We flew last week to Beijing to attend the official presentation of the new top of the range of the Chinese manufacturer Meizu, Meizu PRO 6, which inherits well poco from his predecessor, revolutionizing the dimensions and the philosophy of the device itself.
Il Meizu PRO 6, in fact, it is a top of the range that innovates under some points of view and returns to the "origins" proposing a display with smaller dimensions of 5.2 inches.
We have thoroughly tested this device. Discover with us what we think of it!
Meizu PRO 6, the review of GizChina.it
Meizu PRO 6 - Unboxing
We are talking about a pre-sale sales package, which contains the following accessories:
- Meizu PRO 6;
- charger with European socket from 5-9-12V 2A;
- USB Type-C cable with integrated chip for voltage control;
- pin for removing the SIM slot;
- user manual in English.
Absent the earphones, which should however be contained in the retail package (although we do not have certain information about it).
Meizu PRO 6 - Design and construction quality
Il device is characterized by a unibody metal body with a new design of the antennas on both the upper and lower profile, giving the whole a more sinuous line.
Dimensionally the company has decided to change the cards on the table, bringing a more compact device with dimensions of 147.7 x 70.8 x 7.25 mm for a weight of 160 grams.
Considering the size and the battery, the weight could be slightly excessive, even if you notice how the Meizu engineers have optimized this aspect in the best possible way, since the balance in the hand is optimal.
The on / off button and the volume rocker are positioned on the right profile, located in the same milling seen on the M3 Note.
On the left side, instead, we find the double Nano SIM slot which unfortunately does not allow the internal memory to be expanded through micro SD as it did on the Meizu PRO 5.
On the lower profile we find the connector USB Type-C 3.1 with transfer speed up to 5 Gbs, the single system speaker with technology mSound, the 3.5 mm mini jack input and the main microphone. On the upper profile, however, we find only the second microphone for the suppression of environmental noise.
On the back, finally, we find the already mentioned new design of the antennas, and a photographic compartment also aesthetically renovated, given the presence, in addition to the main camera to 21 mega-pixels, of ben 10 Dual Tone LED Flash which surround theautofocus laser.
On the front, the terminal has the ear capsule, the monochrome white notification LED, the brightness / proximity sensors and the front camera to be 5 mega-pixels.
At the bottom there is the now typical key mBack which integrates a fingerprint reader (non-touch) with technology mTouch 3.0. Operation is fast and accurate (up to 5 settable fingerprints), as well as offering some features, such as app lock and Guest mode.
Meizu PRO 6 - Display
The device is characterized, as anticipated, by a display Super AMOLED On-cell with diamond matrix from 5.2 inches diagonal with resolution Full HD 1920 x 1080 pixels, PPI 423, contrast of 10000: 1, technology 3D Press and protection Corning Gorilla Glass 3.
La display quality it's definitely excellent, with very good viewing angles and one well balanced color calibration, which can be set by the user either through some pre-set profiles, or through a special slider.
There is also a mode of color adaptation, with which to set some Samsung-style profiles.
Thanks to the Super AMOLED technology adopted here, of course we have absolute blacks and the white is quite faithful even if, going to incline the display in a decisive way, it is possible to notice a slight tendency to blue.
La brightness it's good, but it would have been nice to have a higher maximum value, especially in conditions of strong solar intensity. Beyond this, the behavior of the special sensor is very good.
But it is under the panel that Meizu hides a new "gem", or technology 3D Press, which allows you to perform certain operations or access some shortcuts simply by pressing more forcefully on the desired icon. It will therefore be possible start the camera in video mode directly from the desktop, interact with images in the gallery to view the preview with related sharing settings and so on.
It is possible to adjust the intensity of the pressure to be exerted directly from the Settings by choosing between 3 different profiles.
This technology obviously requires a little 'habit that allows a spontaneous and effective use. After several days of use we can state that, if properly implemented also in third-party applications and in other system parameters, the 3D Press di Meizu it could certainly be an excellent intuition like the competitors who have already integrated this technology such as Apple, ZTE o Huawei.
Among the available features we find the always useful mode Eye Protective Mode, with which to go to filter the blue lights.
Meizu PRO 6 - Hardware and performance
Even hardware level Meizu has embarked on a new road, since the Meizu PRO 6 It is moved by a SoC MediaTek MT6797T Helio X25, with a CPU deca-core with ARMv8-A architecture in 64 bit and 3 cluster format: 2 x 2.5 GHz Cortex-A72 + 4 x 2.0 GHz Cortex-A53 + 4 x 1.4 GHz Cortex-A53.
To this we find side by side 4 GB di RAM L dual channel from 933 MHz e 32 / 64 GB di internal memory eMMC 5.1 not expandable.
It is understandable how a good part of users are skeptical of this solution, given that many expected this PRO 6 to arrive on the market again with an Exynos SoC from Samsung, in addition to the fact that there are no LPDDR4 memories or UFS 2.0.
However, these "shortcomings" are not particularly noticeable during everyday use, as we are talking about a Chipset definitely powerful at a performance level, with an almost total absence of lag or various jamming in the interface.
The only real flaw is the removal of the possibility of expanding the memory.
The device, in fact, does not "suffer" the presence of the Taiwanese giant's leading chipset but rather emerges winner in all tests of use even under intense stress, demonstrating the good work done by Meizu in the optimization of this hardware platform.
The graphic part is entrusted to the ARM GPU Mali-T880 MP4 from 850 MHz, which guarantees a good level of performance, even if it is a little below the level of the current top of the range based on Qualcomm.
We have not detected any particular problems of overheating except in the most intense and prolonged phases of gaming that have put a strain on the aforementioned GPU.
For more in-depth details and the various videos of gaming test e Antutu we refer to the previous one dedicated focus on performance.
Meizu PRO 6 - Cameras
The photographic sector of the terminal in question is characterized by the "usual" rear camera from 21 mega-pixels with sensor Sony IMX230, 6-element lens and focal aperture f / 2.2., which protrudes yes of some fraction of a millimeter compared to the body, but which has a protection Gorilla Glass 3.
As on PRO 5, also in this case the focus is managed by a hybrid autofocus (PDAF + laser), which is however surrounded by a circular ring, in which we find the new lighting system of the device, represented by well 10 dual tone LED flash alternating.
The interface, in addition to the various settings, offers us some shooting mode, namely: Automatic, Manual, Video, Beauty, Panorama, Refocus, Slow-motion, Macro and Gif.
In the daytime situation, the photos taken are certainly pleasant, thanks above all to thehigh level of detail (given the 21 mega-pixels present here), with which it is possible to go and crop the photos taken without fear of graining the image.
However, there are some acerbities, including a not always correct adjustment of the focus and exposure, the latter balanced away HDR.
The front camera has a sensor from 5 mega-pixels with focal opening f / 2.0 and 5-element lens. The shots are very good, both in terms of brightness and color range.
In night phase the quality is all in all good. We do not have very bright pictures, but on the positive side the digital noise is less conspicuous.
Il LED flash turns out to have one good color calibration and a discrete powerhowever, the shots taken in this mode are a bit 'too slow.
Meizu PRO 6 - Full HD Video Test
Videos can be recorded both in Full HD in that UHD (3840 x 2160 pixels), even if the possibility of filming to 60 fps is missing.
Even here we find some acerbity, almost certainly because of a software not yet definitive (we are talking about a sample pre-sale), but above all we feel the lack of a optical stabilization.
Meizu PRO 6 - Audio
The audio produced by the main speaker of the PRO 6 is undoubtedly of quality, with a good range of frequencies and low enough present; all this, however, is to the detriment of the volume, which is not particularly high.
The subject changes instead if you prefer listening to music on headphones. In fact, on board the device we find a Hi-Fi audio chip area of Cirrus Logic (the same brand used by Apple on the iPhone), specifically the CS43L36, which provides first class performance. The volume is high, therefore able to drive headphones with impedances higher than the standard, the frequency range is very well reproduced and with a good spatiality of the sound. If you are a smartphone audiophile, you have found bread for your teeth.
Meizu PRO 6 - Connectivity
As previously mentioned, support is present dual Nano SIM stand-by 4G LTE Cat.6 and, as usual, it is absent the 20 band.
Going beyond this "lack", this sector has proven itself definitely up to it during these days of use, with a quick coupling and change of cells, as well as a speed, albeit not always in 4G, definitely sufficient for standard use.
No problem even with regards to the connection 802.11 Wi-Fi a / b / g / n / ac Dual Band, Bluetooth 4.1 with LE and during satellite navigation via GPS / A-GPS / GLONASS.
The presence of the standard should be noted USB Type-C 3.1, which guarantees transfer speeds of up to 5 Gbps.
Absent the FM radio and connectivity NFC.
Meizu PRO 6 - Software
The device is moved by the operating system Android 6.0 Marshmallow customized, in the case of our sample, with the proprietary interface Flyme 5.2G, so with Google Play Store e Italian language.
Despite we hold a pre-production sample, ROM seems to run flawlessly with high optimization both in terms of the multitasking pushed for the execution of heavier applications, in addition to navigation between the various menus.
La ROM does not differ much from the Flyme 5.1 based on Android Lollipop 5.1 present on Meizu PRO 5.
The main differences are as follows:
- Settings related to 3D Press, as well as certain actions that can be performed using this technology;
- option to enable or disable fast transfer through the protocol USB 3.0;
- possibility to set a dynamic adaptation in style Xiaomi of the color calibration (different from the choice of the cold or hot temperature of the same);
- new adjustable option to favor reading at night by clearing the blue filter reproduced on the display.
Meizu PRO 6 - Autonomy
The device is characterized by a non-removable battery from 2560 mAh, a number that on paper may not give hope for good. However, in these days of use the Meizu PRO 6 has been able to defend itself well in this respect, arriving in the evening after a mixed stress use between Wi-Fi and 4G with about 3 and a half hours of display.
In addition, we find support for the mCharge 3.0 fast charge which allows you to recharge the same from 0 a 100% in about 60 minutes. If this were not enough, Meizu has guaranteed that this terminal is free from the various issues that have arisen in recent months, following the controversy on Type-C cables incorrectly approved and potentially harmful to our devices.
In fact, both inside the phone and inside the cable supplied, there is a Texas Instruments voltage control chip.
Meizu PRO 6 - Final considerations
Ultimately the Meizu PRO 6 it turned out to be a device very pleasant in use, both forextreme fluidity that, for a very attractive design.
The choice to use the chipset license plate MediaTek, while not offering on the paper numbers from the first of the class, it was found all in all apt, managing to guarantee performance certainly of level e consumption in the standard.
At the moment we do not have certain information about the date and the price of marketing, but we will promptly notify you as soon as news about it comes out.
