Meizu pro 7 second screen. Camera viewfinder

The Chinese are churning out new products one after another, they are the main sources of news. Xiaomi released Mi 6 in the spring, then OnePlus 5 has appeared, now Meizu has responded to its competitors with a pair of new models: Meizu Pro 7 and Meizu Pro 7 Plus.

I'll start with the characteristics, as usual, the older model has a larger screen and higher resolution, more power reserve. But the price is also higher!

Meizu Pro 7: 5.2", 1920x1080, Super AMOLED, MediaTek Helio P25, 4/64 GB, 2 12 megapixel modules, additional 1.9-inch Super AMOLED screen with a resolution of 240x536, 3000 mAh battery.

Meizu Pro 7 Plus: 5.7", 2560x1440, Super AMOLED, MediaTek Helio X30, 6/64 or 6/128 GB of memory, 2 12 megapixel modules, additional 1.9-inch Super AMOLED screen with a resolution of 240x536, 3500 battery mAh

Yes, they are almost the same, but the Plus version, according to tradition, received a more powerful filling. Whether you like it or not, get used to the fact that you want maximum performance - buy a smartphone with a large screen.

The dual camera is no surprise now; we have been seeing a general fascination with this idea for the second year now. Does such a camera make sense? Here one sensor takes color photographs, and the second takes black and white, there are Sony IMX386 modules with f/2.0 aperture. It will be interesting to try how a smartphone takes pictures and compare it with its competitors, the same Xiaomi Mi 6, which takes excellent photographs.

Why do you need a second screen? The secondary display works as a viewfinder while you take a photo of yourself, and displays notifications if the phone is lying face down on the table. I'll have to try how the display works with third party applications, for example, is it possible to control not only a standard player, but also other similar programs.

The new Meizu also runs on Android 7.0, received the latest Flyme 6 shell, and supports mCharge 4.0 fast charging.

The phones will go on sale in China on August 5. Meizu Pro 7 will cost $430, and Pro 7 Plus – $530. In my opinion, it’s too much for a processor from MediaTek; for the same money you can buy an option with a Qualcomm chip. Design? Well, in my opinion, the current flagship Meizu Pro 6 Plus looks more interesting, but colleagues who went with Meizu to China for the presentation will already write in more detail about the smartphone. There will be text on the website and we will shoot a video.

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Friends! We invite you to take a closer look at the flagship of the Chinese company Meizu - the Meizu Pro 7 Plus model, which is unique in that it is equipped with two screens.

Many fans of gadgets from the Middle Kingdom believe that Xiaomi is the Chinese Apple. However, not only this manufacturer can boast good smartphones. For example, in the case of Meizu Pro 7 Plus, the magic begins the moment you first look at the box...

Appearance

The smartphone comes with a plastic case, a key for the SIM card tray, a charger with a USB-C cable, and instructions. The set is quite standard, but, to be honest, it lacks headphones.

The product itself is a perfectly put together product. On the front there is a 5.7-inch Super AMOLED display with QHD resolution (2560x1440 px). Unlike other phones. released in 2017, there is no bezel-less design - there is still plenty of space around the screen, especially when it comes to the top and bottom bezels. Below the screen, the manufacturer has placed a physical mTouch button, which is also a Home, Back button and a fingerprint scanner (to quickly unlock the screen, you need to press the button and hold your finger on it).

There are no frills above the screen - a speaker for conversation, on which there is a proximity sensor, and next to it is a single front camera. There is also a notification indicator, which is solid color (white).

Specifications of Meizu Pro 7 Plus

Mediatek isn't that bad

Mediatek haters will be disappointed - in everyday use The Meizu Pro 7 Plus processor - and this is the Mediatek Helio X30 chip - behaves perfectly. Therefore, users of the device will not have any complaints - the smartphone runs very smoothly.

All applications launch without any problems, even if background there are a lot of them working. Communication is at a very good level - 4G works even in those places where flagships such as Xiaomi Mi 6 and OnePlus 5T connect to the Internet.

There are also no problems with wi-fi and GPS - the smartphone communicates with satellites within a few seconds, and during navigation mode everything works very accurately.

Avid gamers will also be happy with this smartphone. When using games such as Need for Speed: No Limits or Mortal Kombat X with performance there were no problems. The quality is at the highest level, no lags.

The drawback, unfortunately, is the average battery life of the Meizu Pro 7 Plus on a single charge. When using the gadget with average intensity for 1 day, it was possible to achieve an operating time of 4-4.5 hours with the screen on.

The smartphone is super, only this operating system...

Meizu Pro 7 Plus runs on the Flyme OS operating system, which, unfortunately, is far from perfect. The current version 6 of the system was released in December 2016 and, unfortunately, has not yet been updated. The firmware design is outdated, and user support is a bit lame.

Luckily, work on Flyme OS 7 has officially begun, so hopefully within a few months the system will be updated and become more modern.

Is an additional display an interesting idea?

Admittedly, adding a second display to the Meizu Pro 7 Plus is an interesting concept. Initially, the user is given the opportunity to customize the screensaver and determine what information should be shown (activities, notifications, weather, preview while shooting). But there is nothing unique about this.

Perhaps the flagship's secondary screen lacks the ability to continuously display the current time, control Spotify, etc. But there is hope that new features will appear along with the next system updates.

Camera in Meizu Pro 7 Plus

It should be noted right away that the smartphone’s cameras are not impressive. The selfie sensor is normal, although we must admit that on the second screen it becomes rather an unnecessary addition (the camera on the back of the smartphone is certainly better than the front). At the same time, the main camera has a big plus - a bokeh effect with background blur, which this device does very well.

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In 2015-2016, Meizu released new smartphone models one after another. In two years, the company announced twenty-one new products. The devices differed little from each other; sometimes the difference between the models had to be looked for, if not under a microscope, then with a magnifying glass. All the more unexpected is the experiment with an additional screen on the rear panel, which the company went for in the flagship model Pro 7. Let's study it and figure out how successful this experiment turned out to be and what, besides it, is interesting about the compact flagship Meizu.

It should be noted that Meizu worked closely with MediaTek on many aspects of the smartphone, and for both companies the implementation of a second display was a novelty. The Pro 7 model is available with Helio P25 and Helio X30 processors, but the small X30 variant of the smartphone will not be sold anywhere except the Chinese market. Therefore, hereinafter we will talk about Pro 7 on Helio P25.

Technical Meizu specifications Pro 7:

• Network: GSM (Band 2, 3, 5, 8), CDMA (BC0), WCDMA (Band 1, 2, 5, 8), TD-SCDMA (Band 34, 39), FDD-LTE (Band 1, 3, 5, 7, 20), TDD-LTE (Band 38, 39, 40, 41)
• Platform: Android 7.0 Nougat with Flyme OS 6 firmware
• Main display: 5.2", 1920x1080 pixels, 423 ppi, 10,000:1, 350 nits, SuperAMOLED, 2.5D glass, 10-point multi-touch
• Additional display: 1.9", 536x240 pixels, 307 ppi, 10,000:1, 350 nits, AMOLED
• Camera: double (b/w + color), 12 MP + 12 MP, Sony IMX386, f/2.0, phase focus, 6 lenses, dual LED flash in different tones,
• Front camera: 16 MP, f/2.0, 5 lenses
• Processor: 8 cores Cortex-A53, 4 x 2.6 GHz + 4 x 1.6 GHz, 16 nm, MediaTek Helio P25
• Graphics chip: Mali-T880MP2, 1 GHz
• RAM: 4GB LPDDR4X
• Internal memory: 64 GB (eMMC 5.1)
• Memory card: no
• A-GPS, GLONASS
• Wi-Fi (802.11a/b/g/n)
• Bluetooth 4.2LE
• Ports: USB Type-C, 3.5 mm
• Two nano-SIM slots
• Fingerprint scanner mTouch 2.1
• Audio: Hi-Fi DAC Cirrus Logic CS43130, SmartPA
• Battery: non-removable, 3000 mAh, mCharge 3.0 fast charging
• Dimensions: 147.62 x 70.72 x 7.3 mm
• Weight: 163 g

Video review and unboxing

Equipment and design

Meizu Pro 7 comes in an unusual black plastic box. The kit includes the smartphone itself, a needle for removing SIM trays, a USB cable, an mCharge 3.0 charger (up to 24 W), documentation and - which is very unusual for Meizu - a case. A simple hard case that protects the smartphone from the back and sides, and also protrudes slightly above the front panel to protect the screen. The case is easily scratched and deprives you of the thrill of touching the metal case, but the smartphone protects – and that’s the main thing.

In Russia, Meizu Pro 7 is available in black, red and gold colors. All colors are matte. I like the red and black colors best. Red - because the combination of a red back and a black apron, which, unfortunately, Apple did not think of, looks very cool. And black - because in this color the second display does not stand out. In the red version, the display also, surprisingly, fits in organically. The same cannot be said about the gold one – there the screen looks completely alien.

I liked the design of the black Meizu Pro 7. The device looks very neat, all the elements are in their place. The plastic strips blend into the body. If you don't know about them, you might not notice them. Perhaps the second screen could have been played out better, but the option chosen by Meizu does not seem unsuccessful. And the recessed vertical company logo, placed in the lower right corner, looks very appropriate and advantageous. There is no scattering of round holes above the screen - only the front camera peephole. Light and proximity sensors are neatly placed in the cutout for the speaker grille. An interesting solution, Smartisan had one.

The smartphone is small (5.2" plus small frames on the left and right), the location of all the control elements is good, the fingerprint scanner is in its best place - under the screen, so the ergonomics should be at their best. However, not everything is so smooth. More precisely, everything is too much smooth: Meizu went a little overboard with the polishing of the phone, and it turned out to be slippery. No matter how you take it, you don’t feel a secure grip. You have to put the case on: (But the matte back feels just like the iPhone 7. I think that’s what the company was aiming for. And I’ll voice an engineering miscalculation - the only multimedia speaker is located on the left side bottom end, and it is very easy to cover. By the way, some other Chinese manufacturers are also guilty of this (OnePlus 5 is one example). The assembly is perfect.

The main SuperAMOLED screen has a resolution of 1920x1080 pixels with a diagonal of 5.2". The pixel density is 423 ppi. The display brightness is 350 nits. For use outdoors on a sunny day, it is enough. As is traditional for OLED screens, the black color is very deep, but the white is not up to par (but it’s not particularly annoying). PenTile is noticeable if you look closely, but during normal use it also doesn’t cause discomfort. The viewing angles are maximum, noticeable inversions appear only when looking almost along the display. And the company has forgotten about 3D Press.

At first glance, it may seem that there is no LED indicator in Meizu Pro 7, but there is one - to the left of the speaker, it reacts to missed events. The mTouch fingerprint scanner is in its usual place – below the screen. This is a button that when pressed means “home”, and when touched means “back”. The multitasking menu opens by swiping up (or from right to left, if changed in the settings); there is no button for it. For those who switch to Meizu, such a control system may be unusual at first, but in one or two days you completely get used to it and begin to consider it convenient and thoughtful.

Software

Meizu Pro 7 is based on Flyme OS firmware based on operating system Android versions 7.0 Nougat. The version of Flyme OS itself is 6. As I already said in Meizu review M3E (link), it has a lot of small changes, but nothing revolutionary. All the features we've never seen before are related to the second screen, and we'll talk about them separately. The shell is pleasant and comfortable, I had no complaints about the stability of its operation.

Second screen

It's time to talk separately about the main feature of Meizu Pro 7 - additional screen on the back panel. It has a diagonal of 1.9" and a resolution of 536x240 pixels (307 ppi), the brightness is the same 350 nits, the technology is AMOLED (this time for some reason without the marketing prefix Super). There is oleophobia.

By default, the secondary display interface consists of three screens that scroll horizontally: clock, steps, and weather. By swiping up or down we get to the camera menu, where three modes are offered: background blur, facial beauty, original. Taking photos is done by touching the screen (with a three-second timer) or using the volume down button (without a timer). When shooting with the volume rocker, especially when there is insufficient light, try to hold the device tightly - otherwise the frame will be blurred. A timer would also be nice in this scenario. The ability to use a second screen is also available in the camera application. When you press a special button, the rear display begins to act as an additional viewfinder. As a result, both the photographer and the person being photographed see the frame. What else do you need a second screen for? To show notifications and animated screensavers, of course!

But that's not all about the second screen! Many people know that Meizu began its journey by releasing players. It is not surprising that the ability to turn a smartphone into a purely music player, which can be useful during the flight. To switch to music mode, you need to hold down the power button and select the appropriate option. After this, all telephone functions will be inactive, the main display will turn off, and tracks will be displayed on the secondary display. As for the sound from the phone in general, I would put it at the Pro 6 level. The volume is enough, the tracks play cleanly, energetically, this is enough for most users. It is better not to connect high-impedance headphones. What should I connect? Well, Meizu HD50 and the new Flow plugs worked great with the device. I’m glad that Meizu and MediaTek do not ignore the musical roots of the Zhuhai vendor and agreed to enhance the audio capabilities of the device by integrating the Cirrus Logic CS43130 Hi-Fi DAC into the Helio P25 platform. But they could have installed it on the stock codec!

The second screen features don't seem far-fetched to me. These are mostly interesting and convenient things that cannot be implemented without an additional display on the rear panel. I hope Meizu doesn't abandon it interesting development, and in new models we will continue to see a second screen, which will receive new interesting features over time.

Camera

Meizu Pro 7 was the first among the company's smartphones to receive a dual main camera. And who came to the rescue? That's right - MediaTek! The Helio P25 chip has an advanced digital signal processor (ISP), optimized specifically for dual cameras with a monochrome matrix. This ISP can work with two 13-megapixel sensors (or one 24-megapixel), but for the Pro 7 they took a pair of 12-megapixel Sony IMX386 sensors, equipping them with six-lens optics (f/2.0). Additional camera does not have a color filter and can be used to create black and white photographs. It also serves to blur the background in portrait mode. The phone puts a watermark on the pictures it takes by default, but this can be turned off (and it's better to turn it off, in my opinion).

Meizu Pro 7 is capable of taking very good photos. The smartphone camera makes almost no mistakes with white balance and color rendition, and it often pleases with detail, and this also applies to pictures in low-light conditions. Sometimes there were problems with autofocus, which could not adjust all the way into the distance and had to be helped with a finger. This is noticeable in early comparison shots next to the Pro 7 Plus. The Pro 7’s photos are not as clear and it’s clear that the focus was slightly tweaked. Fortunately, this has already been fixed. We, as reviewers, were sent test firmware several times, and one of them just improved the camera’s performance. With commercial devices everything was fine right away.

By the way, despite the absolute identity of the Pro 7 and Pro 7 Plus cameras on paper, they still photograph differently. The difference in color rendition is very rare and the pictures look the same with rare exceptions (a photo of a sunset, for example), but differences in noise and detail can be traced and they are not in favor of the small one. Why? Because the drivers are different and the chips are different - P25 is mid-level, and X30 is flagship. However, the differences are so small that they can only be noticed with a direct and close comparison, and even then not always. In general, don’t worry about the photo.

Meizu Pro 7 - Pro 7 Plus:

Meizu Pro 7 - Pro 7 Plus

Photo with old software - photo with new software
Each pair has Pro 7 on the left, Pro 7 Plus on the right

Portrait mode on Meizu Pro 7 and Pro 7 Plus works the same way - quite accurately, although the boundaries of objects are not always determined accurately. The main point of Meizu's portraits is the "aggressive" bokeh, which makes the picture in the background very blurry. You can’t adjust the strength of the bokeh; it doesn’t always look natural, and that’s up to anyone to decide. Some people like the naturalness of portraits with the iPhone 7 Plus, while others like the wow blur of Meizu.

Meizu Pro 7

Meizu Pro 7 Plus

Meizu Pro 7 - Pro 7 Plus

Although Meizu Pro 7 makes it easy to take selfies with the main camera, the smartphone also has a front camera, and a good 16-megapixel one – useful for video calling. Selfies turn out good, but they are still inferior to images taken on the rear module. We compared them for fun. The comparison is in favor of the main camera, naturally. This is the very moment when resolution does not indicate quality.

Basic camera, facial beauty - basic. camera, blur – front camera

Video shooting is limited to 1080p@30fps. Moreover, for Helio P25, 4K recording at 24fps is declared. Meizu deliberately did not enable this mode on the Pro 7, since the result would be inferior in smoothness to Full HD (judging by other models on the P25, where 4K is active). Nevertheless, the smartphone captures sound well, and the detail for 1080 is not bad. You can shoot slow-motion videos (480p, 4 times slowdown) and time-lapses (acceleration from 15x to 240x).

Performance and tests

The hardware of Meizu Pro 7 caused a lot of controversy. People were perplexed why the company installed a mid-level chipset in a smartphone from the flagship line. However, MediaTek positions the Helio P25 as a “premium solution for thin smartphones,” that is, it is still a top-end processor in the understanding of the Chinese parties. The eight-core processor includes four “slow” Cortex-A53 cores (operating at up to 1.6 GHz) and four “fast” Cortex-A53 cores (up to 2.6 GHz). The Mali-T880MP2 video accelerator with a frequency of up to 1 GHz is responsible for the graphics. It comes with 4 GB of LPDDR4X RAM and 64 GB of internal eMMC5.1 memory (52.6 GB free). There is no microSD slot. The more powerful version of the compact Pro 7, which has a Helio X30 chipset and 128 GB of UFS 2.1 memory, is not available outside of China.

Performance mode

Meizu has long had several performance modes in its smartphones. We tested the Pro 7 under heavy load in maximum performance mode and in balance between performance and autonomy mode, and we did not notice any difference in speed. Therefore, you can install any or play it safe (if you are a gamer) and turn on the maximum performance mode, there will be no problems. According to Meizu, Flyme OS 6 introduced the One Mind intelligent system, which studies user habits and, based on the analyzed data, offers optimization solutions. The system can supposedly reduce the launch time of the most frequently used applications, and finds unused processes running in the background to make the entire smartphone more efficient. I don’t know which of this is true, but the Pro 7 really works quickly in everyday life.

Balance mode between performance and autonomy

What about performance in real games? The lack of speed is felt only in the most demanding titles, for example, World of Tanks - 60 fps rarely happens there, although there are no wild lags. And it's better not to include Injustice 2. But with maximum graphics, we played Unkilled, Dead Trigger 2, Asphalt Extreme, Modern Strike Online, Last Day on Earth and Air Attack 2 without any problems. It will definitely not be a complete disappointment for anyone who wants to play something . It’s a pity that many users, before the appearance of real tests and reviews, managed to label the Pro 7 with Helio P25 as “a phone not for gaming.” For fun, check out the gaming test of Meizu Pro 7 Plus on Helio X30:

Unlike the Helio X30, which is made using the latest 10nm process technology, the Helio P25 is made using the older 16nm FinFET+ technology. Despite this, Meizu Pro 7 cannot be accused of either running out of battery quickly (figures in the next paragraph) or overheating. Yes, there is heating, but for me it has never reached such a level that holding the case became unpleasant.

The autonomy of the Meizu Pro 7 is ensured by a battery with a standard capacity of 3000 mAh in modern times. When playing video with maximum brightness and all wireless modules turned on, the discharge from hundreds to zero took fourteen hours. In an hour in Asphalt Extreme, the smartphone lost 19% of its charge, which means it will last for five hours of play. With normal use, a smartphone lasts one and a half to two days with 4-7 hours of screen, and it can only be discharged in one day under very heavy load. We never managed to do this. Colleagues also speak very positively about the autonomy of the Pro 7. Whatever one may say, the combination of a SuperAMOLED screen and the MediaTek Helio P25 processor turned out to be successful. The Meizu Pro 7 has become a compact, long-lasting flagship that also handles games well.

Conclusions

After two years of self-copying and stagnation, Meizu decided to unexpected experiment, installing an additional screen in the flagship smartphone. This idea caused a lot of controversy, but I personally liked it. Firstly, it makes the device stand out from the crowd. Secondly, it offers a number of interesting convenient features. Another experiment was the use of the MediaTek Helio P25 chipset. By gaming capabilities It didn’t turn out to be top-end, but it didn’t disappoint either, and also had a positive effect on the autonomy of the device.

Otherwise, we have Meizu in the best traditions: a calm, pleasant design, an excellent fingerprint scanner, decent battery life and functional Flyme OS firmware. The cost of Meizu Pro 7 in Russia is 35,640 rubles. You can get more information on the official website of Meizu in Russia.

It is already difficult to surprise the modern user with anything, so the most unusual solutions are used. This is the use of a second display in a smartphone. We've already made it with Pro 7 immediately after the presentation, but now we will share with you our impressions of longer use. And at the same time, let’s try to figure out whether a second display is really needed in a smartphone?

Design, ergonomics

The Pro 7 is available in three colors - black, gold and red. In all variants the cases are matte. Our sample has a gold back and a white front. Depending on the lighting, the shade of the body changes towards soft pink. The secondary display frame is black for all models.

There is a single button under the display, it is mechanical and has a built-in fingerprint scanner. The scanner is not the most responsive. It works accurately only if you put your finger on the sensor in the same way as you scanned it. Traditionally for the Flyme shell, the button acts as a Back key, and when held for a long time - a lock. Access to the multitasking menu is implemented via a swipe from the bottom edge of the display.

The body is aluminum and feels good in the hand, its weight is 163 grams. The metal feels pleasantly cool on the hand, but, unfortunately, it is very slippery. This becomes noticeable when you reach your thumb towards the fingerprint scanner. The sides are slightly convex, which also does not contribute to grip, so we recommend holding the smartphone tightly or using a case.

The build quality and materials are excellent. With a thickness of 7.3 mm, the case is torsionally rigid, and the parts fit perfectly. The edges of the metal part are polished to a shine. General impression The design of the Pro 7 is positive, it feels expensive and of high quality, the designers’ attention to detail is noticeable.

From the back, the smartphone looks different from everyone else, despite the popular shape of the plastic antenna inserts. The device is distinguished by the presence of a second display on the rear edge. It is covered with protective glass, which protrudes above the body by a fraction of a millimeter. After just a few weeks of use, the glass became scratched. Above the display there is a dual camera and flash.

The bottom edge is the most saturated with connectors; there is a USB Type-C, mini-jack, speaker and microphone. On the right side there is a volume rocker and a power key. On top there is an additional microphone. On the left is a slot for two Nano-SIM cards. The tray is made of metal.

Display

The main display is a 5.2-inch matrix with FullHD resolution, made using Super AMOLED technology. The advantages and disadvantages of the display are traditional for of this type matrices The display has maximum contrast and deep blacks, but is inferior to IPS in terms of color rendering quality.

Our main complaint was about the rendering of white color, in in this case it has a gray-green tint. This was confirmed by measurements color gamut expanded towards shades of green. The problem is partially solved using display settings and reading mode, thanks to which the temperature can be made a little warmer.

The minimum brightness level according to measurements was 4 cd/m², and the maximum was 328 cd/m². The unevenness of color is also noticeable to the eye; closer to the bottom there is a slight shift towards red, and at the top - towards green.

Second screen

Now let's move on to the highlight of the Pro 7 - the additional display. This is a 1.9-inch Super AMOLED matrix with a resolution of 240x536. The main purpose of the display is to display notifications, show the time and allow you to use the main camera for selfies. The display is touch-sensitive and covered with glass with an oleophobic coating.

In the settings there is a separate menu item where the user can turn the display on or off, select the information that will be displayed on it, and also enable the ability to activate the screen by double tapping. In practice, this function did not work for us; perhaps it was due to the dampness of the software.

Both displays do not work at the same time, with the exception of photographing mode, where this can be forced. The display lights up when the smartphone is turned face down and the user can view the time, weather and the number of steps taken. When there are incoming messages, the display turns on and the icon of the corresponding application is displayed on it. Also, when listening to music, you can see the name of the artist and the title of the track. The display does not have any other functionality yet, but most likely it will be expanded in the future.

In theory, the second display can replace the regular one LED indicator like more effective way display notifications. And if you often like to turn on the display to check incoming events, then a second display can have a positive effect on battery life, especially if you use an AMOLED matrix. After all, it’s better to turn on a small screen than to constantly turn on the main one.

Equipment

The youngest visited the editorial office Pro version 7, equipped with a MediaTek Helio P25 (6757T) processor. This chip is equipped with 8 Cortex-A53 cores with a maximum frequency of 2.6 GHz and GPU Mali-T880. In terms of performance, this processor is approximately on par with the Kirin 659, which is installed in and slightly more powerful than the popular Qualcomm Snapdragon 625.

The smartphone has 4 GB of RAM and 64 GB of permanent memory; there is no expandability. The older version of Pro 7 with MediaTek X30, 6 GB of RAM and 128 GB of storage will be available for sale.

Test version of the smartphone works under Android control 7.0 and Flyme shell 6.1.3. The smartphone works quickly, the interface is responsive. You shouldn't expect maximum performance in games, but you can play with pleasure, even the most demanding ones. The heating of the case under load is moderate.

The quality of reception and transmission of spoken language is good, GPS works stably in the city. The vibration alert is not very strong and you can easily not feel it in your pocket. The speaker is not bad; you can even hear low frequencies. But the main speaker is disappointing, it is loud, but its quality is average, it lacks depth.

Sound in headphones, on the contrary, is one of the most strengths Meizu Pro 7. The smartphone is equipped with a Cirrus Logic CS43130 audio chip. The sound can be described as very detailed and powerful, especially with good headphones.

Camera

It seems that two cameras have finally become an integral attribute of flagship (and not only) smartphones. Meizu Pro 7 was no exception. The main camera consists of two 12-megapixel sensors, f/2.0 aperture. One sensor is color, the other is monochrome.

The second sensor comes into operation when the “B&W” mode is turned on, but in my opinion its operation is no different from a regular black-and-white filter during post-processing.

The camera features a special blur mode. background, his work is somewhat aggressive, but with good lighting he produces interesting shots.

Night shots lose detail in proportion to the decrease in light. A good shot can only be obtained in manual mode and with knowledge of the matter.

For front camera A sensor with a resolution of 16 megapixels and an f/2.0 aperture is used. You can take good selfies with it, but the quality is still inferior to the duo of main modules.

The Pro 7's video recording capabilities are modest. The maximum resolution is 1920x1080 at 30 frames per second. You can see examples of recordings below.

Autonomy

The smartphone is equipped with a 3000 mAh battery. With 20 minutes of calls, 15 minutes of games, several hours of listening to music, half an hour of walking, the device worked for 1.5 days and 2 hours of active screen. Throughout the entire period of use full charge The battery always lasted for a day or two under average load without games.

Pro 7 supports fast charging, but, unfortunately, I didn't have the appropriate one at hand charger, so it was not possible to check this. Using a regular charger (5V/2A), the smartphone was charged in 1.5 hours.

After the presentation of the new product in Zhuhai, I had the opportunity to twirl the phone in my hands a little and make a first impression. If interested, you can read it here. Of course, I might have overlooked some little things, but the general message of that article was correct: the Pro 7 is not a flagship.

On September 20, a local presentation of new products took place at TseHab in Odessa, which I also attended. The start of sales was announced by the head of Meizu in Ukraine, Tony Lei, who spoke about all key features devices. In addition, Citrus had several demo zones where guests could test the phones themselves. It was there that I managed to get my hands on the Pro 7 to quickly review it.

Design

After all this mountain of frameless smartphones that have been dumped on the market, Meizu Pro 7 no longer causes the “wow” effect. And if the back panel may interest you with an additional screen, then the front side is practically indistinguishable from dozens of other Meizu. I think even the most ardent fan of this company could not tell which model it is.

We have the usual dimensions and aspect ratio of the screen, protective 2.5D glass and an aluminum body. I had the black version of this phone, but there will be a red version available in the market, which will be much brighter and more interesting. The red model doesn't seem to be as branded as the black one. The prints on the latter will have to be constantly wiped or a protective case may be used to get rid of this problem. It’s just that you don’t want to wear it with a case, because the case turned out to be very ergonomic and comfortable. It reminded me of the Pro 6.

By the way, nothing much has changed in the design. Only a dual camera and another screen were added, but the overall shape remained almost the same.

All connectors and control buttons remained in their places, special thanks for the presence of a 3.5 mm jack. But what was a little upsetting was the presence of a mechanical Home buttons. After a series of phones equipped only with sensors, some of the looseness and flimsiness of this mechanism is a little embarrassing. And after replacing this button again in my spare M3S, I have big questions about its reliability. I hope that these problems will not appear in the flagship.

The fingerprint scanner is familiar to all Meizu devices - fast, responsive, and does not create problems.

Screen

The phone is equipped with a 5.2-inch AMOLED matrix with a resolution of 1920 by 1080 pixels. And I would like to praise the company for using a good panel, but the front part of the phone turned out boring because of this. Framelessness is sorely missed, no matter how fast the phone is, no matter how many cameras or other “chips” it has, 90 percent of the time we look at the screen and the huge frames around it. And they, for 2017, are really big. Personally, I didn’t have the feeling that this was a new flagship. The frameless trend is firmly entrenched in our heads and has turned the majority cool phones with frameworks in obsolete products.

Meizu uses a really good matrix with excellent saturation, brightness and color rendition. In the settings you can find several parameters to adjust the picture to suit you, but the automatic mode is enough.

Covers the rounded matrix safety glass, and the company clearly didn’t skimp on the oleophobic coating. From this point of view, using the phone is a pleasure.

There is also a second screen. This is a 1.9-inch AMOLED matrix (307 ppi), which displays notifications, several widgets and player controls. On at the moment the user can install a stock animated screensaver or replace it with another image from the gallery, turn off the display of widgets and enable double-tap to wake up the screen. There is no AlwaysOn mode, despite the type of matrix.

Other features include, for example, the ability to use the additional screen as a viewfinder for taking selfies or in the mode of displaying player controls. All this sounds good, but the implementation is lame on both legs.

Take the same shooting. It would be logical for the second screen to be used while shooting video. For mobile vloggers, this would be just a gift. But no, sorry, the second screen is only active in photo mode.

The player widget has the same problem. I thought that it would be possible to quickly rewind a track or even select another one from the list directly on the additional display. And again, no, advanced player control options are available only after switching the phone to “Music Only” mode. In normal mode, only the title of the song is displayed on the screen. It also only works with the native player, Play users Music in flight. So the idea is very original, but so far it is not working well, and there is little practical benefit.

Characteristics and autonomy

• Operating system: Android 7.1;
• Display: 5.2-inch, 1920 x 1080, second screen 1.9-inch;
• Processor: Helio P25;
• Video accelerator: Mali-T880 MP2;
• RAM: 4 GB;
• ROM: 64 GB;
• Main camera: double, main module 12 MP, second module 12 MP, monochrome, LED flash;
• Battery: 3000 mAh;
• Other: USB Type-C, fingerprint scanner.

It was the characteristics of the phone that became the most controversial point. Several versions of the device will be available on the market, differing in screen and processor. My model has an average performance P25 chip, which gives out only 60 thousand in Antutu, 4 GB of RAM and a T880 MP2 video accelerator. The “plus version” has X30 installed, the results of which exceed 130 thousand points.

The performance of the younger version is very deplorable, but thanks to optimization, the phone works quickly. All games run on medium settings and work fine, only occasionally losing a few frames. The 64 GB drive here is not the fastest - eMMC 5.1 (Plus uses UFS 2.1), so launching and installing applications is a little slower than in other flagships. There is no support for memory cards.

But even with such indicators, Flyme OS feels great. The speed of drawing the interface is in no way inferior to competitors. Only a few times have I experienced YouTube crash while using multitasking.

And everything would be cool if it weren’t for the price of the device. Asking $470-480 for such a device, even taking into account all the features, is a bit much. But just before publication, prices for the new product dropped to $400, which slightly corrects the strange pricing situation and makes the Pro 7 not so prohibitively expensive. Not only has the price dropped for the smaller model, the Plus has also dropped in price and, in my opinion, it is the one that deserves attention, because there are no performance problems there.

True, there is one little thing that cannot be corrected at a price - the lack of NFC, which is becoming more and more useful. Take, for example, payment for travel on the subway.

But for autonomous operation no need to worry. Due to the energy-efficient processor, the 3000 mAh battery drains very slowly. I had about 4-4.5 hours of active screen time and still had 10 percent left. So that's enough for a working day. In addition, there is support fast charging via USB Type-C. Just half an hour and 40 percent.

Sound

Meizu decided to go back to basics and, in addition to a good DAC, add to the Pro 7 the ability to work as an MP3 player only. In this mode, the phone turns off all wireless modules, the main screen and other features, transferring control to the additional display. It looks quite interesting and will be useful for those who, for example, fly frequently. Let me remind you that this only works with a standard player.

The sound in the headphones is very specific. Average and high frequencies They play out perfectly, I had enough details, but the low ones seemed not enough. And I would like to have more equalizer settings, after all, this is a music phone with a separate Cirrius Logic CS43130 DAC. It’s hard to call me an audiophile, but there really aren’t many sliders and switches here. And I didn’t notice any significant difference when moving them.

There is only one external speaker. The volume reserve is enough to hear a call, but nothing special. You shouldn't expect either stereo sound or a wide range of frequencies from it.

Cameras