According to a new leak, which was offered up by a supply chain analyst via Weibo, Chinese smartphone maker Meizu has at least 10 phones slated for release in 2017. Posting under the user handle “Cold Greek Dev,” the claimant goes a step further to say that the majority of those devices will release in the second half of the year and that the company will be centering efforts around MediaTek’s Helio P20 and Helio P25 chips. Meanwhile, Meizu’s Pro 7 flagship device is said to be likely to ship with the latest chipset from either Qualcomm or Samsung under the hood. It will also come with a dual-camera or dual sensor setup. Alongside the Pro 7, the rumor also mentions two other devices by name, which are the “blue note6” and “X series” though the post doesn’t go into much detail about the seven other devices reportedly coming this year.
One noteworthy point about this leak is that at least part of it appears to fly directly in opposition to earlier reports that the company has been working to create its own SoC. The previous rumor also stated that the purportedly up-and-coming Pro 7 could be the most likely device to receive that new chipset. However, developing and manufacturing what equates to a brand new SoC from scratch is really not an easy task by any means even when partnering with a legendary industry leader like Texas Instruments, so the news doesn’t necessarily prove that those previous rumors are false.
As with all rumors, any and all of this information should probably be taken with a grain of salt until the company itself decides to reveal something that substantiates the leak. The information may turn out to be correct at some level, even if it isn’t completely legitimate, simply because it is relatively vague on details beyond a couple of names. Aside from the names, it essentially reaffirms that Meizu is one of a handful of handset manufacturers that consistently focuses the vast majority of its development efforts around MediaTek’s chipset offerings. That said, the company’s still-unannounced flagship device has already had several leaks this year and is shaping up to be a solid smartphone if current rumors hold up.
