Looking for an affordable smartphone this season? Chinese device maker Meizu has your back. The company has just pulled the veil off its new M5 Note handset, which despite the name doesn’t feature a pen companion.
The Meizu M5 Note features decent specs, starting with a 5.5-inch with 1080 x 1920 pixel resolution complemented by 2.5D curved glass. Meizu promises the phone features a 1,000:1 contrast ratio, but we’ll see about that.
As for computing power, the phone takes advantage of a Helio P10 chipset clocked at 1.8GHz in combination with 3GB of RAM and 16GB of internal storage. Nothing mind-blowing here, as the P10 is a pretty mid-range affair and the P20 is already out.
Meizu also offers a 4GB of RAM plus 64GB version. On the bright side of things, the phone incorporates a dual-SIM hybrid tray, which means users can add two SIM cards or one SIM and one microSD for memory expansion.
Moving on to the photo department, the M5 Note features an 13MP main camera with dual-tone LED and PDAF (phase detection auto focus) plus an average 5MP selfie camera.
The phone is kept alive by a 4,000 mAh battery and Android 6.0 Marshmallow with Meizu’s own Flyme OS 6.0 on top. The phone also bundles 4G with voLTE, Bluetooth and GPS.
You can get the phone in Champagne Gold, Silver, Blue or Gray. The 3GB of RAM/16GB model is offered for an affordable $130, while the 3GB of RAM/32GB version will cost you $145. The 4GB of RAM/64GB will shave $218 from your budget.
But that’s not all Meizu unveiled today. The Chinese company is looking to overshadow Fitbit, so it has announced a smart band. It’s the first wearable launched by the phone maker. It’s called Meizu Band and according to the company it features all the Fitbit functions at a much cheaper price.
The Meizu Band features a touchscreen display and bundles a heart rate monitor. The wearable can track your daily activities (step count, calorie intake) for $33 a pop. The band can also display notifications for calls, text and used to locate a lost phone.
The Meizu Band will pair with Meizu Health app on your phone to display health stats in more detail. It also features IP67 certification for dust and water resistance. See how it compares to the Fitbit Charge 2 which we reviewed not so long ago.
No word on the US availability of the two products, just yet.
