Which phone is better - Meizu or Xiaomi?
Currently, Chinese smartphones are very popular all over the world. Xiaomi and Meizu are well known not only at home, but also abroad. Computer products of these brands are characterized by low prices, so they constantly compete with each other both in their native China and in our country. In this article, we will try to figure out which phone is better - Meise or Xiaomi, which company has fewer cons and which branded products should be preferred.
Why are Meizu smartphones better?
In order to understand which brand of smartphone is still better, let's look at the advantages of Meizu models over its competitor point by point.
Design
Meizu's budget models, which are most actively sold on the modern market, have a very beautiful and stylish appearance. So, for example, the Meizu M3 Note model, compared to Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 products, does not have plastic separators for antennas that are located on the rear panel.
Important! Only in the 4th generation of Redmi, Xiaomi began to use 2.5D glass, while Meizu products have had it for a very long time. In addition, Xiaomi models such as U10 and U20 do not exist at all.
Availability
Meizu products are much easier to purchase than Xiaomi brand smartphones, since Meizu does not limit the first batch at all. As a result, computer devices appear in retail trade much faster, and distributors do not set an inadequate margin.
Sound
Which phone is better - Meizu or Xiaomi? Both the flagship and all other Meizu models are very often equipped with a discrete audio processor. This part, of course, is not as high quality as in Hi-Fi players for several hundred dollars, but still, it is much better than models in which the chipset is integrated.
Important! In Meizu's audio processors, the sampling rate is much higher, while the signal-to-noise ratio is much better, the frequency potential is wider.
cameras
Meizu's top models are equipped with flagship cameras that excel in high-quality shooting. But in this price category, Xiaomi brand products are also in no way inferior. But for models of the budget and middle classes of the Meizu brand, the presence of the best cameras is typical. This is due to the fact that the company uses basically the same matrices, which are used by a wide range of models. Thus, there is an opportunity in which they are better developed, as well as optimized for functionality.
mtouch button
Meizu models are characterized by the presence of a universal button under the smartphone screen. It includes the functionality of a fingerprint scanner key, a touch tracker, and a physical button. If you touch this key when the screen is locked, the smartphone will be unlocked. With touch gestures, the task manager and other necessary functions are opened, and with a short press, the option is the same as when using the home key.
Cons of Meizu smartphones
In addition to the advantages, Meizu products also have disadvantages. Let's consider them in more detail to decide which phone is better - Meise or Xiaomi.
Update instability
MediaTek's models sometimes lack customer support, which comes with developers pushing new Android operating system kernels and drivers for not-so-new chipsets. Because of this, users are not always able to wait for a new version of the Android operating system for their smartphone. Instead, Meizu smartphone owners receive only updates to the Flyme shell of the operating system, but not to the OS kernel.
Important! Just like Meizu models, Xiaomi products are also not immune from such a situation. So, for example, Redmi Note 2 on the outdated MTK Helio X10 is unlikely to be able to wait for Android 6.
Minor OS flaws
The release of many devices, albeit with similarity, but at the same time, distinctive technical characteristics, leads to a complication of the user support process. As a result, firmware may have minor bugs that spoil the impression of a branded model and complicate its use. Updates come at the wrong time, there are also rare cases when the elimination of one glitch leads to the emergence of a new one.
Important! For Meizu smartphones, there are situations in which menu items and programs are not fully translated. And in models that are not focused on Europe, there is no Russian language and the Play Market at all.
Value for money
Which phone is better - Meizu or Xiaomi? With the comparative cheapness of Xiaomi smartphones relative to the products of some model of Samsung or HTC, equivalent models of Meizu brand smartphones are more expensive.
Important! The difference in price is not significant, but at the same time, if Xiaomi's flagship costs about $300, then Meizu's competitor will ask for about $400 for his smartphone.
Why are Xiaomi smartphones better?
Having considered all the positive aspects of Meizu branded products, Xiaomi can also find a number of advantages. And even in some respects, Xiaomi is still better.
Price policy
Representatives of Xiaomi in an official form declare that smartphones produced do not serve as the main source of income for the company itself. The main methods of earning money include the sale of services, as well as the sale of other consumer electronics, which include television devices, rice cookers, fitness bracelets, headphones, external batteries and many other products in the field of electronics and accessories.
Important! Xiaomi sells mobile devices at cost, so it is impossible to find an identical product for a similar price.
IR port
The company also sells household appliances, so the engineers saw fit and developed a universal remote that supports a very important function. Basically, all smartphones are equipped with an infrared diode, which, if there is a built-in Mi Remote software product or another similar program, is able to control a television device, air conditioning, multimedia equipment, home theater and other consumer electronics.
Important! In this case, Xiaomi is not only superior to Meizu, but also much better than smartphones from other brands.
Own ecosystem
Which phone is better - Meizu or Xiaomi? Just like the Apple brand, the Chinese have created their own ecosystem capable of combining branded electronics into an organized system infrastructure. Such a system includes cloud storage, which has convenient device synchronization. It has free 5 GB on the server, which, if necessary, can be expanded up to 1 TB for a fee, but this procedure is very expensive.
Important! Unlike Meizu branded models, Xiaomi smartphones have all the synchronization functions that function efficiently on any firmware and in any country.
Powerful iron
Xiaomi even has budget smartphones with mid-range chips. The only current device that has a quad-core processor is the SoC - Redmi 4A, and it has a price of only $ 75. And the Redmi series phablets have mid-range Qualcomm Snapdragon chipsets or top-end MediaTek chipsets, which Meizu uses only in flagships.
Important! Xiaomi models are much better for using games. Only the cheapest Xiaomi models are on par with Meizu devices.
Cons of Xiaomi smartphones
The overall picture is slightly spoiled by the shortcomings that Xiaomi smartphones have.
Limited editions and seller markup
The company independently sells its products through the official website. This brand does not have stores located outside of China. Therefore, the purchase of a smartphone on the Xiaomi website is possible only in countries where the main office of the brand itself is located, not even a dealer organization. In addition, retail sales of smartphones come in limited quantities.
Important! With great demand and an initial shortage, at first, sellers purchase all circulations in a matter of minutes, after which they resell them with a solid markup price. So, for example, Mi Mix products, which have an official price of a little more than $ 500, - in the first days of sales after the product was released, resellers asked buyers for 1000 USD.
“Lottery” with accessories
Which smartphone is better - Meizu or Xiaomi? To quickly release new models to the modern market, Xiaomi simultaneously resorts to the services of several suppliers and assemblers. This option is acceptable for many companies and even Apple uses these services. A distinctive feature of Xiaomi is that different batches of the same model use displays, cameras, sensors and other components from different companies. As a result, there is some variation in quality. So, the Sharp screens in Redmi Note 3 have a slightly better appearance than BOE and Tianma.
Important! This situation causes complications in the development and optimization of software, since it is necessary to include drivers for various components in the assembly of the operating system or create universal ones. Thus, inappropriate situations arise. With an identical firmware version, one device may have perfect quality, while the other has bugs.
Unstable updates
Xiaomi may sometimes have problems that occur when updating the Android system. As a rule, devices based on MediaTek chips, like Meizu smartphones, do not receive a new version of the operating system.
Important! The Qualcomm model gets minor updates much more often, and the new version of Android will appear faster. So, for example, for the Redmi Note 3 model on MTK, the version of Android 6 does not yet exist and, most likely, will not be in the near future. But the Redmi Note 3 Pro model with Qualcomm has this version, and Android 7 is expected in the near future.
Flaws and shortcomings of the OS
In addition to the existing problematic moments with the update, there are also bugs in the operation of the operating system. The roots of this reason are described by the above points, which consist in a large range of models and the lack of tangible benefits from the sale of smartphones. Therefore, Xiaomi cannot maintain a large staff of engineers and testers, such as Apple Corporation.
Beta versions of the MIUI system are “run in” by volunteers, as a result of which bugs do not always pop up. As a result, a glitch that was missed at the beta testing stage goes on sale with an official update.
Important! This situation also occurs with Meizu smartphones, although on average they have much less problems of this kind.
In addition, there is another problem, which is localization. So, smartphones that are not focused on international sales lack the Russian language and Google services.
Important! If the developer failed to reflash the firmware build for the Russian or European MIUI community, then a lot of time and effort will have to be spent to solve the localization problem. And if, nevertheless, localization was performed, then there is no guarantee that it was performed with high quality and there are no side bugs in the process of flashing.
conclusions
Which phone is better - Meizu or Xiaomi? As a result of a comparative analysis, it was found that both Xiaomi smartphones and Meizu devices have a number of advantages and disadvantages:
- For the two brands, a characteristic plus is the affordability of the price. The low level of official prices for Xiaomi smartphones is offset by the seller's cheating, if you do not order directly from the official Chinese store through a familiar distributor. It is difficult to buy a smartphone at the recommended price of Meizu in our country, and even more so to buy from Xiaomi.
- Both brands have a number of shortcomings, which are mainly related to the software. So, the situation with Meizu smartphones is slightly better, although there are still flaws. Therefore, if the choice of a successful version of the firmware and other troubles suits you, then you can opt for Meizu.
- The second disadvantage of branded companies is the lack of memory card slots for flagships. The first reason for this problem is the unwillingness to take into account the claims of users of inexpensive MicroSD, which reduce performance. The second reason is the desire to earn extra money by renting cloud storage.
Important! So, if you need free space on the server, then it is better to purchase a Xiaomi brand smartphone that has no problems with their MiCloud, regardless of the firmware version and location.
What to choose? Goal oriented
In order to understand whether to purchase a Meizu or Xiaomi smartphone, you should decide for what purposes it is needed:
- For camera software, starting from drivers and ending with an application, Meizu is characterized by a better study, which is an important condition for amateur photographers.
- Flagships are more suitable for music lovers, as they are equipped with a discrete DAC.
- If you want to have a fingerprint scanner and a multifunction button on the front under the screen, like in the iPhone model, then Meizu is more suitable for you.
- If you want a smartphone at an affordable price with a beautiful appearance, then you should give preference to Meizu.
- The choice should be stopped at Xiaomi, subject to the interest of a smartphone with top-end hardware or a state employee that has a middle-class filling. Although it should be understood that there will be no ideal camera operation or Hi-Fi sound, the performance in games and heavy software products will be significantly higher than on Meizu smartphones.
- If you want to control all household appliances using a budget device, then in this case Xiaomi is definitely out of competition.
Important! It is preferable to purchase Xiaomi on Qualcomm chips if you receive regular updates, since in this case it is possible to wait for the new Android on your device.
Now once again weigh everything for yourself, and then the decision regarding the preferred brand will finally come to you by itself.