The year 2018 is going to bring a new level of competition in the smartphone space. Brands like Xiaomi, Samsung, Sony and LG are already planning their moves, and a burgeoning Chinese brand is trying to make its presence felt in the crowded space.
Meizu, which has an interesting line of smartphones under its portfolio, has confirmed that it'll be launching its next smartphone — the M6S — on January 17, 2018. The company has been running countdown promos on its official Twitter and Weibo handles, revealing essential details one feature at a time.
Meizu's M6S teasers date back to January 2, which was the first to confirm an 18:9 aspect ratio full-screen display. Two days later, the company revealed the product name and launch date.
Since then, the Chinese tech giant has been counting down days and has revealed the following features so far:
"A better edge-to-edge display," which suggests a bezel-less 18:9 aspect ratio display
"A more powerful processor," which is linked to ARM's Cortex-A73 chipset.
"A better way to interact with your phone," which shows on-screen navigation and a visual representation of single-hand use.
While the teasers on Twitter and Weibo are identical, there's one particular post on Weibo that doesn't match the one on Twitter. There's an addition of a fingerprint scanner logo placed on the display, which could only mean that the M6S is coming with an on-screen sensor.
At the same time, there are rumours that the M6S will have a fingerprint scanner mounted on the side. It's worth mentioning that Vivo just demonstrated the on-screen fingerprint technology at the CES 2018, and it's surprising to see the tech make it to a mid-range smartphone such as Meizu M6S.
A more convincing theory here is that Meizu will incorporate a virtual mBack button on the screen since the 18:9 display won't leave space for a physical button.
Besides all this, there's very little about the M6S that's left to the imagination. Images of the handset have been leaked on TENAA and Antutu to reveal key features, which suggest a 5.7-inch 1440x720 display, Samsung Exynos 7872 processor, 3GB RAM, 32GB storage, a 3,000mAh battery with 18W fast-charging and the Android Nougat-based Flyme OS 6.0.
The M6S will also support dual SIM cards, 4G VoLTE, Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth.
As for the pricing, GSMArena suggests that it could be priced around ¥1,000, which is roughly Rs 9,800. At this price range, the handset will compete directly against Xiaomi Redmi Note 5, which is also expected to be launched this month.
There's no word on the phone's arrival in India yet, but Meizu might reveal international plans for the M6S during its China launch this week. Stay tuned for updates.
