Meizu has announced the M1 Note, a new smartphone designed to take on the Xiaomi Redmi Note.
While the popular Xiaomi phone is well-priced and comparatively well-specced, Meizu's phone goes a step beyond.
It maintains the low cost, but boosts the majority of the specifications, to make a phone which on paper, appears to be almost too good to be true.
The M1 Note's screen measures 5.5-inches, matching the Redmi Note, but has a 1080p resolution. It's also one of Sharp's energy efficient IGZO panels, as seen on phones including the Sharp Aquos Crystal, and has a 400ppi pixel density.
Meizu has chosen the MediaTek MT6752 processor to power the M1 Note - a 64-bit, 2GHz chip with 2GB of RAM.
Clearly influenced by Apple's iPhone 5C, Meizu will release the M1 Note in a variety of cool colors, and like Apple's phone, they are attractive, pastel shades. Influences don't stop at the style either, just check out some of the promotional images above and spot the similarities between Meizu's efforts and Apple's 5C campaign.
The polycarbonate unibody will come in green, blue, yellow, pink, and white. It's not the thinnest phone at 8.9mm, but crucially that's less than the Redmi Note 4G, and it's also lighter at 145 grams.
A 13-megapixel camera produced by Samsung is fitted to the rear, along with a dual tone LED flash, and a 5-megapixel f2.0 camera is found above the screen.
A choice of either 16GB or 32GB internal storage space will be available. A 3140mAh battery provides the energy, plus the phone has Bluetooth 4.0, GPS, dual-band Wi-Fi, 4G, and dual-SIM slots. Despite leaks saying otherwise, it looks like Meizu has installed Android with its Flyme user interface over the top.
Only a short while ago, this was a range-topping spec, and a phone sporting it would have cost more than $500 without a contract.
The Samsung Galaxy S4, for example. Meizu will selling the M1 Note in China for the equivalent of $160, which makes it appear incredible value for money.
The release date hasn't been confirmed, but there's every chance it'll be available for sale internationally through the meizumart.com online store.
