Meizu M2 Review: Pocket rocket for less than Rs.7,000
Chinese company Meizu has created quite a buzz in the Indian smartphone market. Its phones, which oddly resemble the iPhone, are known to pack in impressive hardware. What's more, these phones are priced well and won't necessarily burn your pocket. Powerhouse machinery inside an iPhone-esque body at an aggressive price sounds ideal for a budget-conscious market like India.
We reviewed the MX5 recently and were satisfied with what it had to offer. At Rs.17,999 the MX5 offers some tough competition to other better known brands.
This time we have the M2, which is of different breed altogether. At Rs.6,999 the M2 is a budget phone. Obviously, it isn't as well endowed as the MX5 but let's not hold this against it. At its price, the M2 packs in enough power inside to make it a formidable opponent to phones like the Xiaomi Redmi 2, the Yu Yunique and others.
The Meizu M2 bears an uncanny resemblance to the iPhone 5C. Just like the iPhone 5C it comes with a plastic shell body (non-removable back cover) with rounded edges, lower cut out speaker vent, circular rear camera module (it is located in the middle though unlike the iPhone where it is on the corner) and a physical home button under the main display. The M2 also comes in a host of peppy colour options. Sounds familiar.
The one physical difference, however, is that the sides are a little more aggressively curved on the M2 than on the iPhone 5C. Also the key button placement scheme is in reverse order. The volume rocker and power button are on the right. These are flimsy in build quality, a problem that even the MX5 suffered from. The slots for dualSIM and microSD are on the left. The M2 gives you a hybrid slot so you can either use two nanoSIMs or one SIM and one microSD simultaneously, which is disappointing.
What surprised us most about the M2 are its dimensions. The phone's so very small, it's barely there. It is a 5-inch phone but looks and feels way smaller than it actually is. At 8.7mm and 131 grams it is thinner and lighter than the Redmi 2 . A large part of this has to be attributed to the M2's screen-to-body ratio, which is impressive for a phone in this price category. Phones like the Redmi 2 and Yu Yunique have chunky bezels in comparison.
Good ergonomics and almost bezel-less screen enhance one-handed operability on the M2. It is fantastic to hold and use the M2. If we were to nitpick here, the M2 is a little slipperier than its counterparts and will need some getting used to initially. The screen is protected by Dragon Trail Glass.
Although the M2 takes many design cues from Apple, we don't necessarily mind it. This is a phone that costs under Rs.7,000 and many people wouldn't mind having an iPhone-like design at such an aggressive price. In fact, if we were to overlook this aspect for once, the M2 is one of the best looking phones at its price.
