If we talk about budget smartphones, the Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 completely changed the game this year, with great performance and superb battery life. Xiaomi’s hold was further cemented by the Redmi 3s, which made it impossible to recommend any other device in its price segment. That being said, phone makers are not shying away from competition. One of the finest examples is the Meizu M3S, which was launched today in India. With good specifications and prices starting at Rs. 7,999, the phone seems like a good competitor to the Redmi 3S and Redmi 3S Prime. We had the chances to take a closer look at the device and here is what we think about it.
The Meizu M3S has a respectable set of specifications and we expect it to perform at par or at least very close to the best phones in its category. Here are the key specifications
DIsplay: 5-inch, 1280 x 720p
SoC: MT6750
RAM: 2/3GB
Storage: 16/32GB
Camera: 13MP, 5MP
Battery: 3020mAh
OS: Android 5.1 Lollipop
The Meizu M3S employs a 5-inch IPS LCD panel with a display resolution of 1280 X 720p. On initial impressions, the display seems bright and offers good viewing angles. The colour saturation could have been better, but the display is definitely sharper than Meizu M2, which is the predecessor to this device.
Build-wise, we would say that the M3S seems to have a better build quality than any of its peers. It’s not the first phone to offer a metal back, but the feel of the aluminum does seem a tad bit premium than the Xiaomi Redmi 3s. Although, we would be comparing the phones side by side when we do full review to give you a better perspective.
The Android 5.1 Lollipop on this phone is layered with Meizu’s latest Flyme OS. Flyme OS presents a very functional UI and is quite minimalistic at the same time. The UI features all the essential apps such as music player, gallery and more, but it does not come preloaded with Google apps such as Chrome, Youtube, etc. Only Google Maps and Play Store are pre-installed. The phone also features the typical single home/back button we have seen in previous Meizu phones. It also has fingerprint scanner built into it.
The design of the phone is also very familiar to previous Meizu phones, especially the M3 Note, which was launched earlier this year. The metal back combined with the 2.5D curved glass display gives the phone a premium look. That being said, many phones in its price category feature a metal back these days.
The Meizu M3S is powered by a MediaTek MT6750 SoC and is available in two RAM options. One is the 2GB RAM variants which has 16GB of storage and then there is the 3GB RAM variant which comes with a 32GB of storage. While the 3GB RAM is fast becoming a norm in the sub-10K segment, this is the first time we have seen the MT6750 in this price segment. This octa-core performed quite well, when we tested it on the Oppo F1s.
On the camera front, the Meizu M3S has a 13MP primary camera. In the little time we spent with the device, the camera took some really good images in a well-lit courtyard. Even the 5MP front-facing camera seemed good enough. However, we are looking forward to reviewing the phone thoroughly.