Meizu Note 9 smartphone - advantages and disadvantages

In November 2018, Meizu released Note 8, and already on March 6, 2019, the company officially presented another novelty - the mid-budget Note 9. Meizu really did their best: we can see not just a slight improvement and refinement, compared to Note 8, but a new device with excellent performance.

In the article we will analyze the advantages and disadvantages, functionality, performance and features of the new model. Also, the review will guide you in price.

Some information about Meizu

Meizu was established in 2003 in China. Its founder is Huang Xiuzhang, better known under the pseudonym Jack Wong. At the beginning of its journey, the company was engaged in the manufacture of music players, which were distinguished by an unusual design, high build quality and excellent technical characteristics. Since 2008, Meizu began to produce smartphones, the design of which was similar to the iPhone from Apple, but with different technical characteristics.

After Meizu smartphones proved to be good in the market, Huang Xiuzhang put some of the affairs under the management of Bai Yongxiang, and he himself got to grips with creating a proprietary shell and changing the design. Consumers saw the work done in January 2012, when a new product was presented - Meizu MX, with a new attractive design and proprietary Flyme firmware, which ran on the Android operating system.

Until 2014, the company released one smartphone of the flagship segment once a year. After receiving investments from the Alibaba Group, in 2015, Meizu expanded its lineup, releasing budget smartphones, phablets and music flagships.

In addition to smartphones, Meizu also produces various accessories in the form of wireless headphones, smart watches and more.

Meizu Note 9 review

Table with parameters and main characteristics

Equipment

Meizu Note 9 comes in a compact blue package, which contains:

• smartphone;
• charging cable (medium cable length);
• charger unit;
• an envelope with a paper clip to open the SIM card slot;
• warranty card;
• user's manual.

When ordering a device with Aliexpress, in addition, as a presentation from the seller, you can get a protective glass and a transparent case.

Appearance

The first thing that attracts attention is the very thin frames, the absence of "bangs" and a thin "chin". The Note 8 is sold in three colors: white, blue and black. The smartphone has a fairly good build quality and a classic smartphone look. At first glance, it may seem that the body is made of glass, and the side frames are made of aluminum, but this is not so. In fact, both the body and the side faces are made of plastic, the edges have an additional varnish coating.

It is worth noting the excellent ergonomics: despite the large display, the manufacturers managed to make a compact and convenient phone that fits well in the hand without causing any discomfort.

Unfortunately, not everything is as smooth as we would like. A large number of advantages are covered by an insufficiently high-quality cover, which, when pressed, bends and holds together. But, based on customer reviews, it should be noted that not all models have this drawback. It is also necessary to pay attention to the fact that the glossy plastic surface, not protected by an oleophobic coating, collects fingerprints, smudges and scratches on itself, which will be clearly visible against a dark background. Therefore, in this case, it is better to purchase a model in white.

Location of buttons and connectors

On the front panel, in the middle at the top, there is a front camera in a drop-shaped notch. As noted by many consumers and bloggers, the Note 9 has the smallest and most compact droplet camera opening. Also at the top of the screen is the proximity sensor, earpiece and blue indicator. On the top edge there is an additional microphone for hands-free communication and active noise cancellation. On the right side there is a power button and a volume rocker, on the left there is a metal tray for SIM cards. The bottom edge houses a 3.5mm headphone jack, a spoken microphone, a USB Type-C connector, and a speaker grill.

On the rear panel, slightly curved for convenience, in the upper left part, there is a dual module of the main camera, under it is an LED flash. The camera is a bit convex, but you won't see it when using the protective case. A little lower from the flash, in the middle, there is a screen unlock in the form of an integrated fingerprint sensor. The indentation for the sensor is very small, it is extremely difficult to find it with your fingers, but the convenient location saves it - the finger automatically lies in the right place. At the bottom of the panel is the company logo.

Unlocking the screen

The screen can be unlocked in three ways:

• The power button, located on the right side.
• Fingerprint sensor, which is located on the back. The sensor does not have a lightning-fast response, there is a slight delay, but this is not critical.
• Front camera supporting face unlock function. The function pleases with its unlocking speed.

Cameras and their features

Rear camera

The main camera consists of two lenses:

1. The first CMOS lens is Samsung's S5KGM1 sensor. The module has a resolution of 48 Mp, aperture f / 1.7, sensor size ½. The pixel size is 0.8 micrometers, and the light sensitivity of the matrix is ​​50-1600. The maximum photo resolution is 8000 x 6000 pixels.
2. The second lens acts as a depth sensor, blurring the background in portrait photography. Its resolution is 5 megapixels.

Camera capabilities and features:

• LED flash and phase detection autofocus;
• digital stabilization and geotagging;
• face and smile detection functions;
• panoramic and continuous shooting;
• exposure compensation and touch focus;
• auto start and HDR shooting;
• portrait, night and scene modes;
• setting white balance and ISO;
• exposure correction and face retouching;
• snapshot using gestures and digital zoom;
• shooting HD (720), Full HD (1080), Ultra HD (4K).

Front-camera

The camera has a resolution of 20 megapixels and an aperture of f / 2.0. There is support for Full HD (1080) and HD (720). The maximum photo resolution is 5180 x 3880 pixels, there is a screen flash.

In good light, the photo quality is excellent: moderate color saturation, good clarity and high detail. In order to use the proposed 48 megapixels, you must manually select the necessary settings. But as consumers assure, it makes no sense, as automatic shooting with the help of artificial intelligence does an excellent job at a standard resolution of 12 megapixels. The big disadvantage is the lack of electronic stabilization, which significantly affects the quality of video and photos.

In low light, night mode can be selected, which adds sharpness, contrast and enhances detail. However, users may find the automatic shooting mode to be the best, as the night mode is oversharp, which gives the effect of a fake shot.

The camera installed by Google in Meizu Note 9 will not give the expected excellent results, the photos are desaturated, "lifeless".

Display

Meizu Note 9 is equipped with a liquid crystal display with IPS technology. The screen resolution is 1080 by 2244 pixels, the aspect ratio is 18.7: 9, the ppi density is 403, and the size is 6.2 inches. The screen occupies 84.7% of the usable area, which is equal to 96.4 cm2. Corning Gorilla Glass acts as protection from scratches and chips, and an oleophobic coating saves from fingerprints. It is noteworthy that manufacturers rarely use oleophobic coating in mid-budget smartphones.

The screen has excellent viewing angles without distortion, good color reproduction. Note 9 is perfect for watching videos, as well as playing games with high-quality graphics. The backlight brightness is 350-400 cd / m2 - this is enough in normal lighting, but in the sun the display is too dark.

CPU

The smartphone runs on a powerful eight-core Qualcomm SDM675 Snapdragon 675 processor with 11 nanometer process technology and a frequency of 2000 MHz. The chipset is powered by two Kryo 460 cores at 2 GHz and six Kryo 460 cores at 1.7 GHz, which is enough performance to play demanding games and run any applications quickly. Responsible for the graphics chipset is Adreno 612, which supports Vulkan, Open CL and the OpenGL ES 3.2 API.

Pay attention to Game Mode 3.0 software and Hyper Gaming technology, which optimize and smooth the gameplay.

Interface

The Note 9 is equipped with the Android 9.0 Pie operating system, which is complemented by the proprietary shell from Meizu - Flyme 7.2. Among the various useful functions of this firmware, we highlight the main ones:

• Fast data recovery system. Saving occurs in case of program crashes, screen breakage or other emergencies;
• Optimization of work and cleaning of unnecessary files;
• Built-in antivirus engine powered by artificial intelligence;
• The use of artificial intelligence in all possible services;
• Increase application launch speed using a dedicated channel;
• Fast launch and responsiveness;
• High performance and low energy consumption;
• Change the brightness of the screen depending on the environment;
• Mode to protect eyesight and hearing;
• Music engine for better sound;
• Search for the desired application by alphabetical index;
• Nice design and animations.

Memory

Meizu Note 9 can be purchased in two flavors:

1. 4 GB of RAM + 64 GB of internal.
2. 6 GB of RAM + 128 GB of built-in.

The frequency of LPDDR4X and eMMC 5.1 memory is 1866 MHz. There are 2 channels.

How much does the Meizu Note 9 cost?

The base 4GB / 64GB variant starts at $ 208, while the 6GB / 128GB variant will hit $ 238.

Autonomy

A non-removable lithium-ion battery with a capacity of 4000 mAh is responsible for autonomous operation. The battery provides sufficient operating time without recharging, namely:

• 6-7 days standby time;
• 3-4 days in a moderate, usual mode;
• 30 hours of talk time;
• 8-9 hours with constant use;
• 10 hours of video viewing;
• 5.5 hours of gameplay.

You can restore the charge with a fast charge of 18 watts. Full 100% charge will be restored in 2 hours, 72% in 1 hour, and 37% in half an hour.

Sound

For its average cost, the smartphone reproduces very good sound. But, for example, when playing music with bass through a multimedia speaker, you can sometimes hear some distortion. When it comes to listening to music through headphones, the quality is also good. And if you want, you can adjust the settings in the equalizer, and make the sound even better.

But when shooting video, the sound quality is poor.

Advantages and disadvantages of a smartphone

• reliable, efficient and fast processor;
• thin frames, no "bangs", a small "chin";
• miniature, neat camera teardrop;
• good build quality;
• convenient and compact;
• nice appearance;
• face unlock function;
• good quality photos and videos;
• large, high-quality display with an oleophobic coating and protective glass;
• proprietary shell with many useful programs;
• moderate cost;
• good autonomy;
• support for fast charging.

• lack of NFC;
• the back cover is not made of high-quality plastic, the cover bends and holds together;
• lack of optical stabilization.

Conclusion

Meizu Note 9 upsets the lack of NFC and optical stabilization, but at the same time pleases with high performance, good quality photos, video and sound, long battery life, reasonable price, as well as many useful functions, compactness and convenience.