The Meizu MX4 launched a little over 2 months ago and as you may already remember Andi managed to review the phone and put it through its paces soon afterward. You may also remember that phone was a pre-production sample and now that we have a production model we though to re-visit the MX4 once again for a recap.
Meizu MX4 Design
The Meizu MX4’s design and build quality is exquisite, especially when considering the Chinese retail price it was designed to meet: Roughly $280 / €230! The design language used for the MX4 is the same used on the Meizu MX3. It’s very straight forward, simple and feels like a fresh breeze of elegance. While other phones try to be an eye-catcher with outlandish design elements, Meizu keeps it clean and structured with only a very few buttons and soft colors. This is what gives the phone its “love at first sight appearance”.
Meizu MX4 Screen
Meizu used a 15:9 screen ratio with the MX3, instead of the usual 16:9 we find on other handsets and this has been carried over to the MX4. The new phone boasts a larger 5.36-inch screen now, it sounds large on paper but in the hand it is as easy to handle as a 5-inch phone. The 15:9 ratio makes it much easier to reach every corner of the screen with one hand, while even giving you some more space to make use in portrait-mode. The phone dimensions keep the body to a minimum thanks to extremely slim bezels.
The resolution of 1920 x 1152 pixels is pure eye-candy. If you love vivid colours then you will love the MX4 display. Personally I think it is one of best screens we have seen this year on a Chinese flagship phone!
Meizu MX4 Performance
It’s time to forget everything you know about Mediatek chipsets so far. The MT6595 which comes in the Meizu MX4 is what we call a game changer. Its performance can easily keep up with any Snapdragon 801 phone, even though it can’t quite reach levels in benchmarks. In actual usage there aren’t any apps or current games that would be too much trouble for the MT6595 , just as it is the case with a Snapdragon 801. Modern Combat 5 on highest settings? Running fine! 4k videos? Running fine! 4k videos played in window-mode while surfing the internet? Still running fine! You get it, right?
Meizu MX4 Reception Quality
Once again Mediatek have upped their game and problems in the past are solved with the new MT6595, well at least in the Meizu MX4. The MX4 actually does a perfect job receiving GSM, 3G, 4G, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth signals with this new SoC. We actually encountered only very few phones which had such an amazing reception quality to offer as the MX4 did. Truly outstanding and totally on-par with the expensive flagships of this world.
Most amazingly for a Mediatek phone is the GPS performance which is like nothing we have experienced before! The SoC supports GPS, A-GPS, GLONASS, QZSS and BDS, pushing it once again on-par with any Qualcomm, Samsung or HiSilicon SoC. Fix times of sub 3 seconds with an accuracy of below 1 meter and sat counts of 21 are finally a thing of reality for Mediatek based phones.
Meizu MX4 Software
Gizchina News of the week
Running Flyme 4, the Meizu MX4 is totally up-to-date with the latest Meizu-made custom ROM. Rather than being a major overhaul, Meizu managed to retain the Flyme user experience we all got to love with the Meizu MX3, but pushed it a little forward with fine-tuned features, design-elements and animation. Flyme 4 can easily be described as one of the most easy to use and beautiful Android custom ROMs in this colorful world of mobile technology. Those new to smartphones will quickly fall in love with Flyme 4, and advanced users will get to grips in no time. There still are a few bugs here and there, but regular updates mean we have no worries.
Meizu MX4 Hi-Fi Experience
Meizu dropped the dedicated Wolfson audio processor we found in the MX3, as the MT6595 features a Wolfson DAC out of the box. In addition to that, Meizu implemented a NXP Smart PA 2.0 audio enhancement chip, which is optimises your tunes in real-time, making sure every track sounds the way it should, without having to fumble around with equalizer settings. This works amazingly well, both through the internal media speaker and the headphone jack. Meizu also managed to double the internal speaker’s volume, making the MX4 one of the loudest handsets we’ve ever got our hands on. A little annoying though: The strong audio signal sometimes is too much for cheap headphones. High-end earbuds are a must for the MX4!
Meizu MX4 Camera
Featuring a Sony IMX220 Exmor RS 20.7 mega pixel sensor, the Meizu MX4 promises to offer outstanding image quality onhe cheap. Can it keep up with the high expectations? Well, it probably depends on your taste. While it for sure creates the sharpest images we’ve ever seen coming from a mobile device, has pretty much no issues with complicated lighting situations and has a surprisingly little rate of failed pictures, it also has a few downsides which some might not like.
First of all the color reproduction isn’t as intense and warm as some (including us) would’ve liked it to be. Pictures sometimes are looking rather realistic than beautiful, which can be a pity in certain situations. Another thing we dislike is the LED flash. It just isn’t quite as bright as the one we got to experience in a Vivo Xshot or Oppo Find 7, yet the camera does show significantly less amounts of noise. The last thing we found quite annoying is the 15:9 ratio of recorded videos, to make them fit on the MX4’s screen. While this is nice to have on the phone, it certainly isn’t on other devices: Most players refuse to open up the files!
Meizu MX4 photo samples
Meizu MX4 Battery
Packing a 3.100mAh battery, the Meizu MX4 is well equipped. While the battery life might not seem as outstanding to you while using the phone on “performance mode”, you will quickly realize, that you can squeeze 2 to 3 days of battery life out of this handset by switching between the power saving plans on demand. Charging time is average with 2 to 2.5 hours, but can be cut in half when charging the phone while being turned off.
Meizu MX4 Conclusion
While the Meizu MX4 might not be the flagship Meizu phone you expected, you will soon feel it is well on par with current flagship after getting it in your hands!
The build quality, the screen, the performance and the camera makes the Meizu MX4 not just a great upgrade, but a real successor of the Meizu MX3. These days it still is a little expensive with prices of up to $491 for the 32GB model, but as soon as prices go down (which should happen before Christmas), the MX4 has the potential to be one of the most attractive Chinese phones available.
One big question left is: Should you wait for the MX4 Pro or buy the MX4 Standard? We say: Go for Standard! It really is powerful enough for pretty much everyone and just is an amazing handset – that simple. Only those of you, planning to keep the phone for years to come, thus in need for a more powerful SoC, and in need for an even larger screen, should go for the Meizu MX4 Pro.
That being said, a big thank you to Antelife for providing us with the final version of the Meizu MX4.
nice phone… wish i had money for buy it.
You’re not the only one.
Do you know if Meizu will move to Lollipop, increase the battery life and improve camera quality with an upcoming update ?
when?
Important for me are the bands, for Spain 3G works with band 900mhz (rural) and 2100mhz (city), the mx4 covers this, I can read in the specs:
3G:
WCDMA
850/900/1900 / 2100MHz
However, I’d really like to know if the community will be able to bring out custom roms for this beauty, I haven’t seen anything yet, maybe it’s too new yet.
I would also love to have an answer in that but i doubt we can have it from anyone else than meizu itself… i really hope the if is when , meaning we will get it but later in 2015 though! /fingers crossed
Hi Christopher, if you have to choose between the one plus and the X4, your pick?
Definitely MX4. The camera is a lot better. Plus I like the design more.
Just my 2 cents: I love these kind of photos, looking more real. I don’t see the point of color reproduction when you got plenty of tweaks in post production to play with.
You are totally right, but not everyone wants to use some tool to fine-tune his pictures. So as I mentioned in the article, it’s a thing of taste.
If only international version would cost less..
I got the ‘l’ version for £265 from aliexpress delivered, no import tax.
Wow a new review in the phone i’m most interested in, Thanks Christopher!!!
Please one thing i asked like 30 mins ago on the previous review… what’s your opinion about the heating on the device? is it getting hot enough to bother you when you 1) play games etc (heavy usage) 2) run it for everyday basics like internet etc.
Please let me know as that’s the only thing i am concerned atm (+the price of mx4 pro) before i buy it here in Russia from their official re-sellers.
i can answer you as well.
It is considerable. That means it’s getting hot while playing or recording/shooting 4k/many photos, but still not burning. It doesn’t make you feel uncomfortable. Ah i was using GPS on the road today and it got hot as well but i don’t know if it was the matter of the phone or the matter of the sun 🙂
Thanks mate! Well i think all phones are doing that…as long as it’s not uncomfy then it’s ok with me, i guess. (for example my gf atm is recharging her iPhone 4S and it’s already warm enough!!)
Yes, it is getting hot while doing resource intensive tasks. But as kolakao said, nothing that would be uncomfortable. During normal use (internet, youtube video, messaging…) it doesn’t get hot at all.
Looks like a great phone only one problem for me and many other people in the UK / and other European countries is that LTE band 20 (800MHZ) is not supported. Otherwise I would have abandoned Jiayu and bought an MX4, now just waiting for Jiayu S3 & S4 to be released before making a decision on what to buy next. By the way a very good review of a great phone
Hi Don, Im currently tinkering with my MX4 and discovered under engineering mode you can activate LTE band 20. Just put *#*#engmode#*#* (*#*#3646633#*#*) on the dialer to enter this. Under Telephony>Bandmode>SIM1>LTE Mode. Im not sure if it would work 100% since ive never been to the UK. But theoretically, (If the Jiayu you use is also a similar Mediatek Chipset), the options are highlighted and can be checked. by Default Band 1, 3,7, 38,39,40,41 are checked. I hope this will help you decide to switch to MX4! =)
UP§§§ can it be confirmed.
The band 20 unchecked itself after closing the app or the setting page… It doesn’t work
Would be good to have a review on just the mtk6595 chip comparing it with 801, 805 or Exynos octocore. There is barely any review on that online.
Check out this article I wrote here: http://www.gizchina.de/benchmark-wars-mt6595-vs-snapdragon-801-vs-mt6592-vs-mt6582.html
i totally hate meizu for not making it dual sim. pure heartbreak.
I’m gonna save for this one. I don’t care much for the pro version. This can handle everything you through at it even for the next few years. I don’t care much about the costly Snapdragons either.
nice phone… wish i had money for buy it.
You’re not the only one.
Do you know if Meizu will move to Lollipop, increase the battery life and improve camera quality with an upcoming update ?
when?
I would also love to have an answer in that but i doubt we can have it from anyone else than meizu itself… i really hope the if is when , meaning we will get it but later in 2015 though! /fingers crossed
Important for me are the bands, for Spain 3G works with band 900mhz (rural) and 2100mhz (city), the mx4 covers this, I can read in the specs:
3G:
WCDMA
850/900/1900 / 2100MHz
However, I’d really like to know if the community will be able to bring out custom roms for this beauty, I haven’t seen anything yet, maybe it’s too new yet.
Hi Christopher, if you have to choose between the one plus and the X4, your pick?
Definitely MX4. The camera is a lot better. Plus I like the design more.
Just my 2 cents: I love these kind of photos, looking more real. I don’t see the point of color reproduction when you got plenty of tweaks in post production to play with.
You are totally right, but not everyone wants to use some tool to fine-tune his pictures. So as I mentioned in the article, it’s a thing of taste.
If only international version would cost less..
I got the ‘l’ version for £265 from aliexpress delivered, no import tax.
Wow a new review in the phone i’m most interested in, Thanks Christopher!!!
Please one thing i asked like 30 mins ago on the previous review… what’s your opinion about the heating on the device? is it getting hot enough to bother you when you 1) play games etc (heavy usage) 2) run it for everyday basics like internet etc.
Please let me know as that’s the only thing i am concerned atm (+the price of mx4 pro) before i buy it here in Russia from their official re-sellers.
i can answer you as well.
It is considerable. That means it’s getting hot while playing or recording/shooting 4k/many photos, but still not burning. It doesn’t make you feel uncomfortable. Ah i was using GPS on the road today and it got hot as well but i don’t know if it was the matter of the phone or the matter of the sun 🙂
Thanks mate! Well i think all phones are doing that…as long as it’s not uncomfy then it’s ok with me, i guess. (for example my gf atm is recharging her iPhone 4S and it’s already warm enough!!)
Yes, it is getting hot while doing resource intensive tasks. But as kolakao said, nothing that would be uncomfortable. During normal use (internet, youtube video, messaging…) it doesn’t get hot at all.
will they correct the battery issues qnd iprove the camera ? (read the threads about it on http://meizufans.eu/forum/category-meizu-mx4 )
Those complaining about bad battery life probably don’t do any power management. It is important to switch between “power saving”, “balanced” and “performance” depending on what you are doing. I for myself always let it run on power saving on the go. With a proper power management you can squeeze out up to 3 days of battery life, which is pretty good.
For the camera, it has been improved already with the latest firmware version. There is still some stuff like the auto focus which is a little tricky to handle sometimes, which needs to be fixed, but else it’s working perfectly fine.
thanks, do you know how you can set a specific app (textra, chomp SMS…) as the default SMS app ? It’s another bug with the MX4 ;(
Looks like a great phone only one problem for me and many other people in the UK / and other European countries is that LTE band 20 (800MHZ) is not supported. Otherwise I would have abandoned Jiayu and bought an MX4, now just waiting for Jiayu S3 & S4 to be released before making a decision on what to buy next. By the way a very good review of a great phone
Hi Don, Im currently tinkering with my MX4 and discovered under engineering mode you can activate LTE band 20. Just put *#*#engmode#*#* (*#*#3646633#*#*) on the dialer to enter this. Under Telephony>Bandmode>SIM1>LTE Mode. Im not sure if it would work 100% since ive never been to the UK. But theoretically, (If the Jiayu you use is also a similar Mediatek Chipset), the options are highlighted and can be checked. by Default Band 1, 3,7, 38,39,40,41 are checked. I hope this will help you decide to switch to MX4! =)
UP§§§ can it be confirmed.
The band 20 unchecked itself after closing the app or the setting page… It doesn’t work
Would be good to have a review on just the mtk6595 chip comparing it with 801, 805 or Exynos octocore. There is barely any review on that online.
Check out this article I wrote here: http://www.gizchina.de/benchmark-wars-mt6595-vs-snapdragon-801-vs-mt6592-vs-mt6582.html
i totally hate meizu for not making it dual sim. pure heartbreak.
there’s also a bug with alternative keyboards such as swiftkey :/
I’m gonna save for this one. I don’t care much for the pro version. This can handle everything you through at it even for the next few years. I don’t care much about the costly Snapdragons either.
Great Review Christopher
I love this phone,, and im planning to buy it soon,,so i need your help in a few questions :
1- you know the Xiaomi Mi4 & Mi3 have a built in voice calls record option..means they can record voice calls in a good quality and a good file types like MP3 even if you use only the ear speaker in your calls ( without the need to open the loud speaker ), i know alot of Chinese smartphones have this option,, is it available in meizu mx4 ?
2- I have a friend going to China soon,, i will ask him to bring me meizu MX4 32GB version, a screen protector, protective case and Xiaomi Piston V2. i found the mx4 at JD.com here http://item.jd.com/1209642.html … what i can understand,, there’s 2 versions 16GB and 2 versions 32 GB ,, please tell me the difference,,and will these models work outside china if i buy one of them? ( i live in Cairo Egypt now ) also is JD.com a trusted online sellers? their products are original ?
forgive me for asking too much,, i just need a guide before i tell me friend to brig me anything from there,, thank you for your great review again.. im waiting your reply
1) Yes, call recording is available with Flyme OS.
2) Yes, JD is reliable. The different versions are the ones for China Mobile and China Unicom. You need the one compatible with China Unicom, or the international model which isn’t available on JD. Check for support of WCDMA / FDD-LTE.
the call recording option supports both persons voices ( me and the other person ) even without opening the loud speaker? are you sure? what is the file extension ? MP3 ? also how is the quality of the recorded calls sound ?
another question about the camera,, can it record video 1080p @ 60fps? or only 30fps even in 1080p videos?
again thank you so much
Miui , Flyme OS , Funtouch OS , Color OS
I think they all have call recorder built in their rom.
Last time I check Zen UI even has it.
will they correct the battery issues qnd iprove the camera ? (read the threads about it on http://meizufans.eu/forum/category-meizu-mx4 )
Those complaining about bad battery life probably don’t do any power management. It is important to switch between “power saving”, “balanced” and “performance” depending on what you are doing. I for myself always let it run on power saving on the go. With a proper power management you can squeeze out up to 3 days of battery life, which is pretty good.
For the camera, it has been improved already with the latest firmware version. There is still some stuff like the auto focus which is a little tricky to handle sometimes, which needs to be fixed, but else it’s working perfectly fine.
thanks, do you know how you can set a specific app (textra, chomp SMS…) as the default SMS app ? It’s another bug with the MX4 ;(
there’s also a bug with alternative keyboards such as swiftkey :/
Great Review Christopher
I love this phone,, and im planning to buy it soon,,so i need your help in a few questions :
1- you know the Xiaomi Mi4 & Mi3 have a built in voice calls record option..means they can record voice calls in a good quality and a good file types like MP3 even if you use only the ear speaker in your calls ( without the need to open the loud speaker ), i know alot of Chinese smartphones have this option,, is it available in meizu mx4 ?
2- I have a friend going to China soon,, i will ask him to bring me meizu MX4 32GB version, a screen protector, protective case and Xiaomi Piston V2. i found the mx4 at JD.com here http://item.jd.com/1209642.html … what i can understand,, there’s 2 versions 16GB and 2 versions 32 GB ,, please tell me the difference,,and will these models work outside china if i buy one of them? ( i live in Cairo Egypt now ) also is JD.com a trusted online sellers? their products are original ?
forgive me for asking too much,, i just need a guide before i tell me friend to brig me anything from there,, thank you for your great review again.. im waiting your reply
1) Yes, call recording is available with Flyme OS.
2) Yes, JD is reliable. The different versions are the ones for China Mobile and China Unicom. You need the one compatible with China Unicom, or the international model which isn’t available on JD. Check for support of WCDMA / FDD-LTE.
the call recording option supports both persons voices ( me and the other person ) even without opening the loud speaker? are you sure? what is the file extension ? MP3 ? also how is the quality of the recorded calls sound ?
another question about the camera,, can it record video 1080p @ 60fps? or only 30fps even in 1080p videos?
again thank you so much
Miui , Flyme OS , Funtouch OS , Color OS
I think they all have call recorder built in their rom.
Last time I check Zen UI even has it.
How’s the Rom community on this device ? Is something in development?
How’s the Rom community on this device ? Is something in development?
I live in China and plan to buy the Chinese version (checked at Meizu store and it can be set to English). Has anyone tested Outlook ActiveSync? A must for me since i will use it for work. Also, does it support VPN (PPTP, L2TP, IPSec etc) or has this been removed?
Hi Chris,
I’m in India and I’m little confused which phone to buy: Vivo Xshot Ultimate or Meizu MX4 Pro. I know Meizu MX4 Pro is yet to be released but looking at the specs and launch date (19th Nov) it is a good option.
Can you please recommend which one to buy? I want a phone with better camera and audio and it will be a big plus if there is no lag in the phone also.
Also which OS is better: Funtouch or Flyme? I can’t understand Chinese so I need a phone which supports English language.
Thanks.
I live in China and plan to buy the Chinese version (checked at Meizu store and it can be set to English). Has anyone tested Outlook ActiveSync? A must for me since i will use it for work. Also, does it support VPN (PPTP, L2TP, IPSec etc) or has this been removed?
Hi Chris,
I’m in India and I’m little confused which phone to buy: Vivo Xshot Ultimate or Meizu MX4 Pro. I know Meizu MX4 Pro is yet to be released but looking at the specs and launch date (19th Nov) it is a good option.
Can you please recommend which one to buy? I want a phone with better camera and audio and it will be a big plus if there is no lag in the phone also.
Also which OS is better: Funtouch or Flyme? I can’t understand Chinese so I need a phone which supports English language.
Thanks.
Should I get the Meizu MX4 or the Nubia Z7 Max?
I can’t understand why Meizu doesn’t bring it’s products to India even after roaring success of Xiaomi
Should I get the Meizu MX4 or the Nubia Z7 Max?
I can’t understand why Meizu doesn’t bring it’s products to India even after roaring success of Xiaomi
Question: Between the Find 7 and this MX4, which one has a better audio quality? I don’t want comparison videos as that doesn’t work. I’d like an opinion.
You said that the LED is not as strong as the one on the Find 7. I have the Find 7a and it has weak LEDs. I had a G2 and it only has one LED and it was stronger than both LEDs and had a nicer color. I don’t like the green hue on the Find 7’s LEDs. So this LED on the MX4 must be really weak lol.
Question: Between the Find 7 and this MX4, which one has a better audio quality? I don’t want comparison videos as that doesn’t work. I’d like an opinion.
You said that the LED is not as strong as the one on the Find 7. I have the Find 7a and it has weak LEDs. I had a G2 and it only has one LED and it was stronger than both LEDs and had a nicer color. I don’t like the green hue on the Find 7’s LEDs. So this LED on the MX4 must be really weak lol.
Review Date:
29 October 201, http://www.cnet.com/au/products/meizu-mx4/
is a very different & cruel review. It hard to recognize that it is the same product being reviewed.
Generally I find USA-publications love bashing everything not with USA-brandnames. Even if it is totally not made in the USA.
Review Date:
29 October 201, http://www.cnet.com/au/products/meizu-mx4/
is a very different & cruel review. It hard to recognize that it is the same product being reviewed.
Generally I find USA-publications love bashing everything not with USA-brandnames. Even if it is totally not made in the USA.
I will answer my own question a few days ago – YES! it does indeed connect to Exchange 2010 with stock firmware.I have not been able to download from Google Play yet even though i get response but all important apps are possible to install with .apk install.
Just use http://www.mobogenie.com
You won’t need google play trust me.
I will answer my own question a few days ago – YES! it does indeed connect to Exchange 2010 with stock firmware.I have not been able to download from Google Play yet even though i get response but all important apps are possible to install with .apk install.
Just use http://www.mobogenie.com
You won’t need google play trust me.
A question: Would you think that this Final MX4 is better (to your opinion and criteria) than the Xshot?
I am really torn between the two, however never seen an Xshot yet so I just read reviews.
For everyday use, picture taking and MP3, what is your recommendation?
A question: Would you think that this Final MX4 is better (to your opinion and criteria) than the Xshot?
I am really torn between the two, however never seen an Xshot yet so I just read reviews.
For everyday use, picture taking and MP3, what is your recommendation?
If you could buy the LG G3(32gb) at the same price as the MX4 32gb, which would you prefer and why?
If you could buy the LG G3(32gb) at the same price as the MX4 32gb, which would you prefer and why?
so cool and good looking product.
i appreciate it. Appmgr
so cool and good looking product.
i appreciate it. Appmgr