Meizu
has made quite a name for themselves over the last couple of years. At first, the company only sold their phones in mainland China, however, recently they've started to take on an expansion which has brought their smartphones to countries all over the world, the US included.With this in mind and with the recent launch of the popular Meizu M2 Note
. Today we're going to delve into the pros and the cons of this smartphone to help you make the most informed decision possible. Priced at roughly $150-160 on Amazon, the smartphone is bound to have some weak points attached to it. Therefore and without further ado; let's get into the Meizu M2 Note Pros and Cons. ¿Ready?
Meizu M2 Note Pros and Cons
Meizu M2 Note Pros
5.5 Inch Full HD IGZO Display
Taking into account the price point, this is quite an attractive feature. More so if we consider that other smartphones in this price range wouldn't even dream of sporting a Full HD 5.5 inch screen. At least when it comes to the more "established" manufacturers.
Think Moto G 2015, Samsung Galaxy Grand Prime
, LG G3 Mini, these are all mid range smartphones priced at a same or higher price point yet none of them go over a "simple" HD screen resolution.
, LG G3 Mini, these are all mid range smartphones priced at a same or higher price point yet none of them go over a "simple" HD screen resolution. Top Notch Specs
Aside from the screen, the Meizu M2 Note also sports some top notch specs on the inside. Specifically, we're talking about an octa core MediaTek CPU that clocks in at 1.3 GHz, 2 GB of RAM and 16/32 GB of storage right of the box. It's also worth mentioning that the M2 Note has an SD card slot so you can go as far up as 128 GB of storage if your heart desires.
Again, if you want these kinds of specs on a more "established manufacturer" you'd have to willing to fork up and extra $150 at the very least, so kudos to Meizu once again.
Dual Tone Flash
One of the features most often overlooked when talking about the advantages of the Meizu M2 Note is the Dual Tone Flash. If you don't know what this is, it's basically a flash that "beams" a white and yellow light to get your pictures to look as natural as possible when the lighting situation forces you to use the flash.
Aside from the dual tone flash, we can also sing praises about the 13 megapíxels rear end camera and the 5 megapíxel front facing camera but we believe you're already pretty familiar with these specs.
Top of the line connectivity
Another pro worth mentioning is the M2 Note's broad connectivity. Specifically, we're talking about an LTE/4G network support, 802.11 a/b/g/n WiFi, Dual SIM support, Bluetooth 4.0 and so on.
Ok so maybe the last point is pretty much a standard in any smartphone, however the 4G network support and a/b/g/n WiFi is something that lately we only find in smartphones that are priced north of the $300, with the rare exception here and there of course.
Many colors to choose from
The last pro on our list of pros and cons for the M2 Note is the availabity of several colors to choose from. Sure, it might seem a tad "dumb" but there's something to be said about a phone that isn't simply available in 2-3 colors like most smartphones are.
It's truly affordable
There's no doubt in our mind that the main pro of the M2 Note is it's price point. Hell, we wouldn't even be talking about this smartphone if it where priced at $300, but we are because it's priced at roughly $150-160 at Amazon
, which, considering all it's got going on for it, is the biggest selling point and also the biggest pro for the phone.
, which, considering all it's got going on for it, is the biggest selling point and also the biggest pro for the phone. Meizu M2 Note Cons
No FM Radio
No NFC support
A notable abscence in the M2 Note is the lack of NFC support. This sucks if you're planning to use your smartphone for mobile payments. However, otherwise it's not really that big a loss. Sure, there's a lot of gadgets that sport an NFC compatibility but those same gadgets often include Bluetooth 4.0 compatibility so you're safe if you want to, for example, use a wireless portable speaker.
The Battery isn't user replaceable
This is becoming a trend amongst all manufacturers. Even Samsung who once flaunted the fact that their batteries where replaceable as one of their major selling points against the iPhones are now opting out.
Ergo, if you're out of juice you won't be able to simply open the smartphone and switch out the batteries. However, it's worth mentioning that due to the 3100 mAh capacity that the battery sports, your unlikely to see yourself in this situation since the M2 Note gives you a little bit over 24 hours of mixed usage, therefore you should be fine as long as you plug it in when you get home.
The MicroSD card uses the Dual SIM slot
One very curious disadvantage in our Meizu M2 Note pros and cons list is that, even though the phone supports Dual SIM, this feature is only available if you don't want to expand the local storage via microSD.
The way this works is that, the slot for the microSD card is also the slot for the other SIM card so if you're looking to use the Dual SIM feature and you're fixed on getting yourself this smartphone then you'll need to think carefully about the model you choose. Is 16 GB os storage enough for you or do you need 32 GB?
Wrapping it up
We end our pros and cons list with the final verdict. All in all, it seems quite clear to us that the pros outweigh the cons by far. The biggest advantage being the price of the phone, it's clear that for all the "heat" that the M2 Note is packing we're willing to overlook the fact that it doesn't support NFC, lacks a replaceable battery and needs the extra SIM slot to insert the microSD card.
All in all, these are minor inconveniences in an otherwise quite spectacular smartphone which, by now, boost one of the best price/quality relationships. So, spite it's little inconveniences, we can't see ourselves not recommending this smartphone when someone asks about a quality budget phone.