The internet sometimes leads you to really unheard of places and one such time was when I looked for the meaning of MEIZU. This search led me to a site about Kabalarian philosophy where an entire page was devoted to this word. It stated that anyone with the name Meizu will be pleasant and diplomatic, and seem to sense how others feel and because of such traits, could do well in public relations. The page went on to say that the name makes appreciation of the finer things of life much easier and a good standard of living is what these people have easy access to. I guess they were talking of people and here I was trying to relate all this to a manufacturer and marketer of technology from China. Seems wayward, does it? No, because as I interacted with the device that Meizu was launching, I realised that it did feel pleasant.
A pleasant device?
Well, let us just say that the design and the external looks were good enough to make me smile good-naturedly. After all, a full aluminium alloy body handset with a set of sensors, earpiece and camera module with the front bottom having a physical button which has multiple functions cannot be as vile as the villainous characters in a TV soap. Besides a home screen button on the front I was surprised to find the fingerprint sensor also right there. ‘Aha!’ I exclaimed, ‘this device is an accomplished diplomat as well!’ The shifting of the fingerprint sensor to the front is indeed akin to a tech-diplomacy coup in a world where even innovations are now difficult to find. This does make life of a user much happier.
Meizu, by the way, is Meizu Technology Co., Ltd., based in Zhuhai, Guangdong, manufactures consumer electronics goods and began sometime in 2003. They manufactured MP3 players and later MP4 players and then from 2008 onwards stepped into the world of smartphones. The first device they launched was the M8 and this year they have sold more than 20 million devices globally. They are one of the top ten smartphone manufacturers in China with 8.9 million units sold worldwide in the first half of 2015.
Now that I have already proved that Meizu devices are both pleasant and excel in diplomacy, let me add that the new Meizu M3 Note is a mid-range affordable phablet and comes as two variants. The first has 2GB of RAM & 16GB of Internal storage while the second has 3GB of RAM & 32GB of internal storage. This phone with a 1080p display is actually a standard for mid-range devices but the 5.5-inch screen that uses an LTPS (Low-Temperature Polycrystalline Silicon) display technology instead of the IPS LCD technology makes it somewhat different and unique.
You really must know more about LTPS
A bit of online research tells me that that the active matrix and passive matrix form the two kinds of LCDs that are in the reckoning and active is considered better. This is because the TFT layer or Thin Film Transistor Technology in an active LCD either of these three alternatives: LTPS (Low Temperature Poly-Silicon), a-Si (Amorphous Silicon) and IGZO (Indium Gallium Zinc Oxide). The Meizu smartphone has an LTPS coating on the LCD screen which gives it a higher mobility resulting in a higher resolution but a lower power consumption. The other two alternatives are mere followers but patronised more by the other manufacturers of smartphones as the LTPS technology costs more. So as a user you are getting a technically better screen at no extra cost because the Meizu M3 Note anyway is at a highly subsidized price and available on Amazon India.
Three reasons why I like the Meizu M3 Note
The first is obviously the point where the phone scores well on diplomacy and gives the users a front-placed fingerprint sensor… as the Meizu India chief remarked: ‘A fingerprint sensor on the rear is like wearing an under-wear the wrong way!’ Well, not very diplomatic, is it, to wear under-wears the wrong way?
The second is also about fingerprints… and the device doesn’t disturb the user by being a fingerprint aggregator! The display remains clean and people like me are charmed.
The camera is always what I am bothered about in any phone – expensive or inexpensive. This one has a 13-megapixel rear camera with an f/2.2 aperture and phase-detection autofocus which gives it enough power to even stare at a DSLR and smile. No, phone cameras can never beat the DSLR but this one is gutsy enough to stand akimbo in front of one and even cheekily smile. The Corning Gorilla Glass 3 for lens protection is a thoughtful addition and the 5-megapixel front-facing camera with an f/2.0 aperture makes sure that selfies are not hit hard.
In addition to the above, the camera allows all the other fancy stuff like HDR clicks, manual, beauty, panorama, light field, slow video, and macro. The Gif mode allows you to shoot six second clips to make photos look strangely animated.
Users must also understand that Flyme isn’t a new OS but just a customised Android skin and the Meizu M3 Note comes with ver 5.1. The Flyme version is equally fine and Meizu has even given it a double tap to wakeup feature, a SmartTouch feature that enables a floating button, and multitasking interface that is quite good.
One feature that out-scores all others
The battery. I loved the fact that the battery that comes with the device is a powerful 4100 mAh and if you add this to the fact that power consumption has decreased by up to 32 percent on M3 note running Flyme 5 compared to the M2 note, the advantage becomes formidable enough. The battery also fully charges from 10 to 100 percent within 3 hours.
This post has features and aspects mentioned about the phone based on a cursory handling for a few minutes and the facts mentioned on the company website. A detailed review is possible only if I get the device.
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Meizu M3 Note
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Buy here:
Amazon: Meizu m2 Note (Grey, 16 GB)
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Arvind Passey
21 May 2016
