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Open Thread: Should Meizu make amends with MX4 Pro owners?

AndiOctober 29, 2015

Chinese Meizu owners have been left upset and anxious after Meizu have repeatedly released phone after phone leaving month old devices in the dust. Should Meizu show responsibility and compassion and allow owners of recently deceased phones the chance to trade in?

We have seen some really huge changes over the months from Meizu, and it is upsetting to say some of the changes have not been for the best. From the start it all looked promising, Meizu released the MX4, the MX4 Pro and a range of low-cost phones and the tech world was happy, but what happened next was a shock to all.

Just months after the launch of the Meizu M1, M1 note and MX4 Pro, Meizu ditched those devices and went on to release new models. The Meizu M1 and M1 Note were directly replaced with the M2 range, while the 2K Meizu MX4 Pro was simply discontinued.

After discontinuing the flagship phone, support for the device dwindled and soon after the Meizu MX5 and most recently Pro 5 were launched. All of this happened in less than a year and has left a sour taste in the mouths of loyal Meizu fans who have followed the brand through thick and thin over the years.

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Is a Meizu MX4 Pro Trade in the answer?

In the past Meizu had been generous the fans, even allowing owners of the original Meizu M8 (a Windows CE based phone) to trade the phone in for the latest Android flagship, but should the phone makers offer something similar to Meizu MX4 Pro owners now?

Fans on Weibo have already asked Meizu’s Jack Wong what he plans to do about the situation.

The MX4 Pro launched at a cost of 2499 Yuan with fingerprint scanner, 2K display and Exynos chipset, now the phone can be found for less than 800 Yuan new. Owners of the device are left with an unsupported phone that is worthless in the market.

Do you think that Meizu have a responsibility to customers of the MX4 Pro, M1 and M1 note? Should these customers receive a refund or be offered a trade in? Will we see the MX6 and 6 Pro launch in just a few months too? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.

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About the author

Andi

Atomicrus
October 29, 2015
WTF? Okay, i want a new car, after it been redesigned by a mercedes, mine isn’t great anymore. I want new TV as long as Samsung made a new one. Why the hell people want a refund for old model? Don’t buy devices if you are afraid of the firmawares not to come out on your dinophone)
- Steven Fox
  October 29, 2015
  Its the asking price for the phone that demands updates. Its OK to pay 100$ for a phone for what it is, but 499$ and no updates is just BS. Its not like the company went bankrupt or anything.
  - tonda215654 .
    October 29, 2015
    lol WTF are u talking about they will release flyme 5 for MX4 PRO so yes

Angry Mobile Nerd
October 29, 2015
Meizu phones are just like any other phone; they depreciate. Get over it. Such a short lifecycle is not out of the ordinary, too, just look at Sony. As for the 800 RMB price, I would challenge this. Meizu still wants 2000 RMB for a MX4 Pro, JD.com rings in at a little less at 1600 RMB so I really question whether you can buy a new factory sealed unit for 800. Like they say, if it’s too good to be true, it usually is (x 10 if you’re in China).
- balcobomber25
  October 30, 2015

Steve B
October 29, 2015
Can’t see the problem.You should buy a phone for what it is, not what’s coming, otherwise you wait forever for the perfect phone. From a business point of view perhaps Meizu have production goals, once the numbers are acheived they move on.
Joel Adames
October 29, 2015
Just as the 3 other guys said. Mind this : the gionee elife e8 aka allstar x2 soul aka Blu pure xl is in heavy competition in the USA as Blu. People and reviewers are crazy over this same fact of the upgrades. It seems no one can buy a phone without thinking hoe much is he going to sell it for. For that Blu at 349.99 this should not be a hurdle more so if the alltart is 450+ and the gionee 500+ … You should buy it for what it is if you think it satisfies you l. If not then buy a Nexus phone and fork out some good money for it.

MaxPower
October 29, 2015
phones use to last a couple of years, now everybody (manufacturers and carriers) is pushing to replace them every year.
nothing wrong with Meizu, this is how the industry works.
that said, i remember being doubtful about the MX4 Pro because of the price and because of the older SOC (back in time Samsung already released 2 newer SoC)
now, look at all these “new” SD801 phones that are coming out lately.
I hope people won’t cry in less than one year when your phone will be discontinued or start feeling too old.

Kingu Prima
October 29, 2015
Just choose another brand, it’s the best answer to meizu which proposes buggy firmwares still running under lollipop 5.0.1 with no stage fright corrections
- balcobomber25
  October 29, 2015
Tremaine Underwood
October 29, 2015
I am a M1 note owner and I thought they had stopped supporting it because there hasn’t been an update since April. But surprisingly an update for Flyme 4.5 came through a few days ago. Based on 5.1 was upgrade over 4.2(based on Kitkat) that I was running. Well I upgraded and now my phone does some weird shit, but at least my Antutu score is higher :-). So it seems they are still supporting old devices, at least to some degree.

Mario Pruteanu
October 29, 2015
From what I’ve just read, this just makes me want to break my face into my face ,(you read that right)

balcobomber25
October 29, 2015
I was wary of owning a Meizu because everyone said the support sucks. So far I’ve been surprised with the MX5. Since July I have had about 6 OTAs including the newest Flyme 5.
Brand loyalty is one of the toughest things to achieve today. Meizu should offer a one time exchange for loyal fans. The financial hit they take would be minor in the long run. Even if it’s just like $200 off a new Meizu, it’s better than nothing.
- Freeje
  October 29, 2015
  I’m thinking of getting the Pro 5 to replace my Note 2 but the Note 4 has the same price. So what’s so good about the Meizu when you can get the Note 4 for the same price?
  - balcobomber25
    October 30, 2015
    What is so good about Samsung when you can get the Pro 5 for the same price? See what I did there? Personally I love Samsung phones for their looks/hardware but I can’t stand Touchwhiz and it’s mountains of crapware it includes. Flyme is a faster, smoother UI that isn’t nearly as bloated. My GF has an S6, since we bought the phone in May there has been about 3 OTA’s for it (and still plenty of bugs). Since I got my MX5 in July I have had 6 OTA’s. I always here about how great Samsung is with support, I have yet to actually witness it.
    - Freeje
      November 1, 2015
      You’re right about the OTAs for Samsung. The only good thing is that I never had any problems with my Note 2 and my S3.
- Keko
  October 30, 2015
  Nope! As a M1 Note owner, i don’t get updates regularly. In addition, 4.5.x roms really suck. Touch sensitivity and multi language support gone, 300Mb free ram (so, multitasking sucks), fast scrolling off, etc. As a result, I am not happy with my phone. So, i won’t renew or buy a new Meizu device. That is it!
  - balcobomber25
    October 30, 2015
    It’s completely different with the MX5. Every brand is like this though, some phones get updates regularly others are left wondering and waiting. Its no different with LG, Samsung, Sony or Xiaomi.

Oscar 8u
October 30, 2015
MX4 and MX4 Pro owners should be allowed to trade in for newer meizu phones. In the recent votes for flyme 5 MX4 Pro and MX4 owners won by a huge margin suggesting that they are more active than all other meizu phone owners, the gap between MX4 Pro and MX4 was only a couple hundreds whereas gap between MX4 Pro and MX4 to other meizu phones was a couple thousands!
This suggests that there are more MX4 Pro and MX4 owners than all other meizu phones and that they are more active in the meizu and flyme forums. These are the customers who meizu should aim to keep, who will continue to use meizu phones but also help in terms of bug reporting and general posts about meizu phones on the forums.
That’s all great but meizu really and truly need to do one thing which will increase profits and help them keep their customer base happy and loyal.
RELEASE SOURCE CODES FOR ALL MEIZU PHONES BEFORE MEIZU PRO 5.
I guarantee you that all meizu owners would stop whining and articles like this would not exist.
I just don’t understand why meizu doesn’t release source code, its counter productive in the current market. People will continue to buy meizu phones even if they release source code as everyone wants the latest specs!
- balcobomber25
  October 30, 2015
  “This suggests that there are more MX4 Pro and MX4 owners than all other meizu phones and that they are more active in the meizu and flyme forums. ”
  The only thing it suggests is the second part of that statement. Just because they are most active in forums that doesn’t mean there are more owners of those phones. In fact most people who own a phone never visit a forum or even know they exist and the ones that do usually only do so when they have an issue. Forum use is very very minor among the majority of smartphone owners. If I had to guess I would say one of the M phones is the top selling Meizu model.
  As for sources there are companies that release them and some that don’t, regardless there will always be articles like this and people whining. It goes back to the above, the people that will actually use custom ROM’s developed by the community is a very small number compared to the overall user base. Most will never change from the stock rom and will still experience issues.

st
October 30, 2015
They seem to have a deal on their website in china offering an upgrade from MX4 PRO to 5 PRO 64GB, only catch you need to pay an additional 290 euro… haha
zdanee
November 7, 2015
The M1 note had a better hardware thant the M2 note. The MX4 pro also had a better screen than the Mx5 pro.

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