The market is full of fitness trackers but not all of them are affordable. I’ve used the Meizu Band for a few weeks now and here is the full Gizmochina’s review.

UNBOXING

The device ships in a quite a premium box and the contents include a fitness band itself, a nice magnetic charger and some paperwork.

DESIGN and FEATURES

Usually, cheap fitness trackers look and feel cheap but the Meizu Band is well-built and it is super light. Also, it is IP67-certified, meaning that you can use it in the rain, shower or elsewhere.

Many smart bands today have a non-integrated body, which means you can remove it from the strap. However, Meizu is using a different approach here by using an integrated design with double component injection technology. This is probably why the Meizu band looks curvier and I am sure many will like this design. It definitely looks more stylish than some other offerings at this price.

The star of the show is an OLED display, which shows basic info like a clock, steps taken, calories burned, distance walked, heart rate and various notifications from your smartphone. You can navigate with just one capacitive button and I found it to be very simple yet convenient.

You can turn the display on by simply turning your wrist and the display will light up. I found this feature to be working just fine. The sunlight legibility could be slightly better but I’m being quite picky here. The display is fine for me and it can be seen in a broad daylight.

As for the heart rate, the embedded chip helps you track your heart beat patterns. The heart rate sensor is from AMS and it even notifies you if your rate exceeds a set maximum rate. The band will also monitor your sleep patterns and features a built-in snooze alarm which wakes you up softly.

My Samsung Galaxy S7 edge may not be the best device to compare the results with but the heart rate numbers were very similar on both devices. Also, I spent a lot of time testing if the step counter is accurate and I can say it is, and I took quite a few steps to test this feature out.

ANDROID/iOS APP

In order to take a full advantage of the Meizu Band, you have to install a Meizu Band app. Keep in mind that the app is currently in Chinese-only but an English version is just around the corner.

I had no issues with syncing the band via the Bluetooth  with my phone and within the app, you can track your fitness routines in detail. The band will also show you call and some app notifications, remind you when you need to be more active, work as an alarm clock, monitor your sleep patterns and it features a built-in snooze alarm which wakes you up softly. Once you receive any notification, the Meizu Band will gently vibrate.

TEST NOTES

After using the Meizu Band for a few weeks, I can say that it is pretty comfortable to wear and the rubber band does not irritate the skin.

BATTERY LIFE

Meizu claims that you can get 7 days of usage on a single charge with a heart rate sensor and around 15 days without using the sensor. I got pretty similar results and thus I believe that the official claims are true.

Charging the Meizu Band is also an easy process since it comes with a magnetic USB charging cable that sticks to the device.

CONCLUSIONS

After using the Meizu Band for an extensive period of time, I can honestly tell you that this is one of the best affordable fitness trackers on the market right now.

It is tiny, light, comfortable to wear, it tracks your steps and measures heart rate accurately and it has a good battery life. Also, the intuitive app unleashes even more features that are fun to use.

On the other hand, the device does not support the continuous heart rate monitoring feature and the display could be slightly brighter. However, I think it is too much to ask for such a low price.

The Meizu Band is already up for pre-order in China and will be up for grabs on December 8. Meizu has priced the band aggressively at just 229 Yuan ($31). Note that, as of now, the company has not revealed any plans for an international release.

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Meizu was rumored to be working on a new smartband and the company has just unveiled this brand new device alongside the Meizu M5 Note today. The device comes with all the features that you would expect in a fitness smartband and like tradition, Meizu has priced the band aggressively at just 229 Yuan ($31).

So, what do you get at this price?

The Meizu band comes with an integrated OLED touchscreen display. Many smartbands today have a non-integrated body, which means you can remove it from the strap. However, Meizu is using a different approach here by using an integrated design with double component injection technology. This is probably why the Meizu band looks curvier and I am sure many will like this design. It definitely looks more stylish than some other offerings at this price. Charging the Meizu Band is also an easy process since it comes with a magnetic USB charging cable that sticks to the device. You get more than 7 days of usage on a single charge w/ heart rate sensor and around 15 days without using the sensor.

As for the features, the Meizu Band is IP67 certified which means you don’t have to worry about water splashes or dust. The OLED screen reveals all the important data like the time, number of steps taken, calories burned as well as the heart rate. The heart rate sensor is from AMS and it even notifies you if your rate exceeds a set maximum rate. The band will also monitor your sleep patterns and features a built-in snooze alarm which wakes you up softly.

The Meizu Band connects to your smartphone via Bluetooth and can alert you about the incoming phone calls and messages. Further, you can use its Find My Phone feature that alerts you when the distance between your smartphone and the band exceeds 10 meters.

The Meizu Band is already up for pre-order in China and will be up for grabs on December 8. Note that, as of now, the company has not revealed any plans for an international release.

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Meizu has taken the wraps off its latest budget offering, the Meizu M5 Note in an event today in Beijing, China. The company will continue to use an all metal body on its new mid-ranger and will offer plenty of color options as well, which has become a highlight of the Blue Charm series. The Meizu M5 Note will be available in four colors — Sky Gray, Champagne Gold, Moonlight Silver, and Glacier Blue.

The phone features a curved 2.5D glass up front to give it a premium look. The design remains more or less similar to other Blue charm phones, so you have the traditional antenna lines on the top as well as the bottom. However, the company engineers have reportedly improved the antenna signal for more strength and stability and the company claims that the signal quality and strength have more than doubled than the previous generation model. In case you are wondering, there’s dual SIM dual standby. The card slot is hybrid, so you can insert a MicroSD card for expansion at the expense of the second SIM card slot.

As for the specs, the Meizu M5 Note features a 5.5-inch 1080p display up front with 450 nits maximum brightness, which translates into 403ppi. The screen comes with many features such as sunlight mode, eye mode etc. Inside, the phone comes with the Helio P10 octa-core processor with 3GB /4GB of RAM and 16GB/ 32GB /64GB of storage options that’s expandable up to 128GB.

The camera on the Meizu M5 Note is a Sony 13MP sensor with PDAF that focuses in just 0.2 seconds and f/2.2 aperture. Up front, you get a 5MP shooter with ArcSoft’s algorithm for better quality images. You get a fingerprint sensor as well, which unlocks in 0.2 seconds. There’s a large 4000mAh battery on board, which will fill up quickly since it supports 18W mCharge. As for the software, the phone is using the new Flyme 6 OS that promises 20% better CPU and memory resource allocation for faster performance.

The Meizu M5 Note starts at just 899 Yuan ($130) for the 3GB + 16GB model, 999 Yuan ($146) for the 3GB + 32GB model while the 4GB + 64GB model retails for 1499 Yuan ($218). The phone goes on sale on December 8.

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The Meizu H1 Smartband isn’t new, it first leaked before the launch of the Meizu M5 and we thought it would be released along with the M5 but that didn’t happen. Again, several images were spotted online yesterday revealing the box casing as well as the Smartband itself. There is a new twist, though, as image of what is said to be a high-end, premium version of the Meizu H1 Smartband has leaked online.

While the H1 Smartband is expected to launch on December 6 along with the M5 Note, the high-end version may likely come in the first half of next year. The high-end version is also rumored with a huge price tag of 1599 Yuan ($232). That is way above the 299 Yuan ($33) the low-end version is expected to carry on launch day.

Read More: Meizu H1 Smartband Set to Launch on December 6 for ¥229 ($33)

According to the leaked info, the high-end version of the Meizu Smartband uses a flexible screen design. The display is even more unique in that when it is not lit, the screen will be transparent. The high-end version will also feature heart rate monitor, sleep monitor, as well as a variety of sports mode. In addition the gadget is said to emit light of different colors depending on the pace of the user’s motion.

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As would be recalled, Meizu has scheduled a concert holding today in Beijing China and during the concert we had gotten hint that the Meizu M5 would be officially launched. Turns out Meizu is also planning to unveil another device alongside the M5, which by the way sounds like a name from a James Bond movie. Ahead of the concert, renders of the Meizu H1 SmartBand has been teased also, and is said to likely be unveiled today.

Not much detail is known about the Meizu H1 SmartBand but the renders look very similar in design to those if the Xiaomi Mi Band and possibly, the specs would also be similar. The display is shown to be similar to the Mi Band with the time function in blue shown in the render above. The device may likely also feature other specs like heart rate monitor, sleep monitor, pedometer etc.

To further buttress the theory that the H1 SmartBand would likely be launched today, the live image of the wrist band has been leaked right from the concert venue. The H1 SmartBand image appears along with the likely price tag and is alleged to have been grabbed off the dress rehearsal for the concert. What we are not so sure about is the 499 Yuan ($73) price tag the device is listed to sell for.

Read More: Meizu Light Smartwatch Launches on Taobao Crowdfunding Platform

The Mi Band 2, Xiaomi’s latest, retails for 149 Yuan ($22) and even on various unofficial channels the price doesn’t exceed 200 Yuan ($30). So it would be a big gamble if Meizu would nudge the H1 SmartBand’s price up to that extent. We’ll bring you more on this as they unfold during the concert. Keep the dial on Gizmochina.

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