Company history
The history of Xiaomi began with the MIUI shell, which was initially just custom firmware for several smartphones.
This was during the days of Android 2.1, when the standard system was terribly stupid and slow, and also caused a lot of ridicule among iOS owners. Compared to pure Android, the MIUI shell looked simply amazing: fast, sophisticated, functional.
Yes, MIUI copied a lot from iOS, but Apple’s operating system was the best ! I remember these times very well and I myself enjoyed using MIUI on the HTC Desire HD, and then on the Desire S and Samsung Galaxy S2.
Both me and many other users then had the idea that the MIUI team should make their own smartphone, because when porting the firmware, there are some bugs. I myself didn’t find the first Mi1, but Mi2 was actively discussed on the network and, despite the complexity of the purchase, users still bothered with ordering it.
Meizu initially generally focused on creating audiophile players; one of them, the Meizu MiniPlayer M6, was also popular in Russia. True, this model was sold under other names (Ritmix RF-9200 and Powerman XL850), but it was very well known among our users.
When players gradually began to be replaced by smartphones, Meizu also decided to try their hand at this niche and, oddly enough, also took Apple as a reference.
It even got to the point that Meizu M8 was not allowed to be shown at the exhibition, because it was considered that it was too similar to one of the iPhones.
So which is better, Xiaomi Redmi Note 4X or Meizu M5 Note
In order to determine the winner of the competition, we will list those functional aspects for which each of the smartphones is in the lead.
Pros of Xiaomi Redmi Note 4X:
- more relevant iron;
- better autonomy;
- slightly better photo quality, better video recording;
- communication opportunities are wider;
- Better software support from the manufacturer.
Pros of Meizu M5 Note:
- good ergonomics;
- fast charging;
- higher screen brightness;
- The sound in headphones is a little better.
Thus, Xiaomi had 5 strong points on its side, while Meizu won in 4 categories. Does this mean that the first smartphone is a little better? Not at all, it all depends on what is more important to you. If hardware performance, autonomy and navigation quality are priorities, then Redmi Note 4X wins. But if ergonomics and high-quality sound are more important, then you should take a closer look at the M5 Note. Well, as for the camera, during the day both devices photograph equally well (therefore there was no point in giving examples of shooting during the day), but in the evening their cameras are equally lame.
Positioning
“A good smartphone for little money,” perhaps this is the motto that Xiaomi was guided by when developing its devices. Also, the company’s main income came from services, so the markup on devices was minimal.
Xiaomi was also very fond of various flash sales, when a large volume of smartphones at a low price was released at a certain time. Of course, all this was swept away by resellers in a matter of seconds, and then we sadly saw less attractive prices on the same AliExpress.
Later, the company’s approach transformed into “a good thing for little money,” and then various company accessories appeared: from headphones to backpacks.
At first, Meizu copied Apple’s tactics: one cool smartphone per year . And it was really great, I remember very well the Meizu MX2, which was not inferior in characteristics to the Galaxy S3, and its display could perfectly compete with top-end flagships.
Top-end components, great sound and long-term support - that’s what Meizu focused on. The situation changed radically after Alibaba's investment in 2015. The company now has room to maneuver and, in addition to the flagship devices, a youth line called Meizu M has appeared with average performance, bright design and a good price.
Before moving on to the direct comparison, I would like to draw your attention to the fact that in general Meizu and Xiaomi are very different companies, both in approach and in size. Xiaomi is now one of the largest manufacturers in China, and Meizu is just one of the companies, albeit with its own large fan base.
And the fact that we are now putting an equal sign between them is the merit of the Russian office of Meizu, which began its work since the days of Meizu M8 and by the time Xiaomi officially entered the Russian market, Meizu had already established contacts with retail and had its own loyal audience in Russia.
Let's start with the flagships. At the moment, Meizu’s current flagship is 15 Plus, Xiaomi’s is Mi MIX 2s. These two models show almost all the differences between the companies.
Let's start with the design.
Mi MIX 2s repeats the iPhone X in a number of parameters (location of the double module, lack of a minijack), while for some reason Xiaomi copies the worst of the innovations, as a result, it is in terms of design that their product looks secondary.
Although Meizu started by copying the iPhone, in the 15 line they have their own design, this applies to the location of the camera, the fingerprint scanner and, importantly, the presence of a minijack.
In general, it is in this line that Meizu shows that they do not want to follow stupid trends, so all the “tags” have standard displays with a 16:9 ratio and very thin frames. Personally , I like this solution , although it is a matter of taste.
It is also worth commenting on the price difference between Mi MIX 2s and 15 Plus; it amounts to an impressive 10 thousand rubles . But here it is important to understand that Xiaomi makes virtually no money from this model, it is sold exclusively on Tmall, and all expenses (logistics, warehouses, advertising) are covered by AliExpress.
For Ali this is an excellent advertisement for their site, for Xiaomi it is an opportunity to set an attractive price.
Separately, I would like to note that the sale comes in waves, for example, on June 21 there was the first wave and after a couple of hours the model was out of stock. That is, buying it at this price is not so easy.
Meizu will sell their 15 Plus through their company's online store and retail chains, so they cannot afford to set such a price tag.
At the same time, the company understands that there is such a Mi MIX 2s, so as an alternative, it offers to pre-order with Meizu POP headphones (will be sold for 7,000 rubles, similar to AirPods from Meizu) as a gift.
Disadvantages of Meizu smartphones
The key weakness of Meizu products is the insufficiently powerful processor. Most models are powered by MediaTek chipsets, which are far behind Qualcomm's developments. Under average loads there is no visible difference, but if you run a cutting-edge 3D shooter with high graphics requirements, the differences will be noticeable.
The next minus is the operating system and the unfinished shell. Since there is a wide range of Meizu smartphones available for sale, user support options are quite limited.
Each firmware version has its own disadvantages and bugs that negatively affect the comfort of using the device. Often, users have problems with displaying notifications, and fixing one error is accompanied by the appearance of others. There are also difficulties with the compatibility of different applications with the user shell.
Firmware updates arrive late and are sometimes unfinished. This defect is more associated with MediaTek processors, whose manufacturers do not pay enough attention to the issue of software upgrades. In most cases, users only manage to update the proprietary Flyme interface, while the base OS remains old. More information about this operating system is here. This phenomenon explains the presence of many bugs and malfunctions.
In terms of price-quality ratio, Meizu is much inferior to Xiaomi.
Mid-range and budget segment (new products)
I won’t make specific comparisons here and here’s why. Xiaomi's key models in the middle segment are Redmi 5, Redmi 5 Plus and Redmi Note 5. Essentially, their main advantage is software optimization and the transition to a new aspect ratio.
As I wrote earlier, Meizu is a smaller company, so their development cycle is slower and direct competitors to these models will only be released by the end of summer. Actually, this is also one of the advantages towards Xiaomi.
If for current flagships Meizu cannot offer prices comparable to Xiaomi, then when it comes to reducing the cost of previous generations of devices, the price tag for both companies becomes, plus or minus, the same.
Although it is in the context of the M5 Note and Redmi Note 4, if my memory serves me correctly, the price of both models was not much different from each other before.
Results
To summarize, it should be stated that both Xiaomi and Meiza release high-quality and affordable smartphones to the market, which have not only advantages, but also disadvantages. Compared to leading brands, these manufacturers are trying to make advanced technical achievements in the world of mobile electronics cheap and affordable.
If OS versions are not important to you, you can safely choose Xiaomi smartphones. This option will also be in demand if you need to use cloud storage. If you want to take a lot of pictures and listen to audio files, it is better to give preference to Maze.
If you place emphasis on system performance, smooth running of cutting-edge games and applications, and multitasking, you should consider mid-range smartphones from Xiaomi. Since they are powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon and are sold at affordable prices, this makes them the best solution in their price segment.
Camera quality
Camera Meizu 15 Plus – Sony IMX380. This is one of the best sensors that came with models such as the Huawei P20 and P20 Pro. The 20-megapixel front camera is also capable of delighting owners with high-quality, bright photos. In terms of photo quality, the 12-megapixel camera of the XMi Mix 2S is among the top 10 best phones of its year, according to DxOMark employees.
Not only flagships can boast of good optics and image quality. Even budget employees can boast of good sensors and a whole range of additional settings (manual setting of white balance, contrast, brightness, photo timer).
Power
The status of brand flagships is a guarantee of the presence of powerful performance chipsets under the back cover. In the case of Mi Mix S2, it is Qualcomm Snapdragon 845, 6 GB of RAM and 64 GB of internal ROM. The 15 Plus is powered by Samsung Exynos 8895. Both the 8-core chips have integrated graphics. Comparing them in benchmarks does not allow us to declare a dominant advantage of one of the competitors.
The Snapdragon 845 wins a little: it is 14 percent more productive and supports version 12 of DirectX. Both SoCs are manufactured at 10 nm tech. process. “Meizu” or “Xiaomi” - both smartphones cope well with the tasks. There are no freezes or other problems even when running games at maximum settings.
Budget models of competitors use simpler and cheaper technical components, but the difference between class rivals will be the same as that of flagships.
Screen
Now it's time to compare the screens of two smartphones and understand which is better. Meizu and Xiaomi have the same resolution of 1280x720, but their diagonals are different. For Meizu it is 5.2 inches and 282 ppi, and for Xiaomi it is 5 inches exactly and 296 ppi. The matrices in both smartphones are IPS, but Xiaomi has better factory calibration. The colors are bright, saturated, white has no foreign impurities, and black remains black.
Meizu is a little worse. When tilted, the image turns slightly violet or yellow, and with a slightly greater deviation it begins to noticeably darken.
There is enough brightness reserve in both cases; in bright sunshine the information remains readable. Multi-touch supports up to 10 simultaneous touches. There is an oleophobic coating.
In general, in all respects, the 4x display is a little better than its opponent, so the point goes to it.
Xiaomi for 10,000 rubles.
I don't have a lot of money to buy a smartphone. I don't understand people who take out loans for Samsung and iPhone. I like FlymeOS and would like to stay on it, but the limited budget of 12 thousand rubles for a smartphone took its toll.
Now everything up to 25,000 rubles are budget smartphones, but the truth is that here in Orel people buy smartphones for 10,000 rubles and for them it is very expensive. This does not apply to people who buy an iPhone for 40-80 thousand on credit.
Besides the cost, I had three more wishes: 32 gigabytes of internal memory, a FullHD screen and a Qualcomm 625/636 processor. I used MTK for a long time and had no problems, but I wanted to move on.
In this price segment, Meizu has Meizu M6 Note and I was almost ready to buy this smartphone. If not for one thing. display.
Meizu M6 Note had a ton of defects.
Before I buy anything I look and read reviews. Many bloggers had complaints about the brightness and color rendition of the display. I started digging deeper and thanks to 4pda I found out that the smartphone not only had a problem with the display, but also a problem with the touchscreen. It doesn't always handle clicks accurately. I did not see such a problem in my Meizu M2 mini. And my sister had a Meizu M2 Note and had no problems.
The problem with the display was that it went green when tilted, and there was not enough brightness reserve. This is a failure from Meizu. And for the summer of 2021, Meizu has nothing to answer to such Xiaomi hits as Xiaomi Redmi 5 Plus and Xiaomi Redmi 5 Note.
