Meizu 『MX4』、 "1799" When these words, which can make the market fluctuate, were gathered together, the mobile phone market, which was already not calm, set off a new market wave. This is not only due to the price bomb of 1799, but also because of the brand potential brought by Meizu's technology and design before that. The price is only a catalyst for this wave. Some people say that the compromise between process design and user experience is behind the low price. What exactly is it? Today, we will explore from the perspective of a user.

I packing

A lot of experience reviews have not taken packaging as the content of display. For the MX4, it is really not enough to omit this delicate packaging. In the era of functional phones, no one will pay attention to a box that is not ordinary. In the era of smart phones, especially after domestic mobile phones set foot on the huge platform of Android, Appearance and process design have become a way out for domestic mobile phones to do differentiated selling points, and mobile phone packaging also bears this responsibility.

The first time I used Meizu's new product, I had heard about the unique design of the package for a long time, but the moment I got it, I still admired the simple and exquisite package. The product logo on the front was simple and just right. The whole package box was like a beauty, and I always wanted to peek at her.

The design of the box is like a book. Each page tells you the main character of the book. The subtle difference between the "better phone" of the MX4 and the "big screen phone" of the MX3 is intriguing.

The screen size of the MX4 is larger than that of the MX3, reaching 5.36 inches. However, it has become the mainstream size of the current mobile phone market compared with the mobile phone with a 6-inch and 7-inch large screen. The compact body, ultra-high screen share, extremely narrow frame, comfortable grip, and system optimization are all prerequisites for better mobile phones.

II appearance

If there is ID gene in the appearance design of mobile phones, I think Meizu is the brand with the strongest heredity in the appearance gene of domestic mobile phones. From the first generation MX of the Dream series to the current MX4, narrow borders, curved back shells, rounded corners, small circles, and non mainstream widescreen proportions These are all inherited from several generations of Meizu products.

Nearly 80% of the screens and extremely narrow borders are in pursuit of the ultimate visual experience. What I admire personally is that Meizu can make the black edges on both sides of the screen so narrow when it is lit, which is almost negligible in the normal visual distance.

The press conference mentioned the process difficulty of aluminum magnesium alloy and arc frame. As an ordinary consumer, we don't need to explore these words, but the ultimate goal of the ultimate process is to bring better use experience to users. The first feeling of the MX4 is that it is light. As a mobile phone with a 5.36 inch screen, it can control the weight of the phone at 147g, which is also due to the application of aluminum magnesium alloy. In addition, the curved frame brings a good sense of grip. The transition between the phone frame and the rear shell is very natural, and there is no obvious tactile difference due to different materials;

There are earphones, front facing cameras and distance sensors on the top of the front of the mobile phone. Some people say that opening such a hole on the white front panel is like having several moles on a beautiful woman's face. This is a better choice in terms of function and aesthetics. If the future technology advances, the distance sensor and camera can be inserted into the earpiece (T1 It is more perfect. If you are a Virgo or an obsessive-compulsive patient, it is recommended to start with the gray version. The black front panel is more integrated.

Most people are used to the three physical keys of Android phones. Meizu's approach is always different, perhaps because of its pursuit of simplicity. There is only a classic small circle at the bottom of the MX4. After more than half a month of personal experience, I think this choice is worth considering the beauty of the whole machine.

On the side of the phone is the volume key, which is slightly stronger, with a strong sense of hierarchy and obvious feedback. However, it is a little pity that the key is slightly loose in the thickness direction of the phone;

There are five signal overflow ports around the side of the mobile phone. The location of the overflow port is not completely symmetrical. Through daily use, the MX4's signal performance is positive, and there is no signal loss after more than ten days of use.

The bottom of the phone is a USB interface and a microphone. The four neat big holes on the right are sound cavity holes. Officially, the speaking area has increased by 13%, and the volume is twice that of the previous generation. We can't verify these data by comparison or detection here, but from the perspective of the use of hearing, I was shocked by the first use of the MX4's external display. In fact, this word is not excessive, Many mobile phones have been used, but the sound quality of MX4 external player is really rare. It is suggested that students starting with the MX4 must try her out.

The camera on the back gives you the first impression of being large. At the same time, the glass outside the MX4 camera is coated with a layer of blue film, giving you a deep feeling. The flash adopts a dual color temperature flash.

The top is the power key, noise reduction mic and standard 3.5mm headphone interface. It has to be said that as a large screen mobile phone with more than 5 inches, it is really inconvenient to put the power key on the top to operate. Although the MX4 supports a variety of screen out gestures, it looks like screen out (you can press the Home key long in the system settings to set the screen out) The frequency of such operations as power-off is relatively high in daily use. The design of the power button on the top of a large screen mobile phone that is easy to use is somewhat regrettable.

The design of removable back cover and non replaceable battery has been continued in the MX series. Although it has been subjected to various controversies and complaints during the period, Meizu has not changed. Now many mobile phone manufacturers in China are also popular with this design. In fact, I think I prefer this design of non replaceable battery, First, the non detachable battery of mobile phones can improve the stability and security of mobile phones, and also increase the difficulty for some profiteers to change their posts; Second, the mobile power supply has replaced the backup battery to a certain extent. At present, an original mobile phone battery is expensive, so it is more practical to buy a small mobile power supply with this money.

The MX4 mobile phone screen adopts Sharp/JDI 5.36 inch screen, with a resolution of 1920 x 1152. Because the screen adopts the single glass full fitting process, the screen is black when the screen is turned off, and the screen appears as if floating on the screen surface when the screen is turned on. The visual performance is very strong. The press conference said that this screen has a wider color gamut, higher contrast, and better brightness, In fact, as consumers, we don't have much energy to understand the effects of parameter improvement. As far as personal use experience is concerned, the screen display effect of MX4 will certainly exceed your expectations. The screen of MX4 is one of the few good screens on the market at present.

III System · Interaction

Google's open Android has brought great freedom for mobile phone manufacturers to customize their own ROMs. System and interaction have become the selling points for mobile phone manufacturers to differentiate. In the past few years, few mobile phone manufacturers have released their customized ROMs as separate products. Now, with the hardware difference becoming smaller and smaller, system interaction has become a new favorite to improve user experience. For mobile phone manufacturers, The mission of system ROM is not only to improve the user experience, but also the system platform is the next breakthrough.

I seldom used Flyme before, and it takes a period of learning to adapt to its interaction mode when I first got to know it. In the process of nearly half a month's use, I found that although Flyme is similar to other manufacturers in many places at the beginning of system interaction, after a long time of use, you will find that Meizu always has its own unique understanding and way of system interaction, Now let's talk about some features of the MX4 Flyme4.0 based on my personal experience of more than half a month. Other operating instructions will not be listed here. If you are new to Flyme, you are suggested to open the usage guide in the desktop system tools folder, which has a detailed introduction.

The first time I opened the system, I was attracted by the elegant green color of the desktop wallpaper. The wallpaper and the white color of the mobile phone match well. I tried to change other wallpapers, but the final effect was still somewhat different from the default wallpaper. Meizu has redrawn the system icon of Flyme and other commonly used software icons. The icons are mainly square, but in some system icons, such as music, camera, settings, phone, browser, etc., round icons are still used. From this point, it can be seen that Meizu has its own way of aesthetic appreciation.

"Cut the complexity and simplify it" is my biggest feeling when using Flyme4.0, especially in the system gesture interaction, such as up stroke unlocking, down stroke opening the notice bar, left stroke opening the camera, right stroke opening the specified application, double click the bright screen (double click again to extinguish the screen). Once you are used to it, it is not easy to put it down again. The system response of gesture operation is basically zero delay. At the same time, the MX4 has also done a good job in preventing accidental touch. In my half month of use, I haven't seen such strange phenomena as automatic phone calls, automatic text messages, and automatic microblogging. However, it is a pity that during the use process, especially when the pants pocket is just taken out, the gesture operation will be ineffective occasionally, which may be a problem of anti touch scene recognition optimization. I hope Flyme can improve in the subsequent system optimization.

IV SmartBar

If we can see a person's character from his behavior, we can vaguely see Meizu's unique understanding of system interaction from SmartBar. Meizu has been suffering from various controversies since it used SmartBar. The original idea of unified system interaction through SmartBar was blocked by Android, a huge and chaotic system ecosystem. The opening of Android has also brought open interaction and interface logic. Even though Android has occupied more than 80% of the global smartphone market, many Android apps still follow the interaction and interface logic of iOS, It is hard for SmartBar to unify the interface. However, I saw Meizu's progress and flexibility in SmartBar in Flyme4.0.

Before flyme 4.0, many kerosene users hid SmartBar through third-party tools. However, in version 4.0, the system supports hiding SmartBar functions, which would have been unthinkable. However, with the growing influence of flyme, many third-party applications began to work with Meizu to optimize the SmartBar experience, such as Weibo, Taobao, Alipay Gaode Maps has started to support SmartBar on flyme system. With Meizu's openness and influence increasing, we believe that Meizu's persistent SmartBar will no longer be a weakness in the future.

V Initial system platform

The Internet has changed people's way of life. With the rapid development of smart phones, mobile Internet is regarded by mobile phone manufacturers as the next breakthrough to change people's way of life. The opening of Android has brought unprecedented opportunities to domestic manufacturers. The competition in the smart phone market is not only limited to the competition of hardware, but mobile hardware is just a means to expand the user base, And the real enclosure to form ecology depends on the system platform. When I use the MX4, I have a more intuitive feeling that Meizu's signal to build a system platform is very strong, and the integration speed, depth and breadth of the system platform have begun to take shape. A Flyme account, a variety of payment methods, and a rich payment environment are all Meizu's attempts to build Flyme into a system platform.

The system SMS and contacts in the address book are deeply integrated with Alipay and Lakala, which can realize quick transfer and phone recharge

Among the system tools, such as music and theme, Flyme also provides users with the function of purchasing high-quality services. What I have to mention here is the music of Flyme, whether from the system interface, the provision of music content or the perfect sound quality performance, MX4 is really outstanding in this respect, but most of Flyme's music is high-quality and lossless, but it only supports free listening. If you want to download it, you have to pay for it. I actually experienced a 1-yuan experience, and about 60 high-quality music can be downloaded. To be honest, I didn't have the habit of paying for music before, but from the actual music experience of MX4, It is worth paying for high-quality services.

L VI Cloud service

The concept of cloud has been promoted for many years. What on earth is cloud? Not to mention consumers, even many companies under the cloud flag are in a fog. What is the direct relationship between cloud and consumers? What lifestyle habits can change consumers? Until the rapid development of smart phones and mobile Internet, the concept of cloud service was clearly put forward and applied in real life. The biggest difference between mobile phones and computers is that mobile phones can restore users' habits and record users' privacy to the greatest extent. People's trust in mobile phones is even stronger than their closest friends.

What cloud services need to do is to automatically save users' private data and usage habits. There are many companies providing cloud services in China, but most users only regard it as a network hard disk and sharing platform, and the user viscosity is very low. So many cloud service companies have begun to target mobile system platforms. I think 360's cooperation with Meizu will also be based on this consideration;

Flyme4.0 has deeply integrated cloud services. At present, Flyme4.0 cloud services are divided into three parts. One is the data synchronization function, which mainly synchronizes contacts, notes, calendars, information, call records, input methods, browsers, blacklists and other settings in real time; The second is cloud storage. Meizu can store photo albums and files. Meizu provides users with 1TB of storage space. Of course, users can expand to 40TB for free by binding 360 accounts

The third function is the mobile phone retrieval function. When the mobile phone is lost or cannot be found, you can log in to the cloud service website through the computer or download the mobile phone retrieval client to locate, take remote photos, lock, erase data, etc. In addition, Meizu's flyme is more surprising to me because the account is not logged off after the mobile phone clears data and restores factory settings, In other words, if your phone is lost and others reset your phone to its factory settings, you can also use the phone retrieval function to find your phone.

VII Voice Assistant Xiaoxi

The release of Apple Siri has further promoted human-computer interaction, but the intelligent voice assistant of Android camp has always been tepid. One of the biggest reasons is that voice recognition can not bring people great convenience in real use scenarios. There are two main reasons for analysis: first, the recognition rate of voice assistant can not meet the use requirements in complex user use scenarios, Once the use experience can not meet the user's needs, then the gorgeous function can only be a decoration; The second is the integration of speech recognition and system. The tipping point for voice recognition to open the market should come from people's curiosity and expectation for human-computer interaction, but the real popularity still needs to be seamlessly integrated with the system to meet people's use needs. Mobile phones are not used for flirting. When people find that only one sentence is needed to complete a specified operation, the mission of voice assistant has just been completed.

I have used many machines and seen many evaluations. The most popular platform of voice assistant is Apple's iOS, while the Android camp is relatively cold. Voice assistant is only mentioned when Apple's siri style and people are lonely. Other times, most people regard it as a dispensable thing like NFC. Meizu's voice assistant developed relatively late in my impression, but thanks to iFLYTEK's profound voice technology accumulation and its own understanding of human-computer interaction, the voice assistant on the MX4 really gave me a lot of surprises:

Like most voice assistants, the MX4 starts the voice assistant by long pressing the home key. However, with the small circle of good reputation, it is a very enjoyable process to start the voice assistant on the MX4. Perhaps this seems to be a very unreliable advantage, which can only be felt if you have experienced it personally; At first, I thought that the MX4's startup interface was an eye-catching green frosted glass effect by default, but later it was found that the color of the default interface frosted glass would change with the color displayed on the screen. At this time, I found that the voice assistant of the MX4 was on call at any time in the whole scene (except when making a phone call, in fact, he should not appear on this occasion to avoid misunderstandings (^ ☒ ^)). The interface is divided into upper and lower parts, and the greetings on the top will change at any time according to different times and scenes of the day; The voice recognition area below is composed of voice recognition line and microphone recognition button. The animation transition of the whole recognition process is natural and elegant.

The super high speech recognition rate comes from the seamless combination of software and hardware. In addition to its own optimization in software, the greatest contribution comes from iFLYTEK's profound accumulation of voice technology over the years. At the same time, the hardware noise reduction has also played a great role in improving the speech recognition rate. In different test environments (indoor, outdoor, plaza, and beside urban main roads), the voice recognition rate of the MX4 can basically achieve 100% success. Of course, a good network environment is essential (it is recommended to use it under 3G, 4G, and WIFI).

If the voice function of smart phones is separated from the system, there will be no substantive interactive breakthrough. In addition to the ordinary online query and flirting and leisure functions, the voice assistant of the MX4 is deeply integrated with the system. Some functions can be basically achieved through a single voice command, such as making a call, opening a note, setting an alarm clock, system settings, and setting navigation. Here we have to talk about the function of navigation settings, The MX4 default Goddard Navigation is the default navigation software. In some common locations, the whole process from address search to navigation setting can be completed with only one voice command required for navigation. This experience is very good. In personal actual tests, some common locations are basically 100% recognized. In addition, sending short messages and playing music require secondary instructions.

It's a pity that the continuous understanding ability of the MX4's voice commands before and after needs to be improved. For example, I want to set the alarm clock at 6:00 tomorrow morning and send the command: wake me up at 6:00 tomorrow morning. At this time, the voice assistant recognizes and sets the alarm clock in the morning. But if I want to cancel, if I send the voice command "Cancel" at this time, the voice assistant does not cancel the alarm clock just now, And recognize according to the new voice command. There are many examples like this, so it is recommended to further optimize the understanding of context.

VIII MT6595

In just a few years, too many unexpected things have happened to the rapid development of smart phones. The former Nokia withdrew from the stage with regret. Intel, the chip leader in the computer era, has repeatedly failed in the smart phone market. Qualcomm, which is at the height of its power, has been dodged by Huawei HiSilicon in the 4G era, However, MediaTek, a chip company that occupies a huge share of the copycat market in the era of functional phones, is trying to justify itself in the tide of smart phones. The 6592 True Eight Core finally made Qualcomm, the industry leader who had previously ignored it, tremble. With its low-cost, low-power and complete solutions, MTK's processors quickly occupied the 1000 yuan smart phone market. Of course, MediaTek, which has always been eyeing the high-end market of Qualcomm's platform, tried to take off its low-end, cheap and copycat hat, hoping to share in the high-end mobile phone market.

In this case, Meizu may be a good choice. Meizu's positioning in the domestic market is middle and high-end. It has accumulated a good reputation and brand image with its good technology and appearance. In the impression, Meizu mostly uses Samsung's processors. The high cost of patent chips has also kept Meizu in a conservative middle and high-end price in the price of products in previous generations, Since J With the return of Wong, Meizu seems to be changing its previous strategic positioning. The rhythm of one mobile phone a year has been broken, The official positioning of the MX4 is not the flagship of this year, but the strategic positioning is indeed the most important step for Meizu to activate the market this year. With the launch of 1799, there was not much mention of the MT6595 processor. The biggest question was that the low-price MediaTek processor, named as a fake, sold to the mid-range price of 1799, Some people said that Meizu had lowered its attitude and lost its identity. Others said that MediaTek had become a rich man. It was natural for everyone to have doubts from different angles, including the competition among competitors. The introduction of MT6595 processor can be found everywhere on the Internet, and the test conclusion of which is better or worse than Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 is also different. Let me talk about my opinion here.

1. Is MT6595 enough?

In fact, this question is very easy to answer from the perspective of evaluation or use experience. The conclusions of various online tests on 6595 are basically easy to deal with in daily use, mainstream large-scale games, and high-definition video decoding. But it is the obsessive-compulsive disorder of many people that finally tangles. Just like a few years ago when an individual chose a notebook, did he buy an A card or an N card? Is video memory 1G or 2G? Is this bit width 64bit or 128bit? But there are more stream processors. What if you can play large games or graphics software GPU performance is not enough? A good video card is expensive, but a good video card is cheap. It must be cut corners elsewhere... I finally chose a laptop with a mid-range video card, and now I find that I don't play any large-scale games, but the 320G hard disk is not enough. Personally speaking, I mean to understand my own needs and choose. There are many controversies on the network for a purpose. A Snapdragon 600 machine in my hands is no worse than the 800 platform (the same 5-inch 1080P). At present, the hardware configuration of the flagship mobile phone can meet people's needs, Too much emphasis on hardware configuration is just a strategy for merchants to publicize (of course, competitors will also catch hold of it). The use experience of mobile phones is comprehensive. In the era of hardware surplus, system optimization and differentiated user experience are the things consumers should really care about and understand.

2. What impact does MT6595 have on Meizu MX4?

Personally, the biggest impact is that Meizu has more confidence in positioning the MX4 to 1799. However, from the perspective of user use, the MT6595 processor has brought the biggest change to the MX4, which is that the endurance is a little higher and the heat is a little lower. Personally, I have seen the survey data of many institutions. At present, the biggest dissatisfaction of consumers with smart phones is the problem of battery life. Due to the limitation of battery technology, the battery life of mobile phones has become the number one killer affecting the user experience, which is more impressive for kerosene. Personally, when the MX4 puts the endurance to more than one day of normal use, the future users of the MX4 should be applauded most. The same fever problem, in personal use for more than half a month, belongs to the normal temperature range.

3. What really needs to be improved on the MX4 of MT6595 platform?

In fact, there must be many problems in the system tuning of new mobile phones, especially mobile phones on new platforms when they are initially launched. The MX4 is no exception. During the use process, the system has occasional bugs. I hope Meizu will repair them as soon as possible in the future system upgrade. In addition, the smoothness needs to be improved. The smoothness here is not the interface sliding, The response speed of some applications needs to be improved.

IX camera

Meizu finally gave up the 8 million pixels used in the third generation of MX4, but this upgrade is not the 13 million pixels IMX214 of the current mainstream flagship mobile phone application, but the same IMX220 as Sony's flagship Z3. The sensor size of this camera module has reached 1/2.3 inch, and the pixels have reached 20.7 million pixels. At the same time, it is equipped with F/2.2 large aperture and dual color temperature flash, Hardware parameters can be said to have been the mainstream configuration of the current Android camp. As for the photo taking effect, from the perspective of a user, I generally feel that the overall effect of the MX4 in the photo taking process is relatively satisfactory. The photo focusing speed is fast, the image quality is high, the daytime image is clean and delicate, the image quality is sharp, and the white balance is accurate, The overall imaging effect is more pleasing to the eye. At the same time, the macro virtualization effect is obvious, but the main body is not sharp enough. At the same time, the success of macro auto focusing needs to be improved. Manual focusing is easy to cause the picture and background to be dark.

tail

From 2499 to 1799, from unique aesthetic to "compromise" catering to the public taste, The MX4 will eventually become a transition work of Meizu, with its ultimate appearance design, ultra narrow frame, excellent screen, comfortable feel, good endurance, and new Flyme... This is a new work brought to us by Meizu after transformation. The MX4 is not the only product released by Meizu in 2014, but it is a transition work.