Deca-core smartphone with 3D Press screen technology

Less than six months have passed since Meizu released its “music flagship” (as it calls it) Pro 5, and last spring its successor called Meizu Pro 6 was announced in China. Thus, the line of premium devices manufacturer, which began with the name MX Pro, has now finally turned into simply “Pro”, and the “MX” prefix remains assigned to the flagship line, now headed by the Meizu MX 5. Representatives of both families can rightfully be described as devices of the highest category, and so that To separate them at least thematically, the marketers conceived this move: to position the Pro line as a separate “musical” line. Moreover, even the MX 4 model at one time had a dedicated DAC for headphones and a sound chip for the main speaker, so the separation is artificial. In any case, the hero of today’s review can boast of not only an advanced sound system, but also much more; read about all this in our detailed review of Meizu Pro 6.

Main characteristics of Meizu Pro 6 (Model M570N)

• SoC MediaTek MT6797T (Helio X25), 10 cores: 4 x 1.4 GHz + 4 x 2.0 GHz (ARM Cortex-A53) + 2 x 2.5 GHz (ARM Cortex-A72)
• GPU ARM Mali-T880
• Operating system Android 6.0
• Super AMOLED 5.2″ touch display with 3D Press technology (with touch force response), 1920×1080, 424 ppi
• Random access memory (RAM) 4 GB LPDDR3 933 MHz
• Internal memory 32/64 GB eMMC 5.1
• SIM cards: Nano-SIM (2 pcs.)
• No microSD card support
• GSM networks 900/1800/1900 MHz
• Networks WCDMA 900/2100 MHz, TD-SCDMA
• LTE networks FDD Band 1/3/7, TD-LTE
• Wi-Fi 802.11a/b/g/n/ac, Wi-Fi Direct
• Bluetooth 4.1 BLE
• Micro-USB 3.1 Type C, OTG
• GPS/A-GPS, Glonass
• Direction, proximity, lighting sensors, accelerometer, gyroscope, barometer, magnetic compass, fingerprint scanner
• Camera 21 MP, f/2.2, autofocus, LED flash
• Front camera 5 MP, f/2.0
• Battery 2560 mAh
• Fast charging mCharge 3.0
• Hi-Fi audio DAC Cirrus Logic CS43L36
• Smart PA NXP Gen 3 chip responsible for sound from the main speaker
• Dimensions 148×71×7.3 mm
• Weight 160 g

Appearance and ease of use

Unlike Xiaomi, which in the case of the new Mi 5 went by copying the design from Samsung, Meizu remains faithful to the course it once took towards Apple, and even now their latest creation is very reminiscent of the latest generations of iPhone. The body of Meizu Pro 6 is completely made of metal and has rounded edges and corners that are streamlined on all sides, reminiscent of smooth pebbles turned on all sides.

The production uses materials for injection molding of the body with a metal share of 98%, and all this is finished and polished using 3D sandblasting. Unlike its predecessor Pro 5, there are no plastic inserts on the ends. The body is solid, made in the form of a single trough, the ends are also made of metal, and for the antennas the usual grooves are cut out from the outside, covered with plastic. The grooves, by the way, have an unusual shape with smooth curves, which looks fresh.

The quality of materials and assembly does not raise the slightest complaints; Meizu products in this regard are no worse than the most recognized A-class brands, and in some ways, perhaps even better. At least the matte metal surfaces here are less slippery than those of the iPhone 6, although they look very similar. The coating is not easily soiled, the smartphone always looks neat and does not collect a large number of fingerprints.

As for the weight, it is, of course, larger than that of the lightweight colleague Xiaomi Mi 5, but the difference of 30 grams is unlikely to be a serious argument for anyone when choosing a smartphone.

The front panel, like its predecessor, is covered with 2.5D glass with slightly sloping edges, making the sides almost completely rounded. In older Meizu models, the smooth curve of the body ended abruptly at the junction with the flat front glass.

Among the elements at the top of the front panel there was an unexpected LED notification indicator, which is good news. Below the screen, Meizu never has three touch control buttons, only one. In this case, the mTouch 2.1 mechanical key is equipped with a built-in and fairly fast fingerprint scanner.

As before, by touching this button you can perform the “back” action, a short press to return to the main screen, and a long press to turn off the device display. Using a fingerprint scanner, you can block access not only to the device itself, but also to any of the applications in it, including third-party ones you installed yourself.

The side mechanical keys are located on the right side in the usual order, the buttons are large, noticeably protrude beyond the body, and have an elastic movement - in general, the buttons on Meizu smartphones are always in perfect order.

There is a camera with flash on the back side of the body. The camera module protrudes slightly beyond the surface, but this does not interfere with the control of the device lying on the table; the smartphone does not sway.

The flash is very unusual: for the first time, a special design of 10 LEDs of different colors, arranged in a circle, was used here. Needless to say, this flash is the brightest ever seen in a smartphone? It is simply impossible to look at it directly from within one room, and it completely illuminates the room better than any other lantern.

Cards are inserted into one single side slot. It is here, like the Xiaomi Mi 5, not hybrid, that is, installing a memory card is not allowed; only two Nano-SIM cards can be installed in it. The slots are equivalent in their capabilities, and hot-swappable cards are supported.

The speaker is located at the bottom end, there is only one grille covering it, on the other side of the central Micro-USB type C connector there is a conversational microphone and a headphone jack. Thus, Meizu exactly repeats the arrangement of elements in the iPhone 6, in which they are also assembled at the bottom end, and there is nothing at the top.

There are no plugs on the connectors, and there are no strap mounts on the case either. The device did not receive protection from moisture and dust. As for the colors of the case, here the manufacturer followed a familiar path, offering the buyer a choice of dark gray, light silver and golden options.

Screen

The smartphone is equipped with a Super AMOLED touch screen made by Samsung with convex 2.5D Gorilla Glass 3. The physical dimensions of the display are 65x115 mm, diagonal - 5.2 inches. The screen resolution is standard 1920×1080, the pixel density is 424 ppi. The frame around the screen is thin, about 3 mm on the sides, but even it turns out to be a little wider than that of Xiaomi Mi 5 - and certainly wider than that of the frameless one Sony Xperia XA.

The display brightness is automatically adjusted based on the light sensor. There is also a proximity sensor that blocks the screen when you bring the smartphone to your ear. Multi-touch technology allows you to process 10 simultaneous touches.

A distinctive feature of the Meizu Pro 6 display is support new technology 3D Press with touch force response. With its help, you can, for example, call up the context menu of an application without opening it. The 3D Press Kit is already available to developers, which will allow them to implement support for 3D Press functions in third-party applications.

A detailed examination using measuring instruments was carried out by the editor of the “Monitors” and “Projectors and TV” sections, Alexey Kudryavtsev. Here is his expert opinion on the screen of the sample under study.

The front surface of the screen is made in the form of a glass plate with a mirror-smooth surface that is scratch-resistant. Judging by the reflection of objects, the anti-glare properties of the screen are better than those of the Google Nexus 7 (2013) screen (below, simply Nexus 7). For clarity, here is a photograph in which a white surface is reflected in the switched off screens (on the left - Nexus 7, on the right - Meizu Pro 6, then they can be distinguished by size):

The screen of Meizu Pro 6 is slightly darker (brightness according to photographs is 112 versus 114 for Nexus 7). Note that the reflection from bright objects in the Meizu Pro 6 screen has a pale bluish-greenish halo that is slightly more pronounced in the transverse direction. The ghosting of reflected objects in the Meizu Pro 6 screen is very weak, this indicates that there is no air gap between the layers of the screen (OGS - One Glass Solution type screen). Due to the smaller number of boundaries (glass/air type) with very different refractive indices, such screens look better in conditions of strong external illumination, but their repair in the case of cracked external glass is much more expensive, since the entire screen has to be replaced. The outer surface of the screen has a special oleophobic (grease-repellent) coating (very effective, noticeably better than that of the Nexus 7), so fingerprints are removed much easier and appear at a lower speed than with regular glass.

With manual brightness control and when the white field was displayed in full screen, the maximum brightness value was approximately 340 cd/m², the minimum was 3.3 cd/m². The maximum brightness is not very high, but you need to take into account the excellent anti-glare properties of the screen and the fact that in the auto-brightness mode the brightness can be higher (see below). As a result, readability during the day in the sun is at a fairly good level. The reduced brightness level allows you to use the device even in complete darkness without any problems. There is automatic brightness adjustment based on the light sensor (it is located to the right of the front speaker slot). In automatic mode, when external lighting conditions change, the screen brightness both increases and decreases. The operation of this function depends on the position of the brightness adjustment slider. If it is 100%, then in complete darkness the automatic brightness adjustment function reduces the brightness to 47 cd/m² (suitable), in an artificially lit office (about 400 lux) it sets it to 150 cd/m² (normal), in a very bright environment (corresponds to lighting on a clear day outdoors, but without direct sunlight - 20,000 lux or a little more) increases to a maximum - up to 350 cd/m² (slightly more than with manual adjustment), and if you increase the brightness of the ambient light (in the area of ​​the light sensor ) somewhere up to hundreds of thousands of lux (corresponding to direct sunlight), then the screen brightness increases a little more - up to 44 cd/m². Brightness slider at 50% - the values ​​are as follows: 4.3, 84, 350 and 440 cd/m² (in complete darkness it is a little dark, the rest is normal), at 0% - 3.3, 9.3, 350 and 440 cd/m² (the logic can be traced). In general, the automatic brightness adjustment function works more or less adequately and allows the user to to some extent adjust their work to individual requirements.

Only at low brightness levels is there significant modulation at 240 Hz. The figure below shows the dependence of brightness (vertical axis) on time (horizontal axis) for several brightness values:

It can be seen that at maximum and average brightness the modulation amplitude is minimal, its frequency is approximately 60 Hz (screen refresh rate), so there is no visible flicker. However, with a strong decrease in brightness, modulation appears with a large relative amplitude. Therefore, at low brightness, the presence of modulation can already be seen in a test for the presence of a stroboscopic effect or simply with rapid eye movement. Depending on individual sensitivity, this flickering may cause increased fatigue.

This screen uses an AMOLED matrix - active matrix organic light-emitting diodes. A full-color image is created using subpixels of three colors - red (R), green (G) and blue (B), but there are twice as many green subpixels, which can be referred to as RGBG. This is confirmed by a fragment of a microphotograph:

For comparison, you can see the gallery of microphotographs of screens used in mobile technology.

In the fragment above you can count 4 green subpixels, 2 red (4 halves) and 2 blue (1 whole and 4 quarters), and by repeating these fragments, you can lay out the entire screen without breaks or overlap. For such matrices, Samsung introduced the name PenTile RGBG. The manufacturer calculates the screen resolution based on the green subpixels; based on the other two, it will be two times lower. The location and shape of the subpixels in this option is similar to the option in the case of the screen of the Samsung Galaxy S4 and some other newer Samsung devices (and not only) with AMOLED screens. This version of PenTile RGBG is better than the old one with red squares, blue rectangles and stripes of green subpixels. However, some unevenness of contrast borders and other artifacts are still present. However, due to the high resolution, they only minimally affect the image quality.

The screen is characterized by excellent viewing angles, though White color when deviated even at small angles, it acquires a slight blue-green tint, and at some angles it turns a little pink, but the black color remains just black at any angle. It is so black that the contrast setting is simply not applicable in this case. When viewed perpendicularly, the uniformity of the white field is good. For comparison, here are photographs in which the same images are displayed on the screens of Meizu Pro 6 and the second comparison participant, while the brightness of the screens is initially set to approximately 200 cd/m², and the color balance on the camera is forcibly switched to 6500 K. There is a white field perpendicular to the screens:

Note the good uniformity of brightness and color tone of the white field. And a test picture (profile Standard):

According to visual assessment, the color rendering of the tested screen is good, the colors are moderately saturated, the color balance of the screens varies slightly. Recall that photography can not serve as a reliable source of information about color rendering quality and are provided for illustrative purposes only. In this case, apparently due to the peculiarities of the emission spectrum of the AMOLED screen, the color balance in the photograph is noticeably different from what is visible to the eye and determined by a spectrophotometer. The photo above was taken after selecting a profile Standard in the screen settings, there are four of them:

Default:

The colors are oversaturated and unnatural, but the color contrast is not excessive.

Photo mode:

The colors are also oversaturated and unnatural, and for some reason the color contrast is now too high.

Full color mode:

The apotheosis of the “improvement” process - colors are oversaturated, unnatural, color contrast is skyrocketed.

Now at an angle of approximately 45 degrees to the plane and to the side of the screen (let’s leave the profile Default).

It can be seen that the colors have not changed much on both screens and the brightness of the Meizu Pro 6 at an angle is noticeably higher. And a white field:

The brightness at an angle for both screens has noticeably decreased (to avoid strong darkening, the shutter speed has been increased compared to the previous two photographs), but in the case of Meizu Pro 6 the drop in brightness is much less pronounced. As a result, with formally the same brightness, the Meizu Pro 6 screen visually looks much brighter (compared to LCD screens), since you often have to look at the screen of a mobile device from at least a slight angle.

Switching the state of the matrix elements is performed almost instantly, but at the turn-on (and less often off) edge there may be a step with a width of approximately 17 ms (which corresponds to the screen refresh rate). For example, this is what the dependence of brightness on time looks like when moving from black to white and back:

In some conditions, the presence of such a step can lead to plumes trailing moving objects, but in normal use these artifacts are difficult to see. Quite the contrary - dynamic scenes in films on OLED screens are distinguished by high clarity and even some “jerky” movements.

The gamma curve, constructed using 32 points with equal intervals based on the numerical value of the shade of gray, did not reveal a blockage either in the shadows or in the highlights. The index of the approximating power function is 2.27, which is slightly higher than the standard value of 2.2, while the real gamma curve almost does not deviate from the power dependence:

Color gamut in the case of a profile Default very wide:

When selecting a profile Photo mode coverage is adjusted to Adobe RGB boundaries:

When selecting a profile Standard the coverage is already compressed to the sRGB boundaries:

Without correction (profile Default) the spectra of the components (that is, the spectra of pure red, green and blue colors) are very well separated:

In case of profile Standard with maximum correction, the color components are already noticeably mixed with each other:

Note that on screens with a wide color gamut, without appropriate correction, the colors of regular images optimized for sRGB devices appear unnaturally saturated. Hence the recommendation - in most cases, watching movies, photographs and everything natural is better when choosing a profile Standard, and only if the photo was taken on an Adobe RGB setting, does it make sense to switch the profile to Photo mode. It is better to forget about the existence of other profiles and never switch to them.

The grayscale balance is good. Color temperature is only slightly above the standard 6500K, and blackbody deviation (ΔE) remains below 3 units across most of the gray scale, which is considered excellent for a consumer device. At the same time, color temperature and ΔE change little from shade to shade (except for the darkest ones) - this has a positive effect on the visual assessment of color balance:

(The darkest areas of the gray scale can in most cases be ignored, since color balance there is not very important, and the error in measuring color characteristics at low brightness is large.)

This device has the ability to adjust the color balance by adjusting the tint warmer or cooler.

The curves in the graphs above Without corr. correspond to the results without any color balance correction, and the curves Corr.— data obtained after shifting the point to the position indicated in the image above. It can be seen that the change in balance corresponds to the expected result, since the color temperature approached the standard value and ΔE increased slightly. However, it doesn’t make much sense to make the correction. Note that this function is implemented more for show, since there is no numerical reflection of the correction and there is no field for measuring color balance.

Let's summarize. The screen has a fairly high maximum brightness and has excellent anti-glare properties, so the device can be used outdoors without any problems, even on a sunny summer day. In complete darkness, the brightness can be reduced to a comfortable value. It is permissible to use a mode with automatic brightness adjustment, which works quite adequately. The advantages of the screen include an effective oleophobic coating, good color balance and a color gamut close to sRGB (in the case of the profile Standard). At the same time, let us remind you about the general advantages of OLED screens: true black color (if nothing is reflected in the screen), good uniformity of the white field, noticeably less than that of LCDs, and a drop in image brightness when viewed at an angle. The disadvantages include screen flickering, which appears at low brightness. For users who are particularly sensitive to flicker, this may cause increased fatigue. However, overall the screen quality is high.

Sound

Meizu Pro 6 sounds no worse than its predecessor Pro 5. It also has a built-in Hi-Fi DAC (Cirrus Logic CS43L36) for headphones and a special chip (Smart PA NXP Gen 3), which is responsible for high-quality sound from the main speaker. The device sounds at the level of modern music flagships, here Xiaomi Mi 5 is definitely not a competitor to it, and many other modern top models too. The sound is rich, bright, bassy, ​​the range of frequencies represented is wide, and there is enough volume reserve. The sound quality in headphones is just as good. Here, however, it is no longer possible to choose from several different profiles of the Dirac HD Sound system for different headphone models; the only settings left are an equalizer with preset values. Regular calls can also be processed by the DAC, VoLTE is supported. The developers claim that the power consumption of the Hi-Fi module has been reduced by 75% compared to the previous generation module.

There are no complaints about the speaker and microphone, there is practically no extraneous noise, the noise reduction system with an additional microphone located on the top end of the device copes with its tasks adequately. The microphones are quite sensitive - perhaps even too sensitive, but even quiet speech can be recorded on a voice recorder. It is possible to record telephone conversations from the line. There is no FM radio in the smartphone.

Camera

Meizu Pro 6 is equipped with two digital camera modules with a resolution of 21 and 5 megapixels. The front camera is equipped with a 5-megapixel sensor and a relatively wide-angle lens with five lenses and an f/2.0 aperture without autofocus and its own flash. The quality of the resulting images is better than that of the Xiaomi Mi 5, the colors are more saturated, the sharpness and detail are normal.

The main camera features a 21-megapixel Sony IMX230 sensor with a six-element lens, f/2.2 aperture and fast phase detection autofocus (PDAF). The developers have increased the distance and speed of laser focusing. The ring flash is extremely bright; It is clear that in low light conditions it can provide good support when shooting.

The camera control interface has changed slightly compared to previous models. In general, it is very similar to the old one, but now it is possible to more clearly select the size and resolution of pictures and videos. Now this is a whole list of several options to choose from, but before you could only move a couple of horizontal sliders. However, the sliders usually did not cause any problems, since it made sense to move them to the maximum right once and not touch them again.

The rest of the settings menu has not changed: it is possible to manually set ISO (maximum sensitivity - ISO 1600), shutter speed, exposure compensation, saturation, contrast and white balance; There are additional modes - portrait, panoramic, macro photography. Third-party applications cannot control these settings via the Camera2 API, and there is no way to save images in RAW.

The camera can shoot video with a resolution of up to 3840×2160 (4K UHD), and there is the possibility of slow-motion slo-mo recording. There's no mention of stabilization for video shooting, and there's a noticeable lack of smoothness when shooting on the move. Apart from this, the camera copes quite well with shooting at maximum resolution. The image is bright, saturated, detailed, normal sharpness, autofocus adjusts quickly, no artifacts were noticed. The sound is recorded well, but the microphones, according to a subjective feeling, are too sensitive.

• Video No. 1 (76 MB, 3840×2160 @30 fps)
• Video No. 2 (88 MB, 3840×2160 @30 fps)

	As the shot is removed, the sharpness drops slowly and smoothly.
	Good sharpness across the frame.
	The camera works well with shadows.
	The foliage in the background has not yet completely merged.
	Noise in light shadows is barely noticeable.
	Nice work in the shadows.
	Sharping is clearly visible on the wires.
	The license plates of nearby cars are distinguishable.
	The camera copes with macro photography.
	The text was worked out well, adjusted for the long exposure.

Meizu Pro 6	Apple iPhone 6 Plus

The camera turned out to be good. The module copes with its tasks at an above average level, the program works moderately. If it were not for minor shortcomings in the program and the low resolution for such a sensor, the camera could be considered good. However, she still does well in a variety of scenarios. Separately, it is worth noting the good HDR mode with a wide range, without obvious transitions and practically without double objects.

Auto mode	HDR mode

Telephone and communications

Both SIM card slots support LTE Cat.6 networks with a maximum speed of up to 300 Mbit/s, as well as VoLTE technology, which is gradually being introduced and Russian operators communications. The smartphone can operate as standard in most 2G GSM and 3G WCDMA network bands, and also has support for fourth generation LTE FDD and TDD networks. As before, the top Meizu smartphone has support for only two of the three most common bands among domestic operators (B3 and B7), but the frequency of 800 MHz (B20), better than others, meets the requirements for communication indoors, as well as in sparsely populated areas, this the device does not support. That is, for some residents of regions outside large populated areas, this may become a problem. In the Moscow region, in practice, with a SIM card from the MTS operator, the device was confidently registered and worked in 4G networks. The quality of signal reception does not cause any particular complaints; the device confidently maintains communication indoors and does not lose the signal in areas of poor reception.

The device also has support for Bluetooth 4.1, supports two Wi-Fi bands (2.4 and 5 GHz) MU-MIMO, Wi-Fi Direct, Wi-Fi Display, you can organize a wireless access point via Wi-Fi or Bluetooth channels. As before, there is no NFC module in Meizu smartphones.

Connector USB Type C supports connection external devices in USB OTG mode. From a USB 3.0 port on a desktop PC, a 4GB file is transferred to a smartphone via cable in 53 seconds (about 75MB/s). At this point it is worth noting that Xiaomi Mi 5 does the same in 135 seconds (about 30 MB/s).

The phone application supports Smart Dial, that is, while dialing a phone number, a search is immediately carried out by the first letters in contacts. There is also support for continuous input such as Swype. The device comes pre-installed with an alternative keyboard from a third-party developer, TouchPal, with a wide range of settings and capabilities. For the convenience of working with a large screen with one hand, Meizu smartphones come standard with Smart function Touch, which allows you to move the entire working screen halfway down, closer to your fingers.

A SIM card in any slot can work with 4G networks, but only one of the cards can function in this mode at a time. To change the assignment of slots, cards do not need to be swapped - this can be done directly from the phone menu. Work with two SIM cards is organized according to the usual Dual SIM Dual Standby standard, when both cards can be in active standby mode, but cannot work at the same time - there is only one radio module.

OS and software

As a software platform, Meizu Pro 6 uses Android OS version 6.0 with the proprietary Flyme OS shell. In this case, the new, fifth version is used user interface Flyme 5.2.0.0G, where G stands for Global, that is, the international version.

With the transition from the fourth to the fifth generation, the shell, I must say, has undergone quite significant changes for the better. Many complained that the interface was too focused on gestures; not everyone liked this kind of control, and the developers met the users halfway. The inconvenient menu bar for recent open applications has been completely redesigned, and now it looks the same as in the original Android OS, in the form of a carousel going into perspective. In addition, a useful feature has been added to quickly clear memory from all applications in this menu at once. The notification shade has also changed. There is still no separate program menu, but the icons of installed applications themselves have become smaller in size, so more of them began to fit on desktops.

Useful settings and utilities have also arrived: for personalization you can choose free themes that are added every week, a lot of additional settings have appeared for security (you can clear memory, grant application permissions, turn on a spam blocker and antivirus), power and energy saving management have received visual graphs, and much more. The User Center utility is in beta testing, it is unstable, but later it will be possible to obtain root rights using it. In general, the shell has become more thoughtful and detailed, while externally remaining laconic and stylish, which is important for users who are accustomed to it.

Performance

The Meizu Pro 6 hardware platform is based on the latest and most powerful MediaTek mobile platform currently on the market - the 10-core Helio X25 SoC. The latest chip is currently exclusively installed only in Meizu Pro 6. This is a 64-bit processor with 4 Cortex A53 cores operating at 1.4 GHz, 4 more Cortex A53 cores active at 2.0 GHz, and 2 more Cortex A72 cores operate at a frequency of 2.5 GHz. The ARM Mali T880 graphics chip and 4 GB of fast LPDDR3 933 MHz memory are also responsible for the device's performance. The built-in high-speed eMMC 5.1 flash memory is 32 GB or 64 GB. It supports connecting third-party flash drives to the Micro-USB port in USB OTG mode.

Based on the testing results, it can be noted that the Helio X25 SoC generally competes well in complex tests, and in specialized browser tests it even outperforms the currently leading platforms Samsung Exynos 8890 Octa installed in Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge, and Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 (in the case of its younger modification in Xiaomi Mi 5). However, in terms of graphics, the video accelerator is inferior to the leaders, and this is noticeable in all graphics tests without exception. In general, this is expected, and it has always been this way: the graphics in MediaTek platforms and in previous generations have always been inferior to competitors from Qualcomm and Samsung.

However, if we are not talking about comparison with the leaders, but about gaming use, then modern demanding games run here at maximum settings. World of Tanks can be played comfortably at 60 fps; other games also show no lag. The platform is new, and it clearly has performance headroom for future updates.

Testing in latest versions comprehensive tests AnTuTu and GeekBench 3:

For convenience, we have compiled all the results we obtained when testing the smartphone in the latest versions of popular benchmarks into tables. The table usually adds several other devices from different segments, also tested on similar latest versions of benchmarks (this is done only for a visual assessment of the obtained dry numbers). Unfortunately, within the framework of one comparison it is impossible to present the results from different versions of benchmarks, so many worthy and current models- due to the fact that they once went through an “obstacle course” on previous versions of test programs.

Testing the graphics subsystem in gaming tests 3DMark, GFXBenchmark and Bonsai Benchmark:

When testing in 3DMark, the most powerful smartphones now have the ability to run the application in Unlimited mode, where the rendering resolution is fixed at 720p and VSync is disabled (which can cause the speed to rise above 60 fps).

Browser cross-platform tests:

As for benchmarks for assessing the speed of the javascript engine, you should always make allowance for the fact that their results significantly depend on the browser in which they are launched, so the comparison can only be truly correct on the same OS and browsers, and this is possible during testing not always. For Android OS, we always try to use Google Chrome.

Thermal photographs

Below is a thermal image of the back surface (the lighter the temperature, the higher the temperature), obtained after 10 minutes of running the battery test in the GFXBenchmark program:

It can be seen that the heating is slightly higher at the top of the device, which apparently corresponds to the location of the SoC chip. According to the heat camera, the maximum heating was 40 degrees, which is the average heating in this test for modern smartphones.

Playing video

To test the omnivorous nature of video playback (including support for various codecs, containers and special features, such as subtitles), we used the most common formats, which make up the bulk of the content available on the Internet. Note that for mobile devices It is important to have support for hardware video decoding at the chip level, since it is most often impossible to process modern options using processor cores alone. Also, you shouldn’t expect a mobile device to decode everything, since the leadership in flexibility belongs to the PC, and no one is going to challenge it. All results are summarized in a single table.

According to the testing results, the subject, fortunately, was equipped with all the necessary decoders that are needed to fully play most of the most common multimedia files on the network. To successfully play them, you don’t even have to resort to the help of a third-party player. But even MX Player plays the AC3 audio format independently without the need to manually deliver codecs.

Further testing of video playback was performed Alexey Kudryavtsev.

We were unable to test the hypothetical support for MHL or SlimPort (Mobility DisplayPort) adapters due to the lack of an adapter option that connects to the USB Type C port. Therefore, we had to limit ourselves to testing the output of video files on the screen of the device itself. To do this, we used a set of test files with an arrow and a rectangle moving one division per frame (see “Method for testing video playback and display devices. Version 1 (for mobile devices)”). Screenshots with a shutter speed of 1 s helped determine the nature of the output of frames of video files with various parameters: the resolution varied (1280 by 720 (720p) and 1920 by 1080 (1080p) pixels) and frame rate (24, 25, 30, 50 and 60 frames/ With). In the tests we used the MX Player video player in the “Hardware” mode. The test results are summarized in the table:

Red marks indicate possible problems with playback of the corresponding files.

According to the criterion of frame output, the quality of playback of video files on the screen of the smartphone itself is very good, since frames (or groups of frames) can (but are not required) be output with more or less uniform alternation of intervals and without skipping frames. When playing video files with a resolution of 1920 by 1080 pixels (1080p) on a smartphone screen, the image of the video file itself is displayed exactly along the border of the screen, one to one in pixels, that is, conditionally in the original resolution. On test worlds, the features of PenTile appear - the vertical world through the pixel looks like a grid, while the horizontal world with stripes through the pixel has a typical greenish tint. The brightness range displayed on the screen corresponds to the standard range of 16-235 - all gradations of shades are displayed in shadows and highlights.

Battery life

The capacity of the non-removable battery installed in Meizu Pro 6 is 2560 mAh. This is not a record, but quite a decent figure, although most competitors have already approached the 3000 mAh mark. In contrast to the latest Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 installed in the Xiaomi Mi 5, our hero’s 10-core MTK processor did not demonstrate energy efficiency - on the contrary, it showed quite high wastefulness. This, in general, was typical of all MediaTek platforms, especially the top ones, but you always want to believe that in new products the situation will change for the better. Unfortunately, compared to its colleagues, modern flagships, the hero of today’s review looks rather pale, especially with regard to energy consumption when running demanding games.

Testing, as usual, was carried out without using any energy-saving modes, although, of course, the device has them.

Continuous reading in the Moon+ Reader program (with a standard, light theme, with auto-scrolling) at a minimum comfortable brightness level (brightness was set to 100 cd/m²) lasted a little over 14.5 hours until completely discharged. When continuously watching videos from Youtube in high quality (720p) with the same brightness level via a home Wi-Fi network, the device did not last up to 10 hours, which in itself is not bad, but compared to its competitors, the result is not the best. In 3D gaming mode, the smartphone operates for a little more than 3 hours, which is very little for a modern top-end device.

The smartphone supports technology fast charging mCharge 3.0. Comes with network adapter with variable voltage (5/9/12 V, 2 A). The charging speed is amazing: from its own charger, the smartphone is fully charged within just one hour with a current of 1.85 A at a voltage of 9 V.

Bottom line

The Meizu company has long been officially represented in Russia, has service centers and support. Meizu Pro 6 price for Russian market determined, the smartphone is available in retail: it is offered at prices ranging from 33 thousand rubles for a version with 32 GB of flash memory to 36 thousand for a modification with 64 GB of internal memory. The closest competitor, the Xiaomi Mi 5, costs exactly the same, 33 thousand rubles, and is generally quite similar in capabilities (and both models can be purchased much cheaper if you don’t care about the official supply chain). So everyone makes the choice for themselves, and as for the hero of today’s review, we can say that the device turned out to be worthy. Meizu Pro 6 has an excellent sound system, a high-quality screen, a powerful, fresh MediaTek platform and, of course, a very attractive appearance and a practical, stylish body. Of the obvious disadvantages, we can only note that the Meizu smartphone is inferior to the new Xiaomi product and many other competitors in terms of autonomy. True, most competitors are either more expensive or do not look so impressive in terms of characteristics, and perhaps the most interesting rival for Meizu Pro 6 today is Xiaomi Mi 5.

Sales of Xiaomi Mi6 began in the summer, Xiaomi's flagship this year was definitely a success, only the lazy did not praise it. We have already reviewed this device, we decided to write about Xiaomi in a different way, compare it with another worthy Chinese smartphone– Meizu Pro 6 Plus.

By the way, Meizu recently presented the new Pro 7 and Pro 7 Plus, so there will be a new comparison later. Well, for now let’s move on to studying what we already have on hand.

Design: Xiaomi is beautiful and Meizu is comfortable

It's good when phones don't look alike, they're complete opposites. By today's standards, when only clones are released, this is happiness. Meizu Pro 6 Plus is a large smartphone with metal body, where thin strips of antennas pass.

Xiaomi Mi6 is a godsend for fans of small phones. It is compact and small, comparable in size to the iPhone 7. However, the shiny body of the Mi6 gets scratched at an alarming rate, marks and fingerprints remain on the gloss, so if you are worried about this, be sure to buy a case and hide the beauty. Or use the bundled one. Xiaomi didn’t get greedy and put a simple accessory in the box with the phone.

After the slippery iPhone in Jet Black, it’s already difficult to surprise me with anything, so there were no difficulties with Xiaomi and Meizu. Although in terms of ergonomics I liked the Meizu Pro 6 Plus more. It has flat sides, the aluminum body is not so slippery, and the phone has better weight distribution. Xiaomi is not so harmonious: its center of gravity is shifted to the top, so you have to carefully hold it in your palm when typing texts.

By the way, Mi6 weighs more than Pro 6 Plus, the glass body is heavy. Unlike many budget Xiaomi, the top-end Mi6 has a fingerprint scanner located under the screen, like the Meizu Pro 6 Plus, it’s convenient to click on it. The sensors respond quickly; in my opinion, they work equally well in both phones.

Some places write that Xiaomi Mi6 has IP67 water protection, like the iPhone 7, but don’t believe it. The test will be expensive - the phone will die after swimming, so the experiment is not worth carrying out.

Which one is more beautiful? I really liked the Xiaomi Mi6 in blue, the gloss looks luxurious, but Meizu has more familiar colors, and the materials are more practical. Therefore, if you want beauty and originality, look towards Xiaomi; if you want a nice design, and don’t worry about the safety of the case, then choose Meizu.

Screen: large for Meizu, smaller for Xiaomi

Meizu has Super AMOLED with a 5.7-inch diagonal and a resolution of 1440 x 2560 pixels. Xiaomi Mi 6 has simpler characteristics, it has IPS, a diagonal of 5.15 inches and a resolution of 1080 x 1920 pixels. The screens differ in color rendering - Meizu's image is set in cool tones, Xiaomi's has warmer shades, plus a larger brightness margin.

Meizu also has a higher pixel density, that is, the image should be clearer, smoother and more beautiful, but in practice I did not notice a significant difference compared to the Mi6. Just two great screens. It's a shame that Meizu doesn't have color profile settings like Samsung does to reduce saturation and make the image a little more realistic. On the other hand, people like embellished pictures, so the Chinese are trying.

Hardware: Xiaomi has this year’s top-end hardware, Meizu has last year’s powerful processor

Meizu Pro 6 Plus appeared much earlier than Mi6, so it has a Samsung Exynos 8890 processor - like the Galaxy S7 and 4/64 GB of memory. Xiaomi Mi6 also has a top chip, but it is Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 and 6/64 GB of memory. According to benchmarks, Xiaomi is better, there is nothing to prove, everything is visible on the graphs.

Software: various Chinese tricks

Which shell is better, Flyme or MIUI? It's purely a matter of taste. Meizu, for example, supplies smartphones to Russia without Google services, so if you are worried that “big brother” is watching you, you can use the phone without the standard Google software package. To install applications, Meizu's own application store called App Store. Well, if you still want to get access to your Google account, then you can get it by downloading the program to install everything you need directly from this App Store.

Xiaomi Mi6 has all Google services already built into the firmware, at least in the sample that I had. In terms of the capabilities of the shells, plus or minus is the same, the design themes work in both smartphones, problems with notifications will not be solved either, they sometimes come, sometimes they don’t.

Meizu has the ability to “root” a smartphone without voiding the warranty. Why root rights? Improve your phone, this is a construction set for adults who never got enough of LEGO as a child.

Camera: sophisticated Xiaomi optics versus classic Meizu

Meizu received a 12-megapixel camera with optical stabilization - the phone takes decent photographs during the day, but not so well in the evening, inferior to competitors like the Galaxy S7. Meizu regularly updates the firmware, improving the performance of the camera, I hope that they will continue this activity in future software updates.

Xiaomi looks more interesting against its background, since it has a fashionable system of two 12 megapixel modules. This means that we get 2x optical zoom without loss of quality and a spectacular portrait mode. Simply put, the camera is on par with the iPhone 7 Plus, only at a more attractive price.

Perhaps expert photographers will find something to dig into about the Xiaomi camera, but I really liked it. The colors are bright and rich, the portraits are beautiful, and in the evenings the phone takes better pictures than the Meizu.

Examples of shooting on Meizu Pro 6 Plus.

Examples of shooting on Xiaomi Mi6.

Sound: Meizu is for music lovers, and Xiaomi is experimenting

If you are a fan of high-quality sound, take Meizu Pro 6 Plus. It is at least more convenient in that you can connect regular wired headphones to it via a 3.5 mm port. Xiaomi Mi6 does not have such a connector, so you need to get an adapter. Either look for headphones with USB-C, or switch to Bluetooth headsets.

Meizu has a separate amplifier and many years of work on audio. Xiaomi didn’t bother with this part – it’s a completely opposite approach. Meizu Pro 6 Plus does better in this regard, I haven’t listened to music on my phone with such pleasure for a long time, it plays perfectly, you sit and restart old tracks in a new way, if you also connect decent headphones.

But Xiaomi has stereo speakers, when you watch a video, the sound comes simultaneously from the earpiece above the screen and the holes at the bottom. But the sound quality is not so great, it will not replace a speaker, so Meizu with its mono speaker is also good.

Communication: 2 SIM cards and more

Both smartphones have two slots for SIM cards; NFC in Xiaomi should, in theory, work with Android Pay; in practice, for some reason, payments didn’t work for me. Meizu also has NFC, but the module is designed for Meizu Pay, and this system is not active in Russia.

Xiaomi has a more modern version of Bluetooth 5.0, while Meizu has Bluetooth version 4.2. What's good about version 5? The range of action is longer, it has increased by 4 times, the data transfer speed has increased by 2 times, and energy consumption has decreased by 2 times. In practice, I didn’t feel much difference in operating time; apparently, this requires more accurate and special measurements.

Working hours: on equal terms

The batteries have almost the same capacity: 3400 mAh for Meizu and 3350 mAh for Xiaomi Mi6. Both smartphones support fast charging, both are charged from a cable USB Type-C. There are no bells and whistles like wireless charging, but oh well.

The main question is: who lives longer on a single charge? It depends on how you use it, because with active load both phones die by early evening. Yes, you can play with energy-saving functions, manually unload applications from memory if the phone suddenly discharges too quickly. But you shouldn’t expect miracles, 3-4 hours of active screen time on Moscow networks is the usual result, there is no winner here.

Moreover, it happened that suddenly the charge began to run out in the background, first on one phone, then on the other. You reboot - everything returns to normal, then suddenly the background battery discharge begins. All you can do is throw up your hands and hope that the firmware will fix everything.

Price: save and buy Chinese

Smartphones can be bought both in official retail and ordered directly from China. Decide for yourself whether a warranty is needed or not. Xiaomi Mi6 6/64 GB in official retail costs 28,990 rubles, the most expensive version of Mi6 6/128 with a ceramic case costs 38,990 rubles. Meizu Pro 6 Plus 4/64 GB in official retail costs 29,990 rubles, the version with 6/128 GB costs 32,990 rubles.

On Yandex.Market prices start from 26 thousand rubles for Mi6 6/64 GB, and Meizu Pro 6 Plus 4/64 GB costs from 23.5 thousand rubles there.

Results

Why is Xiaomi Mi6 worth attention? It has convenient and practical dimensions, very powerful hardware, and an excellent camera.

What's good about Meizu Pro 6 Plus? It pleases with a larger screen, more thoughtful ergonomics, better sound, and in general more attention is paid to the musical component.

Therefore, you need to decide which parameters are more critical and important, and make your choice. I think that in this comparison the winner was the Xiaomi Mi6, it appeared later, Xiaomi was able to put into it all the best that is on the market and did it well.

Anticipating the question “Why didn’t they compare Meizu Pro 7 Plus and Xiaomi Mi 6,” I will say that I don’t have the new Meizu yet. As soon as it appears, I’ll make another material, let’s see what has changed over the year, at least it’s interesting to check the work dual camera, Meizu now also has something to oppose Xiaomi.

Thanks to the friendliest store Biggeek.ru for providing Xiaomi Mi6 for testing!

Very often, on the eve of the New Year holidays, many of us think about replacing our old smartphone with something new and relevant. As usual, succumbing to fashion trends, we will first look at the new iPhone, and here many will take their heads when they see the $1,400 price tag for the latest iPhone X. Yes, of course, you say, I’d rather take a closer look at the flagships from the Middle Kingdom, for example, to Maze. But here, too, a not entirely pleasant surprise awaits us. The fact is that the company’s latest flagship, namely Meizu Pro 7 Plus, also sells for a considerable $500 on average. The price difference is huge, but not everything is as simple as it seems.

However, what if you pay attention to the flagships of past years? Indeed, the still quite current IPhone 6s can be purchased for an average of $450 for the younger version, and its main competitor from China, Meizu Pro 6, is sold for 295 units of evergreen currency. So which is better - iPhone or Meizu? It is this question that we will try to answer in our article today.

What's better than iPhone?

Apple's product has always been a trendsetter in the world of smartphones. It was he who always set the trends that all other manufacturers followed. But it’s not the new unique features that lift the iPhone to the top of the market. All design solutions or gadgets can sooner or later be copied by other manufacturers, but there are also things that they cannot copy. Just like in any car, the engine is considered the heart of everything, and in smartphones, the heart can be considered a single-chip system, or, as is commonly said in simplified terms, the central processor.

IPhone X is based on the latest Apple development - the six-core A11 Bionic processor. This SoC delivers superior performance in both single-threaded and multi-threaded modes. It also has an excellent graphics core, an excellent modem and navigation. At the same time, on the Meizu Pro 7 Plus smartphone we have the flagship chip from MediaTek Helio X 30 with ten cores on board. An untrained user might say that the choice is obvious, because Meizu is equipped with a large number of cores, and he would be completely wrong. Ten cores against six, ten, Karl! But the thing is that Meizu doesn’t even come close to the iPhone in terms of overall or single-threaded performance. This will be clearly visible in the table below, where the comparison of iPhone and Meizu is clearly not in favor of the latter. And the quality of Wi-Fi reception and navigation is much better in Apple gadgets.

How are things going with older colleagues? Actually, the same trend is observed in the comparison of the iPhone 6s and Meizu Pro 6. The iPhone in this case is equipped with an older dual-core A9 processor with a clock frequency of 1800 megahertz, and the Pro 6 runs Helio X25, but even the old A9 easily outperforms the rather current and to this day, the ten-core Helio X 25, which is on the Meizu smartphone. It’s good that Meizu comes close to the iPhone in multi-threaded performance due to the larger number of cores. However, in terms of core performance, the A9 will give even the brand new X 30 a run for its money. This means, no less than, that the old iPhone will perform much better in Internet surfing, and with any browser.

Next, we would like to present to your attention a summary table of the results of testing the compared smartphones in the AnTuTu and Geekbench 4 benchmarks in order to clearly show the differences between single-chip systems in numbers. However, it is worth noting that data on points scored is taken from open sources and may differ within small limits from test to test.

But can the iPhone boast of anything else besides a powerful processor? Of course it's excellent operating system IOS. Many people think that Apple's operating system is much faster than Android, and they are right and wrong at the same time. If you compare these two systems on the same hardware, then in most cases the results will differ within the margin of error, or will be compensated by lags in some and superiority in other tasks. But Apple gadgets have a huge advantage over Android smartphones in the sense that both the processors and the operating system are developed by the same company. Apple engineers and programmers work together and can fine-tune their gadgets.

At the same time, Google is forced to write its software simultaneously for processors from Qualcom, Mediatek, Samsung and several other companies. In addition, the companies using these single-chip systems also differ from each other. I think there is no doubt that optimization on apples will always be better. Combined with faster single-chip systems, this produces huge effect. When your smartphone works perfectly out of the box and has excellent performance, you begin to understand why it costs more than its competitor.

Why is Meizu better?

Is there anything that Maze can compete with other than a lower price? Yes, although price will still always be the cornerstone in comparing them to each other. Oddly enough, the first advantage, in our opinion, is that in its new flagship, Meizu finally moved away from copying the iPhone and developed its own unique design. Now, by buying this flagship from the Middle Kingdom, you finally gain real individuality among colleagues or friends, and not mere admiration or envy until the moment they read the name of your phone on the case, which is similar in design to iPhone smartphones. Now, when comparing IPhone and Meizu, you definitely won’t be mistaken which one is which, and that’s great. After all, no matter how beautiful the iPhone X is, individuality and your own unique design are more important.

The next plus emerges from the previous one. By refusing to copy, they were able to introduce their own features that you will find more on the market. Meizu is equipped with a second 1.9-inch screen located on the back cover. It helps to receive calls if the phone is lying on the front side, and has many other small useful and not so useful functions. But the main one among them is the ability to take good selfies with the main camera, which is unique at the moment.

Meizu also has a better main screen, it has a higher resolution of 2560 by 1440 pixels, versus 2436x1125 pixels for its competitor, and a higher pixel density - 518 ppi instead of 458 ppi, which is better than the iPhone. It's worth saying that regular users are unlikely to notice the difference, but this could be important for people planning to use mobile VR. I would also really like to note the classic fingerprint scanner on the Pro 7 Plus, which works very quickly. No matter how convenient and innovative the iPhone's face scanner is, the classic fingerprint scanner provides greater security. Those who regularly watch YouTube will understand what we mean.

As for other parameters, such as camera quality, charging speed or duration battery life, then here the devices either have parity, or Meizu is seriously inferior to its competitor. And here is the time to remember the significant difference in cost. Still, the flagship is from China and should not be better in everything.

Now let's move on to the second pair. And here we see that the situation repeats the previous block in almost everything. The Pro 6 has the same competitive advantages as its younger sibling. But unlike the Seven, this smartphone does not have its own individual design; what we have in front of us is a clone of the model from Apple. Accordingly, the features of both of these models are the same, but the original will still have better performance. The only point where the victory could have been given to Maze was, again, the screen. It is also larger - 5.2 inches versus 4.7, and its resolution is higher than 1920 by 1080 versus 1334 by 750. It cannot be said that Meizu is much inferior in all respects, but the facts remain so. So we hope for a significantly lower price and are glad that Meizu has a worthy, inexpensive replacement.

What to buy?

What should you buy in the end - Meiza or iPhone? This may sound strange, but a definite answer cannot be given. Even comparing all these smartphones in more detail, clearly indicating all the characteristics down to the smallest detail, it will still be problematic to give an affirmative answer. Yes, yes, the point is precisely the big difference in cost. Comparing an iPhone and Meise of equal price, we would still give the advantage to Meise, as a more modern smartphone. But how fair is it to compare? new flagship and the flagship of yesteryear? How easy it is to determine the winner when the cost is equal, it is so difficult when the difference is two or more times. The final decision when choosing is still yours to make. Based on your budget, if you want the most powerful and most technologically advanced smartphone on the market, then your choice is Apple. If your family budget is more important to you than the fact that you are at the peak of modern technology, then pay attention to the Meizu Pro 7 Plus or its older brother, the Pro 6. In any case, all these phones can bring you a lot of joy, so you definitely can't go wrong.

Let's talk about Meizu flagships, take the popular Meizu Pro 6 and Pro 6 Plus as an example. You may say: these are no longer new products, Meizu Pro 6 has been on sale for a year, and Meizu Pro 6 Plus has been on sale for almost six months. Well, so what, sales of the new line of Pro 7 and Pro 7 Plus are ahead, they are more expensive. Not ready to pay more for the latest new products yet? So let's see what's good about time-tested Meizu smartphones.

Which one is more beautiful?

It's a pleasure to appreciate the design of beautiful aluminum cases. Both smartphones are beautiful and attractive. Considering that Meizu Pro 6 Plus appeared noticeably later than Meizu Pro 6, it became a logical addition to the design ideas. The main thing is that with a large 5.7-inch screen, the smartphone does not feel like a bulky “shovel”.

Sometimes acquaintances are frightened by numbers when choosing new phone, believing that these are already some prohibitive indicators, that buying a device with a large screen means dooming yourself to agony. But when you offer to hold a smartphone in your hand, try it and evaluate the sensations, fears often disappear. Therefore, if you doubt whether it will be convenient with a 5.7-inch screen or not, try trying the device live before purchasing, and then draw conclusions based on real sensations.

Which one is more convenient?

On the side, Meizu Pro 6 is compact in size. Yes, we have already reached the time when a phone with a 5.2-inch display can be called small. At the same time, the device calmly copes with all entertainment duties - it’s convenient to watch videos, and everything is in order with navigation, the data on the display is clearly visible. Of course, on a larger screen things are even better with movies and it’s even more enjoyable to watch. But small device I don’t want to let it out of my palm, the Meizu Pro 6 turned out to be very nice and well-built.

The fingerprint scanner in the Home button works equally well in both Meizu, it works accurately and quickly. And the place is chosen perfectly - it’s convenient to unlock the phone when it’s lying on the table, you don’t even have to take it in your hand. By the way, the Meizu Pro 6 Plus also has a mTouch key that measures the pulse, assessing the heart rhythm.

Where is the screen better?

Comparing screens in this case is a very simple task. You need a larger display - look towards Meizu Pro 6 Plus, size does not matter - pay attention to Meizu Pro 6. 5.7 inches versus 5.2 - the difference is very noticeable. The Plus model also has wider screen brightness adjustment: there is more brightness margin, and at the minimum backlight level it is more comfortable to read from a smartphone in the dark.

They differ in screen resolution: the Pro 6 Plus has 2560x1440 pixels, while the Pro 6 has 1920x1080 pixels; in both cases, they use a bright and rich AMOLED matrix with a ready-made set of color profiles. They are needed to mute the default colors; not everyone likes an overly bright picture. In addition, smartphones have a mode that reduces eye strain when reading in low light.

3D Press also works - when you can click on an icon and immediately get a quick access menu to additional functions. But as practice has shown, Android software developers have not appreciated this opportunity, so you will have to limit yourself to only built-in applications.

Meizu Pro 6 Plus has a Screen Off Display function, when auxiliary information is displayed on the screen in standby mode: time and date information, battery level, missed calls and unread messages.

What's with the filling?

Meizu Pro 6 with MediaTek Helio X25 processor and 4 GB of RAM. Meizu Pro 6 Plus received a top-end (at the time of release) Samsung Exynos 8890 processor and 4 RAM. According to synthetic tests, Meizu Pro 6 Plus outperforms its brother, but if you don’t chase the performance in benchmarks, it’s difficult to feel the difference in performance.

Both smartphones do not have a memory card tray, the built-in capacities are different. If Meizu Pro 6 comes in 32 and 64 GB versions, then Meizu Pro 6 Plus already offers 64 or 128 GB.

Modern USB Type-C is used for charging; the devices do not differ from each other in this parameter either. Both devices also received the usual 3.5 mm port for connecting headphones.

Meizu Pro 6 and Meizu Pro 6 Plus support the mCharge fast charging function; the battery capacity of the Plus version is noticeably larger: 3400 mAh versus 2560 mAh. Therefore, under everyday load, Meizu Pro 6 Plus works longer, most often surviving until the evening. Whereas Meizu Pro 6 often has to be charged twice a day.

Sound

Meizu tries not to forget about its roots; after all, the company started by creating players. So he’s investing in smartphones, figuring out how to entertain the audience. In terms of sound quality, the Meizu Pro 6 Plus headphones are simply bomb, excellent quality, large volume headroom, rich and rich bass, large volume headroom. Compared to it, Meizu Pro 6 plays the same tracks not so interestingly, just well. Therefore, if you are bothered and want a smartphone with the best music player on the market, the choice is obvious - this is Meizu Pro 6 Plus.

Camera

The dry language of numbers will say the following: Meizu Pro 6 has a 21 megapixel camera, but without optical stabilization. Whereas Meizu Pro 6 Plus has a 12 megapixel camera, but with optical stabilization, it helps a lot when shooting in low light. Therefore, if you choose a smartphone based on the principle “I want a Meizu with an excellent camera,” then it will be Meizu Pro 6 Plus.

Photos on Meizu Pro 6

Photos on Meizu Pro 6 Plus

Which Meizu flagship is cheaper?

Prices for Meizu Pro 6 in Russia start at 23,990 rubles, the price for a model with 32 GB of memory. Meizu Pro 6 Plus costs from 29,990 rubles, it already has 64 GB of memory in its database. In my opinion, the price difference is justified, and if you choose your Meizu Pro series, you will certainly be satisfied with the purchase.

Is it worth paying more and buying Meizu Pro 6 Plus?

If I myself had to choose which Meizu to buy: Pro 6 or Pro 6 Plus, then I would choose the Meizu Pro 6 Plus. I liked it more based on three main parameters: larger screen, better camera, better sound in headphones.

Opinion

Meizu Pro 6 and Pro 6 Plus have become a good example for buyers: you want everything at once, take the model with the Plus prefix, if you don’t measure the pleasure of the device in benchmarks, then Pro 6 will please you.

Using the example of the new flagships Meizu Pro 7 and Pro 7 Plus, the manufacturer’s new concept became clear: two top models per year are a vital necessity. Some buyers just want a high-quality and not very large smartphone, while others want to get some “reserve” in terms of characteristics for the future - so the Plus version is being released for them.

Probably, the text shows my sympathy towards Meizu Pro 6 Plus, and so it is. Yes, it will turn out better than Meizu Pro 6, I liked it more, so I would pay extra and choose the version with the Plus prefix - it turned out to be successful in all respects.

Meizu and Xiaomi smartphones are in high demand among Belarusians due to their excellent price, quality and performance ratio. the site decided to test the flagship models of these companies - Pro 6 and Mi5S, to find out which one is cooler.

Xiaomi Mi5S (left) and Meizu Pro 6

Note that Xiaomi Mi5S is an improved version of the flagship Mi5, released at the beginning of the year. In it, the manufacturer took into account the main shortcomings of the original model (in particular, it increased the battery capacity, installed more powerful processor and a new camera module).

Whereas after Meizu Pro 6, the improved Pro 6S has already been released - with a newer camera and a more capacious battery, but it is not yet possible to buy it in Belarus.

Design and ergonomics - “clones” of iPhone and Samsung

Externally, Meizu Pro 6 is very similar to Apple smartphones. This is manifested both in the general outlines of the entire apparatus and in its individual elements.

On the front side, you can distinguish Pro 6 from the same iPhone 6/6s/7 only by the longer home key - all other elements, including the speaker grille and the front camera, are located exactly where they are on latest models Apple smartphones.

The back panel is made entirely of metal and is equipped with small plastic inserts for antennas that neatly go around the top and bottom edges of the smartphone.

The same design trick is successfully used in the iPhone 7 - but it is worth recognizing that such a solution was first used in the Pro 6 several months before the announcement of the “seven”.

At the same time, it cannot be said that such similarities are detrimental to the smartphone - it looks stylish and elegant. All controls are in the “right” places (the volume rocker and power key are on the right side, and the dual tray for two nano-SIM cards is on the left).

The gadget lies confidently in the palm of your hand, and thanks to the rounded 2.5D glass, using the device becomes doubly pleasant.

Xiaomi Mi5S, in turn, resembles the Samsung Galaxy S7. This becomes especially noticeable when looking at the curved back of the smartphone - in our test model it is made of glossy metal textured with stripes (matte versions are also available for sale). Plastic strips for antennas are also present here, completely copying those in the iPhone 6.

From the front, the device turned out to be more distinctive - everything is spoiled only by the large, eye-catching black frames around the screen (more on displays a little later). The power keys and volume rocker are located on the right side, similar to the Meizu Pro 6, and the tray for two nano-SIM cards is on the left.

But with the ergonomics of the Mi5S, everything is not so good - the sharp edges of the case constantly dig into the palm, and due to the strongly rounded back back, the phone constantly tries to slip out of your hands.

In both smartphones, fingerprint scanners are combined with home buttons - in our opinion, this arrangement is the most convenient, because you don’t have to take the devices in your hand to unlock.

Moreover, in the case of the Xiaomi Mi5S, in place of the traditional mechanical key (this is the one used in the Meizu Pro 6), there is only a recessed touch pad with a glass coating - at first it does not seem very convenient, but after a few hours you get used to it.

The sensor itself works better in Meizu Pro 6 - during the entire testing period it did not produce a single error, always correctly recognizing the owner’s finger. The Mi5S scanner cannot boast of such excellent work; it works more slowly and not always the first time.

Great screens

Smartphone displays deserve all the praise - they are, without a doubt, one of the most significant advantages in both devices.

Meizu Pro 6 has a 5.2-inch Full HD panel made using Super AMOLED technology - its advantages include the deepest black color, low power consumption and almost maximum viewing angles. There are also no problems with picture clarity - all elements are perfectly distinguishable (pixel density - 424 ppi).

It is important that when tilted, the screen practically does not lose brightness and only slightly turns green - this can be corrected in the device settings by manually changing the color temperature of the display.

Xiaomi Mi5S uses a 5.15-inch IPS display with Full HD resolution (density 428 ppi). Its main comparative advantage is its extreme brightness - compared to the Pro 6, it is noticeably higher (although both displays remain clearly visible in direct sunlight).

There are no complaints about color reproduction - the colors look natural, and we did not detect any shifts in other shades when the display was tilted. If you want to make the screen warmer or cooler, you can do it yourself by moving a few sliders in the settings.

The only significant drawback of the Xiaomi Mi5S screen is the large black frames that frame the entire display. When locked, the screen appears frameless, but when unlocked, they become clearly visible.

In combination with a white front panel, this solution looks at least strange - so it’s better to choose a smartphone in a dark color, where the frames will not be so noticeable.

Among the additional features, we highlight a technology called 3D Press in Meizu Pro 6 - an analogue of 3D Touch in the iPhone 6s/7, which recognizes the force of pressing the screen. But due to almost zero support from third-party developers, it only works in a limited number of built-in applications, so this innovation cannot be called a significant advantage.

A similar function is also implemented in Xiaomi Mi5S, but only the 128 GB version is equipped with it. Our test smartphone has 64 GB of memory, so we were not able to test it.

It is difficult to identify a clear winner based on the screens - they are both of excellent quality and will definitely not disappoint potential buyers.

Meizu has better sound

But with sound, things are different - Meizu Pro 6 sounds much better than Xiaomi Mi5S.

The Pro 6 achieves this effect thanks to the presence of a separate audio chip (Cirrus Logic CS43L36) - it adds pleasant bass and generally creates a richer sound. In Mi5S, the sound quality is simpler - flatter and sharper, but this will be enough for most users.

There are no significant differences in the quality of the external speakers - both of them are loud enough not to miss an incoming call.

Specifications and performance

Meizu Pro 6 is built on a ten-core Helio X25 processor from MediaTek and is equipped with 4 GB of RAM, while Xiaomi Mi5S is based on the latest quad-core chip from Qualcomm - Snapdragon 821 (the original Mi5 ran on a simpler processor - Snapdragon 820).

Depending on the modification, Mi5S can be equipped with 3 or 4 GB of RAM and, accordingly, 64 or 128 GB of internal memory. We tested a simpler version of the device. But, unfortunately, there is no slot for microSD memory cards in both devices.

For more detailed technical specifications, see the comparison table below.

In the popular AnTuTu comparison test, Meizu Pro 6 scores 101,203 points, and Xiaomi Mi5S scores 135,887.

But, despite the gap in scores, this is practically not felt in everyday life - both smartphones work very quickly, no lags or freezes were noticed with them.

But in games, Xiaomi Mi5S takes the lead. For example, in the “heavy” WOT Blitz at the highest graphics settings, in half an hour of play the fps on it never dropped below 55-60 frames - an excellent result!

Meizu Pro 6 copes worse - at the same settings, fps on it varies between 35-45 frames, sometimes dropping to an already uncomfortable 16-20. If you lower the settings to medium, the problem disappears.

Let us add that none of the subjects had problems with excessive heating - during heavy loads (in the same games), although the smartphone cases get hot, they do not cause any inconvenience.

Xiaomi smartphone lasts longer

The Xiaomi Mi5S has a 3200 mAh battery, while the Meizu Pro 6 is content with a more modest 2560 mAh battery - in real life, such a difference was noticeable.

With very active use (always on Mobile Internet and geopositioning, synchronization of several messengers and social networks, about an hour of listening to music through a streaming service and half an hour of games and conversations) Meizu Pro 6 by 9 pm remained with a maximum of 10-12% battery charge.

Xiaomi Mi5S with the same usage scenario easily “survives” until the middle of the next day. Our observations are partially confirmed by the results of the synthetic test.

The advantage of both smartphones is support for fast charging technology - from the included power adapters, Meizu Pro 6 charges from 0 to 100% in about an hour, Xiaomi Mi5S - in an hour and a half.

Camera comparison

One of the main differences between the Xiaomi Mi5S (which went on sale just a few months ago) and the Meizu Pro 6 is the main camera module. The Mi5S uses the new 12-megapixel Sony IMX378 sensor, while the older Pro 6 has a 21-megapixel Sony IMX230 module from late 2014.

So, when further comparing, it is worth making a certain discount for the Meizu gadget.

The gallery below contains sequential photographs taken on Meizu Pro 6 and Xiaomi Mi5S. The first in the pair is a photo taken with a Meizu smartphone.

In good light, pictures from both devices are of comparable quality, but in poor light in the evening there are already differences - pictures from the Pro 6 turn out soapy, while the Mi5S works better with light and stands out with excellent detail, comparable in quality to the pictures reference samsung cameras Galaxy S7.

About front cameras It’s difficult to say something bad, as well as something good - they are at a good level above average. We liked the Meizu front camera better (first photo below):

Summary

Comparing Meizu Pro 6 and Xiaomi Mi5S, you come to the conclusion that there is no clear winner, superior to the rival in everything.

In some aspects, the Pro 6 wins - for example, in terms of sound quality in headphones, a fingerprint scanner, design and ergonomics. And in some - Xiaomi Mi5S (its main advantages are better battery life and a better camera).

We also note that even the global version of Xiaomi Mi5S is not without flaws in the field of localization - from time to time there are menus and program interfaces that are not translated from English and even Chinese, and for many this point is critical. There are no such problems in Meizu Pro 6 - it works perfectly out of the box and is completely in Russian.

If you are looking powerful smartphone on Android, you don’t want to overpay for the brand and are willing to put up with poorly localized firmware, then Xiaomi Mi5S is your choice. And if you need, albeit not as productive, but a much more balanced device, then it is best to think about purchasing Meizu Pro 6.