Meizu launched its M1 Note today in India, a market which has been under close watch of international smartphone vendors.
Meizu's debut will bring an increased level of competition in the budget space, where companies like Xiaomi, Lenovo and others are placing their best bets. But Meizu's entry is widely expected to take on its home rival, Xiaomi, in India as it remains to be seen how well the new rivalry plays out.
Meizu has already made its M1 Note available in China, which gives us a better look at the specs and features it has to offer beforehand. Going by the specs, we find an interesting face-off between Meizu M1 Note and Xiaomi Mi 4i. We put out a comparison of both eligible handsets to see which phone stands where in terms of consumer value.
Design
Xiaomi packs a compact rectangular design with rounded edges and features a polycarbonate rear case. The volume and power buttons are made of steel and are placed in reachable positions. The handset measures 7.8mm thin and features soft matte design that feels comfortable in hand.
Meizu M1 Note doesn't stand too far off from its rival in terms of the materials used. It also features glossy polycarbonate finish to give a soft and comfortable feel in hand. It's hard to ignore that the handset looks identical to Apple's iPhone 5C with similar design.
Display
Xiaomi Mi 4i features a 5-inch Full HD display with 1920 x 1080 pixel resolution and 441ppi. The handset also features some new technology such as Sunlight display and boasts 178-degree viewing angle. Comparatively, Meizu M1 Note sports a slightly bigger, 5.5-inch display with similar resolution but lower pixel density of 401, which is due to the increase in screen size. Both phones are protected by Gorilla Glass 3.
Processor
There are different processors on each phone. Xiaomi Mi 4i is powered by a 64-bit class based Snapdragon 615 Octa-core SoC with H.265/High Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC) for faster operations. Although Meizu M1 Note is based on a similar 64-bit chipset, it uses MediaTek MT6752 with an octa-core Cortex A53 processor. On paper, both processors seem to have equal value but benchmarking results will paint a clearer picture.
RAM & Storage
Both smartphone feature 2GB LPDDR3 RAM onboard while the Meizu M1 Note takes a step forward by offering 32GB space compared to Xiaomi Mi 4i's 16GB memory. Lack of expandable microSD card slot in both phones limits user's ability to throw in more megabytes on their phones, so it's important to choose the right handset based on your need for storing data.
Camera
There isn't much difference in the camera department as both smartphone models feature similar sensors. The Xiaomi Mi 4i sports a 13MP primary shooter with f/2.0 aperture and dual-LED flash. The front camera in both phones is fitted with 5MP sensors, respectively. Meizu M1 Note features a similar 13MP sensor on the rear with f/2.2 aperture and dual-LED flash.
Battery
Both phones have almost identical batteries. The Meizu M1 Note features slightly bigger 3,140mAh battery compared to Xiaomi Mi 4i's 3,120mAh unit. The difference can barely be visible as both phones have almost identical specs.
Price
Xiaomi's Mi 4i is smartly priced at ₹12,999, which is quite impressive given the high-end specs. The handset is available exclusively via Flipkart's flash sales. The next sale is to be conducted on 21 May and registrations for the sale close on 20 May midnight.
There is no word on the pricing of Meizu M1 Note but considering the Chinese company is going after Xiaomi it is safe to assume that the handset will be priced somewhere close to ₹13,000. The handset is already listed on Amazon India store as an exclusive and the first sale will commence at 2PM, 20 May, just a day before Mi 4i flash sale.
