Choosing a smartphone is a tricky business. Sometimes an almost ideal device on paper in life turns out to be controversial and not very convenient. And although Meizu M2 mini is a very good offer for its money, it also has some drawbacks …
Foreword
I think almost anyone who is at least more or less versed in technology, from time to time has to answer questions from the series 'What to choose?' or 'What is better to buy?'. Moreover, the interlocutor is usually not at all eager to understand the subject on his own. Yes, and lengthy arguments about different scenarios of use and listing the strengths and weaknesses of different models are not at all interesting to him, he immediately wants to get a specific answer. The fact that life is somewhat more difficult than a school math problem and that having 'right' and 'wrong' answers usually does not imply, does not bother anyone.
In an amicable way, it is always worth asking at least a couple of leading questions. For example, what size screen is needed, is it critical to have a second SIM card slot, are case materials important, and so on. The answers are almost always standard (the camera is better, the battery life is more, the price is lower and that there would be no lags or glitches), but at least in general terms it allows you to understand which direction you should look in.
The most important thing is not to forget that you are not choosing a smartphone for yourself. It may take five minutes for you to install Google Play on a device with Chinese firmware. Perhaps you sincerely do not understand what is the point of buying a phone with branded shells that only disfigure the laconic purity of 'clean' Android, and you are not considering anything but Nexus. Or vice versa, for many years you have been ordering smartphones exclusively through Chinese online stores. But your interlocutor is primarily interested in the fact that everything works out of the box, and the frequency of the processor and the OS version mean much less to him than the color of the case.
Over time, you select several universal options for each category that have a good price / quality ratio and suit most users. One of these solutions for me was the smartphone Meizu M2 mini, which is one of the most successful options in its segment.
On the one hand, this is an interesting and well-made item with good characteristics and minimal overpayment for the brand. On the other hand, this is still not some kind of 'no-name' but a rather serious manufacturer, and our brand is gradually beginning to gain popularity. You can find his review at the link below, here I will only quote an excerpt from the conclusion (by Roman Belykh):
The device made an extremely positive impression. It has a nice appearance, excellent ergonomic design, several colors for every taste, good technical characteristics, rather long battery life, good cameras and the ability to operate in fourth-generation networks.
Up to 15,000 rubles, I often advise you to take either the M1 Note, or for lovers of 4G – M2 Note. Now we can recommend M2 mini among compact smartphones with excellent 'stuffing' Meizu.
Smartphone review Meizu M2 mini
In addition, I would like to mention a simple and convenient shell, support for two SIM-cards, optimal screen diagonal, pleasant price and, most importantly, the ability to officially purchase a PCT device with a guarantee and everything else.
Ten disadvantages
Of course, there are no perfect smartphones in the world. Any, even the most successful model, has a number of disadvantages. The only question is how critical they will be for you personally. All the disadvantages of the device should be said aloud, even if you recommend this model to someone for purchase. Or rather – especially when you recommend it. Otherwise, do not be surprised if suddenly it turns out that a person is completely unhappy with your 'ideal' smartphone and generally has difficulty understanding how you use it.
Below are ten shortcomings Meizu of the M2 mini, which, although they may not seem particularly significant to someone, are insanely annoying for many people.
Custom control
Meizu have always preferred to use a non-standard set of control keys and M2 mini was no exception. Instead of the usual set of buttons 'Back', 'Home' and 'Task Manager', the smartphone uses a single multifunction key.
Pressing a mechanical key allows you to go to the desktop, a light touch of the sensor – go back a step, with a long press you can lock and unlock the smartphone screen, and so on. On the one hand, it is really convenient. On the other hand, after switching from some other smartphone it can be unusual, especially for older people. Three different buttons with separate icons on each – a simpler and more intuitive solution.
Google services
I do not know how things are in the Chinese versions of the device, but the PCT version Meizu M2 mini supports Google services 'out of the box'. No flashing or Chinese stores – the Google Play icon is located on the home screen in the same way as in any other smartphones. But other branded applications like Gmail, Google Photos or Google Drive are not initially installed and you need to download them yourself. Many less experienced users are accustomed to considering them as part of the system and are completely lost when they cannot find them. Another example is the Google Now service, which can no longer be invoked at any time by swiping or holding the Home key. If you need this service, you will have to use a widget or icon to launch it.
A similar situation with a Google account. The overwhelming majority Android devices ask to enter it at the first start, but Meizu M2 mini does not. If you want to add an account, go to the corresponding section of the settings, which is also not entirely obvious for beginners.
Software set and delivery set
The phone has a minimum of pre-installed applications. For an experienced user, this is only a plus – you don't have to clean out the garbage carefully installed by the manufacturer. Which, besides taking up free space in vain, is also not removed from the smartphone by regular means.
But for a less tech-savvy audience, this is more of an unnecessary frustration and headache. Questions about how to turn on the flashlight here or where to find the weather and clock widget, as on the previous phone, will arise on the very first day. Out of the box, there is none of this in the smartphone, which is perceived by many novice users as a sign of an extremely budgetary and unfinished device.
Add here an extremely modest package of PCT devices, where even instead of a standard penny headset there is a plug with the inscription 'Earphones not included' and everything will become completely sad. Many are beginning to think that instead of a cool smartphone, they bought some kind of Chinese semi-finished product, where half of the usual things are missing.
Dialer, address book
The lack of Russian letters in the dialer is a very annoying drawback. Yes, it is inherent not only in Meizu M2 mini, but it still doesn't make dialing more convenient. For those who are used to looking for contacts from the keyboard, and not from the directory menu, this is a fly in the ointment.
The address book itself is also somewhat simpler than in the classic one Android – fewer additional fields, there is no way to manually combine several contacts into one. Most likely, the vast majority of users will not pay attention to this, but it may be inconvenient for someone.
Volume control
The lack of separate volume control is another drawback, which, although not immediately striking, can cost a lot of nerves. We lowered the volume in the game and forgot to return it to its place – get ready to miss an important letter or not hear the call. This is a problem with many devices on Android 5.0, but it's still a pity that Meizu didn't fix it.
Combo slot
A quick glance at the description of the smartphone may seem that it has both support for microSD memory cards and the presence of two slots for SIM-cards. In fact, everything is less rosy – the memory card slot is combined with the slot for the second SIM card. That is, you will not be able to use both at the same time, or you install a memory card or a second SIM card.
Although they say that some craftsmen manage to cut cards in such a way that all three can be shoved into the slot at once. Like the overwhelming majority of buyers, I have not tried anything like this and do not plan to.
China version
In addition to the PCT version, you can always buy a 'gray' smartphone, both from dealers and by ordering from China. In the latter case, you may encounter a number of problems, such as unnecessary pre-installed applications in Chinese, lack of Russification, difficulties with updating, and so on. If desired, all these questions are not so difficult to solve, but not everyone will like to figure out exactly how to 'finish with a file' an honestly purchased device. This can also be seen from the reviews in Yandex Market. But here the problem is exclusively for the user – free cheese is only in a mousetrap, and no one forced the Chinese version of the device from the Middle Kingdom to order.
Notifications and lock screen
The branded shell differs markedly from the 'clean' one Android, primarily ideologically. Flyme is trying to combine the best of both worlds – many ideas were borrowed by the developers from iOS, which only benefited the shell. On the one hand, it retained the flexibility and richness of functions Android, on the other, it acquired the simplicity and convenience of an Apple OS. It is endless to argue about how much the result is better than 'pure' Android, but this is at least a decent option. Especially for less experienced users.
But here and there the desire to simplify everything and everything has played a cruel joke with the developers. First of all, this applies to notifications on the lock screen. All missed events are displayed exclusively as icons in the status bar, and the lock screen itself always remains pristinely blank. If desired, this problem can be solved with the help of third-party software, but what prevented us from adding normal notifications out of the box is a mystery.
Another controversial point is the grouping of notifications into several categories. Important notifications are shown as separate icons, all the rest are hidden under a common icon. On the one hand, the status bar always remains clean and tidy, and all sorts of messages about the next updates on Google Play are not an eyesore. On the other hand, some notifications (for example, tips from the same Google Now) are very easy to miss. And marking an app as 'important' isn't as easy as you'd like.
Light-emitting diode
The LED (aka the indicator of missed notifications) is an extremely useful thing. Even if you left your smartphone on the table or switched it to silent mode, the blinking LED light will remind you of a missed call or notify you of an incoming SMS.
The only pity is that on Meizu M2 mini it is not made in the best way. The fact that at any event he always blinks with one single color is another half of the trouble. In the end, it takes a couple of seconds to unlock the screen and check what exactly happened. It is much worse that this color is pale purple, which is hardly visible from afar. And he does not start blinking immediately, but only after a dozen or two seconds. There is no way to customize the operation of the LED, the smartphone does not support applications like Light Flow.
Charge display
Judging by the reviews on the Internet on older firmware versions, the battery charge could be displayed incorrectly. From 99% to 95%, the smartphone could be discharged for a couple of hours, but from 10% to 0 the charge 'flew away' in a minute. The problem was solely in the display of the charge, the total operating time of the smartphone remained unchanged. The bug was fixed for a long time, I have not come across anything like it.
Instead of an afterword
At the end, I want to remind you once again that I think Meizu M2 mini is a very successful device for my money. But this does not negate the presence of a number of disadvantages in it. For some they are critical, for others they are not, but in any case it is better to think about them in advance.
Sometimes the impression of the device can be spoiled by a mere trifle. Unfortunately, you usually come across it after the purchase – even the most detailed review of the device will certainly not tell about all the roughs and shortcomings of the smartphone. After all, what is a serious problem for some users is nothing more than a silly nagging for others, on which there is no point in focusing attention at all.
In theory, feedback from device owners should help in this situation. In practice, this does not always happen – it is somehow not customary for us to scold our choice. Leaving a review about a purchased smartphone, most commentators either do not fill in the 'shortcomings' column at all, or write something like 'they are not available for that kind of money'. And this is very sad, because it is always better to warn about any, even a seemingly insignificant drawback in advance. And how critical he is, everyone will decide for himself.