While not everyone will have heard of Meizu, many further East and those interested in Chinese devices will have been looking forward to the MX6. During an event in Beijing, the Chinese name has officially announced the new MX6, and while many of the leaks and rumors have turned out to be true, the company still had a lot to get people excited about. Powered by a deca-core CPU, Android 6.0 Marshmallow and a camera that they say is faster and better than the one Samsung put in the Galaxy S7, Meizu could have a real winner on their hand.
By now, many will know what to expect from the designers at Meizu, and the MX6 is no exception. Sporting that familiar metallic design, the MX6 is just 7.55mm thick and weighs just 155g. Despite its svelte frame, it still manages to pack a punch, with a sizeable 3,060 mAh battery keeping the whole show running, and a MediaTek Helio X20, a deca-core CPU clocked at speeds up to 2.3 Ghz doing the number crunching. 4GB of RAM and 32GB of storage are included as standard and there’s a 5.5-inch 1080p display here, too. While that resolution might disappoint some, Meizu is keen to point out that the Sharp TDDI LCD panel sports a contrast ratio of 1500:1 and 85% of the NTSC color gamut. These are impressive stats, and the Chinese brand also says that the 2.5D curved front panel sports improved touch sensitivity and performance to boot. That 3,060 mAh battery is kept topped up by the new mCharge 3.0 system, which puts 12V at 2A through the phone’s USB Type-C connector, which charge the device from zero-to-full in 75 minutes. Those worrying about a device that will see its battery life depreciate as a result of faster charging shouldn’t, as Meizu claim an improve 900 cycles or thereabouts in the MX6.
The imaging side of things is where Meizu is really happy with what they’ve achieved this time around. There’s a 12-megapixel rear-facing camera with an f/2.0 aperture, PDAF capable of focusing in just 319 miliseconds. This is made capable thanks to the new Sony IMX386 sensor that Meizu have sourced, and they’ve also developed their own custom 6P lens to improve clarity and produce uniform photos no matter the lighting situation. Facing the user is a 5.0-megapixel front-facing camera which also sports an f/2.0 aperture, but unlike its rear-facing friend, does not support 4K video recording. Meizu have improved their camera software within the FlymeOS 5.5 that sits on top of Android 6.0 Marshmallow, and so far the results seem very promising indeed, but we’ll have to put it through its paces once we get a review sample.
Build quality has long been a hallmark of Meizu devices, regardless of how you feel about the overall design, and with its magnesium alloy body is no different this time around. Sharing design similarities with previous Meizu devices, it also has a fingerprint sensor on the front of the device, utilizing Meizu’s mTouch 2.1 technology and supporting speedy weChat payments within China. The MX6 from Meizu will be available in Gold, Gray, Pink and Silver colors and cost just 1,999 Yuan, which is roughly $300, and will go sale starting July 30th.
