Among the manufacturers of mobile equipment, companies from China stand out who managed to become incredibly popular just a couple of years after their appearance. Such phenomena include the brands Xiaomi and Meizu. Five years ago nobody knew anything about them. And now they are among the five most famous manufacturers of smartphones. Is this not a Chinese economic miracle? At the moment, the most promising brand is Meizu. Its smartphones amaze with unrivaled performance and low prices. Our today's hero, the Meizu M3 Mini smartphone, also belongs to the category of mid-range devices. This device looks very interesting against the background of competitors. But we will talk about its technical characteristics a bit later.
A little bit 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 on his own. It so happened that the company until 2008 produced MP3 players. Without further ado, the engineers simply copied well-known models and made minor changes to them. This continued until 2008. And then Wong decided it was time to take the matter seriously. The first smartphone from Meizu worked on the Windows CE platform and in design was almost no different from the fourth iPhone. Then Apple ensured that excessively zealous copiers stopped their tricks. The release of the smartphone was canceled, but the idea did not die. They just decided to release devices on Android with minimal common features with the products of famous brands. Meizu M3 S also belongs to such devices , the characteristics of which we will discuss later.
The company's first Android device was the M9, which brought about a real revolution in China. For the most part, the runaway success of the Nine was due to its extremely low price. The manufacturer produced the flagship per year. Company executives considered it inappropriate to "spray" on mid-range models and budget smartphones. This continued until 2014. However, the company began to sharply lose its position, even in China. 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 of the middle price segment. A bright representative of the gadgets of this category was the Meizu M3 Mini smartphone. And now consider this miracle of Chinese engineering in more detail.
Appearance and design
Of course, there are a lot of borrowings in the appearance of the M3, but there are also specific features that make the device unique. The main feature of this device is that it is enclosed in a completely metal case. The main material used 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 (true, 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. Under 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 same button painfully resembles that of Samsung devices. And the rest of the front panel is more like an iPhone. This is the Meizu M3 Mini smartphone . Reviews, however, do not really scold his "similarity" to other devices.
The camera module is located on the rear panel, the flash is under it. And even lower is the Meizu brand logo. There is nothing special here. It should only be noted that the back cover is very elastic and does not push through to the battery. Mechanical power and volume buttons are located as standard: on the right side of the device. It is interesting that the entire body is solidly assembled: there are no cracks, nothing creaks and does not play. People are used to the fact that Chinese crafts are rather flimsy. But not Meizu M3 Mini. The reviews of the owners indicate that the smartphone turned out to be exceptionally strong. What an honor and praise to the manufacturers.
Screen
The new product has an IPS display with a diagonal of 5 inches. Is it a lot or a little? Let's just say this: for the modern user, this is quite enough. The device will clearly appeal to those who are already quite tired of modern "shovel-like" smartphones. The screen resolution is 1280 by 720 pixels, that is, the display is fully compliant with the HD standard. It has a standard pixel density of 294 per inch for this resolution. This is a normal indicator. The declared contrast is 1000 to 1. But in fact, we have 677 to 1. This distinction between the declared characteristics and the real ones is quite normal for modern manufacturers. Meizu M3 S is no exception. Its characteristics, by the way, are not very different from those declared.
The rest of the screen features 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 with a decent tilt of the device. In addition, IPS displays are remarkably accurate in color reproduction. And do not fade over time as AMOLED panels. So there is nothing surprising in the fact that such a screen was chosen for installation in the Meizu M3 Mini smartphone. Now let's move on to the rest of the technical specifications.
CPU and RAM
Under the hood of the smartphone is an eight-core processor from MediaTek. It has a very high performance. This is due to the fact that the MT 6750 chip belongs to the 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 most difficult games and applications. As for the RAM of the device, there are two modifications - with 2 and 3 gigabytes of RAM. Moreover, the three-gigabyte version costs almost the same as the version with 2 "gigs". 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 is better to take more. Meizu M3 S, the characteristics of which we are analyzing here, may well argue even with an iPhone.
Graphics chip and other components
As a graphic chip, the Mali T860-MP2 is used. This chipset easily copes with high-definition video and has support for OpenGL and DirectX. This allows you to provide incredible graphics performance in modern mobile games. A distinctive feature of this device is the support of the latest generation LTE communication standard. But that is not all. The device is equipped with a Wi-Fi transmitter with a broadcast frequency of 5 gigahertz. And this is already not bad. Other features include a lightning-fast fingerprint scanner, the latest generation Bluetooth transmitter, a wide variety of sensors and a capacious 3020 mAh battery. The latter helps the smartphone to easily work for two days on a single charge. These are the main parameters of the Meizu M3 Mini. Screen features , by the way, are pretty good. They raise this smartphone to a completely different level. And now let's move on to the camera of the device.
Camera (main)
As the main camera, a fast 13-megapixel module is used. A design feature of the camera is an optical system of five lenses. The camera has phase detection autofocus and a two-color LED flash. By the way, it is the phase autofocus that allows the camera to focus very quickly even in low light conditions. In the afternoon, the shots are just superb. and if you turn on the HDR mode, then in general you get artwork. But at night, the camera is clearly missing something. Extraneous noise is visible to the naked eye. And the photos are somewhat blurry. Night shooting is clearly too tough for Meizu M3 Mini. Recall of the owners, however, praise the camera. By the way, the device can write Full HD video in MP4 format. And that's 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. Features and reviews are full of laudatory remarks.
Camera (front)
Now let's move on to the characteristics of the front camera of the device. Unlike other manufacturers, Meizu is serious about front cameras. Even this module has 5 megapixels and a complex optical system of 4 lenses. This camera is also aperture and wide-angle. Photos are high quality and sharp. By the way, the front camera also knows how to write Full HD video. Of course, there is no practical benefit from this, but such a module is just perfect for video communication. Selfie lovers will also be delighted. Meizu M3 Mini, the technical specifications and reviews that we are analyzing here, is a completely modern device that will appeal to the vast majority of users. That was the calculation of the manufacturer.
Firmware and software platform
As an operating system, this smartphone uses "Android" version 5.1 with a proprietary Flyme shell from Meizu. Many categorically do not like the branded shell, but we must admit that it is made simply and with taste. She somehow diversifies the “naked” “Android”. But what to do for those who strongly dislike this in the Meizu M3 Mini? Firmware on w3bsit3-dns.com (a popular forum on mobile gadgets) can somewhat fix the situation. There are very interesting "custom" options without Flyme. I must say that the fifth "Android" works under the proprietary shell rather quickly and "buggy". Although this is probably the merit of the hardware platform of the smartphone. But everything looks very beautiful, this can not be taken away. The most important thing is that the company regularly updates the firmware and patches old holes, corrects flaws. Not all manufacturers can boast of such product support.
As for pre-installed applications, there is almost no unnecessary junk in the version of the gadget with international firmware. But if you are a “happy” 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, Google Play and all other familiar services are absent in such devices. What do the owners of the Chinese Meizu M3 Mini do? Firmware on w3bsit3-dns.com, as a rule, is completely Russified, devoid of Chinese applications and has all the necessary services from Google. You just need to install it. But how to do it painlessly is a completely different question. In any case, Meizu gadgets are easily amenable to firmware and various modifications. So, problems with this should definitely not arise. The main thing is to do everything according to the instructions.
Smartphone Owner Reviews
Everyone knows that real product reviews are very valuable information. They make it possible to understand how the device behaves in real conditions and whether it is worth buying it at all. The exact same situation is with a product like the Meizu M3 Mini 16GB smartphone. Reviews about this gadget are inconsistent and ambiguous. But in general, there is a positive trend. And this is not surprising, since the gadget is very decent. So what do the happy owners of this "miracle" say?
Let's start with the positive reviews. Almost all users liked the sturdy and beautiful metal body of the new item. The owners note that, despite the metal structure, the device does not try to slip out of his hands at all. Others admire the excellent performance of the smartphone in games and resource-intensive applications. The Meizu M3 S phone (the characteristics confirm it) is quite capable of pulling all the games. This is what most users like. Almost everyone also notes that the fingerprint scanner works at lightning speed. And the button with the scanner feels great reminiscent of the same as the iPhone. And this is another plus of this smartphone. As for the autonomy of the device, here the owners are unanimous: it is enough for two days of continuous operation. And this is a very excellent result. The screen has received some praise. Thanks to the IPS-matrix, it can demonstrate quite realistic colors. And everyone likes it. The device also pleased many with the presence of an impressive amount of RAM, support for the sixth generation LTE communication standard and a smart camera. The last component does sing laudatory odes.
However, not everything is so rosy. There were also those who did not like something in this almost perfect device. What is wrong with the Meizu M3 S? Characteristics and reviews seem to be in order ... But it wasn’t there. Some particularly corrosive owners drew attention to the fact that the shiny edging along the edges of the case is not metal at all, but painted plastic. According to these "couch experts", the paint will peel off over time, which will give the device a non-marketable look. Also, some snobs were unhappy when looking at the proprietary Flyme shell. They prefer the “naked” “Android”. They can be understood. However, some individuals went further and accused the company of thoughtlessly copying devices of other brands. But this is difficult to consider as a minus. For that kind of money, a completely original device? This is unrealistic. In general, there is very little constructive criticism of the negative format. That is, of course, it is, but you should not pay attention to it in any case. For the most part, these are just fantasies. This gadget is almost perfect. It has an excellent design, good performance and all the latest technological advances in the mobile industry. What else is needed for happiness?
Conclusion
So, we examined the almost flagship smartphone Meizu M3 S. Its characteristics and reviews about this device are mostly positive. It is understandable. In the modern mobile market, this gadget seems ideal in the ratio of price and quality. And do not care that it is made by a Chinese brand. Elegant design, high performance, modern technology, decent battery life, an advanced camera, high-quality screen and relatively low cost - all this makes the smartphone truly "popular". I must say that the Meizu team did their best. They managed to create a very high-quality, productive and modern device. And for many users, these characteristics are more important than the big name of the brand. There is no doubt that this unit will sell very well. Obviously, it’s worth buying, because it is universal.