Meizu has produced quite a few smartphones this year and the M3 is one of the most affordable ones. Learn more in our full review.
Thanks to Gearbest for sending Meizu M3 for a review.
Meizu M3 Review: VIDEO REVIEW
Meizu M3 Review: UNBOXING
In the box, you can find a wall charger, USB cable, SIM ejector pin and some paperwork.
Meizu M3 Review: SPECS
Display |
5″ 720p (HD) |
Processor |
Mediatek MT6750, 64-bit, octa-core (up to 1.5GHz) |
RAM |
2GB |
Camera |
5MP Front/13MP Back |
Connectivity |
Bluetooth, 3G, 4G, GPS, WIFI, GSM,EDGE, GPRS, UMTS, HSPA, HSPA+, dual-SIM. |
Battery |
2.870 mAh (non-removable) |
Dimensions |
141.5 x 69.5 x 8.3 mm / 132 g |
OS |
Android 5.1 |
Storage |
16GB (expandable via microSD card slot up to 256GB) |
Meizu M3 Review: DESIGN and DISPLAY
Meizu M3 is a very compact phone due to its 5” display and it looks like a shrunk down Meizu M2 Note.
Speaking of the display, it sports just a 720p resolution but it still quite sharp and good display for a budget phone like this. The only complaint would be that it could be slightly brighter for outdoor use.
We have a 5MP shooter along with a notification LED light on the top.
On the bottom, there is just a physical home button and you can either physically press to take you home or just tap it and it acts as a back button. Unfortunately, the phone lacks a fingerprint scanner.
Although the device uses glossy plastic in its construction, the phone is well-built and it feels solid. In fact, it is really comfortable to hold it in the hand due to rounded corners on the back. We have a 13MP camera with f/2.2 aperture on the back coupled with a dual-tone dual LED flash.
The loudspeaker sits on the bottom and the sound quality is actually pretty good for the phone this cheap.
The buttons are on the right, they are clicky and tactile.
We have a hybrid SIM card slot, which can take either 2 SIM cards or a combo of 1 SIM and the microSD card.
Overall, the Meizu M3 is a well-constructed phone and it feels great in the hand.
Meizu M3 Review: HARDWARE and PERFORMANCE
Meizu M3 has some pretty decent specs for the price. My review unit sports an octa-core Mediatek 6750 chip with the clock speeds of 1.5GHz, 2 GB of RAM and 16GB of expandable storage.
The day-to-day performance of the UI is fast but the gaming performance is kind of a letdown. The phone lags quite a bit when playing Asphalt 8 even at the lowest graphics.
Meizu M3 Review: BENCHMARKS
Meizu M3 Review: USER INTERFACE
My Meizu M3 unit has FlyMe OS 5.1, which is built on top of Android 5.1. My review unit has a fully de-bloated ROM with multi-languages and Google Play services pre-installed.
If you are familiar with the FlyMe OS, you will feel right at home. There is no app tray but there are some neat features. For example, you can swipe down anywhere on the screen to open up the notification shade. If you swipe from the bottom, you will open up your recent apps and this is one of my favourite features.
We have a bunch of other features, plenty of customization options, various tweaks and settings to play with. Just to name a few, you can use choose from a variety of themes, use gesture controls, which work fine and so on.
Overall, the FlymeOS runs fast and fluid, I didn’t have a single hiccup on a daily basis.
Meizu M3 Review: IMAGE QUALITY
The 13MP camera is far from perfect but it can produce one of the better-looking images in a sub-$120 phone.
Most of the daylight shots will look good but one of the shortcomings is a poor dynamic range adjustment. Luckily, the HDR mode does a pretty good job solving this issue.
The low-light camera performance is okay for the phone this cheap but keep in mind that cheap phones usually don’t take great night shots.
The 1080p video looks pretty good and the footage is one of the best in class. See a video review for a video sample.
A 5MP selfie shooter can take some nice photos that will definitely do the trick for social media.
Meizu M3 Review: CONNECTIVITY
As for connectivity, you should not expect any issues with neither of the options that include wifi, Bluetooth, GPS or call quality.
Meizu M3 Review: BATTERY LIFE
The phone has an embedded 2870mAh battery that performs well. I could constantly get over 5 hours of SOT on a mixed use, which is a good result.
Meizu M3 Review: CONCLUSIONS
Meizu M3 is one of the better phones in this price range.
Sure, some may say that it lacks some common features like a fingerprint scanner and fast charging but the phone has a good display and great build quality.
Also, the device is fast on a daily basis, it has a good battery and one of the better cameras in its price range.
However, you have to keep in mind that the phone will struggle handling the 3D games and it lacks premium materials like metal in its build.
Overall, Meizu M3 is a great phone for the price of just $116 despite a few shortcomings.
