With the launch of the Meizu m1 it was inevitable that we would put together a table comparing the new entry level Meizu to the popular Xiaomi Redmi 2.
Today Meizu released the Meizu m1 and although it is only (currently?) available as a China Mobile TD model (so don’t go importing them yet) and there were some odd specification choices, the little 5-incher looks like a smart phone for anyone on a budget.
Meizu m1 highs and lows
The obvious highlights of the Meizu m1 are the better than expected camera hardware, 5 mega-pixel front, 13 mega-pixel rear, high-ish resolution display, and larger than average battery and support for a micro SD support for up to 128GB cards.
From a design point of view the Meizu m1 is a good-looking phone too, I personally prefer the look and feel of the polycarbonate unibody shell over the metal/plastc chassis of the MX4 and MX4 Pro.
The big upset in specifications though are the current lack of FDD-LTE/WCDMA support and the fact the Meizu m1 has just 1GB RAM. This last point is the big potential problem for Meizu as Xiaomi just recently announced they would release a 2GB RAM version of their Redmi 2.
Will there be a 2GB RAM Meizu m1?
Gizchina News of the week
Personally I feel that Meizu went out of their way to beat the Xiaomi Redmi 2 in specifications. Looking at the screen specification alone tells me that Meizu wants the m1 to be seen better than the Redmi 2 in every possible feature. They could have given the m1 a 5-inch 1280 x 720 display, but by bumping up the resolution to 1280 x 768 they beat the Redmi 2 on paper.
It is this mentalaty that has me believe that there could be a 2GB RAM version of the Meizu m1, however it all depends on Xiaomi’s pricing of the 2GB RAM Redmi 2. If Xiaomi announce a price to near the 999 Yuan cost of the Meizu m1 note then a 2GB RAM m1 will be unlikely.
Meizu m1 vs Xiaomi Redmi 2 Specifications
[table id=196 /]As seen in the above specifications list the Meizu m1 has the upper hand over the Xiaomi Redmi 2 in almost every possible piece of hardware. It has s higher resolution display, larger battery, higher resolution cameras and more powerful processor. The only areas it looses to the the Redmi 2 are in RAM (however a 2GB RAM Redmi 2 will cost more than the 1GB RAM m1) and the lack of dual SIM.
I haven’t held the m1 yet, but I have held the Meizu m1 note which is made using the same UV coated polycarbonate unibody. I also have a Xiaomi Redmi 2, and I have to say from holding those two phones the build of the Meizu is much more impressive. If Meizu have managed to retain the m1 note’s quality on the Meizu m1 it will be a much more ‘premium’ feeling phone.
As it stands both the Meizu m1 and Xiaomi Redmi 2 cost 699 Yuan for their respective 1GB RAM versions, and on paper the Meizu m1 takes my vote at this price (dual sim support isn’t a feature I use). At this price which phone would you take?
Sorry, but I thought meizu will push their m1 specs higher… I will not choose any of them. Any new information about the letv phones? I heard they want to release with ubuntu touch
5″ screen? So just speculating with Ubuntu? GTFO! Definitely “no buy”. “Cpu speed” is for kids.
Ubuntu is on the way, but more likely on the MX4 or Pro
I’m sorry but that is a speculation. Like the “leaked” ubuntu version on m1 mini. It was just to create more interest.
Redmi2 has a smaller body, a huge advantage imho. It is handy, while the M1 is not.
And it has FDD-LTE, another significant point.
Those alone beat the unsignificant spec-differences to the M1, whose only real gain is the better camera. Oh, and of course the RM2 has better GPU as well.
Don’t get me wrong, M1 is nice, but it’s basically “just another 5-inch phone” in the huge 5″ market which is full of nice phones. No competition for a solid 4.7″ RM2
The S410 is a really low end piece of tech, It’s just slightly faster than the 6582 chipset. so definitely GPU in the M1 is much better.
Do you know when the M1 Note International will be available ?
16GB White FDD-LTE Version is available at aliexpress right now 😉
which shops 😀
http://www.aliexpress.com/item/New-original-MeiZu-Note-4G-LTE-5-5-Inch-MTK6572-Octa-Core-Android-4-4-IPS/32258682277.html
I would be very wary of this. There is no FDD version available yet and the price is actually higher than what the 16GB model will cost in China….
White 16GB FDD is available. Watch the Pics. But i wouldnt pay it at this pricepoint
The Meizu is a solid beauty but the Xiaomi has Dual-SIM. Well I’m a little bit disapointed.
I don’t care about dual Sim so right now Meizu is the phone to go. 1gb of ram is too tight so if Xiaomi manage to put the extra ram quickly they have a chance to compete.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YIsYvqPVTOM
Only one SIM ((
M1 clearly better than Redmi 2, but Asus Pegasus better than both.
The Redmi2 has Glonass as well.
GIZChina tries to push the meizu again, as every time
I would go with the Xiaomi but only because I prefer MIUI to Flyme. On paper they both have their advantages but until we get a side by side review we don’t really know which is better. What we do know though is they will both be excellent phones for under $150 international. Phones like this are good for consumers, it pushes other companies to step their game up on their entry level phones. It will only be a matter of time till we see Huawei (Honor), ZTE, THL ZOPO and the rest of the major players start to release good entry level offerings to match these two. Lenovo is already bringing the Moto G to China, but they are going to have significantly cut the price if they want to compete with these two.
I prefer the m1, i’m only dissapointed that it has no dual sim 🙁