Lately, smartphone manufacturers are attacking the bezels around the display like it’s the enemy to kill. Everyone wants to get rid of anything apart from the display on the phone’s front. We have smartphones that hide the front camera inside its body via a pop-up motor. There are even patents which show off an in-display camera design (coming soon), that lies beneath the display. For those looking for a less expensive option, there’s the notch, and I think we all will agree that waterdrop seems to be the most preferred one. Then came the punch hole camera, that reserves a small dot on the display, usually on one corner, so that it doesn’t hinder your experience.

Meizu’s take on the issue of bezels is a bit unique. With the Meizu 16th model, the company paved the way for a design that embraces the bezels (our 16th hands-on here!) around the display. The new Meizu 16S takes the same design to another level by adding a larger display, surrounded by even thinner bezels. The bezels on the top and the bottom are slimmer, with the chin measuring just 4.2mm. The top bezel is pretty slim as well, despite housing the front camera. This was made possible by using the 20MP Samsung 3T2 selfie sensor, which is the world’s smallest front facing camera.

The display is now 6.2-inches in size, in a relatively similar form factor as its predecessor (151.9 x 73.4 x 7.6mm). The phone might not be as light as the previous model, but at 165 grams, it’s still pretty easy to hold. Not to mention the 0.5° angle arc design that makes it comfortable to hold, even with one hand. The increase in thickness from 7.3mm on the Meizu 16th to 7.6mm in the 16S model is justified because of a significant increase in battery capacity. The new model houses a larger 3600mAh battery on board, which is a solid 20% increase.

We got the pearl white model in for review and it looks enticing. The back has what Meizu calls a plasma finish that gives it a premium look. However, we are even more excited to see how that Carbon Black variant with carbon fiber texture will look in our hands on. We’ll try to get that variant for review, but for now, we are playing around with this Pear White model.

The dual rear camera module consists of a 48MP Sony IMX586 sensor and a 20MP IMX250 sensor. There’s four-axis OIS to ensure the shots come out steady. The AI scene recognition will try to match the right settings for the perfect shot, depending on the environment.

The power and volume buttons are on the right while the left side remains clean. This is because the SIM card slot goes down below, alongside the speaker and USB-C port.

Inside, the Meizu 16S is powered by the flagship Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 processor with 6GB /8GB RAM and 128GB / 256GB storage options. Adreno 640 GPU works together with Meizu’s Hyper Gaming tech offering a smooth and lag-free gaming experience. Further, mEngine 3.0 also provides an immersive experience with games like BuildTopia.

• RELATED: Meizu launches POP 2 earbuds, EP63 Noise Cancelling Headphones and more

Finally, Meizu has ensured that the phone supports NFC. There are stereo speakers for a rich audio experience. Unfortunately, in the pursuit of adding a bigger battery, Meizu had to kill the headphone jack. So, you will have to use its Type-C port for your wired audio needs.

We will review the Meizu 16S in the coming days. So expect a full detailed analysis of the phone soon. Meanwhile, you can check out our review of the Meizu 16th launched last year.

Check out our Meizu 16S hands-on gallery down below.

Meizu 16S hands on

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Meizu has officially confirmed that its next flagship smartphone, the Meizu Pro 7, will meet us on July 26 at the big event at the Opera House in China. We haven’t seen a high-end product from the company so far in 2017, which makes the Pro 7 an important model.

Thanks to the numerous leaks that have been going around the internet, we already know what’s new on the Meizu Pro 7 — a unique secondary display at the back. But till now, it wasn’t official. This seems to have changed now, as Meizu has released a few teasers for the Pro 7 and each of them seem to highlight the secondary window display on the upcoming flagship, essentially confirming it.

Further, teasers revealed by another official Weibo account of Meizu seems to be hinting at dual cameras on the phone. This means that we know for sure that the Meizu Pro 7 will have a secondary display at the back along with a dual camera setup.

According to previous leaks, the Pro 7’s secondary display will be a 2-inch E-ink screen and will support different modes such as black and white, music mode etc. The screen can reportedly be used even after shutting down the phone. It is further said that users can use the screen for photo previews, playing games etc.

RELATED: Working Meizu Pro 7 Shows Flyme Interface, Selfie Shot on Rear Screen

The usability of the additional screen at the back will decide the fate of the Pro 7. Trying out a unique design is never easy and more often than not, companies pay a heavy price for deviating from the traditional design. We know how LG G5 differentiated itself with a modular design but failed to attract the attention of customers due to the lack of significant practical benefits of the new design. But LG V20‘s secondary screen looked promising and I hope Meizu has enough tricks planned for its secondary screen to make it attractive to customers.

We also have a basic idea about the internal specifications of the Pro 7. The phone is said to feature a 5.2-inch 1080p primary display up front with Helio X30 inside (finally!), 6GB / 8GB RAM options, 128GB storage, 12MP Sony IMX386 + IMX 286 dual camera setup at the back and a 16MP front camera. The price is expected to be 2799 Yuan ($414) and 3299 Yuan ($488) for the two variants of the phone. Note that these specs and pricing details are yet to be confirmed.

Expect more details on the Meizu Pro 7 in the coming days via official teasers. So, stay tuned to Gizmochina for more updates.

Teasers for the Pro 7 below:

(Source 1,2)

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Meizu and Qualcomm reached a settlement at the tail end of last year over the lingering patent infringement dispute which has seen both companies slug it out in courts in and outside China. With the settlement, Meizu fans who had before now been agitating for the return to the use of Qualcomm chips on their beloved brand were expecting that to happen soon.

However, well-known industry analyst Pan Jiutang has come out to disclose that the expected Meizu smartphone will not have a flagship series chip onboard. The Snapdragon 800 series is Qualcomm’s flagship series and the SD 835 is the latest in the pack. The analyst hinted that the upcoming Meizu smartphone will instead use a Snapdragon 600-series chip which was revealed to be a Snapdragon 626 in the product schedule.

Read Also: New Meizu Phone with Model Number M741Y Receives Radio Transmission Approval

Meizu has not left us in doubt that they would indeed release a Snapdragon powered Meizu phone but that won’t be anytime soon. A leaked Meizu product schedule pitches the Snapdragon-powered Meizu phone as coming in the fourth quarter of this year. Meizu VP Li Nan also added his voice in saying that a Meizu smartphone powered by a Snapdragon chip would be launched towards the end of this year, likely in December. So, if you’re looking forward to a Meizu flagship rocking a Snapdragon flagship SoC, you may have to wait till next year for that.

(source)

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Meizu has been rumored to be working on another flagship device, despite the avalanche of releases we’ve seen from the phone-maker this year. Now the latest rumor takes it even further, revealing that Meizu would likely release two smartphones before the end of the year, finishing off the year in grand style.

According to industry analyst Pan Jiutang, one of the devices we may likely be seeing is the flagship Meizu Pro 7 which according to the analyst, would likely be called Meizu Pro 6s and not Pro 7. The well-known analyst also disclosed that the Meizu Pro 6s would likely be equipped with the Samsung Exyunos 8890 chipset. This rumor contrasts with earlier rumor that Meizu would be replacing the Exynos 8890 on the flagship.

Other specifications of the now Meizu Pro 6s include that the device would feature a 5.7-inch display with 2K resolution, along with a 12MP and 5MP front facing camera. On the memory lane, the Pro 6s is said to pack 4GB of RAM and 32GB of expandable internal storage.

Aside the rumor of a Pro 6s, the analyst also disclosed that Meizu is likely to release a second flagship before the year’s end which would be powered by the MediaTek MTK P20 processor. However, no detail about the configuration the second smartphone is known at this moment.

Related: Meizu To Launch Flyme 6 Alongside Pro 7 Flagship On September 13?

Meizu has a track record of releasing many devices each year but we’ll need to be on the watch to see if this latest turns out to be true. We have already seen quite a number of phones from Meizu up till this point and this number includes one or two flagship devices.

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Meizu’s rumored Pro 7 flagship smartphone which was spotted on AnTuTu Benchmark few days back have appeared in image renders spotted online. The device which is said to feature Samsung’s Exynos 8890 chipset is displayed on the Interactive community section of Meizu’s forums.

One notable feature of the expected flagship revealed on the leaked images is that it would have a curved display screen that extends to the sides. There is an oval-shaped physical Home button as well, just under the display screen.

The Meizu Pro 7 renders also reveal a dual camera set up which is visible at the back of the flagship. There’s a large primary camera and just underneath is the supporting camera which perhaps should provide depth of field only. There is also the Meizu exclusive “Ring Flash” just under the second camera. Also visible at the back are antenna lines both at the top and bottom edges.

The name of the device is also clearly written at the rear as Pro 7, shown also to be designed by Meizu in China. According to the AnTuTu records, the device sports a 5.5-inch display which is rumored to have a resolution of 2560 × 1440 pixels.

In other aspects, the Meizu Pro 7 is said to run on Android 6.0 Marshmallow from the go, cram 4GB RAM and 32GB of internal storage space under its hood. The flagship phone also features a 12MP rear camera and a 5MP front-facing camera. The pixel size of the second camera at the back is unknown at this point in time.

(Source)

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According to Bai, Meizu is interested in making products which satisfy customers. Its not just concerned about the specifications on paper. Moreover, he adds that even the best CPU in the market right now cannot handle 2K screen perfectly. So, the company decided to go with 1080p displays for its upcoming products.

We know that the company has abandoned the Meizu MX4 Pro lineup. It was the last smartphone from the company to feature such a high-resolution 2K display. Instead of MX5 Pro, the company is expected to unveil a brand new device lineup with the code name NIUX this year. After this statement from the co-founder, we are sure to expected the rumored ME5 flagship to feature a 1080p display.

According to the latest rumors, the ME5 flagship is expected feature Exynos 7420 chipset with 3GB / 4GB RAM versions. There will be a 21MP camera at the back, and a 5MP front facing shooter. The phone could be announced as early as this month, but we are not quite sure of that at the moment.

Anyways, do you think sticking with 1080p resolution for their flagship is a good idea? Samsung has multiple products featuring 2K display and Exynos 7420 chipset which has fared well in the market till now.

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Meizu’s upcoming flagship code named ME5 has been making rounds on the internet for the past couple of weeks. We have seen benchmarks, leaks as well as a lot more other information about the new device. The most recent one was the leak wherein a Meizu model code named NIUX, probably same as the ME5 scored about 69,000 points on AnTuTu benchmark thanks to the Exynos 7420 chip inside.

Now a new leak via Weibo gives us a look at the Meizu ME5 flagship’s metal chassis. This does reveal some interesting aspects of the device like the placement of the headphone jack. Usually, manufacturers place the 3.5mm jack on top of the phone, which I consider is ideal. However, the leak reveals that the jack on the Meizu ME5 flagship will be located at the bottom, alongside the charging port. Given the high end status, the ME5 will most likely feature the USB-Type C instead of the traditional MicroUSB. Also, the port is said to support fast charge, most likely Meizu’s branded mCharge. We saw that mCharge could get MX5’s juice up to 25% in just 10 minutes. So, we can expect the same tech to end up in its high-end models.

The chassis isn’t too big, which probably means that the display is around 5.5-inch only. According to the previous leak, there were two different versions of the Meizu ME5, one powered by the Exynos 7420 while the other powered by the Helio X20 (MT6797). The latter is expected to be the high-end version. Other specs include 3GB / 4GB RAM, Mali-T760 GPU, 21MP Sony Exmor RS Sensor, 5MP front camera and 3500mAh battery. The ME5 is expected to run on Android 5.1.1 with Flyme 5.0 UI on top.

Overall, it looks like Meizu is targeting the premium high-end segment with its ME5 flagship. Of course, this also means a premium price tag, somewhere up of 3000 Yuan ($500). If these specs turn out to be true, we will have to wait and watch whether Meizu prices its flagship too high.

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Ever since Meizu VP Li Nan confirmed that the company was working on a high-end flagship device, we have been seeing leaks about such a device. Earlier today, we came across yet another leak, this time with the code name NIUX. The device was spotted on the AnTuTu benchmark with high-end specs.

According to the AnTuTu listing, the NIUX model will come with Samsung’s Exynos 7420 chipset clocked at 2.1GHz. This isn’t surprising given that Pan Jiutang, a known analyst from IHS had earlier hinted that the new Meizu flagship will use this Samsung chip. To support this chip, the phone will come with 3GB of RAM and Mali-T760 GPU. There will be 32Gb of internal storage with no mention of a memory card slot. At the back, there will be a 21MP camera while up front, the phone will feature a 5MP shooter. As for software, the phone is said to run on Android 5.1. The screen size is known but it comes with FHD 1080p resolution.

Interestingly, this NIUX model is said to be the lower end version. So, there’s a higher end version as well, but we don’t know the specifications of that device. Possible upgrades include 4GB of RAM, larger storage (64GB?) and a higher resolution display, possibly 2K.

The leaked NIUX Meizu model managed to score 69,000 points on AnTuTu with 3D graphics score of 21158. That’s comparable to the existing Galaxy S6 flagship. Also, given that this is the lower end version, we can expect even better scores on the higher-end model.

So what do you think about this particular NIUX Meizu model? Would you be willing to spend about 3000 Yuan for a device with such specs?

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Meizu has repeatedly stressed that the company has scrapped the Meizu MX Pro lineup this year. However, that doesn’t mean we won’t see a high-end flagship in the second half. Meizu VP Li Nan had earlier said that the company was developing a super high-end device planned to launch in a few months. Looks like, we have got some more details about this device, as most of the specs of the phone have just been revealed.

According to the leak from Weibo, Meizu’s unnamed high-end flagship will feature Samsung’s Exynos 7422 chipset clocked at 2.1GHz, the same one that powers the Galaxy Note 5. It looks like the company is targeting large screen lovers with this device as it will feature a 6-inch display with an impressive 2K resolution screen. There will be 4GB of LPDDR4 RAM and 32GB of eMMC 5.0 storage.

For camera, there will be a 20.7MP sensor at the back, with OIS and sapphire lens. One of the highlights of the device will be its large 4100mAh battery inside a 7.2mm slim metal body. We will most likely see the same home button integrated fingerprint sensor that we saw on Meizu MX5 on this high-end handset. Also, there will be a single SIM card slot only. As for software, the new Meizu flagship is said to run on Android 5.1 with Flyme 5.0 on top. Like most Meizu top-end devices till date, the phone is said to support Hi-Fi audio.

Li Nan did not reveal an exact date of launch this year, but we expect the phone to be released at least by November. Remember that this leak comes via Weibo and we are not entirely sure about the specs. So, we advise you to take this news with a pinch of salt.

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In the past few months, Meizu has made a number of strategic changes, including establishing a brand new Blue Charm lineup. The changes seems to be working for the company, since its smartphone sales are better than ever.

Meizu VP Li Nan recently revealed that the company had decided to scrap the MX5 Pro lineup in favor of a new high-end series. Now, Pan Jiutang, a popular analyst reveals that this new high-end smartphone will use Samsung’s Exynos 7420 chipset. This is the same processor that powers the Galaxy S6 lineup and has received praise from critics as well as customers for its performance. If this turns out to be true, it will also make the new Meizu machine, the first Chinese smartphone to come with a 14nm processor.

The company is reportedly working on a lineup that can directly compete with the Xiaomi Mi Note series. So, its important that the performance is better than competitors. While Qualcomm’s flagship Snapdragon 810 is powerful, its still criticized for its overheating issue. Apart from 810, there’s Helio X10 (available now) and Samsung’s Exynos 7420. If Meizu had to pick from these three options, it would have to be the Exynos 7420 due to its superior performance. Moreover, the 14nm manufacturing process makes the chip even more efficient.

Apart from this info, the new Meizu flagship is said to come with double sided glass design and a metal frame. The pricing is said to be above 3000 Yuan, much higher than what customers are used to paying for a Chinese flagship. So, this device has to be the best in almost all aspects to attract buyers.

When we asked our readers whether they would be ready to buy a Meizu flagship for 3000+ Yuan, many said that if the specs were right, they would consider it. So, if Meizu is indeed using Exynos 7420 inside its newest machine, its most likely going on the right path.

What do you think?

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