Meizu E3 (64GB and 128GB) smartphone - advantages and disadvantages

In March 2018, the company from China Meizu presented its next creation to the buyers' judgment. The name is the brainchild of Meizu E3. It is available in several color options and with different memory sizes. Some fans of the brand immediately began to scold the phone, others - actively praise.

Still others have a fair question - what can E3 boast about? Now let's take it and figure it out.

Design

And immediately to the design of the device, which is not so easy to pass by. What is immediately visible? For example, the fact that the Meizu E 3 is an enlarged M6S. Yes, the manufacturers liked the previously released Meizu M6S so much that they did not want to part with their favorite design. Why, if consumers like it, so do the creators. Left.

The case is quite stylish and compact. Made entirely of metal, has no plastic inserts. The texture of the coating is very pleasant tactile and externally harmonious.

If you become the owner of a model in dark colors, then you will not be at all happy with the following news. The fact is that fingerprints remain on the body of the device, and become most visible in this particular color variant. This is a minus. But don't worry, you can choose a different color.

There are only three colors available - the aforementioned black, gold and deep blue. Only it will be almost impossible to get the device in the blue case, so you will have to work hard to get it even in other colors. In blue and even more so. Why - we will find out below.

For now, a little more about the sensations of a smartphone. The phone is so pleasant to the touch and so comfortable in the hand that you don't feel like putting on a cover at all. Although for the safety of the device safe and sound, this will have to be done.

Controlling the phone with one hand is problematic. The size of the device is to blame. The downside can be called a stretch, because we still have two hands. You can intercept him with the other palm and save him from falling.
The volume and power buttons are located almost parallel to each other. This does not bring joy and convenience, because every time you try to lock your smartphone, you always touch the volume control button. And you get a screenshot, which is generally not required at this moment.

Fingerprint scanner and more

The main camera module protrudes above the body. In E3, the developers turned it vertically, apparently trying to follow the fashion and resemble the design of the iPhone X.

A fingerprint scanner adorns the left (or right, if we are looking at the smartphone in our hands) side panel of the E3. This arrangement is a proprietary and beloved feature of Meizu smartphones. And this is convenient, because you can unlock your smartphone not only with any hand you like, but you don't even need to make special adjustments. The scanner works from any position. You can also lie down.

Headphone jack, type-c and external speaker

The headphones are inserted into the E3 from below.For many users, this is even more convenient than when the connector is at the top of the device.

Meizu E3 supports USB Type-c version 2.0. It was upsetting that when testing with the recognition of the flash drive, problems came out. I didn't want to see her smartphone.

External speaker

The smartphone cannot boast of a high volume level. Being indoors, hearing an incoming call or message is quite problematic. On a busy street, this will be even more difficult. The sound is too quiet. Compared to the same Xiaomi Redmi, the latter sounds louder.

Headphone sound

Listening to music through the headset is comfortable, the sound is good, clear, the bass is loud and voluminous. For especially demanding users, there is an advanced built-in equalizer settings.

Speaker

During a conversation, the speech of the interlocutor is heard perfectly. The earpiece speaker and two microphones work flawlessly.
The event and notification indicator is located next to the earpiece and glows white.

The build quality is decent. When Meizu launched the M6s, they found the perfect design for themselves, which they stick to in the E3. It's really nice to look at him.

Dual sim phone. The card slot supports either the simultaneous use of two nano SIM cards, or one SIM card and a flash drive up to 256gb in size.

Screen

The display of the smartphone pleases with an excellent 5.99 inch diagonal, Full HD resolution and an IPS matrix of 2160 by 1080 px. 18: 9 1500: 1. The aspect ratio is 2 to 1.

When compared with inexpensive models, the color rendering difference is very noticeable. The image is bright, high-contrast and high definition.
The viewing angle is close to maximum.

In the settings, you can make the temperature of the image warmer or, conversely, colder, simply by adjusting the level of the slider. This is done for the comfort of the eyes of the users and for the preservation of vision.
The brightness level is even excessively good - it will help out in any environment.

The screen is not protected by Gorilla Glass, but it is protected by tempered glass from a Chinese manufacturer. For such a price the device could have been supplied with Gorilla Glass. According to users, three scratches appeared on the surface of the screen in a week of use. This was very upsetting.

The oleophobic coating of the screen is made with high quality, there are practically no prints left. If they do appear, they are easily erased.

The diagonal of the screen allows you to watch movies, play games and read with great comfort and pleasure. If only the battery could withstand it. What he can - now we'll see.

Battery

The E3's case is very thin. Most likely, this did not allow putting a larger battery in the smartphone.
The volume of the built-in battery is 3360 mAh. With such a capacity and average use, the smartphone's charge will last, at most, until the end of the day. Screen time varies from 4 to 5 hours. The average user will have enough.

Meizu supports the new 10 volt 2 ampere fast charging standard. The manufacturer claims that the smartphone now not only charges quickly, but also does not heat up. Indeed, excessive heating was not noticed.
Charging time from 0 to 50% will be 35 minutes.
From 0 to 100% - one and a half hours.

The price starts at 18 thousand rubles. Read more about the price and exclusive limited edition of the smartphone below.

Processor and RAM

The E 3 model is equipped with Snapdragon 636, which employs 8 Krvo 260 cores. (A73 + a53 + for 8) 1.8 Ghz.
Only one version of RAM is available - 6 GB. But built-in at the user's choice, depending on the model - 64 GB in the younger and 128 GB in the older version.

The rest of the equipment of both options is identical. There is no choice of configuration, no different battery capacities. Therefore, the price for Meizu e3 seems overpriced against the background of competitive brands. Take, for example, Xiaomi Redmi note 5. This is one of the reasons why the edition of the "troika" is limited, and the model is not sold outside of China.

How does it behave in games?

Playing on a smartphone is convenient and pleasant. In applications and toys at 25 frames per second, performance is noticeably smooth.

World of Tanks runs well at almost maximum settings. In Tekken, winning battles is also obtained without lags and drawdowns.

During the game, the device heats up, but it does not cause discomfort, the levels do not interfere with the passage. In general, it is not critical.

operating system

It is possible to purchase this model from China directly via the Internet. True, this is fraught with the lack of a normal operating system firmware. What's wrong? Here's what:

If you decipher the picture, it becomes clear that there is no Russian language in the device. You can either use the English version with updates, or wait for a Russified firmware to appear in the future.

Only no one announced the terms.

And, again, with the main competitor - Xiaomi, in a similar situation, you can, through diligence and skill, install the Russian version of the firmware. With Meizu, this will not work. Unfortunately.

For 2018, Meizu E3 can boast of firmware version Flyme 6.3.2.1 and based on the seventh Android.

In terms of functionality, the shell does not differ from the previous version of Flyme 6. The assembly pleases with smooth and beautiful animation. Application crashes happen, but not often.

There is a gesture control kit on the smartphone lock screen. "Tapes" and "Swipes" are types of touches for quickly opening playlists and applications.
Flyme has minimalistic settings, a closed operating system and only the necessary functions. For this, it was even compared to IOS. There is a similarity, but minimal.

The downside is that Meizu does not care at all about the release of the latest update packages for their smartphone models. This complicates the work of the budget line of devices.

The quality work of Flyme 6 can be observed only in price segments above average. For example, here.

The touch buttons at the bottom of the screen can be customized to your preference. The middle m-back button opens multitasking, locks the phone, or throws it into the main menu by double pressing or holding it for longer than the prescribed time. Anything the user wants.

Rear camera

Shoots for 4+ rating. The main camera of the smartphone has two sensors from Sony.

First at 20 MP, aperture f / 2.6 (IMX 350).
The second is 12 MP, with an aperture of f / 1.9 (IMX 360).

Photos in the daytime turned out with natural colors, good quality. Clear and not blurry.

How to take pictures in the sun:

At night, the frames are also of pleasant quality, the "grain" is insignificant.

How to take pictures at night:

There is an increase (zoom) 1.8. When zooming in, image quality deteriorates.
Video recording from a smartphone is provided in 4K and Full HD quality. There is no digital and optical image stabilization.

Front-camera

The 8 MP module with aperture 2.0 was decided by the developers in the E3 model.

In good light, the pictures are good. The quality of light decreases - the quality of the image decreases.

Equipment

Opening the box, we will see what is included in the package:

1. Smartphone;
2. Instructions;
3. Needle for opening the sim tray;
4. USB-C cable;
5. Charger box (with quick charge function).

Upset that there are no headphones as standard. In 2018, many manufacturers are refusing to include a headset with smartphones. The cost of a wired headset is not high, and the range of models is great - it's not difficult to purchase. Although it would be nicer to see them in the box by purchasing a smartphone.

Exclusive color j-20

Now comes the fun part. In addition to the three main color schemes, there is also a limited edition Meizu E3 J-20 Edition. It was released in honor of the Chinese fighter Chin Do j-20.

You can buy it only in China, but even there it understands? like hotcakes. The body of the model is made of zinc alloy, and on the back cover there are metal and laser engravings, designed to resemble the j-20 fighter. The branded bumper with the fighter emblem is included with the smartphone.

Why don't they sell it in Russia?

Meizu E3 is sold only in China. They do not plan to release it on a trip to the global market. This is explained by the fact that M6s, released earlier, are intended for deliveries to Russia. Moreover, there is no 4G frequency of ben 20, there is only ben 7. This means that there may be problems with the Internet in 4G networks.

However, if the phone goes on sale, the expected price level in 2018 looks like this:

Advantages vs. disadvantages

Looking at the Meise E3 smartphone, its strengths and weaknesses are clearly visible. Let's start with the pros.

• Convenient location of the fingerprint scanner;
• Camera;
• Screen;
• Headphone sound;
• Microphone.

• Price;
• External speaker;
• Lack of Russian;
• Updates are rarely released;
• No optical stabilization;
• Battery;
• The main camera protrudes;
• Type-c did not recognize the USB stick.

What's the bottom line?

The Meizu E3 is trying to please with the Snapdragon 636 processor and 6GB of RAM. Competitors have been building Snapdragon 660 into devices for a long time, at the same price. E3 has a beautiful design, but should you give preference to a smartphone just for its beauty? It's up to you to decide.