Meizu m5 note what glass costs. MEIZU M5 Note

Among which was the M5 Note, a continuation of one of Meizu’s most popular smartphones, the M3 Note. The absence of a fourth version is explained by the fact that among the Chinese the number 4 is considered unlucky, so the new product immediately received the 5th number.

Looking ahead, we will say that in terms of characteristics the device is an almost complete copy of the M3e, and differs, by and large, only in the increased screen diagonal. Is this good or bad? Read our Meizu review M5 Note.

Price and main characteristics

M5 Note is available in 4 body colors: gray with black front panel, silver, blue and gold. The official cost of the gadget in China for the 16/3 GB version is 9 thousand rubles, the older version 64/4 costs 14 thousand rubles. In Russia, the younger modification of the smartphone will have to pay about 16 thousand.

Specifications:

• display: 5.5”, IPS LCD FHD 1920*1080 px, 401 ppi;
• processor: Helio P10 (8*1-1.8 GHz) + video accelerator Mali T860;
• RAM: 3/4 GB;
• inner memory: 13/32/64 GB + micro SD flash cards up to 128 GB;
• camera: main – 13 MP (f/2.2), front – 8 MP;
• communication: Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.1, GPS, LTE;
• battery: 4000 mAh.

The dimensions of the M5 Note are 154*76*8.1 mm, weight – 175 grams.

Equipment and appearance

Traditionally, for all Meizu devices, the smartphone comes in a simple white box made of thick cardboard; the package also includes a USB cable, a charging adapter, a clip for the SIM tray and documentation.

In terms of design, the M5 Note is identical to the recently presented M3e; the new product differs only in its greater thickness and dimensions. The monolithic body of the gadget is made of aluminum, there are plastic seams for the antenna on back cover, which harmoniously fit into the design of the smartphone.

The front side is covered tempered glass Gorilla Glass 3, rounded using 2.5D technology. Below the screen there is a proprietary mTouch key, which combines a mechanical navigation button, a touch pad and a fingerprint scanner.

On the back there is a 13 MP camera module, a flash and the Meizu logo. The aluminum surface of the body has a good finish and feels very nice in the hand.

The side ends of the M5 Note are decorated with a neat chamfer, which looks extremely impressive. The top end is devoid of functional elements; only the second microphone for noise reduction is located on it. At the bottom there is a Micro USB port, a main speaker grille and a 3.5 mm headphone jack. All holes are made carefully, there are no complaints about the build quality.

On the right side there is a volume rocker and a power button.

On the left is a hybrid card tray. In general, like all budget Meizu smartphones, due to the excellent build quality, the M5 Note looks much more expensive than its cost.

Screen

M5 Note is equipped with a 5.5-inch IPS matrix with FULL HD resolution and a pixel density of 401 ppi. For the money the screen is good, it has high level contrast and natural color rendition; software adjustment of color temperature and inclusion of eye protection mode are also provided.

The brightness range allows you to comfortably use the smartphone both in a dark room and outdoors; even in bright sunshine, the screen remains clearly readable. The multi-touch display confidently recognizes 10 touches, and the olephobic coating does not disappoint.

Compared to its predecessor, the M3 Note, the quality of the screen in the new product has increased significantly. The only negative is when compared with flagship displays, which makes it clear that the M5 Note displays white with a slight bias towards a pink tint. However, during everyday use this does not cause any discomfort.

Performance

Performance can be called the main Achilles heel of the M5 Note; there is no progress here in relation to its predecessor. The device runs on a Helio P10 processor, which is good in terms of power consumption, but scores a modest 47 thousand in the Benchmark.

In practice, the P10 is absolutely enough for smooth operation of the interface, the main set of applications and casual games. Performance is also ensured by a sufficient amount of RAM - 3 or 4 GB, depending on the version. You will not experience any shortcomings in everyday work, but only in demanding 3D toys on maximum settings You won't be able to play graphics.

For example, in the same tanks, comfortable gaming at 40-50 FPS is only possible on minimum settings with HD textures disabled. At maximum load, the processor heats up to 40-43 degrees, there is no throttling.

Camera

But the camera in the M5 Note has been significantly improved. The 13 MP sensor with phase detection autofocus takes pictures an order of magnitude better than its predecessor and is superior to most smartphones in this price category. The native camera has a full mode manual settings, which even in difficult conditions shooting allows you to get decent quality photos.

Separately, let’s cancel the 5 MP front camera, it’s good. The post-processing algorithms in the M5 Note were handled by ArcSoft, a company known for developing camera software for Vivo smartphones.

The M5 Note shoots video in FHD resolution at 60 fps. The recording quality is average, there is some shaking due to the lack of an optical stabilizer. The sound is written well, an order of magnitude better than most budget phones.

Speaker, sound quality

The sound in the headphones, like all Meizu ones, is of decent quality, but the M5 Note is inferior to solutions with a dedicated DAC. The smartphone can easily play with any vacuum headphones. The main speaker is also good; it is loud and suffers virtually no distortion at maximum volume.

Battery

The battery capacity of the M5 Note is 4000 mAh, which is 100 mAh less than its predecessor. However, the new product supports MediaTek PumpExpress fast charging technology and can charge from 0 to 100% in 65-70 minutes, which is its undeniable advantage.

With continuous video playback at maximum screen brightness, the M5 Note is completely discharged in 9 hours. When gaming Asphalt 8, 11% of the battery is consumed per hour. The battery life is enough for comfortable work during daylight hours. Even with active use of the smartphone in the evening, about 15-20% of the battery remains. If you don’t play with toys and save the charge a little, then the M5 Note will confidently last two days on a single charge.

Communication and Internet

The quality of operator network reception on the M5 Note good, as well as the transmission of the voice of you and your interlocutor during the conversation. The device supports dual-band Wi-Fi and all LTE bands common in the Russian Federation.

The M5 Note quickly finds navigation satellites and maintains stable communication with them. The smartphone is also equipped with Bluetooth 4.0 Low Energy, necessary for connecting smart watches and fitness trackers to the gadget. Instead of USB Type-C, the gadget uses regular Micro-USB.

Video review of Meizu M5 Note

Competitors, conclusion

The M5 Note is a great value for money for those who don't require gaming performance from their smartphone. As for a budget device it strengths is a cool screen, good camera, high build quality and decent autonomy. Meizu has already announced that the M5 Note will be one of the first to receive the Flyme 6 update. However, there are no fundamental improvements in comparison with the M3 Note, which was released at the beginning of 2016, and there is no point in changing one device for another.

For those who want to get acquainted with the products of the Meizu company, we confidently recommend purchasing them. If you want to get a generally similar, but more powerful gadget, then best choice is still Xiaomi's Redmi Note 3 Pro.

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as well as the first fitness bracelet from MEIZU

In 2016, MEIZU released an unusually large number of smartphones. Yes, when compared with almost any other brand (not only Samsung, Sony or HTC, but also Chinese companies like UMI, Ulefone, etc.), the MEIZU lineup does not seem large, but for fans of the brand the situation is the opposite, they are used to to 2-3, maximum 6 smartphones per year. Apparently, towards the end of the year, the company itself also began to understand that the situation was strange, and the release of the M5 Note model was to some extent a planned event, and to some extent it was a desire to begin rectifying the situation, to make the model range simpler and more understandable for users.

Specifications MEIZU M5 Note

• Case materials: aluminum, 2.5D glass (front panel)
• operating system: Android 6.0, Flyme 5 (6)
• Network: DualSIM; GSM/EDGE, UMTS/HSDPA, LTE (TD/FDD-LTE) (nanoSIM)
• Platform: MediaTek MT6755 (Helio P10)
• Processor: eight-core, 64-bit, four cores 1.8 GHz (Cortex-A53) and four cores 1 GHz (Cortex-A53)
• Graphics: Mali-T860
• RAM: 3/4 GB LPDDR3
• Storage memory: 16/32/64 GB
• Memory card slot: yes, microSD (combined with nanoSIM slot)
• Interfaces: Wi-Fi (a/b/g/n) Dual-Band, Bluetooth 4.0 (LE), microUSB connector (USB 2.0, MHL, USB-OTG, USB-Host) for charging/synchronization, 3.5 mm for headset
• Screen: IPS LCD, 5.5” diagonal, resolution 1920x1080, ppi 403, automatic backlight level adjustment, protective glass
• Main camera: 13 MP, f/2.2, 5 lenses, phase detection autofocus, dual LED flash, video recorded in FullHD
• Front-camera: 5 MP without autofocus, f/2.0, 4 lenses, video recorded in 1080p (shooting algorithms from ArcSoft)
• Navigation: GPS (A-GPS support), Glonass
• Additionally: mTouch fingerprint scanner, accelerometer, light sensor, proximity sensor
• Battery: 4000 mAh, support fast charging
• Dimensions: 153.6 x 75.8 x 8.1 mm
• Weight: 175 grams

Case design and materials

In fact, the design of the new MEIZU M5 Note is full copy the MEIZU M3e smartphone presented a few months ago. The only difference is in the thickness of the case; in the M5 Note it is slightly thicker due to a more capacious battery; otherwise the devices are identical. That is, the smartphone has become more expensive and premium than the MEIZU M3 Note, which had plastic inserts painted to match the color of the metal. There is also plastic here, but these are thin lines that are barely noticeable and do not make a difference. So in terms of design and materials, the new M5 Note is closer to the company’s more expensive devices. Volumetric (2.5D) glass is also in place. In terms of workmanship, this is also above average, which is not yet quite typical for budget devices. Due to all these factors, the smartphone feels expensive, definitely more expensive than it actually is.

The body colors are the usual white and gold with a white front panel, as well as blue and gray with a black front panel.

Dimensions

By MEIZU sizes M5 Note is exactly the same as MEIZU M3e, that is, comparable to M3 Note and other smartphones with a 5.5" screen diagonal. I can’t call it compact among its classmates, but it doesn’t stand out on the big side either - it’s a typical average in this category in terms of size. The device is not too thick, but weighty.

Controls

All controls here are exactly the same as in any other MEIZU smartphone released in 2016. The power and volume buttons are on the right, a tray for two nanoSIM cards (or a SIM card and a memory card) is on the left, at the bottom there is a microUSB connector, a microphone, a speaker grille and a 3.5 mm mini-jack. On top is an additional microphone (noise reduction).

The fingerprint scanner is embedded in a mechanical key, which also acts as a back button thanks to the touch layer.

Screen

The device uses a 5.5" diagonal screen with a resolution of 1920x1080 pixels based on an IPS matrix. A display with maximum viewing angles, a good reserve of brightness and close to natural color rendition. In terms of picture richness and brightness, the screen does not reach the displays in Meizu MX6 or Pro 6, but for an inexpensive smartphone it is quite good. If you compare it with the display in the MEIZU M3 Note, you will notice a difference for the better, but not too obvious, in my opinion. There is an “eye protection” mode in which the screen works in warm colors. The oleophobic coating is excellent, there are no complaints here.

Platform, memory

The smartphone is built on the Helio P10 platform from MediaTek. It was also used in the M3 Note and M3e. This is not a top-end chip and not the latest for the end of 2016, to be honest, but for FullHD resolution and a device in the budget segment it is still a good option. Mali-T860 graphics. The smartphone has 3 or 4 GB of RAM, depending on the modification. The 16 and 32 GB versions have 3 GB of RAM, and the 64 GB version has 4 GB. The MEIZU M3 Note had 2 and 3 GB of RAM, also depending on the version. There is a slot for a microSD memory card, combined with a second slot for a nanoSIM card.

Camera

Both cameras, both the main one and the front one, change little in budget MEIZU in 2016, but in the case of the M5 Note there is good news. Firstly, the main camera with a resolution of 13 megapixels and phase focusing “by eye” began to take pictures a little better than in the M3 Note, this is especially noticeable in close-ups, where the smartphone is very good in its price category. Secondly, the algorithms for the front camera were developed by ArcSoft, known for its developments used by Vivo in the XShot smartphone with one of the best (to this day) cameras on the phone market. Yes, you can hardly squeeze much out of the front camera, but, in my opinion, the front camera in the MEIZU M5 Note actually takes noticeably better pictures than the M3 Note or M3e. Although, perhaps this is all a “placebo effect” and there really is nothing like that, I don’t know.

As with all other devices from Meizu, there is a complete manual mode shooting (this is good), and also the fact that the interface still cannot be rotated to landscape orientation (this is bad).

Interfaces

The device supports dual-band Wi-Fi. In 4G networks, the smartphone operates in all bands common in Russia. Bluetooth version 4.0 with support for LE (Low Energy) profile.

Battery

The smartphone has a 4000 mAh battery, almost like the M3 Note. Taking into account the fact that more than six months have passed since the release of the latter and technology has advanced a little, we can expect similar operating times from smartphones.

Having skipped over the “four” in the serial number of the model, the first thing they did was make some changes to the design of the metal body of the 5.5-inch Meizu M5 Note smartphone. How to correct a “three” to a “five”, Vesti figured it out.Hi-tech

Replenishment model range Meizu's smartphone growth looked pretty fast last year. So, if the world premiere took place in April, then the release of the M5 Note was announced in December. In the best Eastern traditions, the company in this case decided to omit the number “4”, which is associated with certain superstitions in Asia. Note that the model similar in name differs from the M5 Note quite significantly. In particular, the new product is available in three versions of RAM and internal memory - 3 GB/16 GB, 3 GB/32 GB and 4 GB/64 GB. All other technical details about the new smartphone are given below.

Specifications

• Model: M5 Note (M621H)
• OS: Android 6.0 (Marshmallow) with Flyme OS 5.2.11.0G shell
• Processor: 64-bit MediaTek Helio P10 (MT6755), ARMv8 architecture, 8 cores ARM Cortex-A53 (4x1.8 GHz + 4x1.0 GHz)
• Graphics coprocessor: ARM Mali-T860 MP2 (550 MHz)
• RAM: 3GB/3GB/4GB LPDDR3 (933MHz, single channel)
• Storage: 16 GB/32 GB/64 GB, eMMC 5.1, microSD/HC/XC memory card support (up to 128 GB)
• Interfaces: Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n (2.4 GHz + 5 GHz), Bluetooth 4.0 (LE), microUSB (USB 2.0) for charging/syncing, USB-OTG, 3.5 mm headphone jack
• Screen: capacitive touch, GFF (full lamination), 5.5-inch diagonal, resolution 1920x1080 pixels, pixel density per inch 403 ppi, brightness 450 cd/sq. m, contrast ratio 1000:1, protective glass 2.5D
• Main camera: 13 MP, 5-element lens, f/2.2 aperture, phase detection autofocus (0.2 s), dual dual-color flash, 1080p@30fps video
• Front camera: 5 MP, 4-element lens, f/2.0 aperture
• Network: UMTS 900, 2100; GSM 850, 900, 1800, 1900; CDMA 800; LTE (1, 3, 5, 7, 8, 20, 38, 40); LTE Cat. 6 (300/50 Mbit/s)
• SIM card format: nanoSIM (4FF)
• Slot tray configuration: nanoSIM + nanoSIM, or nanoSIM + microSD/HD/XC
• Navigation: GPS/GLONASS, A-GPS
• Sensors: accelerometer, gyroscope, compass, Hall sensor, light and proximity sensors, fingerprint scanner
• Battery: non-removable, lithium polymer, 4,000 mAh, fast charging support
• Colors: dark grey, silver, gold, blue
• Dimensions: 153.6x75.8x8.1 mm
• Weight: 175 grams

Design, ergonomics

The new M5 Note smartphone has received its full metal case, similar to older, more advanced models, for example, . Let us remind you that the rear panel has two inserts made of radio-transparent material.

In turn, for the antennas on the M5 Note body, like , only thin strips of radiotransparent material are now used. Thereby, new smartphone looks more "metallic". By the way, such a candy bar with rounded corners and edges is offered in the following colors: dark gray, silver, gold and blue (only the first three are available at the start of sales).

The overall dimensions of the M5 Note, compared to its predecessor, have remained virtually unchanged (153.6 x 75.8 x 8.1 mm versus 153.6 x 75.5 x 8.2 mm), which cannot be said about the weight (175 g versus 163 grams). However, this is easily explained, because light plastic inserts have now been replaced by heavier metal. As for the 5.5-inch “classmates”, as an example we can give similar parameters for (150.9x76.2x8.2 mm; 162 grams) and Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 (151.0x76.0x8.45 mm; 165 gram).

The entire front surface of the M5 Note, including the screen, is covered with protective glass with a 2.5D effect (manufacturer unknown).

Above the display is traditionally a speaker grille, surrounded by light and proximity sensors (on the left), as well as a front camera lens and an LED indicator (on the right), which is not visible when not in use.

Below the display there is a mechanical key with a built-in mTouch 2.1 fingerprint scanner. Its basic functionality has not changed: tapping on this button activates the “Back” function, a short press with a hardware “click” returns to the main screen (“Home”), and a long press (and hold) turns off the screen backlight. The "Recent Apps" button is replaced by swiping up from the bottom edge of the display.

On the right edge, in a small recess, there are volume rockers of different sizes and a power/lock button.

The left edge occupies a closed slot with a dual tray,

where either two nanoSIM subscriber identification modules can be placed, or the place of the second one will be taken by a microSD memory expansion card.

The hole for the second auxiliary microphone remains at the top end.

But the 3.5 mm audio headset connector moved to the bottom end, where they assembled a hole for a “conversational” microphone, a microUSB connector between two mounting screws, as well as a decorative grille (three oblong holes) for a “multimedia” speaker.

The back panel is decorated with a stylized Meizu logo, above which there are holes for a dual LED flash and the main camera lens.

At the bottom of the rear panel there is a place for an inscription from which you can find out about LTE support, as well as the name of the manufacturing company and the country of production.

The M5 Note feels pleasantly heavy in your hand. In principle, there are no problems with one-handed control, however, special options in the settings are designed to make it easier.

Screen, camera, sound

The M5 Note screen, like its predecessor, uses a 5.5-inch IPS matrix, on which, with a resolution of 1920x1080 pixels (Full HD) and a widescreen aspect ratio of 16:9, the pixel density per inch according to the passport is 403 ppi. GFF (Glass-to-Film-to-Film) full lamination technology eliminates the air gap between the display layers, which is the basis for good anti-glare properties and reduces the reflection effect.

The stated contrast is 1000:1, and the maximum brightness is 450 cd/sq.m. At the same time, it is proposed to regulate the backlight level in a fairly wide range, either at your own discretion, manually, or automatically (the "Auto-tuning" option), based on information from the light sensor. Multi-touch technology allows you to process up to ten simultaneous clicks on a capacitive screen, which is confirmed by the results of the AntTuTu Tester and MultiTouch Tester programs.

In the settings, in addition to changing the font size, the ability to adjust the color temperature has been added. So it’s easy to make the colors warmer or, conversely, colder to suit your taste. To protect your eyes, it is proposed to enable the mode of the same name, reducing the amount of “harmful” light in the blue part of the spectrum (the image on the screen will begin to “yellow”). This option can be activated using a timer. The oleophobic coating allows your finger to slide across the screen quite easily, and it is also equally easy to remove small stains from the glass.

The photo capabilities of the M5 Note seem to have remained unchanged compared to . The main camera also boasts a 13-megapixel sensor and a 2-tone LED flash with different color temperatures. The lens with 5-element optics has an f/2.2 aperture and fast (0.2 s) phase detection autofocus. The maximum image resolution is achieved with an aspect ratio of 4:3 and is 4208x3120 pixels (13 MP). Examples of photos can be viewed.

The front camera has a 5-megapixel sensor equipped with a wide-angle 4-lens lens with f/2.0 aperture. There is no autofocus or flash. Maximum size a picture in a classic proportion (4:3) - 2576x1936 pixels (5 MP).

Both cameras can record video in Full HD quality (1920x1080 pixels) with a frame rate of 30 fps, while the content is saved in MP4 container files (AVC - video, AAC - sound).

The interface of the Camera application in the M5 Note, compared to its predecessor, has also not changed at all. True, to the “Auto”, “Manual”, “Portrait”, “Panorama”, “Focus Change”, “Slow Motion”, “Macro” and “GIF” modes, they also added “Scanner” (reading bar codes) . In the settings it is easy to activate the HDR mode, as well as determine the photo size and video quality. Focus and exposure metering can be performed separately. Shooting in manual mode (M) requires self-installation parameters of shutter speed, ISO, exposure compensation, saturation, white balance, etc. There are 11 filters available to create effects, including Black and White, Film, Oxidized, and more. It’s convenient to switch from the main camera to the front camera and back using vertical swipes. The volume rocker (both up and down) can also be used to release the shutter.

There have also been no fundamental changes in the sound capabilities of the M5 Note. Standard smartphone tools allow you to listen to files with the FLAC extension, created by codecs for compressing audio data without loss of quality. After connecting an audio headset, you are offered to use a 5-band equalizer with presets and manual settings. The Voice Recorder application writes monaural recordings (44.1 kHz) to MP3 files.

Filling, performance

The M5 Note relied on the same 64-bit MediaTek Helio P10 (MT6755) platform as for .

Let us recall that the 8-core True8Core processor has four ARM Cortex-A53 cores clocked at up to 1.8 GHz, and four more at up to 1.0 GHz. At the same time, the 2-core ARM Mali-T860 MP2 (550 MHz) architecture with support for OpenGL ES 3.2 and OpenCL 1.2 is used as a graphics accelerator. At the same time, increasing energy efficiency while maintaining sufficient computing power is achieved by automatically adjusting the frequencies of the processor and video accelerator. Helio P10 can work in LTE-TDD, LTE-FDD Cat networks. 6 (300/50 Mbit/s), HSPA+, TD-SCDMA, EDGE, etc., and is also equipped with Bluetooth 4.0 LE and 2-band Wi-Fi interfaces.

The basic configuration of the M5 Note is complemented by LPDDR3 (933 MHz) RAM, which is controlled by a single-channel controller. Note that the smartphone variants with 16 GB, 32 GB or 64 GB of internal storage (eMMC 5.1) come with 3 GB, 3 GB or 4 GB of RAM, respectively. We received a device with a 3 GB/16 GB combination for testing.

On the synthetic benchmark AnTuTu Benchmark, we managed to “knock out” more than 47 thousand “virtual parrots”, which was obviously predetermined by the chosen hardware platform.

The efficiency of using the processor cores of the new smartphone looks, perhaps, more optimistic than the estimate of the amount of “horsepower” (Geekbench 4).

On the Epic Citadel visual test with the High Performance and High Quality settings, the average frame rate remained virtually unchanged - 57.3 fps, 56.9 fps, respectively. But on the Ultra High Quality setting it decreased by almost 1.7 times (33.3 fps).

Not surprisingly, the universal gaming benchmark 3DMark, where the M5 Note was tested on the recommended Sling Shot Extreme set, recorded a rather modest result (318 points).

The total number of points earned by the smartphone on the cross-platform benchmark Base Mark OS II was 279.

Of the 16 GB of declared internal memory, about 14.56 GB were available in the tested model, and about 10 GB were free. At the same time, like the one, to expand the existing storage, it is possible to install a microSD/HC/XC memory card with a maximum capacity of up to 128 GB. The dual tray into which the memory card is inserted is universal, and if you take up one place in it, you will have to sacrifice the installation of a second SIM card (nanoSIM format). You can also expand the built-in storage thanks to support for USB-OTG technology by connecting a USB drive.

When two nanoSIM cards (4FF format) are installed, one radio channel of the device operates with them in Dual mode SIM Dual Standby, in other words, both SIM cards are active, but when one is busy, the other is also unavailable. Both trays in the slot support 4G, while the SIM card for data transfer, as well as the priority network mode, is selected in the corresponding menu. The new smartphone has three main Russian FDD-LTE bands available - b3 (1,800 MHz), b7 (2,600 MHz) and b20 (800 MHz) with VoLTE support. Similar to its predecessor set wireless communications The M5 Note also includes a dual-band Wi-Fi module 802.11 a/b/g/n (2.4 and 5 GHz) and Bluetooth 4.0 (LE). But, alas, they do not have an NFC interface.

To determine location and navigation, the built-in multi-system receiver uses GPS and GLONASS satellites. This is confirmed by the results of the AndroiTS GPS Test and GPS Test programs. There is also support for A-GPS technology (coordination over Wi-Fi and cellular networks).

The volume of the lithium-polymer battery equipped with the M5 Note (4,000 mAh) has decreased slightly compared to its predecessor (4,100 mAh). However, the smartphone now comes with a 24-watt power adapter UP1220E (5 V/9 V/12 V, 2 A), which supports mCharge fast charging technology.

The new product managed to earn 7,809 points in AnTuTu Tester battery tests. When the battery is 100% full, the manufacturer promises up to 30 hours of talk time, or 660 hours of standby, or up to 17 hours of watching videos, or up to 36 hours of listening to music.

In the "Power Management" settings section, depending on the expected load, you can switch the smartphone from the "Balanced" mode to the "Energy Saving" or "Productive" mode. In addition, in the "Optimize power consumption" section, it is proposed not only to manage the sleep mode of applications, but also to take advantage of flexible settings to save battery power - "Smart", "Super" or "Custom Mode".

Software Features

The M5 Note smartphone, compared to , received more recent firmware, represented by the Android 6.0 (Marshmallow) operating system and the proprietary Flyme OS 5.2.11.0G launcher (it seems they promise to update to version 6.x), where all program shortcuts, folders and widgets traditionally placed directly on desktops.

Using fingerprints obtained from any angle (360 degrees) on the fast (0.2 seconds) mTouch 2.1 fingerprint scanner, you can lock not only the smartphone screen, but also access to files and applications.

The “Special Features” section still contains possible smartphone control gestures, including the SmartTouch control “ring” (not shown in the screenshot) with adjustable transparency.

The M5 Note retains the ability to split the screen to simultaneously display the work of two applications (so far only three - “Settings”, “Video” and “Google Maps”).

Purchase, conclusions

Thus, the “five” (Meizu M5 Note) compares favorably with the “three” () not only with the design features of the metal case, but also with the appearance of fast charging, as well as support frequency range LTE b20 (800 MHz). In addition, do not discount the presence of a fast fingerprint scanner and the expected model variant in the 4 GB/64 GB configuration (RAM/built-in memory). Note that even with 16 GB of storage, the amount of RAM is now 3 GB (and not 2 GB, as it was).

The shortcomings of the Meizu M5 Note, along with the inherited low performance, include the alternative installation of a second SIM card and memory card, and the lack of an NFC interface.

Official prices for Meizu M5 Note models in 3 GB/16 GB and 3 GB/32 GB configurations are 16,990 and 18,990 rubles, respectively. As for the 5.5-inch “classmates” in metal cases (memory capacities 3 GB/32 GB), then, at the time of testing, in large retail chains they asked for 16,990 rubles, and for Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 - 15,990 rubles . At the same time, let us remind you that we received a dual main camera (12 MP + 2 MP) and also an NFC interface (with support for Mifare Classic technology), but, however, a less capacious battery (3,340 mAh versus 4,000 mAh) . In turn, Xiaomi Redmi Note 4, along with a faster processor, boasts a slightly more capacious battery (4,100 mAh versus 4,000 mAh), as well as the presence of an IR port.

Results of the review of the Meizu M5 Note smartphone

Pros:

• Updated metal body
• Capacious battery, complemented by fast charging
• LTE b20 band support (800 MHz)
• 4 GB/64 GB RAM/internal memory option
• Fast fingerprint scanner

Minuses:

• Low performance
• Alternative installation of a second SIM card or memory card
• No NFC interface

The confrontation between Meizu M5 Note and Meizu M5 has been going on for quite some time. Despite the fact that smartphones came out a year ago, they still remain relevant. Meizu is a proven company, so their products have been discussed and sold for a long time. And the question of whether the Note version is better, or whether it’s better to take the regular M5, remains open. Everything is learned by comparison, so let's compare these two devices.

Meizu M5 Note is ahead of its brother in almost all characteristics. The first advantage of the Note version is more new firmware. The Meizu M5 Note has version 6 of Android on board, while the Meizu M5 is firmware with version 5.1, which is considered outdated by 2018.

Meizu M5 Note is equipped with Mediatek MT6755 Helio P10 chipset with clock frequency 2.0 MHz, while the Meizu M5 has a Mediatek MT6755 with a clock speed of 1.5 MHz. The CPU in the Note version has a frequency of 1.8 GHz versus 1.5 GHz in the Meizu M5.

The Meizu M5 Note has more RAM than the “pure” M5, at least in the younger version. Meizu M5 is available in two versions - with 2 GB of RAM and 16 GB of ROM, as well as 3 GB of RAM and 32 GB of ROM. Meizu M5 Note with storage capacity of 16GB and 32GB has the same RAM capacity of 3GB. The advantage of the model is that a version with 64 GB of ROM is available to the user; it has as much as 4 GB of RAM.

This is where the main technical differences end. As you can see by comparing the characteristics, the Meizu M5 is very much inferior to the Note version.

What should you pay attention to when choosing?

There are many aspects to consider when choosing one of these smartphones, as the difference between Meizu M5 Note and Meizu M5 is very large. From the very beginning it is worth paying attention to specifications. If you need fast smartphone, which will handle “heavy” games, support several applications in the background and not even heat up, then you should buy the Meizu M5 Note. If you just need to surf social networks, call friends and take a couple of photos, then it’s better not to overpay and just take the Meizu M5.

Also, when choosing, you should pay attention to the size of smartphones. If you are not a fan of TVs in your pocket, then you should not buy the Meizu M5 Note, as it is larger than the “pure” M5. If you like large smartphones, then the opposite is true. It is worth looking at the weight of the devices. The Note version is heavier than the regular M5 by as much as 37 grams. This is a significant difference.

Meizu M5 Note

But the most important aspect when choosing is the price. Your choice primarily depends on your financial capabilities. The Note version costs several tens of bucks more.

Design

Our confrontation is metal versus plastic. It is not difficult to answer the question of which is better. Of course, metal. It is stronger and more durable. But this material is not always better than plastic, since it increases the weight of the smartphone, and this may be a disadvantage for some users. Meizu M5 Note is completely made of metal, even the inserts at the top and bottom are metal. M5 is made of impact-resistant plastic - polycarbonate.

Meizu M5 boasts a large selection of colors, while Note only has classic colors. Overall, the design of the smartphones is almost the same, making it very difficult to compare the M5 Note with the Meizu M5 in this category. But still Meizu M5 Note looks more solid.

Meizu M5

Display

Smartphone displays are very different. The Note version has a 5.5-inch display, while the pure M5 has only 5.2 inches. The differences in size are not significant, but still noticeable. A much more significant difference is their resolution. The display in the Note version has Full HD resolution, which is a significant advantage over the HD display used in the M5.

But everything is not so simple. A high resolution may affect the performance of the smartphone, and the large display may be inconvenient for many users. Therefore, comparing the Meizu M5 Note and its opponent is very difficult.

Cameras

The cameras on both smartphones are almost the same. The main cameras are 13 megapixels. There is no difference at all in good lighting, but when there is a lack of light, the cameras still perform differently. Meizu M5 has a noticeable shift to red tones, which not all users like. The Note version also has higher sharpness. But these differences are so insignificant that it is simply unrealistic to say for sure who wins in the confrontation between the M5 and M5 Note.

Meizu M5 Note

Memory and memory card

The amount of permanent memory and RAM in smartphones is different, we have already talked about this. It is important to note that the top version of Note (4/64 GB) is very difficult to get, since there are very few of them in the CIS countries. Nevertheless, the M5 Note is still in the lead, since the younger version with 16 GB of ROM offers 1 GB more RAM.

Each model allows you to use a memory card up to 256 GB, and this is a significant plus.

Is fast charging important?

Meizu M5 Note has fast charging capabilities. This begs the question of the importance of this function. It is difficult to answer this question unambiguously. It all depends on your needs. If you need to charge your smartphone frequently and quickly, then this option will be indispensable for you. If you have the opportunity to charge your smartphone for a long time (for example, in the evening after a working day), then this function will not be important for you. But in any case, this is a plus for Meizu M5 Note.

Meizu M5

Battery life and performance

Smartphone operating time is very important for all users without exception. The M5 has a non-removable battery with a capacity of 3070 mAh. The M5 Note also uses a non-removable battery, but with a capacity of 4000 mAh. At first glance, the difference is almost a thousand milliamp-hours, but this will not increase the operating time of the device much. It's about the needs of the smartphone. The Meizu M5 Note display has a resolution of 1080x920 pixels, which consumes significantly more power, and its size is 0.3 inches larger. Accordingly, the energy consumption of smartphones is different. But still, the M5 Note lasts a little longer than the M5.

Price

Price is the main parameter when choosing a smartphone. After all, it is the price-quality ratio that influences the final choice of the buyer. In comparison, it is clear that the M5 Note has more features and is much better from a technical point of view. But the price is appropriate for the quality. The price for Meizu M5 Note is 10–11 thousand rubles, while the M5 costs only 6–7 thousand. But, despite this difference in price, it is worth considering for what purpose you are purchasing the device and whether you need all the functions that the more expensive device offers.

Meizu M5 Note

Conclusion

Meizu M5 Note wins in most respects, but which smartphone you buy is up to you personally. It all depends on your needs. If you need big smartphone With good display and excellent performance, then you should pay attention to the Meizu M5 Note. If a smartphone for you is just a way to access the Internet, call somewhere, or play undemanding toys, then you shouldn’t pay almost double for power that you simply won’t use. In addition, the Note version will not be convenient for everyone, because a smartphone with such a diagonal cannot be used with one hand.

Balanced model in an all-metal case, with good battery life and fast charging

At the very end of last year, Meizu presented its new smartphone in Beijing - Meizu M5 Note. The new product is an update to the successful line of mid-level Note tablets, which have already sold more than twenty million devices. As one of the most notable features, the Meizu M5 Note has an all-metal body, similar to older and much more expensive models such as the MX6. This sets the review hero apart from most of its competitors and distinguishes it from its predecessors: the previous M3 Note model, for example, did not have a solid body, but a prefabricated body made of metal and plastic.

In addition, the next representative of the Note series received a large amount of memory, capacious battery with fast charging function and supports LTE FDD 800 MHz frequency (Band 20), best suited for indoor and sparsely populated areas. Read about all this and other features of the new product in the review of the Meizu M5 Note smartphone.

Main characteristics of Meizu M5 Note (Model M621H)

• SoC MediaTek MT6755M (Helio P10), 8 cores @1.8 GHz (ARM Cortex-A53)
• GPU Mali-T860
• Operating system Android 6.0
• Touch display IPS 5.5″, 1920×1080, 401 ppi
• Random access memory (RAM) 3/4 GB, internal memory 16/32/64 GB
• Nano-SIM support (2 pcs.)
• MicroSD support up to 128 GB
• GSM/GPRS/EDGE networks (850/900/1800/1900 MHz)
• WCDMA/HSPA+ networks (850/900/1900/2100 MHz), TD-SCDMA
• LTE networks Cat.4 FDD (B1/3/5/7/20), TD LTE (B38/40)
• Wi-Fi 802.11a/b/g/n (2.4 and 5 GHz)
• Bluetooth 4.0 BLE
• GPS, A-GPS, Glonass
• Micro-USB, USB OTG
• Camera 13 MP, autofocus, f/2.2, video 1080p
• Front camera 5 MP, f/2.0, fixed. focus
• Proximity sensor, lighting sensor, magnetic field sensor, fingerprint sensor, accelerometer, gyroscope, step detector
• Battery 4000 mAh
• Dimensions 154×76×8.1 mm
• Weight 138 g

Contents of delivery

The packaging of Meizu M5 Note is made in the same style as all the company's latest mobile products. This is a rectangular box made of hard matte white cardboard with minimal lettering and logos. Everything is decorated stylishly, concisely, and executed with high quality. Inside, the contents are not piled up, but arranged in separate cells and smaller boxes.

The kit consists of a connecting cable of fairly thick section and powerful network adapter with an output current of 2 A and a variable voltage of 5/9/12 V. The key for removing cards is standardly attached to a cardboard folder with paper documentation.

Appearance and ease of use

We can praise Meizu for the fact that even in the mid-price, affordable segment, the company does not try to save as much as possible, but offers maximum opportunities. For example, unlike the recently tested Lenovo K6 Note and Huawei Honor 6X with prefabricated cases, in which the ends are completely plastic and only the middle part of the back side is metal, the Meizu M5 Note has an all-metal case, with only grooves cut out for antenna output.

The metal end parts gleam with chamfers, real metal peeks through the slots of connectors and grilles, and in general the case gives a pleasant feeling of massiveness, solidity and reliability. The Meizu M5 Note looks and feels good, which makes it stand out from the mentioned competitors made by Huawei and Lenovo.

Real metal not only feels more pleasant in the hand and prevents connector sockets from becoming loose over time, but is also more resistant to shocks and falls. The surfaces of the case are not at all slippery or easily soiled, since the manufacturer has finally learned how to properly process the metal: 12-stage sandblasting is used.

The dimensions of the smartphone are quite consistent with modern standards for 5.5-inch devices. It is, of course, slightly more compact than the iPhone 6s Plus, which currently has perhaps the widest bezels for its screen size. The side edges are also highlighted a little more; they are not so rounded, but not quite straight either. In any case, the Meizu M5 Note case is held in the hand much more comfortably and reliably than the case Apple smartphones Plus series.

All elements are placed on the body in the usual Meizu smartphones places. What distinguishes them from most products from other manufacturers is the absence of two touch buttons under the screen, although there is a central key. Usually there are either three buttons under the screen or none. Here there is only one button, but it is even more functional than that of the same iPhone, since it supports the function of returning to the previous screen with a short touch without pressing. When pressed, unlocking is carried out using the fingerprint scanner built into the key. The scanner in our test sample worked rather strangely and sometimes made mistakes, but this can probably be attributed to the fact that we tested not a serial commercial product, but a test sample. Positive point The problem is that the Meizu fingerprint sensor is installed not on the back side of the case, but on the front, where it is easier to reach it in any position of the smartphone.

The entire front panel is covered with 2.5D glass with sloping edges and a high-quality oleophobic coating, which allows your finger to slide comfortably across the screen without “sticking.” Sensors are usually installed above the screen, a front camera peephole without its own flash, as well as led indicator events with a pleasant dim milky backlight.

On the back side there is a camera module with a dual bright two-tone flash that does not protrude outward.

The main speaker here is located at the bottom end; it is standardly covered by a grille formed by three relatively large holes in the metal of the case. Meizu, unlike many, did not design the bottom end with two symmetrical grilles, one of which is always fake. There is a small round hole made nearby for the microphone. It is curious that here, at the lower end, is located not only the traditional USB port(Micro-USB connector) supporting connection external devices in USB OTG mode, but also a 3.5 mm headphone output.

Thus, the top end is practically free of elements - with the exception of a small hole for an auxiliary microphone.

But there is still something to complain about: the Meizu M5 Note, like many modern smartphones, has a hybrid card slot, which most users do not like, since installing a memory card requires sacrificing a second SIM card. This connector is designed for two Nano-SIM cards (you can install a microSD memory card instead of one of them). Hot swapping of cards is supported.

There are no complaints about the buttons on the opposite side: the keys are large, metal, moderately hard, easy to feel blindly, have a distinct springy action, and do not rattle or dangle in their sockets.

Meizu M5 Note is available in four colors: light silver, dark gray, gold and blue. Meizu never paints the front panel in the overall color of the case, so the classic options were used here: black facade for dark gray, and white for all other case options.

Screen

Meizu M5 Note is equipped with an IPS display covered with 2.5D glass with sloping edges. The physical dimensions of the screen are 68x121 mm with a diagonal of 5.5 inches. The resolution is 1920x1080, the pixel density is about 401 ppi. The frame around the screen looks thin: it is approximately 3 mm wide on the sides, 15 mm wide at the bottom and top.

The display brightness can be adjusted manually or set automatic settings, based on the operation of the ambient light sensor. The AnTuTu test diagnoses support for 10 simultaneous multi-touch touches. There is an eye protection mode to prevent eye fatigue with blue light filtering.

Detailed examination using measuring instruments conducted by the editor of the “Monitors” and “Projectors and TV” sections Alexey Kudryavtsev. Here is his expert opinion on the screen of the sample under study.

The front surface of the screen is made in the form of a glass plate with a mirror-smooth surface that is scratch-resistant. Judging by the reflection of objects, the anti-glare properties of the screen are slightly worse than those of the Google Nexus 7 (2013) screen (hereinafter simply Nexus 7). For clarity, here is a photograph in which a white surface is reflected in the switched off screens (on the left - Nexus 7, on the right - Meizu M5 Note, then they can be distinguished by size):

The screen of the Meizu M5 Note is slightly lighter (brightness according to photographs is 126 versus 118 for the Nexus 7). Doubling of reflected objects in Meizu screen The M5 Note is very weak, this indicates that there is no air gap between the layers of the screen (more specifically between the outer glass and the surface of the LCD matrix) (OGS - One Glass Solution type screen). Due to the smaller number of boundaries (glass/air type) with very different refractive indices, such screens look better in conditions of intense external illumination, but their repair in the case of cracked external glass is much more expensive, since the entire screen has to be replaced. The outer surface of the screen has a special oleophobic (grease-repellent) coating (better in efficiency than that of the Nexus 7), so fingerprints are removed much more easily and appear at a lower speed than with regular glass.

With manual brightness control and when the white field was displayed in full screen, the maximum brightness value was about 440 cd/m², the minimum was 5.5 cd/m². The maximum brightness is quite high, and, given the good anti-glare properties, readability even on a sunny day outdoors should be at a decent level. In complete darkness, the brightness can be reduced to a comfortable value. There is automatic brightness adjustment based on the light sensor (it is located to the left of the front speaker slot). IN automatic mode When external lighting conditions change, the screen brightness both increases and decreases. The operation of this function depends on the position of the brightness adjustment slider. If it is 100%, then in complete darkness the auto-brightness function reduces the brightness to 40 cd/m² (normal), in an artificially lit office (about 550 lux) it sets it to 210 cd/m² (suitable), in a very bright environment (corresponding to lighting on a clear day outdoors, but without direct sunlight - 20,000 lux or a little more), the brightness increases to 440 cd/m² (to the maximum - this is what you need); if the adjustment is approximately 50%, then the values ​​are as follows: 15, 150 and 440 cd/m² (suitable values), the regulator at 0% is 5, 80 and 430 cd/m² (the first two values ​​are underestimated, which is logical). It turns out that the auto-brightness function works adequately and to some extent allows the user to customize their work to individual requirements. At any brightness level, there is no significant backlight modulation, so there is no screen flicker.

IN this smartphone An IPS type matrix is ​​used. The microphotographs show a typical IPS subpixel structure:

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

The screen has good viewing angles without significant color shift even with large viewing deviations from perpendicular to the screen and without inverting shades. For comparison, here are photographs in which the same images are displayed on the screens of Meizu M5 Note and Nexus 7, while the screen brightness is initially set to approximately 200 cd/m², and the color balance on the camera is forced to switch to 6500 K.

There is a white field perpendicular to the screens:

Note the good uniformity of brightness and color tone of the white field.

And a test picture:

The color saturation on the Meizu M5 Note screen is higher than natural. Testing has shown that this is achieved by increasing color contrast. The color balance between the Nexus 7 and the screen we tested was slightly different.

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 have not changed much on both screens, but on the Meizu M5 Note the contrast has decreased to a greater extent due to the strong brightening of black.

And a white field:

The brightness at an angle of the screens decreased (by at least 5 times, based on the difference in shutter speed), but in the case of the Meizu M5 Note the drop in brightness is slightly greater. When deviated diagonally, the black field brightens greatly and acquires a reddish or purple tint. The photographs below demonstrate this (the brightness of the white areas in the direction perpendicular to the plane of the screens is the same!):

And from another angle:

When viewed perpendicularly, the uniformity of the black field is average:

The contrast (approximately in the center of the screen) is normal - about 700:1. The response time for the black-white-black transition is 19 ms (10 ms on + 9 ms off). The transition between halftones of gray 25% and 75% (based on the numerical value of the color) and back takes a total of 31 ms. The gamma curve, constructed using 32 points with equal intervals based on the numerical value of the shade of gray, did not reveal any blockage in either the highlights or the shadows. The exponent of the approximating power function is 2.16, which is slightly lower than the standard value of 2.2. In this case, the real gamma curve deviates little from the power-law dependence:

We did not detect the presence of dynamic adjustment of the backlight brightness in accordance with the nature of the displayed image, which is very good.

Color gamut is close to sRGB:

The spectra show that the matrix filters moderately mix the components with each other:

As a result, visually the colors on this screen might not differ from natural ones, but due to the overestimation of color contrast, this is not the case. As a result, the colors are too saturated, and in the area of ​​the most saturated colors the halftones are no longer distinguishable. The balance of shades on the gray scale is average, since the color temperature is much higher than the standard 6500 K, but the deviation from the blackbody spectrum (ΔE) is below 10, which is considered an acceptable indicator for a consumer device. At the same time, ΔE changes little from hue to hue - this has a positive effect on the visual assessment of color balance. (The darkest areas of the gray scale can be ignored, since color balance there is not very important, and the error in measuring color characteristics at low brightness is large.)

This device has the ability to adjust the color balance using the hue adjustment.

The curves in the graphs above Without corr. correspond to the results without any color balance correction, and the curves Warm— data obtained after moving the slider to its extreme position, as in the picture above. It can be seen that the change in balance corresponds to the expected result, since the color temperature has approached the standard value, but ΔE has become too large. It doesn't make much sense to make a correction.

There is a setting that allows you to reduce the intensity of the blue component.

In this case, the statements about harm to health are not extreme, which, however, still does not add to the usefulness of this function. Let us recall that, in principle, bright light can lead to disruption of the circadian rhythm (see the article about the iPad Pro with a 9.7-inch display), but this problem can be solved by adjusting the brightness to a comfortable level, and distorting the color balance, reducing the contribution of blue, there is absolutely no point.

To summarize: the screen has a fairly high maximum brightness and has good anti-glare properties, so the device can be used outdoors even on a sunny summer day without any problems. In complete darkness, the brightness can be reduced to a comfortable level. It is also possible to use a mode with automatic brightness adjustment, which works adequately. The advantages of the screen include an effective oleophobic coating, the absence of an air gap in the layers of the screen and flicker. The disadvantages are the low stability of black to the deviation of the gaze from perpendicular to the screen plane and overestimation of color contrast. Nevertheless, taking into account the importance of characteristics for this particular class of devices, the quality of the screen can be considered high.

Camera

The cameras appear to be the same as the previous M3 Note. The front camera has a 5-megapixel sensor and a four-element lens with f/2.0 aperture and fixed focus; The camera does not have its own flash. There is a manual settings mode in which you can set light sensitivity (up to ISO 1600), shutter speed up to (1/5000 s), white balance, saturation, contrast, and adjust exposure compensation.

The camera takes good pictures for its level: there are no complaints about detail and color rendition, and no complaints about the sharpness in the center of the frame. The proportions of the face in the pictures are slightly distorted, but these are standard problems with wide-angle optics with a short focal length.

The main camera uses a module with a 13-megapixel matrix and a five-element lens with a maximum aperture of f/2.2; it is equipped with fast phase detection autofocus. The flash here is quite bright, two-tone, but there is no stabilization system.

The settings have two control modes, automatic and manual, as well as several additional ones, such as portrait decoration, panorama, scanning QR codes, slow motion, HDR, etc. If you turn on manual mode, sliders will appear with variable shutter speed values ​​up to (1 /5000 s), photosensitivity (up to ISO 1600), manual focus, white balance, exposure compensation scale. In all modes, it is possible to select the metering point manually. The green frame is the focus point, and the white circle is the exposure metering point. To align the exposure on a specific object, you need to move the round frame over that object, and the camera will set the desired exposure.

Using the Camera2 API, you cannot transfer camera control to third-party applications, and there is no way to save pictures in RAW.

The camera can shoot video in a maximum resolution of Full HD @ 30 fps, there is a slow motion mode, but there is no stabilization function. In general, the camera copes well with video shooting: sharpness, color rendition and detail are normal, no artifacts were noticed in the image, and there are no complaints about the smoothness of the video. The sound is recorded cleanly and clearly audible, and the noise reduction system almost always copes with wind noise adequately.

• Video No. 1 (42 MB, 1920×1080@30 fps, H.264, AAC)

The camera turned out to be good, although not the most budget smartphones I would like to see better solutions. On the one hand, she pays a lot of attention to small details, on the other hand, she loses them in the middle shots. Periodically, areas of blur appear along the edges of the frame, and the program works too noticeably. However, the camera is quite suitable for documentary shooting.

Telephone and communications

Meizu M5 Note supports five LTE FDD frequency bands with VoLTE support, including 3 bands used in Russia (Band 3, 7, 20), as well as two TD LTE bands (Band 38 and 40). I'm glad it's supported LTE frequency 800 MHz (Band 20) - this is not true for everyone Meizu models. Within the city limits of the Moscow region, the device behaves confidently, and the quality of signal reception is not satisfactory.

The smartphone also supports both Wi-Fi bands (2.4 and 5 GHz), and has Bluetooth 4.0 BLE. You can organize a wireless access point via Wi-Fi or Bluetooth channels. NFC module not in the device. The navigation module works with both GPS (with A-GPS) and the domestic Glonass, but without the support of the Chinese Beidou. During a cold start, the first satellites are detected within the first minute. The clarity of positioning is not satisfactory, but as for the speed of operation, we have seen faster navigation modules in smartphones. Magnetic compass needed for navigation programs, the device has it.

The smartphone does not support working with two 3G/4G SIM cards at the same time. That is, for example, a SIM card from the Tele2 operator in Moscow will not work in 3G for voice communications if a card from a different slot is assigned to transfer data to 4G. The interface in Meizu smartphones traditionally does not allow you to select a specific SIM card for voice calls and SMS in advance - only during the connection. The cards operate in Dual SIM Dual Standby mode, there is only one radio modem.

Software and multimedia

Google is used as a software platform Android versions 6.0 with own branded shell Flyme OS fifth version. This is the latest version for now, but it is no longer new; it has long been used in all modern Meizu smartphones; we encountered it in the flagship Meizu MX6 and Meizu Pro 6 Plus. The shell has become even lighter compared to the fourth version, all interface and application icons have been redrawn, new animation options have appeared, and design themes have been added. The new version of the interface has a special Editor’s Choice section, which recommends the most common programs, and also allows you to download and install Google apps. And this must be done, since now the new Meizu smartphone you purchase does not initially even have the usual store installed Google Play. Additional programs, as usual, almost none, only preinstalled file manager and the phone manager - a comprehensive utility responsible for security, memory management, performance, etc. There is also an interesting program with tools: a magnifying glass, a flashlight, a ruler, a compass and a mirror. The flashlight, by the way, can work in flashing SOS mode. The standard keyboard does not support Swype-type stroke input by default, but in Meizu smartphones the user is immediately given the opportunity to switch to the pre-installed TouchPal with a much wider range of capabilities, including stroke input, custom dictionaries, Reserve copy and even with TouchPal's own cloud.

To listen to music, you use your own proprietary audio player with the usual set of settings in the form of preset equalizer values, which can only be used with connected headphones. Both in headphones and in speakers, the device sounds average: the sound is clear, without impurities, the volume reserve is not excessive, high frequencies predominate.

There is no FM radio in the smartphone. The microphone demonstrates satisfactory sensitivity and is quite suitable for recording lectures on a voice recorder.

Performance

The Meizu M5 Note hardware platform is built on a single-chip system MediaTek MT6755M (Helio P10), made using 28-nanometer technology. This SoC includes eight 64-bit ARM Cortex-A53 cores with a frequency of up to 1.8 GHz. The dual-core Mali-T860 GPU is responsible for graphics processing. The amount of RAM is 3 or 4 GB, and the built-in flash memory is 16, 32 or 64 GB. The version with 16 GB of memory initially has about 10 GB free for user needs. It is possible to expand the memory by installing microSD cards, but then you will have to remove one of the SIM cards. In addition, here you cannot install applications on the memory card. It is possible to connect external flash drives in USB OTG mode.

Helio P10 is quite popular on this moment platform designed for mid-range smartphones. In general, this is true, although it is slightly inferior in all respects to the same mid-level SoC Qualcomm Snapdragon 625, it turns out to be closer to the lower level and performance of the Snapdragon 430. However, there are no special complaints about it, the smartphone confidently copes with any tasks, including quite demanding games.

Testing in comprehensive tests AnTuTu and GeekBench:

For convenience, we have compiled all the results we obtained when testing the smartphone in the latest versions of popular benchmarks into tables. The table usually adds several other devices from different segments, also tested on similar latest versions benchmarks (this is done only for a visual assessment of the obtained dry figures). Unfortunately, within the framework of one comparison it is impossible to present the results from different versions benchmarks, so many worthy and relevant models remain “behind the scenes” - due to the fact that they once passed the “obstacle course” on previous versions of test programs.

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

When testing in 3DMark, the most powerful smartphones now have the ability to run the application in Unlimited mode, where the rendering resolution is fixed at 720p and VSync is disabled (which can cause the speed to rise above 60 fps).

	Meizu M5 Note (MediaTek Helio P10 (MT6755))	Honor 6X (HiSilicon Kirin 655)	Lenovo K6 Note (Qualcomm Snapdragon 430)	Asus Zenfone 3 (Qualcomm Snapdragon 625)	Meizu MX6 (MediaTek Helio X20 (MT6797))
3DMark Ice Storm Sling Shot ES 3.1 (more is better)	326	378	288	466	969
GFXBenchmark Manhattan ES 3.1 (Onscreen, fps)	4	5	4	6	10
GFXBenchmark Manhattan ES 3.1 (1080p Offscreen, fps)	4	5	4	6	10
GFXBenchmark T-Rex (Onscreen, fps)	14	19	15	22	34
GFXBenchmark T-Rex (1080p Offscreen, fps)	14	19	16	23	—

Browser cross-platform tests:

As for benchmarks for assessing the speed of the javascript engine, you should always make allowance for the fact that their results significantly depend on the browser in which they are launched, so the comparison can only be truly correct on the same OS and browsers, and this is possible during testing not always. For Android OS, we always try to use Google Chrome.

AndroBench memory speed test results:

Thermal photographs

Below is a thermal image rear surface obtained after 10 minutes of battery testing in the GFXBenchmark program:

It can be seen that the heating is more localized in the upper part of the device, which apparently corresponds to the location of the SoC chip. According to the heat chamber, the maximum heating was 36 degrees (at an ambient temperature of 24 degrees), which is not very much.

Playing video

To test the omnivorous nature of video playback (including support for various codecs, containers and special features, such as subtitles), we used the most common formats, which make up the bulk of the content available on the Internet. Note that for mobile devices it is important to have support for hardware video decoding at the chip level, since it is most often impossible to process modern options using processor cores alone. Also, don't expect mobile device decoding everything, since the leadership in flexibility belongs to the PC, and no one is going to challenge it. All results are summarized in a table.

According to the test results, traditionally for Meizu smartphones, the hero of the review was equipped with all the necessary decoders that are needed for full playback of most of the most common multimedia files on the network, including audio files (AC3).

Further testing of video playback was performed Alexey Kudryavtsev.

We did not find the MHL interface, like Mobility DisplayPort, in this smartphone, so we had to limit ourselves to testing the output of video files on the screen of the device itself. To do this, we used a set of test files with an arrow and a rectangle moving one division per frame (see “Methodology for testing video playback and display devices. Version 1 (for mobile devices) Red marks indicate possible problems related to the playback of the corresponding files.

According to the frame output criterion, the quality of playback of video files on the screen of the smartphone itself is good, since in most cases frames (or groups of frames) can (but are not required) be output with more or less uniform alternation of intervals and without skipping frames. The screen refresh rate is 61 Hz, so in the case of 60 fps files, at least one frame per second is displayed longer than the rest. When playing video files with a resolution of 1920 by 1080 pixels (1080p) on a smartphone screen, the image of the video file itself is displayed exactly along the border of the screen, one to one in pixels, that is, in the original resolution. The brightness range displayed on the screen corresponds to the standard range of 16-235: in the shadows, about a couple of shades merge with black, but in the highlights all gradations are displayed.

Battery life

Fixed accumulator battery, installed in Meizu M5 Note, has a capacity of 4000 mAh. With such a battery, the smartphone could not help but demonstrate impressive battery life results; the hero of the review is doing very well with this issue. In real use scenarios under normal average operating conditions, the hero of the review is quite capable of quietly holding out without recharging for a couple of days or even more.

Testing has traditionally been done at normal power consumption levels without using power-saving features.

Continuous reading in the FBReader program (with a standard, light theme) at a minimum comfortable brightness level (brightness was set to 100 cd/m²) lasted about 18 hours until the battery was completely discharged, and when continuously watching videos in high quality(720p) with the same brightness level via home Wi-Fi network The device operates for almost 13 hours. In 3D gaming mode, the smartphone can last up to 6 hours, depending on the specific game.

Smartphone supports fast charging mCharge. Thanks to it, the smartphone is charged from the included network adapter within 1 hour 40 minutes with a current of 1.14 A at a voltage of 12 V.

Bottom line

The Meizu M5 Note smartphone is available in three modifications depending on the amount of RAM and ROM memory: 3+16 GB, 3+32 GB and 4+64 GB. The maximum version of 4+64 GB comes with a proprietary Meizu wired headset. The smartphone has not yet gone on official sale in Russia. It was assumed that this would happen in April, and prices should have been about 16-18 thousand rubles, depending on the modification. Unofficial imports are already offering this device at a price of 8-9 thousand.

There is hope that the blue version of the Meizu M5 Note color will reach us - the most unusual of all, and therefore the most curious. For example, the Chinese released the Meizu M5s in pink only for the domestic market, and this option is never officially available in our stores. However, gray imports, of course, have long been offered by Meizu M5 Note Blue.

Well, Meizu has turned out to be a decent, balanced tablet phone of a confident mid-level. We can safely assume that this is a successor to a worthy series Meizu Note will become as popular and in demand as its predecessors. An excellent screen and a good hardware platform, acceptable cameras, a practical and attractive body, as well as a good set of communication modules and a high level of autonomy, coupled with good quality workmanship without defects or shortcomings, allow us to count on this.