M3s mini there is an eight-core MTK MT6750 (four Cortex-A53 at 1.5 GHz and four Cortex-A53 at 1 GHz) and Mali-T860 graphics. MediaTek chips are not very suitable for heavy 3D games, but they perform excellently in terms of speed and smooth operation of the system, especially when a less resource-intensive HD display is installed instead of Full HD.
In combination with even 2 GB of fast LPDDR3 RAM, the smartphone shows impressive results both in synthetics and at the level of sensations when direct work with the device.
The system flies, the applications fly. No freezes, no slowdowns.
I did not have the opportunity to look at the older model with 3 GB of RAM, but it is logical to assume that the increased amount of memory will manifest itself when working simultaneously and switching between several heavy applications. However, the younger M3s mini copes well with everyday scenarios.
The presence of a slot for a memory card actually makes any discussion about the size of the built-in storage meaningless, and therefore you need to choose between the older and younger M3s mini model only based on the number and resource intensity of the applications used.
Unfortunately, Meizu M3s mini does not have NFC, but it does support all other current types of communication, including 5 GHz Wi-Fi, 4G and Bluetooth 4.0.
- Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac.
- 2G GSM/GPRS/EDGE (900/1 800/1 900 MHz).
- 3G WCDMA/HSPA+ (900/2 100 MHz).
- 4G FDD-LTE (1 800/2 100/2 600 MHz).
- 3G TD-SCDMA.
- 4G TD-LTE.
- Bluetooth 4.0, BLE support.
- GPS, A-GPS, GLONASS.
Cameras
Obviously, you can’t expect any outstanding sensors in such a cheap smartphone. But those that exist provide acceptable quality filming in automatic mode under favorable conditions. And the lack of light can be compensated for by manual mode, HDR and Meizu’s proprietary circular two-color flash. Thanks to the powerful hardware, the cameras work very quickly.
The main camera here is exactly the same as in the Meizu M3 Note: 13 MP, f/2.2, powerful flash, PDAF. You can judge the quality of the photo yourself.
The front 5-megapixel camera with f/2.0 aperture and software image enhancement takes wonderful selfies and records Full HD videos.
System
M3s mini runs on Android 5.1, on top of which a proprietary shell is installed Meizu Flyme 5.1.
Flyme almost completely changes the default Android interface, but you get used to it quickly enough.
Flyme has no unnecessary software, only the most necessary pre-installed applications and a utility for optimizing and maintaining the system in good condition. With its help, you can run a comprehensive diagnostic of your smartphone in one tap, clean up your memory, debug power consumption, check for viruses, and so on.
At the beginning of the review, I talked about just one system button on the front panel, which takes over the “Back” and “Home” functions. Are you wondering how the application manager is called in this case? To do this, simply swipe up from the bottom of the screen. Why didn't Google think of this?
Flyme is perfectly optimized, and combined with powerful hardware, the result is an extremely nimble system that is a pleasure to use.
Battery
The M3s mini has a non-removable battery with a capacity of 3,020 mAh. With moderate use, the battery lasts two days. In more active scenarios with visiting YouTube, Play Music, frequent browsing of the browser and social networks, the smartphone lives for 18–22 hours.
Best budget phone of 2016?
I hope that when reading this review you kept in mind the cost of the M3s mini, that is, everything described above can be obtained for less than 8 thousand rubles. Meizu M3s mini is a compact and beautiful aluminum smartphone with an excellent screen, a fingerprint scanner, powerful hardware and memory expansion, all the latest types of communication, decent cameras and a well-functioning system. Don't you think that Meizu M3s mini looks like best budget employee 2016?
As part of the review of the Meizu M3s smartphone, we will analyze in detail its technical characteristics and appearance. This is already the third device in the popular line with typical average price category characteristics, reasonable cost, high build quality and premium manufacturing materials.
Equipment Meizu M3S
The delivery set is quite simple:
- The device itself;
- Network adapter at 2A:
- USB cable;
- Documentation;
- SIM tray ejector.
Design
Meizu M3s full review will introduce you in detail to the design style of this device and the location of its control keys. The manufacturer did not come up with anything new and used already existing solutions, borrowing the design from the Pro 6. Once again we see sloping edges, a smooth back cover, a metal body and a scanner built into the mechanical key. The main difference lies in the fact that the Pro 6 body is made entirely of metal, but here there are two plastic inserts. Many manufacturers resort to a similar solution, which improves the quality of communication.
Review Meizu phone The M3s showed that the chrome surrounds are made of plastic. It is better to carry the device in a bumper, as they lose color quite quickly. The front panel is covered with newfangled 2.5D glass, providing reliable protection. The glass is durable and did not receive a single scratch during the review. Build quality on top level, and due to the oleophobic coating, the finger glides well over the surface and does not leave fingerprints. While reviewing the Meizu M3s 32gb, we noticed its compact size, which makes it comfortable to hold in your hand. The device is well assembled. During use there are no backlashes, squeaks or pressing into the battery.
There are several colors available for buyers to choose from: dark gray, gold, pink, and silver.
At the top of the front panel there are light and proximity sensors that operate with a long delay, a bright indicator of missed notifications, front-camera and a conversational speaker covered with a metal mesh. When talking, the interlocutor can be heard clearly, the timbre is pleasant, and the volume reserve is large.
While conducting a review of the Meizu M3s 32gb smartphone, we noticed that under the display there is a touch-mechanical key that performs the “Back” function. At the same time, it has a built-in fingerprint scanner. It works quickly and provides reliable protection of personal data. Using a fingerprint, you can block both the entire device and access to individual applications.
A microphone, a microUSB port and a multimedia speaker are installed on the bottom edge.
The volume rocker and the power key are located on the right side. The pressure is firm, the stroke is insignificant.
On the left there is a metal tray for placing two SIM cards in nano format or one card + microSD.
While preparing the Meizu M3s 16gb gray review, we were well impressed by the design of the back side. It houses the lens of the main camera module, which does not protrude from the body. Below it is a two-color LED flash, as well as a corporate logo.
Display
Meizu M3s gray review will introduce you to its display. As with its predecessor, it uses a 5.5-inch screen with FullHD resolution. The matrix is built using IPS technology and is characterized by the absence of an air gap. Also used protective glass T2X-1. Thanks to the slight rounding at the edges of the screen, it not only looks more impressive, but also improves the sliding of fingers when working with the phone. The tactile feel of the phone in the palm of your hand is very pleasant. The Meizu M3s 16gb smartphone review revealed the presence of MiraVision 2.0 technology, with which you can improve picture quality and optimize energy consumption.
The frames around the display are minimal, and the viewing angles and color rendition are simply gorgeous. The brightness reserve is sufficient for comfortable use in bright sunshine. Automatic adjustment works correctly, but is a little lacking in smoothness. Transitions between states occur very abruptly. Separately, it is worth noting the high-quality oleophobic coating, thanks to which fingerprints are removed without any problems. Meizu M3s 32 GB review did not reveal anything outstanding in the display settings; they are very standard. You can set the color scheme to suit yourself using the convenient slider.
Your rating for the smartphone:
- Case materials: metal, plastic, glass
- Operating system: Android 5.x, Flyme
- Networks: GSM/EDGE, UMTS/HSDPA, LTE (two nanoSIM slots)
- Screen: IPS LCD, 5” diagonal, resolution 1280x720 pixels (HD), ppi 294
- Platform: MediaTek MT6750
- Processor: eight-core, 64-bit, Cortex-A53 at up to 1.5 GHz (two clusters of 4 cores each)
- Graphics: Mali-T860 MP2
- RAM: 2/3 GB
- Storage memory: 16/32 GB
- Memory card slot: yes, microSD (instead of a second SIM card)
- Main camera: 13 megapixels, f/2.2, phase detection autofocus, dual LED flash
- Front camera: 5 MP, f/2.0
- Interfaces: Wi-Fi Dual-Band, Bluetooth 4.0 (A2DP, LE), microUSB connector (USB-OTG, USB-Host) for charging/synchronization, 3.5 mm jack for headset/headphones
- Navigation: GPS (A-GPS support), Glonass
- Additionally: fingerprint scanner, accelerometer, light sensor, proximity sensor
- Battery: 3020 mAh
- Dimensions: 141.9 x 69.9 x 8.3 mm
- Weight: 138 grams
Introduction
The Chinese company, which has managed to become relatively popular in Russia (to some extent thanks to us, don’t consider it immodest), has released another metal smartphone. This time there is more metal in the budget (for China) or mid-price category (for Russia). The collection has been replenished with the Meizu M3s mini device. They decided to give this fancy name to the gadget just for us, since in our homeland a similar one is simply called M3. However, it is worth understanding that the M3s mini and M3 are still different: the version for the Russian market has a metal case and operating Android system, the battery capacity has increased slightly.
The price has not yet been decided, but according to rumors, a 2/16 GB smartphone will cost 12,000 rubles, and a 3/32 GB gadget will cost 14,000 rubles. Personally, it seems to me that it will be like this: 12,990 and 14,990 rubles. Sales in August.
Design, dimensions, control elements
This time, Meizu designers didn’t particularly bother with the design of the new product, so the M3s mini looks almost identical to the Pro 6: sloping edges, a flat back surface, a metal body, a scanner plus a touch-mechanical button, the location of some elements, etc. The only global difference: the back of the Pro 6 is entirely made of aluminum, and in the case of the M3S mini, there are plastic inserts on the top and bottom. A similar solution is used in many gadgets with non-plastic panels.
The front side is protected by glass with a 2.5D shape, the thin chrome edge is still made of plastic. By the way, a device came to me with a rather broken edging. On the one hand, this is not very good, since it will have to be photographed in such an unaesthetic form, on the other hand, you can immediately imagine what will happen to the smartphone after a certain amount of time.
The glass is durable and did not get a single scratch during testing. Oleophobic coating is present. The quality is good, your finger glides across the surface of the screen easily.
Due to its compact dimensions and extremely successful body shape, holding and using Meizu M3S mini is a pleasure, especially after “shovelling”. The device is assembled tightly, no backlash, creaks, or pressing into the battery.
There are quite a lot of colors for Meizu: dark gray, silver, gold and metallic pink. I hope that all of them will definitely be available to our consumers.
On the top of the front panel there are light and proximity sensors (they work quite slowly), an indicator of missed events (bright, white), a camera and a speaker, covered with a metal mesh. Its volume is high, the timbre is pleasant, the interlocutor can be heard clearly and legibly.
Below the screen is a touch-mechanical button, which is responsible for exiting to the home screen, “Back”.
It is also a fingerprint sensor. I was completely satisfied with the response speed. Using the mTouch 2.1 scanner, you can not only block the smartphone from turning on, but also limit access to any applications on the device using your fingerprint, including programs and games you personally installed.
The scanner works no worse or better than others.
At the bottom there is a microphone (left), microUSB and speaker speakerphone. The volume rocker and power button are on the right. Their stroke is minimal, the pressure is firm, there is nice sound“click”, like on the iPhone.
On the left is a metal tray for sharing nanoSIM+nanoSIM or nanoSIM+microSD.
On the reverse side there is a camera lens recessed into the body, below there is a two-color LED flash, the inscription MEIZU.
Meizu M3S mini and Apple iPhone
Display
Meizu M3S mini uses a screen with a diagonal of 5 inches. Let me remind you that the diagonal in the M1/M2 Note is 5.5", in the MX4 - 5.36", and in the MX4 Pro - 5.5", in the Pro 5 - 5.7", in the Pro 6 - 5.2". Physical size M3S mini display – 64x110 mm, frame on top – 15.5 mm, bottom – 15, right and left – just under 4 mm. There is an anti-reflective coating.
The display resolution of Meizu M3S mini is HD, that is, 720x1280 pixels, density is 294 pixels per inch. The matrix is made using IPS technology without an air gap.
The maximum brightness of white is 400 cd/m2 (official data is 380), black is 0.59 cd/m2. Contrast ratio – 677:1 (officially – 1000:1).
The white line is the goal we are trying to achieve. The yellow line is the actual screen data. You can see that we are almost directly below the target curve at values from 0 to 100%, which means that at each value the image is under-lit. The yellow line is actually the average amount of red, green and blue.
The average gamma value is 2.12.
Judging by the level graph, blue is in excess and red is in short supply.
At minimum brightness the temperature is closer to 7800 K, on average - 7200 K
Judging by the diagram, the data obtained does not exceed the sRGB triangle, especially in the green, red and blue zone.
Many gray points are located within a radius of DeltaE=10, which indicates that gray colors will not contain other shades.
The viewing angles are maximum; at certain angles of the screen, the picture becomes very yellow and violet. This suggests that the matrix here is one of the most budget-friendly.
Behavior in the light
Viewing Angles
White color
Battery
This model uses non-removable battery capacity 3020 mAh.
When working with the device, the battery lasted for about 16-18 hours: about 20-30 minutes of calls per day, about 7 hours of 3G/4G use (constant synchronization of mail, Twitter, WhatsApp, Skype, etc.), about 6 hours of Wi-Fi , several dozen photos, hours of listening to music.
In a more gentle mode, the gadget works for up to 24 hours. If you leave only data synchronization (Wi-Fi), then you can count on two days. Up to 13 hours of continuous talk time.
In movie mode (HD), the battery runs out after about 9 hours, in gaming mode the battery lasts for about 3.5 hours, in audio playback mode at maximum volume – up to 50 hours.
The PC Mark Work Battery life application showed a result of 10 hours 37 minutes.
Unlike top models, M3S mini does not have fast charging. AC adapter – 5 V and 2 A.
Communication capabilities
The device is equipped with two nanoSIM slots. Both connectors support 3G/4G networks (LTE CAT 6) in Russian frequencies: FDD-LTE / TD-LTE / TD-SCDMA / WCDMA / GSM.
Network types:
- 2G GSM/GPRS/EDGE (900/1800/1900 MHz)
- 3G WCDMA/HSPA+ (900/2100 MHz)
- 4G FDD-LTE (1800/2100/2600 MHz)
- 3G TD-SCDMA
- 4G TD-LTE
The rest is standard: Wi-Fi (ac and b/g/n/ac) dual-band Wi-Fi (2.4 GHz/5 GHz) - sensitivity at Samsung Galaxy S6, Bluetooth 4.0, microUSB connector (USB 2.0 with OTG support) for charging/syncing. GPS navigation works without problems.
Memory and memory card
The smartphone will be available in two versions:
- 2 GB RAM (LPDDR3) and 16 GB internal
- 3 GB RAM (LPDDR3) and 32 GB internal
Reading speed internal memory(16 GB LPDDR3) – 72 Mbit/s, recording – 16 Mbit/s.
There is support microSD cards up to 128 GB.
Cameras
The main module is 13 MP with phase focusing (5 lenses, f2.2 aperture, the lens is protected by Gorilla Glass 3), and the front one is 5 MP (4 lenses, f2.0 aperture). There is a dual LED flash with warm and cool glow.
The quality of the picture during the day completely satisfies me: accurate white balance, good dynamic range, relatively sharp picture. Focusing speed is high thanks to phase detection autofocus. The accuracy is also excellent.
As for shooting at dusk or simply in low light conditions, the camera shows extremely poor results: there is a lot of noise, the image becomes blurry, and the white balance often fluctuates. However, almost all modules in the price category of devices up to 15,000 rubles behave in a similar way.
The front module is not very wide-angle. The photos are good and sharp.
The video is normal – FullHD at 30 fps during the day and 20 fps at night. The picture is average, the focus is also average. The sound is loud, clear, excellent intelligibility, good sensitivity. The selfie camera records FullHD - quite suitable for vlogs.
The usual manual settings for ISO, shutter speed, focus, and exposure remain. Otherwise, nothing new.
Sample photos
Performance and Software Platform
Meizu M3S mini uses MediaTek MT6750 chipset. Information about the chip appeared at the beginning of this year. This processor was created as a low-cost solution with LTE Cat 6, as well as VoLTE, ViLTE and VoWiFi. 8-core chip: one cluster consists of four Cortex-A53 cores operating at 1 GHz and is designed for simple tasks; the second cluster consists of four high-performance Cortex-A53 cores operating at 1.5 GHz, designed for demanding applications. The graphics are handled by ARM Mali-T860MP2 with support for OpenGL ES 3.1, OpenCL 1.2 and DirectX 11.1, capable of operating at frequencies up to 700 MHz. In MT6750 it operates at 650 MHz.
When the processor is loaded, the case does not heat up so much (maximum 41–42 degrees), in normal conditions (music, camera, pictures, network use) – 32–35 degrees.
The smartphone is very fast, no microlags or system slowdowns. Meizu has polished the Flyme shell well, although it doesn’t have many functions.
With toys, not everything is clear: Unkilled shows an unstable 13–22 fps, Dead Trigger 2 – a stable 30 fps, Real Racing 3 – an average of 27, but the frames “jump” from 19 to 38 fps. Something like this…
Among the manufacturers of mobile equipment, companies from China stand out, which managed to become incredibly popular just a couple of years after their appearance. Such phenomena include Xiaomi brands and Meizu. Five years ago no one knew anything about them. And now they are among the five most famous smartphone manufacturers. Isn't it? At the moment, the most promising brand is Meizu. Its smartphones amaze with unmatched performance and low prices. Our today's hero, the Meizu M3 Mini smartphone, also belongs to the category of mid-price devices. This device looks very interesting compared to its competitors. But we will talk about its technical characteristics a little later.
A little about the company
What kind of company is this - Meizu? Where did she come from? The history of this company began in 2003. A certain Jack Wong did not find a suitable MP3 player on the market and decided to develop it himself. It so happened that the company produced MP3 players until 2008. Without further ado, engineers simply copied well-known models and made minor changes to them. This continued until 2008. And then Wong decided that it was time to get down to business seriously. The first smartphone from Meizu ran on the Windows CE platform and was almost no different in design from the fourth iPhone. Then Apple ensured that overly zealous copiers stopped their tricks. The release of the smartphone was canceled, but the idea did not die. They just decided to produce devices on Android with minimal common features with the products famous brands. Such devices include the one we will discuss later.
The company's first Android device was the M9, which created a real revolution in China. For the most part, the wild success of the Nine was due to its extremely low price. The manufacturer produced a flagship per year. The company's managers considered it inappropriate to "spray" on mid-level models and budget smartphones. This continued until 2014. However, the company began to sharply lose its position even in China. The management had to reconsider their views. The result was that the company also focused on budget devices. However, most of all people liked the models in the mid-price segment. A prominent representative of gadgets in this category is the Meizu M3 Mini smartphone. Now let’s take a closer look at this miracle of Chinese engineering.
Appearance and Design
Of course, there are many borrowings in the appearance of the M3, but there are also specific features that make the device unique. Main feature This device is that it is enclosed in a completely metal body. The main material is 7000 series aluminum, sandblasted. The presence of such a case brings the device closer to the flagships. The front panel is covered with convex tempered glass (though from an unknown manufacturer) 2.5D. This allows the gadget to look modern. As expected, most of the front panel is occupied by the screen. Below it is a mechanical Home button with a touch insert. A fingerprint scanner is hidden under the sensor. It should be noted that the shape of this very button is painfully reminiscent of that in Samsung devices. And the rest of the front panel elements are more reminiscent of an iPhone. That's the M3 Mini. Reviews, however, do not particularly criticize its “similarity” to other devices.
The camera module is located on the rear panel, the flash is located under it. And even lower is the Meizu corporate logo. There's nothing special here. It is only worth noting that the back cover is very elastic and does not press down to the battery. The mechanical power and volume buttons are located as standard: on the right side of the device. It is interesting that the entire body is well assembled: there are no cracks, nothing creaks or plays. People are accustomed to the fact that Chinese crafts are quite flimsy. But not Meizu M3 Mini. Reviews from owners indicate that the smartphone is exceptionally strong. For which honor and praise go to the manufacturers.
Screen
The new product has an IPS display with a diagonal of 5 inches. Is this a lot or a little? Let's just say: for the modern user this is quite enough. The device will clearly appeal to those who are already quite tired of modern “shovel-shaped” smartphones. The screen resolution is 1280 by 720 pixels, that is, the display fully complies with the HD standard. It has a pixel density standard for this resolution - 294 per inch. This is a normal indicator. The declared contrast is 1000 to 1. But in reality we have 677 to 1. Such a difference between the declared characteristics and the real ones is quite normal for modern manufacturers. The Meizu M3 S is no exception. Its characteristics, by the way, do not differ very much from those declared.
Other features of the screen include decent brightness (400 cd per square meter). This brightness allows you to comfortably use the device even in direct sunlight. The image will still look great. Thanks to the IPS matrix, the screen has very impressive viewing angles. The image begins to distort only when the device is tilted sufficiently. In addition, IPS displays have amazingly accurate color reproduction. And they don’t fade over time like AMOLED panels. So it’s not surprising that this particular screen was chosen for installation in the Meizu M3 Mini smartphone. Now let's move on to the rest of the technical characteristics.
Processor and RAM
Under the hood of the smartphone is an eight-core processor from MediaTek. It has very high performance. This is due to the fact that the MT 6750 chip belongs to a new generation of products. In terms of power, it is comparable to those processors that are installed in modern flagships. Not surprisingly, nothing is impossible for the Meizu M3 S 32GB. The characteristics of this smartphone allow it to easily cope with the heaviest games and applications. As for the device's RAM, there are two modifications - with 2 and 3 gigabytes of RAM. Moreover, the three-gigabyte version costs almost the same as the 2-gigabyte version. If possible, it is better to purchase a device with more memory, so it will remain relevant longer. As for the memory available to the user, there are also two options. There are models with 16 and 32 gigabytes of internal memory. Of course, it's better to take more. Meizu, which we are reviewing here, can easily compete even with the iPhone.
Graphics chip and other components
The graphics chip is Mali T860-MP2. This chipset can easily handle video high definition and has support for OpenGL and DirectX. This allows for incredible graphics performance in modern mobile games. Distinctive feature This device supports the LTE communication standard latest generation. But that's not all. The device is equipped with a Wi-Fi transmitter with a broadcast frequency of 5 gigahertz. And this is already good. Other features include lightning scanner fingerprints, the latest generation Bluetooth transmitter, a wide variety of sensors and a capacious 3020 mAh battery. The latter helps the smartphone easily work for two days on a single charge. These are the main parameters of the screen; by the way, they are quite good. They take this smartphone to a completely different level. Now let's move on to the camera of the device.
Camera (main)
The main camera uses a high-aperture module of 13 megapixels. A special feature of the camera design is an optical system of five lenses. The camera has phase detection autofocus and dual-color LED flash. By the way, it is phase autofocus that gives the camera the ability to focus very quickly even in low light conditions. During the day, the pictures turn out simply excellent. and if you turn on the HDR mode, you actually get works of art. But at night the camera is clearly missing something. Extraneous noise is noticeable to the naked eye. And the photos turn out somewhat blurry. Night photography is clearly beyond the capabilities of the Meizu M3 Mini. Reviews from owners, however, praise the camera. By the way, the device can record Full HD video in MP4 format. And that is not all. There is even a very popular recording option called "Slow Mo" - slow motion. This is a new option in the Meizu M3 S. Its characteristics and reviews are full of praise.
Camera (front)
Now let's move on to the characteristics of the front camera of the device. Unlike other manufacturers, Meizu takes front-facing cameras seriously. Even this module has 5 megapixels and a complex optical system of 4 lenses. This camera is also fast and wide-angle. Photos are high quality and sharp. By the way, the front camera can also record video in Full HD format. Of course, there is no practical benefit from this, but for video communication such a module is simply ideal. Selfie lovers will also be delighted. Meizu M3 Mini, technical specifications and reviews of which we are reviewing here, is quite modern device, which will appeal to the vast majority of users. That was the calculation of the manufacturing company.
Firmware and software platform
The operating system in this smartphone is Android version 5.1 with the proprietary Flyme shell from Meizu. Many people categorically do not like the branded shell, but we must admit that it is made simply and tastefully. It at least somehow diversifies the “naked” “Android”. But what should those who absolutely do not like this about the Meizu M3 Mini do? Firmware on w3bsit3-dns.com (a popular forum for mobile gadgets) can somewhat improve the situation. There are very interesting “custom” options without Flyme. It must be said that the fifth “Android” works quite quickly and “glitch-free” under the proprietary shell. Although this is probably due to the smartphone's hardware platform. But everything looks very beautiful, you can’t take that away. The most important thing is that the company regularly updates the firmware and “patches” old holes and corrects defects. Not all manufacturers can boast of such product support.
Concerning pre-installed applications, then in the version of the gadget with international firmware there is almost no unnecessary junk. But if you are the “lucky” owner of the Chinese version, then be prepared that your phone will have a lot of useless Chinese “slag” that cannot be removed. By the way, such devices do not have Google Play and all other usual services. What should owners of Chinese Meizu M3 Mini do? The firmware on w3bsit3-dns.com is usually completely Russified and lacks Chinese apps and has all the necessary services from Google. You just need to install it. But how to do this painlessly is a completely different question. In any case, gadgets from Meizu can easily be updated with firmware and various modifications. So there definitely shouldn’t be any problems with this. The main thing is to do everything according to the instructions.