Price and specifications of Meizu MX3 advantages, disadvantages, and a comprehensive explanation

Overview of the Meizu MX3

The Meizu MX3, released in 2013, was an ambitious smartphone that aimed to provide high-end features at a competitive price. Discontinued now, it still remains a memorable device for many tech enthusiasts who experienced its excellent build and reliable performance during its prime time. With a blend of unique features, it catered to a wide range of users seeking both functionality and style. The phone was designed to run on the Android 4.2 platform with Meizu's customized Flyme 3 UI, which added a touch of uniqueness to its operation.

Design and Build

The Meizu MX3 features a sleek and attractive design that attracted many users at the time of its release. With dimensions of 139 x 71.9 x 9.1 mm and a weight of 143 grams, the device offers a solid yet lightweight feel. It comes with a Micro-SIM slot, and its front panel is black, providing a distinct contrast with the colorful options available for the back cover. The device is protected by Corning Gorilla Glass, which offers robust protection against scratches and minor drops, ensuring the longevity of the device.

Display

The smartphone boasts a 5.1-inch IPS LCD with a resolution of 1080 x 1800 pixels. This screen size and resolution result in a pixel density of approximately 412 ppi, ensuring sharp and vibrant visuals. The screen-to-body ratio of 74.1% provides users with more screen real estate, making for an immersive viewing experience whether browsing the web, watching videos, or playing games. The display also features good contrast ratios, making it relatively easy to view in sunlight conditions.

Performance

Under its hood, the Meizu MX3 is powered by the Exynos 5410 Octa chipset. This includes an octa-core CPU, which combines four high-performance Cortex-A15 cores clocked at 1.6 GHz and four energy-efficient Cortex-A7 cores clocked at 1.2 GHz. This combination offers a balance between performance and power efficiency, handling multitasking and demanding applications competently. The PowerVR SGX544MP3 GPU ensures that graphic-intensive tasks such as gaming and video playback are smooth and render efficiently on this device.

Memory and Storage

The Meizu MX3 is equipped with 2GB of RAM, accommodating decent multitasking capabilities for its time. It was available in multiple internal storage options: 16GB, 32GB, 64GB, and 128GB. Unfortunately, there isn't a card slot for expandable storage, which could be a limitation for users who require more than the maximum available storage. Nevertheless, the available options were ample for the era and allowed users to store plenty of apps, photos, and videos.

Camera Capabilities

In the camera department, the Meizu MX3 is equipped with an 8 MP rear camera featuring an aperture of f/2.0, autofocus, and LED flash. This setup allows for quality photography with good color reproduction and clarity, especially in well-lit conditions. Moreover, it can record videos at 1080p at 30fps, permitting smooth video capture. For selfies and video calls, the device sports a 2 MP front-facing camera, also capable of 1080p video recording.

Battery Life

The device includes a non-removable Li-Po 2400 mAh battery. This battery can sustain up to 12 hours of talk time on 2G networks and 14 hours on 3G networks. When in stand-by mode, the battery can last for up to 429 hours on 2G and 393 hours on 3G. Additionally, users can enjoy up to 40 hours of music play, which is an attractive feature for those who rely on their smartphones for entertainment.

Connectivity

The Meizu MX3 includes a range of connectivity options. It supports dual-band Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n and Wi-Fi Direct, ensuring robust internet connectivity. Bluetooth 4.0 with A2DP provides seamless wireless connections with peripherals. Additionally, the device is equipped with GPS and GLONASS for precise location tracking. Although it lacks radio functionality, it compensates with NFC and microUSB 2.0 with MHL TV-out, which offers versatile media sharing and content display capabilities on external screens.

Sound and Multimedia

An integrated loudspeaker and a 3.5mm headphone jack cater to the device's audio functionalities. With decent audio quality output, the Meizu MX3 ensures satisfying media consumption, whether you are watching videos, playing games, or listening to music. The audio performance is further supported by analog measures, such as noise levels of -93.9dB and crosstalk of -93.8dB, ensuring minimal audio distortion.

Additional Features

The device includes an array of sensors, namely an accelerometer, gyro, proximity sensor, and compass, which enhance the overall user experience. These sensors enable various functionalities such as screen orientation rotation, gaming control, and augmented reality applications.

Conclusion

Despite being discontinued, the Meizu MX3 remains a noteworthy device that demonstrated substantial performance and significant innovation relative to its time. Balancing design, performance, and functionality with affordability, it catered to the needs of a diverse consumer base and laid the groundwork for future developments in smartphone technologies from Meizu. The experience it delivered, both in terms of software and hardware, continues to be appreciated by those who found its performance satisfactory for the years during its presence in the market.