We find each time more models on the market, since the manufacturers have as goal to cover every single segment on the market, no matter what your budget is...there is a smartphone for you.
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During these past summer months, two of the big Chinese manufacturers have introduced an update for two of their most popular models. We are talking about the Meizu m2 Note (end of June) and the Xiaomi Redmi Note 2 (August).
The truth is that the only point they probably share is a FullHD 5,5” screen and low-medium segment they are both addressed.
Lets see the specifications:
Prices: Meizu m2 Note -> From $139 with Flash sales
Xiaomi Redmi Note 2 -> From $169.99 with current promos
As you can see, with this update Xiaomi has make much more emphasis on the “power” than his competitor. In addition, the version I’m trying is the Prime (2,2Ghz and 32GB of RAM) so the difference seems even more evident.
Appearance
Looking at the design, first thing to mention is that m2 Note is made on a single piece, meaning mainly a more “solid” terminal, or at least feels more resistant on the hand. It is slightly shorter and narrower than the Redmi Note 2, although thicker. The Redmi Note 2 on its side, has rear cover and removable battery.
Anyway, both are quite similar on size and weight, but they are figures difficult to notice on a daily basis.
Looking at them from the front, both show at first the imposing 5,5” screen, even though they use different technologies for it (I’ll talk about it later). Above the screen, Meizu’s one shows the speaker and the secondary camera. Xiaomi model adds also a LED for notifications (Meizu model also has a LED but it’s not as useful or evident, and not as customizable as the Xiaomi LED). Both cameras have 5Mpx.
Below the screen, Meizu only has a physical central button, with 3 different functions depending if we touch, press or hold it. The Xiaomi has the 3 typical Android haptic buttons, although they work in a different way because they can be customized (that’s pretty cool) so we can decide what they’ll do when we press or hold each button.
For the rest, on the Meizu we have the buttons for volume and lock on the left side and the slot for SIM and microSD on the right side. The secondary microphone (for noise cancelation) is on the top side, together with the Jack 3.5 plug, so the micro USB plug and the main speaker are on the bottom side.
The Xiaomi is quite similar, but having all the buttons on the right side, not having anything on the left side and adding the infrared port on the top...the rest all the same.
When flipping it, the main camera (13Mpx) and the flash, which is dual LED on the Meizu and single LED on the Xiaomi. The camera is completely flat for the Meizu and protrudes slightly on the Xiaomi. This last also includes the main speaker on this rear side. Both have the logo on the bottom.
The perception of the finishing is high quality for the two models, and with both I had the impression of sliding from my hand at the beginning. However, once you get used to their shape, size and weight... they fit very comfortable on the hand.
Screen
The 5,5” screens on these models deliver FullHD resolution and excel 400ppi of density with a incredibly good quality of image. The only one difference is then, that Meizu chose IZGO technology and Xiaomi opted for the commonly used IPS LCD panel.
After using both daily, my impression is that Meizu screen offers better quality and dims more, which is very nice for reading during the night for example. Said that, both screens have a very good quality and have the option to adjust the color temperature.
There are some complaints about IZGO screens showing yellowish when it should be white, but I haven't noticed that effect at all.
Use and multimedia
Both models come with Android Lollipop 5, nonetheless each one has a very different and complete customization layer.MIUI is much more known than FlymeOS, although the people from Meizu is doing a great job with continuous improvements on the ROM. The goal surely is to make it each time more popular and compatible with more models, something that has worked very well in the favour of MIUI in the past years.
An important part of this customizations is the way we use the buttons and interact by using gestures.
Since I'm now comparing those two smartphones, I'm not going deeper on the ROMs (MIUI and FlymeOS) used, since it would make an endless review.
What I must say is that both will require a (small) adaptation time even for those coming from Android. In my case it was easier and faster with FlymeOS than with MIUI. Maybe also because MIUI has even more personalization options.
Something that I dislike from both is the number of things (apps, screens, messages) in Chinese, it's not excessive, but they simply appear sometimes and you don't have any other option. It's easier to avoid them in Meizu, since in Xiaomi their AppStore cannot be entirely disabled, and will continue suggesting you updates, which in some cases will just change the language of your apps... to Chinese.
Something good from MIUI (Xiaomi) on this point is that the account creation can be made in English (or other languages) and then it's later integrated with many other apps like their cloud app (called MiCloud... does it remember you something?) coming with 5GB for free and working pretty well for pictures, contacts, messages and some more things which look very similar to Apple iCloud.
As an extra in this section, Xiaomi Redmi Note 2, features an infrared port, and Xiaomi's MiHome app detects it automatically and helps quite good to control different devices at home (TVs, air conditioned, satellites,…). It could seem some silly thing, but it works pretty well.
This Redmi Note 2 also includes radio (digital and FM options), which is something I missed a lot on the Meizu, it works well, with good sound quality.
Regarding the proprietary apps, each one has some strengths and weaknesses. FOr example Meixu's weather app doesn't work for cities outside China, while you can select any city with Xiaomi one. The music app for both allow to browse their extensive catalogue ready to download, but for Xiaomi it's quite complicated to find international (non asiatic) artists. On its side, Meizu's app works very well, it's completely translated and have lots of international artists.
We will find a voice assistant in both smartphones, and both very similar to Apple's Siri, but in Chinese, so in any case it's really useful or something to highlight. The day any of them translates it to make it available internationally (English at least) it will be a good point I guess.
Camera
Here the competition becomes even more interesting (if possible). The pictures I've taken with both smartphones show very good quality, they focus very fast and you can do burst shoot, which is something I cannot say about most of smartphones (not talking about first brands).
So this part is surprisingly satisfying for both competitors.
With the Redmi Note 2, I was surprised by the face detection on the selfies, which in addition is capable of identifying sex and age very accurately :-O
With the main camera, the results are very good even with low light where the flash works very precisely.
Talking about the Meizu m2 Note... I sincerely have the impression that it can compete hand to hand with my iPhone 5 and recording video (1080 @ 30fps) can probably beat him.
Some samples taken with each one, always first the Meizu then the Xiaomi (If you want to see real size pics, I could just upload them to my spanish blog -> http://dabarsocialmarketing.blogspot.co.uk/2015/09/meizu-m2-note-vs-xiaomi-redmi-note-2.html):
Some samples of video
Meizu -> https://youtu.be/Epl1fUwMrjQ
Xiaomi -> https://youtu.be/ZePaimXFL3U
Battery
Not much to say in here. The manufacturers have bet for a size that covers perfectly the expectations, meaning around 3000mAh and 1 day of standard use.
We can find tools for managing the energy in both cases allowing us to choose between power, balance or power saving modes. We can even select if the power saving mode should be automatically enabled when reaching a percentage.
We can say that the Meizu m2 Note, having a less powerful processor and managing better the screen bright, wins by little this battle.
Conclusions
If I had to choose which one to keep, it would really be a hard decission.
A priori, the Redmi Note 2 is more powerful comes with some very interesting and useful extras (radio, infrared,…), however the user experience is more satisfying with the m2 Note and I like more the camera.
A table with pros and cons of each one would be like that:
As you can see, I find some more advantages on the Meizu, despite having less power. Specially strong in the camera, which is one of today's main uses for our smartphones.
In the present case, in addition, I'm using the Xiaomi's Prime version meaning an internal storage of 32GB and 2,2Ghz CPU's speed.
Personally, the FM radio is a very strong point, since I missed it a lot on the Meizu and one of the downside of iPhones for example, since you need data to listen to radio.
FlymeOS use is a little bit more agreeable, although you also get used to MIUI in some days.
For the power and the extras, I choose the Xiaomi as winner on today's competition.
Nevetheless, if you're not planning to play a lot of games, and so you don't require as much power, and you count on using one SIM and a microSD card, I recommend you the Meizu.
PS: if you liked the post... please thank it
If you want to see real size pics, I could just upload them to my spanish blog -> http://dabarsocialmarketing.blogspot.co.uk/2015/09/meizu-m2-note-vs-xiaomi-redmi-note-2.html
Agreed my wife has the redmi note and I had the m2 note, I personally preferred the meizu,battery life doubled my wife's redmi issue,she's currently struggling to get over two hours sot, I'm pretty sure this is a os problem
sutty86 said:
Agreed my wife has the redmi note and I had the m2 note, I personally preferred the meizu,battery life doubled my wife's redmi issue,she's currently struggling to get over two hours sot, I'm pretty sure this is a os problem
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Whoa, what? I'll hit 5 hours of SoT with 28 hour up-time now. Currently on 14%. And that's with 2 SIM cards active.
Sent from my Redmi Note 2
what miui are you running? thanks
sunbriel said:
Whoa, what? I'll hit 5 hours of SoT with 28 hour up-time now. Currently on 14%. And that's with 2 SIM cards active.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Which miui version installed? I run the latest (.24) and my SoT is max 3h00'-3h15" with 45% screen brightness and 3G data connection
sutty86 said:
what miui are you running? thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
geco4u said:
Which miui version installed? I run the latest (.24) and my SoT is max 3h00'-3h15" with 45% screen brightness and 3G data connection
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Xiaomi.eu dev 5.9.24. With brightness set to 25-45%, WiFi on and connected during the day and from 2AM-7AM WiFi off with 2G/3G on.
Great post!
So, the perfect phone would be the combination of these two
Maby I'll wait for a month or two.
I do want to correct the OP. M2 Note does have a LED for notifications. I didn't read the rest, but looking on the table, your pros and cons are somewhat subjective and depend on which version of OS you're running. For example, the Chinese bloat on RN2 can be easily dealt with and as far as I know, when Xiaomi releases RN2 globally, the ROM will be clean.
Other corrections: Xiaomi Redmi Note 2 supports 1080 video recording from front facing camera. It also supports touch-to-focus during video recording (back camera) but you must enable it from settings
So tables are not correct
sunbriel said:
I do want to correct the OP. M2 Note does have a LED for notifications. I didn't read the rest, but looking on the table, your pros and cons are somewhat subjective and depend on which version of OS you're running. For example, the Chinese bloat on RN2 can be easily dealt with and as far as I know, when Xiaomi releases RN2 globally, the ROM will be clean.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, Meizu has the LED, but only in white color. So You cant set different colors for few apps.
And Xiaomi with MIUI has a lot of updates and fixes. Meizu not .. Thats why i will buy Xiaomi.
xiaomi redmi note 2 and meizu m2 note are really the best rivals, but i like xiaomi redmi note 2 more, because it has better performance and price. there is one problem about xiaomi redmi note 2, we really don't know the shipping time. many Chinese sellers just presells it, so can anyone give me the idea about when the international version of Xiaomi redmi note 2 released?
galakty said:
Yeah, Meizu has the LED, but only in white color. So You cant set different colors for few apps.
And Xiaomi with MIUI has a lot of updates and fixes. Meizu not .. Thats why i will buy Xiaomi.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Are you sure? I can check it this weekend when I'll have access to an M2N. But somehow I can't recall the LED flashes white only.
Sent from my Redmi Note 2
sunbriel said:
Are you sure? I can check it this weekend when I'll have access to an M2N. But somehow I can't recall the LED flashes white only.
Sent from my Redmi Note 2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I watched two reviews and they said that. But if You can check it, will be great
FumiJ said:
xiaomi redmi note 2 and meizu m2 note are really the best rivals, but i like xiaomi redmi note 2 more, because it has better performance and price. there is one problem about xiaomi redmi note 2, we really don't know the shipping time. many Chinese sellers just presells it, so can anyone give me the idea about when the international version of Xiaomi redmi note 2 released?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There won't be an international version of xiaomi's devices.
Buy from a reseller with a spedition from Europe/USA
SkiFire13 said:
There won't be an international version of xiaomi's devices.
Buy from a reseller with a spedition from Europe/USA
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
ok, too sad for me!
Meizu has a notification LED, better battery, better design, proper software and camera. Xiaomi has a better chipset but a lame battery life so if you're buying it get yourself a power bank just in case[emoji23]
Redmi Note2 has a notification LED as well, the battery is replaceable and battery times are rather good on 5.9.18 - .24 had some problems with that.
I think I also like Redmi's post processing more than the Meizu, as seen here (look at the clouds for example, they're hideous). Redmi also has the bonus of being able to use dualSIM + µSD, while in Meizu's Note 2 µSD uses SIM2.
Also, I can't seem to find any TWRP/custom ROMs for m2 note, while there are some for Redmi, plus an official dev ROM with root. That's clearly an advantage for me.
Hi all, I've been some weeks out and couldn't check here. Some comments.
1- it's true that Meizu m2 Note had Led for notifications, but it's much less customisable and evident than the one in the Xiaomi. It's more discrete.
2- I was really tired of Chinese intrusion on the Xiaomi (really horrible, it started to install apps without asking me through the Chinese AppStore), so I tried to manually disable that store... Not a good idea, since it went soft bricked :[email protected] some hours later I found a new, European ROM. I lost some of the interesting aspects like the music downloads, but HUGE IMPROVEMENT in terms of battery life, much more hours of use with screen on, watching movies for example. This version is Xiaomi.EU 5.9.24 (still beta) based on Android 5.0.2
100% recommendable. The MiHome app works slightly worse.
3- I've tried but I cannot record 1080p video with the front camera, maybe because of the ROM.
4- I could change the video focus to "Tap" so I guess not I can focus when and where I want.
5- With the video in HD (720p) it's possible to use Slow-Motion and Time-Lapse. However, when selecting FullHD quality, only Time-Lapse is available.
Summary, after changing to this new ROM, this device (Redmi Note 2) has earned a few more points. So very happy and good feelings
Not everything is great, it's still a beta so I guess this is one of the bugs pending: sometimes when I take it and press unlock button... The phone doesn't responds, the screen remains black :-/ only option is to remove the battery and boot it again. This happens randomly.
mdabar said:
Hi all, I've been some weeks out and couldn't check here. Some comments.
1- it's true that Meizu m2 Note had Led for notifications, but it's much less customisable and evident than the one in the Xiaomi. It's more discrete.
2- I was really tired of Chinese intrusion on the Xiaomi (really horrible, it started to install apps without asking me through the Chinese AppStore), so I tried to manually disable that store... Not a good idea, since it went soft bricked :[email protected] some hours later I found a new, European ROM. I lost some of the interesting aspects like the music downloads, but HUGE IMPROVEMENT in terms of battery life, much more hours of use with screen on, watching movies for example. This version is Xiaomi.EU 5.9.24 (still beta) based on Android 5.0.2
100% recommendable. The MiHome app works slightly worse.
3- I've tried but I cannot record 1080p video with the front camera, maybe because of the ROM.
4- I could change the video focus to "Tap" so I guess not I can focus when and where I want.
5- With the video in HD (720p) it's possible to use Slow-Motion and Time-Lapse. However, when selecting FullHD quality, only Time-Lapse is available.
Summary, after changing to this new ROM, this device (Redmi Note 2) has earned a few more points. So very happy and good feelings
Not everything is great, it's still a beta so I guess this is one of the bugs pending: sometimes when I take it and press unlock button... The phone doesn't responds, the screen remains black :-/ only option is to remove the battery and boot it again. This happens randomly.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
For use 1080p in front camera you must open camera, select video mode, select front camera, open settings and set 1080p.
The ROM you have choosed has many bugs. Please, download other ROM from xiaomi.eu like 5.10.8 and i suggest to do a wipe data. If you don't want to wipe data try if wipe dalvik and cache may be enough.
Download from here miuif.celogeek.com/5.10.8/
(Hermes)
jack_21 said:
For use 1080p in front camera you must open camera, select video mode, select front camera, open settings and set 1080p.
The ROM you have choosed has many bugs. Please, download other ROM from xiaomi.eu like 5.10.8 and i suggest to do a wipe data. If you don't want to wipe data try if wipe dalvik and cache may be enough.
Download from here miuif.celogeek.com/5.10.8/
(Hermes)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the advice, the true is I'm very happy with the general working (specially the battery) although the random blockades and those options you mention... (now I have no way to go to settings when I select the front camera).
I'll try that ROM as soon as I can and share my comments
Have a nice one!
Hi guys,
For those who do not use this app - it is used with DJI company drones. I have Phantom 3 standard version.
When drone broadcast live video view to my phone I see it all messy with purple and green lines (see picture attached).
In photo mode it happen only when I set 16:9 aspect ratio. It works well on 4:3.
Video recording mode is only in 16:9 so I always see this messy view. As far as I understand, my cell phone does not support 16:9 aspect ratio.
Tried to question DJI support, but they told me this is problem with my galaxy SIII I9300.
Do you have any ideas how to solve this problem? Would custom rom or kernel help with it? Or maybe there is a fix ?
I use stock 4.3 android.
Sorry for my bad English,
and thanks in advance.
topnoch said:
Hi guys,
For those who do not use this app - it is used with DJI company drones. I have Phantom 3 standard version.
When drone broadcast live video view to my phone I see it all messy with purple and green lines (see picture attached).
In photo mode it happen only when I set 16:9 aspect ratio. It works well on 4:3.
Video recording mode is only in 16:9 so I always see this messy view. As far as I understand, my cell phone does not support 16:9 aspect ratio.
Tried to question DJI support, but they told me this is problem with my galaxy SIII I9300.
Do you have any ideas how to solve this problem? Would custom rom or kernel help with it? Or maybe there is a fix ?
I use stock 4.3 android.
Sorry for my bad English,
and thanks in advance.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hello, As DJI updates there GO app more devices start to become less compatible, This issue is also known to happen when aircraft and app firmware are mismatched. They have a list of devices i just copied this from DJI's website
Android Version v2.8.0.
Requires Android 4.1.2 or later.Compatible with Samsung tabs 705c, Samsung S6, Samsung S5, Samsung NOTE4, Samsung NOTE3, Google Nexus 9, Google Nexus 7 II, Ascend Mate7, Huawei P8 Max, Huawei Mate 8, Nubia Z7 mini, Sony Xperia Z3, MI 3, MI PAD, Smartisan T1.
from my experience you can cnange ROMS on some devices and have this work, My experience was it made the the app run way better but this is not always the case, for instance I just loaded a fresh new CM 13 Rom on my Droid razr XT912, the Rom is super clean of bloatware and is supper fast, I enabled USB debugging but when I connect the RC (DJI remote controller) to the Phone. I don't get the USB debugging authorization box so in my case the ROM upgrade did not help I tried two versions of the ROM something is not right with the That version of the ROM on that specific device, I was able to load (CM 12 on an HP 21 Slate tablet) and have had really good luck with it. I say try it and if it don't work go back back stock. I'm asking around because I want this issue Fixed :silly: