Meizu has a cheap treat on the way after finally updating one of its popular devices with Android.
The Chinese phone maker – known for its budget handsets – has given its popular Meizu M5 smartphone a bit of a makeover, replacing the clunky OS with Google’s Android, and rebranding the handset Meizu M5s in the process.
Meizu’s first mobile phone of 2017 features a 5.2-inch screen with a paltry 1,280 x 720 pixel resolution that won’t wow any reviewers but goes some way to explaining how the company manages to keep the price down.
Inside the aluminium shell is a MediaTek MT6753 octa-core chip backed up by 3GB of RAM, and it comes in 16GB or 32GB configurations with further space gained by using the microSD card slot. Digging further inside there is a 3,000mAh battery with fast charging that can boost the battery to 56% capacity in just half an hour.
When it comes taking photos and videos, the M5s has the same 13-megapixel lens on the back and 5-megapixel camera on the front of its older sibling. Added extras include Meizu’s mTouch fingerprint scanner that promises to unlock the device in just 0.2 seconds, but it’s the absence of the Yun OS developed by Alibaba for the M5 in China that will turn heads.
Coming in four different colours, the US pricing ranges from $115 (around £92) to $145 (around £116) for the respective models.
Related: MWC 2017
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Does the addition of Android make the Meizu M5s a legit smartphone? Let us know in the comments below
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Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
