The Meizu M5 Note is a

smartphone A smartphone is a portable computer device that combines mobile telephone and computing functions into one unit. They are distinguished from feature phones by their stronger hardware capabilities and extensive mobile operating systems, whic ...

designed and produced by the

Chinese Chinese can refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation ** List of ethnic groups in China, people of va ...

manufacturer

Meizu Meizu Technology Co., Ltd. () is a Chinese consumer electronics manufacturer based in Zhuhai, Guangdong. Founded in 2003 by Jack Wong, Meizu began as a manufacturer of MP3 players and later MP4 players. In 2008, Meizu moved its focus to smartph ...

, which runs on

Flyme OS Meizu Technology Co., Ltd. () is a Chinese consumer electronics manufacturer based in Zhuhai, Guangdong. Founded in 2003 by Jack Wong, Meizu began as a manufacturer of MP3 players and later MP4 players. In 2008, Meizu moved its focus to smartph ...

, Meizu's modified Android operating system. It is the company's latest model of M series, succeeding the Meizu M3 Note. It was unveiled on December 6, 2016 in Beijing.

History

On October 31, 2016 Meizu officially launched the M5 in Beijing. Later in December, Meizu announced and unveiled the M5 Note, targeted at budget-conscious consumers looking for a decent mid-range device.

Release

Pre-order A pre-order is an order placed for an item that has not yet been released. The idea for pre-orders came because people found it hard to get popular items in stores because of their popularity. Companies then had the idea to allow customers to r ...

s for the M5 Note began after the launch event on December 8, 2016. Sales in mainland China began on December, 2016.

Features

Flyme

The M5 was released with

version 5, a modified operating system based on

Android Marshmallow Android Marshmallow ( codenamed Android M during development) is the sixth major version of the Android operating system developed by Google, being the successor to Android Lollipop. It was announced at Google I/O on May 28, 2015, and released ...

Hardware and design

The Meizu M5 Note has a MTK6755M octa-core processor with an array of ten

ARM In human anatomy, the arm refers to the upper limb in common usage, although academically the term specifically means the upper arm between the glenohumeral joint (shoulder joint) and the elbow joint. The distal part of the upper limb between the ...

Cortex

CPU A central processing unit (CPU), also called a central processor, main processor or just processor, is the electronic circuitry that executes instructions comprising a computer program. The CPU performs basic arithmetic, logic, controlling, and ...

cores, an ARM Mali-T860

GPU A graphics processing unit (GPU) is a specialized electronic circuit designed to manipulate and alter memory to accelerate the creation of images in a frame buffer intended for output to a display device. GPUs are used in embedded systems, mobil ...

and 3 to 4 GB of

RAM Ram, ram, or RAM may refer to: Animals * A male sheep * Ram cichlid, a freshwater tropical fish People * Ram (given name) * Ram (surname) * Ram (director) (Ramsubramaniam), an Indian Tamil film director * RAM (musician) (born 1974), Dutch * Ra ...

LPDDR3 (depending on the version 16/32 or 64 GB). Unlike most other Android smartphones, the M5 Note has neither capacitive buttons nor on-screen buttons; the functionality of these keys is implemented using a technology which makes use of gestures with the home screen button, which also acts as a

fingerprint sensor A fingerprint is an impression left by the friction ridges of a human finger. The recovery of partial fingerprints from a crime scene is an important method of forensic science. Moisture and grease on a finger result in fingerprints on surf ...

. The

haptic technology Haptic technology (also kinaesthetic communication or 3D touch) is technology that can create an experience of touch by applying forces, vibrations, or motions to the user. These technologies can be used to create virtual objects in a computer ...

that debuted on the Meizu M3, which allows the user to perform a different action by pressing the touchscreen instead of tapping, also features on the M5. The M5 Note has a 5.5-inch LTPS IPS LCD

multi-touch In computing, multi-touch is technology that enables a surface (a touchpad or touchscreen) to recognize the presence of more than one somatosensory system, point of contact with the surface at the same time. The origins of multitouch began at CER ...

capacitive touchscreen A touchscreen or touch screen is the assembly of both an input ('touch panel') and output ('display') device. The touch panel is normally layered on the top of an electronic visual display of an information processing system. The display is often ...

display with a resolution of 1920 by 1080 pixels, and a

pixel density Pixels per inch (ppi) and pixels per centimetre (ppcm or pixels/cm) are measurements of the pixel density of an electronic image device, such as a computer monitor or television display, or image digitizing device such as a camera or image scanner. ...

of 403 ppi. The device has a volume/zoom control and the power/lock button on the right side and a 3.5mm TRS audio jack. Like its predecessor, it uses

USB Universal Serial Bus (USB) is an industry standard that establishes specifications for cables, connectors and protocols for connection, communication and power supply (interfacing) between computers, peripherals and other computers. A broad v ...

Micro-B for both connectivity and charging. The device has front and back cameras, with resolutions of 5

megapixel In digital imaging, a pixel (abbreviated px), pel, or picture element is the smallest addressable element in a raster image, or the smallest point in an all points addressable display device. In most digital display devices, pixels are the smal ...

s and 13 megapixels, respectively. The M5 Note is available in four colours: champagne gold, silver, grey, and blue; and comes with either 16, 32 or 64 GB of internal storage.

Reception

The M5 Note received mixed reviews. Android Authority praised the Fingerprint sensor on the device, saying "There’s a fingerprint sensor below the screen that wakes up the device in 0.2 seconds and will keep your precious data safe." Digital Trends however commented on the timing and how the M5 Note was more of an upgrade stating "The peculiar thing about the M5 Note is it arrives less than a year after the M3 Note’s introduction, making it much more of an incremental upgrade than anything else." GSM Arena concluded that whilst featuring an attractive design, Meizu M5 Note was described as being less impressive than competitor devices, noting "everything about the phone is average, while the competition goes above and beyond the understanding of the term average." Android Headlines also commented on the issue of LTE support, saying it should be carefully considered "If you live in a country where the Meizu M5 Note supports all of the bands that you need for LTE, then definitely." Phandroid commented that storage could be an issue saying "just as long as you opt for the 32GB models so you can install more than a few dozen apps before running out of storage."

References

External links

Official product page
Meizu {{Meizu, smartphones=yes, MP3=yes Mobile phones introduced in 2016 Meizu smartphones Discontinued smartphones