Meizu, another Chinese handset giant, has entered India with its M1 Note smartphone. It has however not opted for the notorious ‘flash sale’ mode being embraced by the likes of Xiaomi, OnePlus One and Yu. Also, Meizu kept the price of M1 Note very competitive – at just Rs 11,999, very close to the Mi 4i which is retailing currently for Rs 12,999.
So let’s see which one of them looks more attractive on the paper.
Design and Display
The Meizu M1 Note has a 5.5 inch full HD display, thus offering 403 ppi pixel density. The screen also has Corning Gorilla Glass 3 protection and said to come with 450 nit of brightness. The handset measures 150.7 x 75.2 x 8.9 mm and weighs 145 grams.
The Mi 4i has a smaller 5 inch display but with the same full high definition resolution, thus offering higher pixel density of 441 ppi. Its screen is said to be using a hardware-level technology to improve readability in sunlight. It is also protected by a Corning OGS glass, which makes it resilient against scratches and damage.
Performance
The Mi 4i is powered by the 64-bit, 2nd Gen Qualcomm Snapdragon 615 octa-core processor. It has 4 performance cores clocking at 1.7 GHz and 4 power-saving cores at 1.1 GHz to ensure quicker multitasking between applications. To assist the processor, there is 2 GB of RAM. The phone has the latest Android 5.0.2 Lollipop operating system on top of which lies the MIUI 6 interface.
The Meizu M1 Note too has a 64 bit, octa core Processor but of a different make – it has the Mediatek MT6572 processor which is said to be more powerful than the Snapdragon chipset. Also the M1 Note offers the same 2 GB RAM. However, it offers the older Android 4.4.4 KitKat version.
Storage wise though both the phones are on the same plane – both of them have 16 GB internal storage and neither of them offer expandable storage slot.
Camera
The Meizu M1 Note has a 13 Megapixel auto focus rear camera with dual LED flash light and a 5 megapixel front camera.
The Mi 4i too has a 13 megapixel auto focus rear camera, two tone flash light and a 5 megapixel front camera.
Connectivity
Both the phones have dual SIM with 4G connectivity. In case of Mi 4i, both its SIM slots are capable of holding 4G cards while Meizu M1 Note holds only one 4G card. Other connectivity features remain the same with little difference. Both the phones have WiFi, Bluetooth, GPS, and a Micro USB port.
Battery
The Meizu smartphone has a 3140 mAh non-removable battery, promising 40 hours of 2G talktime or 12 hours of 4G web surfing.
The Mi 4i has an equally big battery – a 3120 mAh unit that claims to offer 36 hours of 3G talktime.
Conclusion
The Mi 4i and Meizu M1 Note look like twins in many segment such as camera, storage connectivity, and even battery. The Mi 4i has a bit of EDGE in case of operating system and to some extent in display (due to its higher pixel density but in terms of size the Meizu phone is much better). The Meizu M1 Note though looks better in terms of processor (marginally) and price.