Skip to main content

You’ll be amazed at the smartphone $130 will buy you in China

xiaomi meizu available in us m2 note
Image used with permission by copyright holder
Chinese smartphone manufacturer Meizu has announced the second in its new Note series of devices — the M2 Note — and on paper at least, it’s proof you don’t need to spend a fortune to get a high specification smartphone anymore. Here’s what you need to know about this intriguing phone.

There are two versions of the M2 Note, one with 16GB of internal memory, and the other with 32GB. The former will cost the equivalent of $130 in China, and the latter will be $160. Not that long ago, $130 would have barely got you a smartphone at all, but it’s a very different story today.

Recommended Videos

The M2 Note has a 5.5-inch, 1080p screen, and it’s one of Sharp’s power-sipping, high-contrast IGZO panels, which is fitted to an 8.7mm thick, colorful polycarbonate body that weighs 149 grams. The processor is a MediaTek MT6752 octa-core chips, which includes global 4G LTE support, and also gets 2GB of RAM to ensure overall performance is good.

There are two cameras on the M2 Note. A Samsung-sourced 13-megapixel camera is on the rear, complete with a dual-tone flash, and a 5-megapixel selfie camera is above the screen. A generous 3100mAh battery made by Sony should return a long standby time, and the double SIM card slot can be used for either a second SIM or a MicroSD card to boost the internal memory capacity.

Meizu has opted to fit a physical home button below the M2 Note’s screen, which has a dual function. A press will return you to the main home screen, while a tap just takes you back a step. Long-time Android users may find this takes a while to get used to, but it sounds like a handy feature. Finally, Android Lollipop is the OS, but with Meizu’s Flyme 4.5 user interface over the top.

It’s hard to argue against a phone that costs so little but offers so much. Meizu isn’t best known outside of China, and sadly the M2 Note isn’t likely to change that, due to it only being announced there for the moment. However, if you’re keen, expect the M2 Note to show up through various phone importers in the near future.

Andy Boxall
Andy is a Senior Writer at Digital Trends, where he concentrates on mobile technology, a subject he has written about for…
Apple’s new M2 MacBook Pro can’t handle the heat — should you still buy it?
A MacBook Pro set on a table.

Apple's M2 chip found in the 13-inch MacBook Pro might struggle under pressure, found Vadim Yuryev of Max Tech on YouTube. The YouTuber tested the new MacBook Pro in order to see how it deals with extremely resource-heavy tasks.

This resulted in severe throttling upon hitting high temperatures, highlighting that Apple's design choices for the laptop might not be ideal in terms of cooling. But is this really a big deal for the intended userbase of the new MacBook Pro?

Read more
You’ll have to imagine how fun the new OnePlus Nord 2 x Pac-Man phone looks
The OnePlus Nord 2's camera module.

OnePlus is up to its old promotional tricks again. It has announced a collaboration between it and the ever-popular Pac-Man video game franchise, resulting in the OnePlus Nord 2 x Pac-Man Edition smartphone. OnePlus’ marketing department is building anticipation in a frustrating way by telling us how we can win one of the new phones and promising early access codes to the online store if we’re unsuccessful, but not actually showing us the phone at all yet.

A OnePlus Nord 2 Andy Boxall/Digital Trends

Read more
You’ll have to pay extra for the new MacBook Pro’s fast charging feature
New 2021 Macbook Pro brings back magsafe charging.

Apple finally introduced its redesigned MacBook Pro line that brought many features that professionals and prosumers alike will definitely enjoy. One of those features is ability to get at least 50% charge after only 30 minutes of fast charging. However, the catch is that the ability to fast charge comes at an additional cost.

The base model 14-inch MacBook Pro ships with the 67W USB-C adapter. The problem is that it isn't enough to actually fast charge the base model. To take advantage of Apple's impressive fast charging, buyers must pay an extra $20 for the 96W USB-C power adapter. While $20 doesn't seem like much (especially if you're paying $2,000 or more for a laptop), it's disappointing that one of the marquee features of the new MacBook Pro is still an extra charge.

Read more