Unlike more established Chinese brands such as Xiaomi or OnePlus, you've probably never heard of Meizu. The Beijing-based company has been building smartphones for a while now, and the MX4 is the company's fourth device -- and quite a stand-out it it too, with a unique 5.4-inch display with a 5:3 aspect ratio, much squarer than most phones.
Inside, however, the story is more troubling. Battery life and camera quality are disappointing and operating system is riddled with bugs. Also, while the MX4 comes with 4G LTE connectivity, it isn't compatible with networks in the US. It should, however, be compatible with high-speed networks of both EE and Three in the UK and Optus in Australia.
Available at online retailers such as Gearbest in the US, the MX4 costs $449 for the 16GB model and $489 for the 32GB version. It's available via Amazon in the UK for £300 for 16GB or £304 for 32GB (why would you buy the 16GB one?). Australians will have to import the phone, with the US prices converting to AU$510 and AU$555, respectively. At this point, however, there are too many niggling problems to recommend it at that price.
Design
Sporting an Apple-inspired design, the MX4 looks just like a smaller iPad. Meizu has even added a circular home button on the front that hints at Apple's Touch ID buttons. The button isn't a fingerprint sensor, but it does light up like an arc reactor to alert you to notifications.
Turn the MX4 on its side to see even more evidence of the Apple influence. The edges are chamfered like the iPad Air, but the rounded edges have a plastic lining like the iPhone. On its backside, a curved plate makes the MX4 comfortable to hols. Unlike the glossy design of the MX3, the MX4 goes for a matte grey color, darker than Apple's devices. Underneath the removable cover, there's a non-removable 3,100mAh battery, and a slot for the SIM card.
Instead of your usual smartphone display with a 16:9 aspect ratio, the MX4 has a strange 5:3 ratio and a resolution of 1,920x1,152 pixels crammed into its 5.4 inches -- slightly more than a full HD screen. It's certainly unexpected, but the execution is poor. It doesn't work well on the MX4 -- but more on that in a minute.
On the upside, viewing angles were great and colors were vibrant. The screen is bright enough to use outdoors under sunlight. The only thing I had an issue with was that the phone sometimes didn't quite seem to adjust correctly to the amount of light in the area, and ends up being a shade too dim. You'll have to manually tweak it instead.
I don't really see the 5:3 screen as something that really sells the phone -- at least not for me. There doesn't seem to be any extra usefulness compared with your standard full-HD display. My colleague Lynn La had similarly mixed feelings about the LG Vu's similar 4:3 aspect ratio.
