Meizu M3 Max review: Great performance and premium build quality.

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2016-10-29 16:42

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Specs: 6-inch IPS LCD (1920 x 1080 pixels), octacore Helio P10 processor, 3GB RAM, 64GB storage, microSD slot (up to 256GBsupported), dual SIM, fingerprint sensor, 13MP rear camera, 5MP front camera,4G, WiFi, Bluetooth 4.1, GPS, Android 6.0, 4,100mAh battery, 189 grams

Up till last year, 5.5-inch display phones werecounted as large screen with a few manufacturers trying out 5.7-inch and 6-inchsize phones. This year, the 6-inch size screen is slowly finding favour withconsumers and that is why more brands are launching phones with a 6-inchscreen. The M3 Max is Meizu's offering in the 6-inch screen size segment andthat too in the mid-range price segment.

Display and Fingerprint
This is the first smartphone from Meizu to comewith a 6-inch display. The resolution of the screen is 1920 x 1080 pixels whichgives it a pixel density of 367 ppi (pixel per inch). This keeps thingspin-sharp on the screen. It impresses with super slim bezels on the side whichis one of the reasons why the device does not feel too large. The displayitself has vibrant colours, wide viewing angles and good brightness level.Meizu has provided settings to tweak the colour temperature of the display aswell as a built-in eye protective mode (blue light filter).
Fingerprint scanner is embedded inthe home button on the front. Setting up the fingerprint was very easy and youcan add a maximum of 5 fingers for unlocking the phone. The scanner'srecognition is excellent - it managed to recognize and unlock the device 9 outof 10 times. You can also lock individual apps and set them to be opened viafingerprint scanner. One thing we did not like was that the when trying to wakethe phone from black screen, we had to press the home/power button towake upthe phone and then it would scan the fingerprint for unlock. It would have beengreat if the phone would have woken up unlocked when the home button waspressed .
Camera and Multimedia
On the rear is a 13MP camera with f2.2 aperture,dual tone flash and phase detection autofocus. In our usage, we noticed thatthe camera worked great in daylight as well as indoors - images had sharpdetails, good colours, minimal noise and even good depth of field effect inphotos. In low light, a lot of noise becomes visible on the phone screen itselfand images are only good to view on the phone at times Using the dual LEDflash helps in some scenarios but often it ended up overexposing the subjectclose to the camera. It impressed us with its fast focus and shutter speedalso. Meizu has included multiple useful modes on the camera app including suchas beauty, panorama, light field, macro, gif and even a full manual mode. However,the video mode is also placed inside this mode selection video and not as aquick icon on the main camera interface - you have to open the mode changesection and select video to start recording - it would have been idea if theapp icon was outside. Its front 5MP camera takes well-lit photos thanks to thef2.0 aperture. However, we noticed that images taken indoors and in low lighthad soft details. That being said, the photos from the front camera are goodenough to share on network and use as display picture in on social media.

M3 Max's built in music player supports playback ofcommon audio formats including FLAC. It has an easy to use tiled basedinterface that makes browsing through music as well as playlist easy. Videoplayer has a list based interface and had no issues playing videos in differentformats up to 1080p resolution. The audio output from the phone is loud andclear - we felt that it can be used a bed-side player for personal consumptionif required.

Software
M3 Max come with Meizu's own Flyme OS based onAndroid 6.0. Flyme has all icons and widgets placed on various home panels anddoes not have an app drawer - however, you are limited to 9 home panels. Thereis folder support so you can place your app icons in folders for easy sorting.

Hardware & Performance
The M3 max is powered by an octacore MediatekHelio P10 processor with 3GB RAM and Mali T860MP2 GPU. Theses specificationsare good enough for basic users as well as for gaming.