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By Chris Chang, posted Dec 18, 2010 at 2:15 PM, 17,832 views,
Meizu M9 Preview: Unboxing and Hands-On (with several videos!)
Here it is folks, the Meizu M9. It’s the M8-successor and it’s an Android smartphone. The screen is gorgeous, UI is beautiful, and the thing does not look like an iPhone 4. You don’t call it an iPhone 4 wannabe, or knockoff, it’s a new member in the Android mobile world. Let us tell you the first impression: this thing is just different.
Alright, Meizu CEO Jack Wong has been teasing the M9 handset for some time now, and today the phone has been delivered to many Chinese tech websites for reviewing. We have collected hundreds of photos, and picked the best videos to let you know what does the thing feel like. Before taking a deep look at it, here’s what you need to know first.
Price and Configuration
The specs are not bad. Powered by a 1GHz S5PC110 processor (just like the Samsung Galaxy S) and runs Android 2.2, Meizu M9 includes 512MB RAM, 512MB ROM, 8GB/16GB of flash storage , a 3.5-inch 960 x 640 resolution screen (Sharp ASV display), 5-megapixel camera, 720p video recording, Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR, A-GPS, 802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi, microSDHC card slot (support up to 32GB), a removable 1370mAH lithium-polymer battery, and support for GSM, GPRS, EDGE, WCDMA, HSDPA,and HSUPA. Pricing starts at 2500 Chinese yuan (about $375) but this is not yet confirmed. Anyway, it will not cost much more than the current 8GB Meizu M8.
Unboxing
Packaging is simple and clean. The box is pure white in color and on the box, Meizu M9 is written in silver. There’s a small Meizu logo at the bottom right corner. Looks pretty nice.
The rear of the box shows the serial number, IMEI, and UPC codes. It also states the weight of the package, 407 grams.
Sorry, it’s not for sale and just for testing purpose.
Finally! The reveal of Meizu M9!!! Seriously, crazy Meizu fans, how long have you been waiting for this moment?
Here are all the stuff in the box, including a battery, USB power adapter, mini USB cable, 8GB/16GB microSD card, cleaning cloth, and some nice instruction manuals to get started with your Meizu M9.
Just like Apple, there’s a small box containing all the small accessories for your device.
The battery is nicely packed. Cool.
The USB power adapter looks like the one provided by Apple, but Meizu managed to pack it inside a small white box. That’s kind.
The mini USB cable is 120 cm long, and it supports M8 too.
Ready to charge the M9!
Look and feel
The Meizu M9 is beautifully made for both Android and iPhone users. At first sight, we think it looks more like Samsung Galaxy S rather than Apple’s iPhone 4. The device measures 59.8×113.0×11.2mm, weighs 123 grams with battery. Listed at 11.2mm in thickness, this M9 handset should be slimmer to fit in our pocket. It has the same rounded corners as M8, and the device is crafted from ABS plastic. Umm… Any fiberglass?
The matte black rear is the one of the favorite features we love. It rejects fingerprints and slides easy in and out of the average denim pocket. Also, the rear is rubber coated to allow for easier hand grip control.
The M9 handset has one physical home button and two touch sensitive buttons to support Android OS. Comparing with the M8, the “M” logo is removed from the home button. Pretty neat.
On the top right corner, you get a Meizu logo which is designed by CEO Jack Wong. Although we think the logo looks pretty irritating on the surface, but it is special if compared to other smartphones.
Yes, the ambient light sensor and proximity sensor are hidden behind the translucent dark glass above.
Meizu has added some subtle red highlights on the phone but it’s kept things pretty clean around the sides. Up top there’s a a standard headphone jack on the left-hand side, a sleep / power button on the right, and along the left side of the phone you’ve got a volume button. There’s no mute switch and camera button at all. Crap.
The speakers are located on the left and right-hand sides. We think this is a silly design since you will cover both speaker holes when you hold the handset firmly.
Removing the back cover allows you to take a clearer look on the speaker.
Unlike the iPhone 4, the rear camera does not come with LED flash. This is disappointing.
Mini USB port can be found at the bottom, and there’s a mic too. Below is hands-on video from Chinese tech site PConline.
Performance
The boot time is acceptable. It only takes 23 seconds for the M9 to boot into home screen. That’s faster than my jailbroken iPhone 4.
The speed of Meizu M9 is pretty smooth, and the whole UI is much more simple than original Android.
Need to let you know that the M9 handset comes with a 10-finger multitouch display. We hope someone could do a testing for that.
Impressive. It is able to handle high res stuff and 1080p HD movies seem to have no problem at all.
Play games
Some games such as Asphalt 5, Real Soccer and Assassin’s Creed failed to run in full screen mode, while Dungeon Hunter failed to launch. Maybe the game developers need to do something on the resolution thing.
Camera
The camera is one of the big selling points of the M9 handset. At 5 megapixels, it’s obviously the same as Apple’s iPhone 4 — but is it any better or worst? In our tests, we found the M9’s camera capable of taking nice photos — particularly in daylight settings — though it also has a few drawbacks that made it a little less usable than we would have liked. First the good though. Unlike other phone cameras, there doesn’t seem to be any color spotting or weird splotches here. When we took a snap, we found out that the camera supports auto-focus and tap-to-focus. Since there’s no flash, it’s a bit difficult to take shots under low light. Below are the original, untouched photos from M9. Click to enlarge.
UI Screenshots
Battery recharging.
The home screen. Looks really lovable.
You can switch on Wi-Fi and 3G on home screen.
The system preferences.
The system information.
The China APN mobile settings are complicated.
Notifications are able to appear on the home screen.
Folder management is available by default.
Multiple folders can be selected.
You can copy, paste and rename the files.
The keypad. Looks so similar as iPhone…
There’s only four keyboard options for you to choose for: Chinese handwriting, pinyin, stoke and English.
Typing Chinese words for sending messages…
Great! Smiley icons are available!
Users can set up mail accounts with POP3, IMAP or Exchange.
And here we have the Android Market.
Looking for apps through categories.
Web browsing.
In horizontal mode.
Installing Adobe Flash! Steve doesn’t like this.
Hooray, you can watch flash videos on the M9 handset. That will decrease the battery life at the same time.
Managing your multi-tasking apps.
The music player.
Looking for artist.
The UI of the audio player looks wonderful.
Watching video.
This actually reminds me of iPad.
You can adjust the picture size when you are taking a photo.
Browsing the videos.
Taking a photo.
The Google maps navigation.
Setting up the alarm clock.
Default recorder and calculator app.
Calendar and weather. Wrap-up
It deserved to be an iPhone 4 competitor, and it could be an alternate choice for Nexus S. The major thing you got to like about is that the M9 is pretty well priced. It’s half the price of an iPhone 4, and it could do almost the same stuff as any smartphones on the market. The high res display seems to be the best feature on it, but it lacks a front facing camera and LED flash. Summing up, we are worried about one thing, its battery life. Since we do not have the handset, we could not test anything on the battery performance. Anyway, Meizu has really done a great job on creating a smartphone for those who could not afford an iPhone or high-end Android smartphones. P.S. A side-to-side comparison with iPhone 4 will be posted later, please stay tuned… Source: Meizu BBS via PConline More Photos: Engadget Chinese (1), (2), (3)
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