Meizu is a promising candidate for the title of "Chinese Apple
In China, many new mobile phone manufacturers, but only a few of them manage to achieve success, especially in the international market. One of these companies is Meizu, which, along with Xiaomi, is called "Chinese Apple".
Audio players
By Chinese standards, Meizu is already almost an old-timer, because its age is more than ten years - it was founded in 2003. The first product with which this manufacturer decided to storm the electronics market was the MX audio player - a fairly trivial device that copies many other Chinese devices of that time.
For the next few years, it was the production of audio players that became the main activity for Meizu. However, following the outdated, faceless events, this Chinese company began to develop original, high-quality devices of its own design. The first truly successful player was Meizu ME, released in 2004.
And in 2005, Meizu was able to make a real breakthrough - it released a player called E5, which had a six-line display with the ability to read books, as well as many other useful features: a radio, an alarm clock and the ability to update the firmware. The device could play files for 40 hours, which at that time was considered an amazingly high figure.
The Meizu MiniPlayer M6 has become another breakthrough in the market for Meizu. He could play not only audio, but also video, as well as video games.
Meizu M8 - the first smartphone
In February 2009, Meizu decided to open up a new market - smartphones. At this time, the first phone from this Chinese company was introduced - a device called Meizu M8, which worked on the basis of the Windows CE mobile operating system. True, the manufacturers of this device have significantly altered this platform, for example, the phone client and the email program on the Meizu M8 were generally developed from scratch.
The Meizu M8 has become a real revelation for lovers of good technology. After all, before that, the Chinese mainly copied popular devices from well-known companies, and they did it quite mediocrely, of poor quality. And Meizu M8 was one of the first high-end Chinese phones that could compare with gadgets from big brands.
flyme
Meizu quickly realized that it was time to finish with the mobile versions of Windows, and the future belongs to the new platform - Android OS, which was gaining momentum in 2009. Meizu released its first device on it in January 2011, it was the Meizu M9, and in 2012 the Meizu MX smartphone appeared - the ancestor of the future line of flagship phones from this manufacturer.
In Meizu MX, the Flyme branded shell based on the Android operating system was first introduced to the world. Subsequently, this firmware will become one of the business cards of Meizu.
The creators of the Flyme shell from Meizu, like the creators of the add-on, tried to combine two worlds, two platforms in their operating system. They took the convenience and simplicity of the interface from iOS, as well as the flexibility and features from Android. It turned out nice and comfortable. Since then, all smartphones from Meizu come with a pre-installed Flyme system, which, at the moment, has the fourth version in a row.
Meizu MX family of smartphones
Despite the fact that the Meizu MX smartphone was visually very similar to the iPhone, the phone gained quite a lot of popularity in China and even outside of this country. Buyers were attracted by the high functionality of the device, the convenience of the Flyme operating system, as well as the low price of the device. It was in 2012, a couple of years before the success of Xiaomi, that Meizu began to be called the "Chinese analogue of Apple."
To increase its success, already in November 2012, the company released a new phone - the Meizu MX2 smartphone, also reminiscent of the iPhone. This device has become a sensation not only in China, but also abroad. The device was the first product from this manufacturer, which was presented in sufficient quantities on the international market.
In the Meizu MX3 smartphone, Meizu finally refused to copy the design of Apple products, giving its device a unique appearance and high performance.
At the moment, the flagship among Meizu products is the Meizu MX4 smartphone, which went on sale in September 2014. “While Apple is just preparing its iPhone 6, the Chinese are already releasing it,” technical publications wrote on September 2, talking about the presentation of this phone.
Meizu MX4 has not only a stylish appearance, but also amazing technical characteristics. It works on the basis of the MTK6595 processor with a clock frequency of 2.2 GHz, while having 2 gigabytes of RAM and 16 to 64 GB of permanent, built-in memory.
The Meizu MX4 also stands out from the competition with its unique 20-megapixel camera. At the same time, it is equipped with a non-nuclear chip responsible for the operation of the sensor in general and the fast processing of the pictures taken in particular.
Unusual in Meizu MX4 is the rare screen size of this device - the phone is equipped with a 5.36-inch display with a resolution of 1920 by 1152 pixels. The price of a smartphone with a memory of 16 gigabytes is 450 US dollars, for a 64-gigabyte version, the buyer has to pay $ 30 more.
Despite the fact that the Meizu MX4 flagship phone costs about half as much as the iPhone 6, it is still beyond the reach of most people on the planet, and therefore Meizu decided to also launch a line of high-quality budget smartphones with relatively high technical specifications.
The first phone of the new line was the Meizu M1 Note, launched at the end of December 2014. This phone is equipped with a 64-bit MTK6752 processor with a clock speed of 1.7 GHz and a 5.5-inch screen with a resolution of 1920 by 1080 pixels.
The main camera Meizu M1 Note has a resolution of 13 megapixels, front - 5 MP.
Buyers from China can purchase this smartphone for $160, foreigners Meizu M1 Note will cost much more - $225. And the 5-inch M1 Mini, which went on sale in February 2015, is even cheaper at $110.
Future prospects
The success of Meizu over the past couple of years has turned it into a fairly well-known brand, one of the most promising technology companies in China, along with Xiaomi, Huawei, Lenovo, Coolpad and some others.Having accumulated finances, having a name and several successful products, Meizu began its global expansion. It is planned to open its branches in some countries of the world in 2015.
Meizu is also one of two companies that have announced their desire to release smartphones based on the Ubuntu operating system.
Meizu also plans to show itself in other markets. For example, it is gearing up to launch its own smartwatch, which is expected to cost around $65. This device will be the best offer in terms of price-quality ratio in the world market.
Smart watches, budget smartphone Meizu M1 Note and other Meizu products have a high chance of gaining huge popularity in Russia in 2015, during the economic crisis, the depreciation of the ruble, and, consequently, a sharp decrease in average incomes in the country. These are, which, however, are in no way inferior to devices from the most famous world manufacturers.