Meizu is stepping up its game in the affordable smartphone segment while rivals like Xiaomi, LeEco and Lenovo are putting their best foot forward. In China, Meizu launched Thursday its latest M3 Note phablet, which challenges every other smartphone in its close price range with specs that can woo consumers.
Meizu M3 Note is a direct competition to handsets like Xiaomi Redmi Note 3, LeEco Le 1s, Lenovo K4 Note, Huawei Honor 5X and other sub-Rs. 15,000 smartphones. In this article, we are going to compare the newest addition to the Meizu family against one of the hot-selling devices, Xiaomi Redmi Note 3, to get a better look at which phone is better.
Display and design
The all-new Meizu M3 Note smartphone comes with a premium metal body made of 6000 series aluminium alloy. It has a 5.5-inch Full HD display with a physical Home button at the bottom of the screen. The display has a 2.5D glass, LTPS (Low-temperature polycrystalline silicon) and MiraVision 2.0 display technology.
Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 also features a metal uni-body with a 5.5-inch Full HD display and 401ppi. The handset's screen has a wide viewing angle with 178 degrees and comes equipped with unique Sunlight display technology and Night mode.
There isn't much difference in terms of display comparison, so buyers can choose their preferred brand and get equally clear visuals.
Processor, RAM and storage
Meizu M3 Note has a 64-bit class MediaTek Helio P10 octa-core processor, which is backed by either 2GB or 3GB RAM depending on which variant buyers choose. There are two storage options, 16GB and 32GB, which get 2GB and 3GB RAM, respectively.
Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 is powered by a 64-bit class based Qualcomm Snapdragon 650 Hexa-core (ARM Cortex A72 dual-core + ARM Cortex A53 quad-core) processor, which is backed by 2GB RAM and 16GB storage. Xiaomi also has a 3GB RAM and 32GB storage model, the same as the Meizu M3 Note.
The performance evaluation can only be done after reviewing both the phones, but the spec-sheet looks quite impressive for the M3 Note as well as the Redmi Note 3.
Camera
Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 sports 16-megapixel primary camera with PDAF, dual-ISP and dual tone flash. On the front side of the device, there is a 5MP snapper complete with 36 smart beauty profiles.
Meizu M3 Note, on the other hand, offers a 13MP primary camera with PDAF, dual tone LED flash, 5-element lens setup and f/2.2 aperture. On the front side, there is a 5MP camera with f/2.0 aperture, 4-element lens and FotoNation 2.0.
Xiaomi gets the upper hand in terms of packing higher pixels, but that cannot alone be the deciding factor in better camera quality. Meizu has a large lens on the rear and even larger lens with f/2.0 aperture on the front for better selfies. Both phones offer unique features to make photography interesting. We wouldn't be surprised if both phones perform equally well.
Battery and fingerprint scanner
Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 packs a 4050mAh battery, while its rival Meizu M3 Note has a 4100mAh unit, yet another category where both phones stand side by side. Xiaomi comes with 5V 2A quick charge technology that can charge the device from 0 to 50 in 30 minutes, but there is no mention of such tech in the M3 Note.
It's interesting how the competition has led OEMs to include premium features such as fingerprint scanner in budget phones. Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 has a fingerprint scanner on the rear just below the camera, while Meizu M3 Note packs the sensor within its physical home button at the bottom of the display. Meizu had said earlier that placing fingerprint sensor on the rear is due to lack of space in a smartphone and a fingerprint sensor on the front makes more sense.
Software
Both phones run on Android 5.1 Lollipop, but Meizu M3 Note has its own FlymeOS and Xiaomi has its MIUI 7 skin on top.
Price and availability
Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 is available in India starting at Rs. 9,999 for the 16GB variant and Rs. 11,999 for the 32GB model. The handset is sold exclusively via Amazon India and Mi.com/in in a flash sale format.
Meizu M3 Note is currently available only in China for ¥799 (around $123/€108/Rs. 8,215) for 16GB and ¥999 (around $154/€136/Rs. 10,272) for 32GB models. The handset is expected to arrive in India as soon as next month, but a fixed date hasn't been revealed yet.
