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The Meizu MX6 is one of the company’s first handsets to be launched worldwide, and so we had high-hopes for this good-value smartphone.
The camera was a bit of a disappointment, and although battery life and performance were reasonable, we found the Flyme OS to be a real hurdle. It’s a pretty user interface, but feels somewhat lacking, as many of the Google apps you’ll no doubt be familiar with are absent when you first boot-up the MX6.
As far as build quality goes, the MX6 punches well above its price tag, with a quality screen and metal unibody that is similar in feel to the far-more-expensive iPhone 7 or HTC 10.
Speaking of these two handsets, Meizu has a lot to thank them for in terms of design, as the MX6 has blatantly borrowed elements from both Apple and HTC phones, and combined them to create a handset that feels like a 2016 wannabe rather than the real deal.
Who's this for?
The Meizu MX6 is a great value phone that looks the part – as long as you don’t mind the imitative design. Despite some flaws, it should be on the wish list of anyone looking for a smartphone with speedy performance and a great quality screen, without a flagship price-tag.
Should you buy it?
The MX6 is very well built and offers a speedy processor, good screen and a novel interface. There are plenty of features and customization options to tinker with, to help adapt the UI to your tastes.
Unfortunately there isn’t much else to recommend, as the camera quality is distinctly average, and other features such as expandable memory and NFC are notably missing.
Ultimately, there are other phones that are not much more expensive yet offer a better all-round package.
The competition
We liked the build quality of the Meizu MX6, but this wouldn’t necessarily be our phone of choice. Below we’ve listed three alternatives that you might want to consider.
Nubia Z11
Though it's a little more expensive, the Nubia Z11 offers a similar iPhone-esque all-metal design to the MX6.
Although we weren’t fans of Nubia’s twist on Android, the Z11 bests the MX6 in a number of key areas: performance, camera and design. Also, where the MX6 screen is just good, the bezel-less screen on the Z11 was a joy to use.
The Nubia Z11 was one of the biggest surprises to come out of China in recent months, and takes some beating.
- Read the full review: Nubia Z11
Motorola Moto G4 Plus
Motorola's Moto G4 Plus is one of the best value phones around right now, mixing an impressive set of specs with a proper low-end price. The Moto G4 Plus beats any other phone under $250/£200/AU$325, and is genuinely better than quite a few more expensive rivals. The Meizu MX6 is a bit more expensive, but does at least include a fingerprint sensor and a full metal body.
Like the MX6, the Moto G4 Plus has a 5.5-inch Full HD display and powerful chipset, but has a better 16MP main camera that produces admirable results in good lighting.
For less than $250/£200/AU$325, you can’t really go wrong.
- Read the full review: Motorola Moto G4 Plus
Blu Vivo 6
The Blu Vivo 6 is similar to the Meizu MX6 in many regards, but is also a fair amount cheaper. It matches the MX6 on just about every specification, and also includes a fingerprint reader.
Although the MX6 has a more powerful deca-core processor, the Blu Vivo 6 bests the MX6 with 64GB of storage capacity, microSD support and 4GB of RAM under the hood.
The Blu Vivo 6 may be something of an unknown, but it’s an all-metal contender that’s only let down by average performance and battery life.
- Read the full review: Blu Vivo 6
First reviewed: December 2016
