Introduction
Meizu has unlocked yet another achievement with the m2 note - to deliver yet another amazing phablet with an unbelievably attractive price tag. While others sacrifice a lot to keep the budget, Meizu somehow manages to push the limits way beyond our understandings of the possible and breaks the value for money record once again.
The Meizu m1 note was a fantastic package for the price. It pretty much established the baseline for how to get the best out of a smartphone on a shoestring budget. The one we had others compared to. So, we're quite keen to meet the successor, the Meizu m2 note, which too will have to stand up to comparison. Wider LTE compatibility, a microSD card slot and Android Lollipop isn't a bad way to start.
The m2 note uses the next iteration of the MediaTek chip, the MT6753. It's a different configuration though - the octa-core Cortex-A53 processor runs at 1.3GHz, the GPU is Mali-T720MP3 and there is the same 2GB of RAM. This means the Meizu m2 note has a little less processing power and an inferior GPU, so this is something to look closely at in the benchmark chapter.
The Meizu m2 note keeps most of the good stuff though. You get the same IGZO screen, the dependable 13MP main camera and the smart 5MP selfie cam, there is a big enough battery, and the finish is now matte, not glossy.
Key features
- 5.5" 1080 x 1920px IGZO LCD display of 403ppi
- Heavily customized Flyme OS 4.5 on top of Android 5.1 Lollipop
- Mediatek MT6753 chipset, octa-core 1.3GHz Cortex-A53, Mali-T720MP3 GPU, 2GB of RAM
- 13MP Samsung camera sensor with two-tone LED flash, 1080p video recording @30fps
- 5MP front-facing camera with 1080p@30fps video recording
- 16GB or 32GB of built-in storage, microSD slot
- Cat. 4 LTE (150/50Mbps); dual-SIM, Wi-Fi a/b/g/n; Bluetooth 4.0; GPS/GLONASS; microUSB, USB On-The-Go
- Dual SIM support
- Active noise cancellation via a dedicated mic
- 3,100 mAh battery
- Very competitive price
Main disadvantages
- Non-removable battery
- Less capable CPU and GPU compared to m1 note
Meizu addressed a couple of our concerns with the m1 note and now the m2 note offers wider LTE support and a memory card slot. The matte finish is well appreciated too. The non-removable battery has solid capacity, while we are yet to determine the performance impact of the new chipset configuration.
So, we are ready to unpack the Meizu m2 note and start exploring. We'll be back right after the break.
Display
The display of the Meizu m2 note is absolutely the same 5.5" 1080p unit the m1 note has. It's indeed a joy to look at, the colors are nicely saturated and the viewing angles are very good. The IGZO panel is made by Sharp.
The resolution is definitely a treat for the price and more than sufficient at 1080p. 403ppi is sharp enough and you wouldn't really tell the difference to any QHD screen on the market unless you're looking at some really small fonts. Here's the m2 note display matrix - it has a standard RGB arrangement.
Our display measurements revealed the m2 note's screen isn't as bright as its predecessor's. The m1 note's screen is about 20% brighter than the new unit found on the m2 note. The blacks are deeper though, which could be explained by the dimmer screen.
While the display may not be as bright as before, 470 nits is still a very respectable brightness level and the contrast ratio is excellent. Dropping the brightness slider down to 50% lowers the actual brightness to 180 nits and deepens the blacks to produce even better contrast.
Somehow Meizu managed to lower the screen's sunlight legibility even more. While the m1 note did average in this test, the m2 note is sunlight readability is just poor.
Sunlight contrast ratio
Battery life
Powered by a 3,100mAh battery, the Meizu m1 note managed an overall rating of 65 hours of battery life, and we hoped the m2 note would do better thanks to the Lollipop optimizations under the hood.
Indeed it posted very solid numbers in the 3G call test and web browser endurance, but did rather poorly when it comes to video playback. The m2 note slightly improves the average standby performance of its predecessor, which boosts the overall endurance score up to 69 hours. This means the Meizu m2 note will last two and a half days and then some, if you do an hour each of calling, web browsing and video playback daily.
The m2 note offers three battery modes - power-saving (four CPU cores only), balanced (six CPU cores) and performance (all eight CPU cores). We tested it in Performance mode, so you may be able to squeeze even more from the battery when the m2 note is running in Power-Saving mode.
Our proprietary score also includes a standby battery draw test, which is not featured in our test scorecard but is calculated in the total endurance rating.
The battery testing procedure is described in detail in case you're interested in the nitty-gritties.
Connectivity
The Meizu m2 note comes with quad-band 2G/GPRS/EDGE support, tri-band 3G with HSDPA and HSUPA, as well as Cat.4 LTE support. It's compatible with more bands than m1 note, which may be a sign that Meizu is planning wider availability.
The m2 note has dual-SIM, dual-standby functionality - 3G and LTE are supported only on SIM1, while SIM2 can tap into 2G GSM networks only.
The m2 note has dual-band Wi-Fi a/b/g/n with DLNA, so you can play media (photos, videos, music) from DLNA-enabled devices or push content from your phone to a DLNA-compatible TV or music player.
Bluetooth 4.0 is also enabled, complete with A2DP.
The microUSB 2.0 port supports USB host so you can attach USB flash drives or connect peripherals.
You can also stream your display via the Wireless Display feature (Miracast).
GPS and GLONASS support is enabled. There's no FM Radio, IR port or NFC on the Meizu m2 note, there is no wired TV-out option either.
