Friday, August 21, 2015

Review smartphone Meizu M2 Note: the budget wagon – BBC News

The smartphone Meizu M2 Note, changing some details of the design compared to the predecessor in many respects the same, still, is aimed at a young audience. In addition to the possibility of expanding the memory it is also worth noting support both 4G slots for SIM-cards. What else stands out a new device, understood Vesti.Hi-tech.

Just six months after the start of the smartphone M1 Note, which announced in December last year, the company unveiled its updated Meizu – M2 Note. The new device kept striking exterior and unusually low price for an existing filling, which makes it attractive in the first place, for the younger generation. Not by chance, apparently, the slogan chosen for the promotion of this unit – Quality for Young (“Quality for the Young”). According to Meizu, which now stands for a serious investor, as the Internet giant Alibaba, selling M1 Note for the six months amounted to several million units. Judging by the number of pre-orders for M2 Note, the novelty can also count on success.

Specifications

  • Model : M2 Note (M571H)
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  • OS: Android 5.1 (Lollipop) with shell Flyme OS 4.5.1I
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  • Processor: 64-bit MediaTek MT6753, architecture ARMv8, 8 cores ARM Cortex-A53 1,3 GHz
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  • Graphics Coprocessor: ARM Mali-T720 MP3 (450 MHz)
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  • RAM: 2GB LPDDR3 (800 MHz, single channel)
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  • Memory storage: 16GB, support for memory cards microSD / HC / XC (up to 128 GB)
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  • Interfaces: Wi-Fi 802.11 a / b / g / n (2,4 GHz + 5 GHz), Bluetooth 4.0 (LE), microUSB (USB 2.0) for charging / synchronization, USB-OTG, 3,5 mm Headphone
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  • Screen: capacitive touch, Sharp / AU Optronics, the matrix Sharp IGZO, GFF (full lamination), the diagonal of 5.5 inches, a resolution of 1920×1080 dots per inch pixel density of 401 ppi, the brightness of 450 cd / sq. m, contrast 1000: 1, the protective glass AGC Dragontrail / NEG T2X-1
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  • Cameras: Home – 13 MP, Samsung S5K3L2, sensor type 1 / 3.06-inch protective glass Corning Gorilla Glass 3, 5-element lens, aperture f / 2.2, auto-focus, dual two-color flash, video 1080p @ 30fps, 4- digital zoom, protective glass, IR cut filter; front – 5 MP, OmniVision OV5670, 4-element lens aperture of f / 2.0, shooting angle 69 degrees
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  • Network: GSM / GPRS / EDGE (900/1800 MHz), WCDMA / HSPA + (900/2100 MHz), LTE Cat. 4 (1800/2100/2600 MHz)
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  • SIM-card: nanoSIM (format 4FF)
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  • The number of SIM-cards: 2
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  • Navigation: GPS / GLONASS, A-GPS
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  • Sensors: gyroscope, a compass, a Hall sensor, accelerometer, light and proximity sensors (infrared)
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  • Battery: removable Li-Ion 3100 mAh
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  • Colors: white, blue, gray, pink
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  • Dimensions: mm 150,9h75,2,0h8,7
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  • Weight: 149 g
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Design and Ergonomics

The main difference from its predecessor in the design of M2 Note has become a mechanical button, called mBack and get additional touch layer.

Something similar has in the “music” flagship MX4 Pro, but M2 Note in the button with silver edges missing feature a fingerprint scanner, and the form it has become more rounded.

Normal touch (tap) this button activates the transition back one screen (such as button-triangle in the katabatic Android) , short press hardware “click” returns to the main screen (“Home”), and a long press (hold) extinguishes the backlight.

Another reminder was the MX4 Pro The add-gray coloring of the housing. At the same time, there is a white, blue and pink, but gone yellow and green colors.

By the way, the plastic in all colors appeared glossy, with the exception of gray when used matte polycarbonate (which looks like a hint of the kind of proximity to the flagship).

The overall dimensions are changed insignificantly – 150,9h75,2,0h8 7 mm versus 150,7h75,2,0h8,9 mm. The same can be said about the title, which, however, unexpectedly grew – 149 g vs. 145 g.

The whole front surface M2 Note, including the screen, covered with protective glass. Recall that M1 Note these functions are assigned to Corning Gorilla Glass 3, but for the new smartphone developers have decided to stay at Dragontrail from Asahi Glass Co. and Dinorex (T2X-1) from Nippon Electric Glass. So, how exactly to get smart glass to the buyer is difficult to say. As for the oleophobic coating, it is, if there is, then it is very ineffective (the new glass may blame?).

Above the display, with the traditionally narrow side frames are arranged lattice” conversational “speaker, light sensor and proximity, as well as the front camera lens and LED events (left).

As already noted, to replace the circular touch icon “Home” also serve as an indicator of events came mechanical button mBack. Swipe up from the left or right of that emulates the action of the control key “Recent Apps”.

Power / Lock moved now with the upper end of the housing on the left edge, where two separate volume buttons replace one long rocker. Therefore, even the touch buttons do not be confused.

Right edge still takes private slot with double tray. But now here can accommodate either two subscriber identity module, but the format nanoSIM, or the place of one of them will take a memory extension card microSD. To open the lock combination tray need a special key. Although the original appearance, to replace him, still can ordinary paper clip.

The opening for the second microphone (Noise Reduction) and the 3.5-mm connector audiogarnitury stayed on the top.

At the bottom end of the body has not changed – hole” conversational “microphone, microUSB connector between the two mounting screws, and and grating ring, “multimedia” speakers (four round holes).

The rear panel M2 Note – a complete copy of all the housing M1 Note with holes for the main camera lens and dual LED flash two-tone.

It also flaunts a logo of the manufacturer with an explanatory inscription Designed by Meizu Made in China.

The quality of materials and a good assembly M2 Note do not cause problems.

Like its predecessor, the new smartphone with a large 5.5-inch screen does not look too bulky, but use it with one hand, not all seem friendly. Since the high-gloss polycarbonate quite slippery on the smartphone in gray (matt) body should pay attention not only for its solid appearance, but also for this reason.

screen, camera, sound

With the TV news wise, it seems, did not. There is also used a 5.5-inch IPS-matrix technology Sharp IGZO (Indium Gallium Zinc Oxide – oxide, indium, gallium, and zinc), that eventually allows high pixel density in combination with low power consumption. Full lamination technology GFF (Glass-to-Film-to-Film) eliminates the air gap between the layers of the display, which serves as the basis for a good anti-reflective properties and reduces the effect of reflection. At a resolution of 1920×1080 pixels (Full HD) with a “widescreen” aspect ratio of 16: 9, the density of pixels per inch is about 401 ppi.

The claimed contrast and brightness is 1000: 1 and 450 cd / m². m, respectively. At the same time, the level of uniform illumination (with a decent margin of the minimum) can be set either manually or rely on the testimony of the light sensor on which it is automatically adjusted (option “Auto”). For sensitivity sensor layer have no complaints. Multitouch technology can handle up to ten simultaneous pressing on the capacitive screen, which is confirmed by the results of the program AntTuTu Tester. The settings also added the ability to adjust the color temperature so that the colors on your taste, you can make a warmer or, conversely, cold. Along with wide viewing angles provide quite high quality anti-reflective coating, so that even under bright summer sun picture remains readable. Recall that the screen is covered with protective glass or Dragontrail from Asahi Glass Co., or Dinorex (T2X-1) from Nippon Electric Glass. But the quality of the oleophobic coating is clearly less than that used for the display M1 Note.

The main camera M2 Note received a 13-megapixel BSI-sensor (Samsung S5K3L2, type 1 / 3.06 inch), and two-color dual LED flash with different color temperatures. The camera lens with a 5-lens optics and aperture f / 2.2 glass closed Corilla Glass 3 and matrices used for the infrared filter low frequency range. Supports 4x digital zoom and panorama shooting (300 degrees). The maximum resolution of the pictures is 4192h3104 points (13 MP) at a ratio of 4: 3. Examples of the photo can be seen here.

At the front camera 5-megapixel sensor (OmniVision OV5670 Pure Cel, type 1/5 inches) equipped with wide-angle (69 degrees) 4 lenticular lens aperture f / 2.0, as well as IR cut filter. Autofocus and flash are not available. The maximum size of a picture in the classical proportions (4: 3) – 2576h1936 points (5 MP). Both cameras are able to record video as Full HD (1920×1080 pixels) at a frame rate of 30 fps, in this case, the content stored in the container file MP4 (AVC – Video, AAC – sound).

The application interface “Camera “is no different from a similar program in M1 Note, in this case, several shooting modes including a fully automatic and manual, supplemented by a barcode scanner. Possibilities for setting up camera and video settings and preserved, including filters and editing options “sebyashek.” By the way, Meizu assure that the camera got a more modern image processor, having apparently referring to the one that is integrated in the new base platform MT6753. So to improve the quality of images may be due to processing algorithms.

Placing lattice “multimedia” speaker remained the same – at the lower end of the body. And it seems that musical ability M2 Note also surpassed his predecessor. External speaker, although quite loud, some super quality no different. However, the standard tools allow the smartphone to listen to audio files, for example, with extensions FLAC, by codecs for audio data compression without loss of quality. Once connected, the audio headset has a 5-band equalizer with presets and manual adjustment and sound enhancement technology Dirac HD Sound Headphone with profiles of different types. FM-tuner in the machine is not available, as well as an audio headset in his set.

Filling performance

For the new Smartphone decided to do a more modest 64-bit platform MediaTek MT6753 with eight cores ARM Cortex-A53, which is a logical continuation of the bases M1 Note – crystal MediaTek MT6752. So, MediaTek MT6753 uses the architecture of ARM Mali-T720 MP3 (450 MHz) as a graphics accelerator with support for OpenGL ES 3.0 and OpenCL 1.2.

The new chip with a lower clock speed (1.3 GHz versus 1.7 GHz) can work in networks of LTE-TDD, LTE -FDD Cat. 4 (150 Mbit / s), HSPA +, TD-SCDMA, EDGE, and is provided with interfaces Bluetooth 4.0 LE and 2-band Wi-Fi. According to the musical abilities of the smartphone, it seems that the design of the chip MT6753 (as in the MT6752) provides audio hub architecture Wolfson WM8281. In turn, the job assigned to the camera built-in image signal processor ISP. The basic configuration supplemented with 2 GB of RAM type LPDDR3 (800 MHz), which is controlled by a single-channel controller. Weaker filling determines the appropriate test results.

So, synthetic tests AnTuTu Benchmark shows that smartphone M2 Note, though ahead of the ex-flagship HTC One M7 (2013), but earning 30,269 “virtual parrot”, behind its predecessor M1 Note (39 436 ).

Benchmarks Vellamo only confirm the presence of less brisk filling: multi-core test Multicore – 1499 against 1703, the processor tests Metal – 927 against 1 129

In the visual test Epic Citadel at variable settings, High Performance, High Quality and Ultra High Quality average frame rate at a resolution of 1920×1080 pixels was – 54,9 fps, 53,9 fps and 26,0 fps, respectively.

At the universal gaming benchmarks 3DMark, where the smartphone has been tested on sets Sling Shot and Ice Storm Unlimited, recorded the results of 182 and 6124, respectively. So, with the vast majority of popular games problems should arise.

The total number of points earned M2 Note on cross-platform benchmark Base Mark OS II, was 740.

Of the 16 GB (there is a model with 32 GB) of internal memory stated in the test model is available about 10 GB. At the same time, to expand the available storage space is provided in the tray under the memory card microSD / HC / XC maximum capacity of up to 128 GB. M2 Note This compares favorably with his predecessor, which does not. However, a dual tray which is inserted into a memory card, universal, and, taking it in one place, the installation will have to sacrifice a second SIM-card (format nanoSIM). By the way, to expand the internal memory can also be through support for USB-OTG, by connecting an external drive.

A set of wireless communications in the new smartphone also includes a 2-band Wi-Fi-module 802.11 a / b / g / n (2,4 and 5 GHz) and Bluetooth 4.0 (LE). Furthermore, one radio channel unit when two nanoSIM-card (format 4FF) operates with them in Dual SIM Dual Standby, in other words, both the SIM-card active, but when one is busy, and other available. However, in both slots supported by work with 4G, so subscriber identity module sites do not have to change. Recall that M1 Note manages two microSIM-cards, with support 3G / 4G is only in one particular tray.

According to the published information, now the problem is with the work of Russian 4G networks basically solved – supported LTE-FDD 2600 MHz, that is most common in the Russian frequency band Band 7.

To determine the location and navigation in the smartphone provides GPS / GLONASS receiver and mode support A-GPS. This is confirmed by the testimony of the test program AndroiTS GPS Test.

The capacity of the lithium-ion battery, which equipped M2 Note (3100 mAh) was slightly less than its predecessor (3140 mAh).

In the battery test new AnTuTu Tester Smartphone earned 6289 points. Recall that M1 Note here scored 6239 points. The test set of video format MP4 (hardware decoding) and Full HD-quality at full brightness spun continuously for about 6.5 hours. In the setting “Battery”, depending on the expected load, you can force the smartphone from “balanced” to “Energy-saving” or “performance”.

Software

M2 Note smartphone running the operating system Android 5.1 (Lollipop) with a proprietary shell Flyme OS 4.5.1. Despite the version number, the main features of this launcher left without any changes. For more information about Flyme OS can read the reviews of other smartphone Meizu (for example, here, here and here).

In the absence of a separate application menu, all the widgets and program shortcuts are placed on your desktop. Swipe down opens the Quick Settings, and swipe up – recent applications. By the way, a set of pre-installed software of the new smartphone is traditionally minimal.

Of course, carefully preserved all the gestures of smartphone management, including control “ring” SmartTouch with adjustable transparency, which are collected in the “Spec. possible”.

It’s easy to get M2 Note superuser (the so-called root-access). It’s enough to create a user account in Flyme, and then in the “personal settings” tap on the line “Open access to the system”.

Purchase conclusions

The new smartphone Meizu M2 Note favorably with his predecessor Meizu M1 Note LTE support slots for both subscriber identity module, expandable built-in memory (by installing cards microSD), as well as a convenient mechanical button. Keeping bright color color, large screen and high-quality camera is very successful, the new product is clearly inferior to the previous model of speed and efficiency oleophobic coating of the display. In addition, the expansion memory you have to pay a second SIM-card.

The recommended price Meizu M2 Note is 13 990 rubles. Slightly more expensive (an average of 14 350 rubles) requested at the time of testing for the Meizu M1 Note.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

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