Meizu M8c smartphone - advantages and disadvantages

Meizu M8c is a budget smartphone with strong specs. The creators paid attention to a large display, sound and camera, provided stable performance and charging. All functions are clear and pleasant to work with. Meizu themselves, in terms of their characteristics, may not be the absolute best manufacturers of smartphones with Android, but they are definitely included in the rating of quality performers. They excluded the fingerprint scanner and contactless payment in the M8c, but rather they did it in order to focus on the fundamental tasks of the device.

Usability: what have the manufacturers taken care of?

So, at the price at the start of sales - 9,990 rubles or 50,000 tenge.

Meizu m8c is a universal. With it, you can effortlessly work in applications, talk, listen to music, take good photos, and not charge your phone during the working day. The results will not disappoint those who, when choosing which model is better to buy, do not have strict requirements regarding a powerful camera or an eternal battery, but are looking for a smart device that fulfills all the declared functions as needed.

Materials, interface, assembly - the manufacturers approached everything responsibly.

Materials

The body is plastic, but of high quality: odorless and durable. Coated plastic. The coating is matte, a little rough, due to which the case is not slippery and pleasant to the touch. True, there is a drawback - it wears out when worn carelessly, scuffs appear.

The display is decorated with 2.5D tempered glass with an oleophobic coating. 2.5D glass means that the edges of the glass are rounded for a three-dimensional effect on the screen. Fingers glide on the oleophobic coating as needed, do not leave fingerprints and scratches - glass without such a coating gets dirty and resists finger movement. The screen is resistant to scratches and other damage even without a protective film. There are owners who repeatedly dropped Meizu phones, but there was not a scratch on the screen. Although no one is immune from damage, such indicators are more reassuring than the statistics of some other smartphones with a less stable stack.

Design

There are four colors to choose from: black, blue, red, gold. By the way, the red color is not so common as the main one, so it can be written as an advantage. The frames around the display are black for the black and blue casing, white for the gold and red.

The phone is monolithic - it doesn't understand. All transitions are smooth and dense, you cannot find any loose structures. The impression that the phone was assembled with all responsibility, and painted with love for ergonomics and details - it produces.

The assembly is minimalist: on the back there is only a camera, flash and Meizu logo, on the front there is nothing but an inconspicuous set on the upper frame: a pair of sensors, a camera and a speaker. Narrow frames take up little space, the entire main part of the front is a solid screen. Now this is how the most popular models look. There are no buttons or logos on the front - nothing distracts from work, which is what you expect from a phone.

About what is on the other side. The camera peephole on the back is round and flat - it looks solid, but it seems not protected from accidental scratches.It is located in the center, and not in the corner, as on many smartphones, below the flash. Almost in the middle of the lid there is a logo, it's good that Meise has a simple and beautiful one.

On the top edge, the headphone jack is 3.5 mm. At the bottom there is a micro-USB connector for charging, and a speaker and microphone are symmetrical on both sides.

On the right edge there are mechanical volume and power buttons, on the left there is a built-in slot for a dual sim SIM card.

The slot is designed for two nanoSIM cards. Instead of one, you can use a memory card with a capacity of up to 128 GB. With 16GB of main memory, the card will most likely need such a flash drive.

The dimensions of the device, despite the large 5.45-inch display, are very loyal. Due to the thin frames in the hand, it lies like a five-inch device, does not fall out anywhere, and due to the elongated proportions it is adapted for typing with one hand.

Display

In Meizu m8c, the aspect ratio of the display is 18: 9, to which all new items are now striving. The 16: 9 ratio used to be the standard, but the market is evolving and changing its benchmarks. 18: 9 is 2 to 1, which allows you to work in two different applications on the same screen, without infringing on either of them in space. For video viewing in the future, this ratio will also be optimal, although so far the rapid change in video formats is not noticeable.

Since standard screen resolutions are not suitable for this ratio, the resolution is HD +, that is, 720 by 1440 pixels. It's not fullHD +, which is a little offensive for 2018, but the image is still crisp and even. You can't look at the pixels - this, by the way, is the advantage of the IPS matrix.

The IPS-matrix, which is used for this device, reproduces colors well, retains their saturation and density. Distortion of shades can be noticed only if you specifically pay attention to them at sharp angles, trying to distort the view. For those who are not fundamentally concerned with one hundred percent color rendering, these shortcomings will not be obvious and the picture will be pleasant.

Brightness 450 cd / m2 is average. That the border is low, that is high - quite adequate. At night, the minimum brightness does not cause irritation, and you can additionally increase comfort by adjusting the screen saturation to warm tones in the settings. Maximum brightness in the sun allows you to see all the details of the images. You don't have to remember that on old devices you can't see anything in the bright sun. Auto-brightness is sensitive: when the light is turned off, a powerful charge of light quickly adapts to neutral, so as not to hit the eyes, and when it comes out into the sun from a dark room, on the contrary, it is backlit so that everything can be seen. If the owner turns off auto brightness, then in the next couple of hours he will well understand how much work this function takes on.

The screen sensor supports up to ten touches and is quite responsive. The oleophobic coating contributes to the correct coordination of the wearer's fingers, so the response to actions is correct and quick.

Interface

Flyme's proprietary interface is the standard of simplicity and convenience on the Android platform. Here the manufacturers did not bother with any one-time chips. Instead, they tweaked features that should work well: calling, editing photos, accessing files and settings. This approach seems obvious, but in reality, the problem with convenience in classic use cases remains relevant for some manufacturers.

On the lock screen - large time, date and area for notifications. Incoming notifications are grouped by sender with the ability to scroll. You can remove them from the screen as a group.

To open quick settings, you need to slide your finger across the screen from top to bottom. It doesn't matter if the phone is locked or unlocked. Quick settings allow you to control functions such as: Wi-Fi, Internet, sound, brightness, auto-rotate, and even turn on the flashlight.

Desktop with a fixed 4x5 grid and large icons. In the settings, you can set a mode for children with large icons and a 2x4 grid. You can manually group applications on the desktop.

Calls are nicely designed.When a call comes in, a photo of the caller with the name and operator is displayed on half of the screen. If the photo is not installed or this is a person not from the contact list, then a cute picture is substituted. Again, the call functions are represented by large icons: add a note, mute the sound, add a call, turn on the speakerphone, open the keyboard and record the call.

It should be noted the colors and images of the icons - psychologically very comfortable, easy to remember and associated with their tasks. Designers know how to make friends with the device owner.

The file manager stores the "Recents" folder - all the latest documents and files can be found here.

The photo gallery is a surprisingly handy thing. It groups photos into selfies, series, screenshots, and contains a built-in photo editor. The photo can be flipped by simply holding and controlling the image with two fingers. You can put captions on the image itself, crop, outline important parts with different markers - and all this is understandable without reading the instructions. There are even arrows and figures: a normal screenshot can be fully drawn up and sent to a friend or technical support. There is also a classic set of the editor: with brightness, blur and other chips.

The security manager includes antivirus, spam filter, power saving and application management.

You can back up your smartphone content and transfer them to another device. The memory management system itself will tell you when what needs to be cleaned, what duplicates there are and how much space is left.

The current firmware for the model is Flyme 6.3.5.1RU, localized for Russian users: it meets the Russian requirements of Google, better adapted to the Russian language, prepared for the Russian conditions. For those who wish, the Flyme 6.3.5.1G global firmware is also available.

Equipment

The package bundle is modest - a 1.5 ampere power adapter was included in the box with the phone, a microUSB cable and a clip for a SIM card slot to it. The length of the cord is 1 meter. The documentation is of course there too.

If you do not find fault with the lack of headphones, which is the norm for Meizu, but comment on the quality of the packaging itself, then when you get the phone out of the box from Meizu you feel a certain thrill - it is so well assembled. I am pleased with the high-quality box, perfectly measured compartments for the elements and how neatly all this is assembled together.

Functional

Camera

As a standard, there are two cameras without unique bells and whistles - front and main. Competitive in their segment, although those who choose a phone exclusively for high-quality photos may lack some parameters: for example, the capabilities of a dual camera.

The main rear camera at 13 Mpx is single and without bells and whistles. In diameter F / 2.2 is the standard for the segment. Great attention to modes and feature sets for both the front and rear cameras. There is autofocus and LED flash.

As a phone camera at a price of 10,000 rubles, the main camera takes pictures decently. Photos in natural daylight are of high quality: sharpness is high, but not excessive, color rendition is complete. Contrast and white balance are natural. Autofocus works correctly, but not always instantly. Cool pictures are obtained in HDR mode. There is a re-focus blur effect, and if you figure out how to use it, you can achieve very effective photos. There is also manual focusing by selecting the desired area. Built-in modes such as slow motion, panoramic, macro, GIF, QR code scanner. A set of filters that you can choose in advance or for a finished photo.

Sample photo:

At night he takes pictures like other inexpensive smartphones - not very impressive even with a flash. Video shoots only in FullHD, but the stabilization is not impressive.

The front camera is 8 Mpx in diameter F / 2.0, which is a decent figure for a smartphone for 10,000 rubles. The Chinese love beautiful selfies and are developing functions for them in their smartphones. In addition to the modes available in the main camera, the front camera has a smart mode that evens out the skin and facial features.

Sound

Loud and clear sound in both speakers: spoken and main.Reviews of the speakers are mostly positive.

For communication on the phone, the volume of the interlocutor is adjusted to a comfortable level, while the clarity of speech does not suffer. The ringtone is audible in most situations, but may be overwhelmed by the noise of an arriving train.

You can listen to music - there is no extra noise, but the sound transmission density is not accurate enough. Which company has better dynamics, there is no definite answer - as a rule, the sound is not included in the priority selection criteria, so manufacturers do not bother. It should be noted that Meizu does not neglect sound and use as high-quality speakers as possible.

Music sounds great in headphones and is not inferior to flagship smartphones.

The main speaker of the device is installed on the bottom edge, which contributes to the sound distribution evenly, in any position of the phone.

Performance

The basis of the phone is a Qualcomm Snapdragon 425 MSM8917 quad-core processor, 2GB of RAM and 16GB of internal storage. The graphics are provided by the Adreno 308 GPU.

Qualcomm is an indicator of consistent performance for many, as seen in reviews regarding processors. This model is budgetary, focused on an average set of tasks, but not on the ability to fly under overload. For example, running applications in the background, switching from one messenger to another, periodically launching the camera, playing music and surfing the Internet will be within the power of the processor, if all this is done in a measured manner, without trying to play the entire list in a few seconds.

If 16GB memory is not enough, then a memory card can be inserted into the slot for a second SIM card. A flash drive can be no more than 128GB.

Games

The smartphone is a budget all-rounder that may support the love of games, but was not planned as a partner in regular battles with demanding graphics.

Any game will run on the device, and it will stand up to even average graphics settings. Heavy games at high settings will slow down as the processor is quite simple. Although at minimum settings, there will be no lags even in heavy games, with rare exceptions.

For those who rarely play with toys, for example, on the way to work or at school recess, the model is suitable. Also suitable for undemanding toys. For hardcore gamers and fans of active games, as the main device will not pull.

Standards: communication, internet, navigation

Meizu m8c is made, among other things, for a Russian client, and therefore all standards are focused on those supported in Russia.

As for communication, these are the standards GSM 900/1800/1900, 3G, 4G LTE and most of the bands supported here: TD-LTE (band 40), FDD-LTE (1, 3, 5, 7, 8, 20). Wi-Fi is the current 802.11n standard. No LTE-Advanced, no Wi-Fi Direct.

Other features: there is bluetooth - this is Bluetooth 4.1, wired connection via USB, GPS navigation. Oddly enough, there is no FM radio.

Autonomy

As for work without recharging, then the indicators are simple - not lower, but not higher than classical values.

The battery keeps charging for a day at low usage activity, but if you turn it on and forget it somewhere on the shelf, then in a week it will most likely still work. In active mode, without games, it will last daylight hours, but in the evening it will require charging. By active mode, we mean the following actions: surfing the Internet and using settings, making calls and using applications, taking selfies on the way to work.

3070 mAh is not bad, but also not the leading battery capacity among modern smartphones in 2018.

Budget smartphones usually all come with a similar battery.

It is worth noting that the phone's filling optimally consumes energy and does not wear out the battery, so the characteristics of autonomy will remain the same in a year with reasonable use.

Fingerprint scanner and NFC chip

Unlocking the phone is possible only with a password: graphic or digital. There is no fingerprint scanner, as well as contactless payment, which in 2018 is a significant drawback for active users.

Nevertheless, the motivation for the lack of these opportunities can be explained by the target audience.Not everyone is ready to trust fingerprints and banking data to the phone, or do not consider it a necessity, but everyone wants stable functionality from the device. For those who are thinking about how to choose a versatile productive phone without bells and whistles, the model is created.

The average price of the device today is 9,120 rubles. In "physical" stores, as a rule, there is a surcharge, and how much a smartphone costs on the Internet and in a store can differ. Therefore, it is recommended that you familiarize yourself with the positions in online stores where you can profitably buy a smartphone in 2018.

As a result, the advantages and disadvantages of a smartphone:

• Display with progressive aspect ratio and good color reproduction;
• The design is minimalistic, like popular models;
• The sound in headphones is at the level of flagships;
• Stable performance;
• Convenient interface;
• Good camera for its price segment.

• Lack of a fingerprint scanner;
• Lack of an NFC chip;
• sensitive case cover.