Meizu MX4 Pro review: Sharpened up

3. Display, battery life, connectivity

The QHD display is a step up

Compared to its predecessor, the Pro version of the Meizu MX4 didn't increase the screen size by much. The screen has grown 0.14" to a full 5.5" but the more important thing here is the higher resolution of 1536 x 2560px - up from the 1152 x 1920px screen on the MX4. The pixel density has increased significantly to 546ppi.

Meizu calls it a 2K+ display, but technically they are incorrect since 2K screen resolution means a horizontal line of around 2,000 pixels. A proper abbreviation would be QHD (Quad HD) or QHD+, if you will, in order to account for the extra pixels. QHD displays would normally have 1440px on the short side, while the MX4 Pro offers 1536px.

The 5.5" QHD screen

The display offers the same good qualities of the 5.36" FullHD panel of the MX4 - colors look great, viewing angles are quite wide and the panel is decently bright. It's a LED-backlit screen - a less power-intensive solution that Meizu claims puts the 546ppi screen of the Pro on par with the stock MX4's 418ppi display in terms of battery consumption.

Meizu MX4 Pro

The Meizu MX4 Pro display is exceptionally bright with very good contrast. The black level isn't among the best we've seen but is still very good.

Display test	50% brightness			100% brightness
Display test	Black, cd/m²	White, cd/m²	Contrast ratio	Black, cd/m²	White, cd/m²	Contrast ratio
Meizu MX4	-	-	-	0.63	594	947
Meizu MX4 Pro	-	-	-	0.69	775	1127
OnePlus One	0.39	317	805	0.75	598	799
HTC One (M8)	0.2	245	1219	0.46	577	1256
Samsung Galaxy Note 4	0	291	∞	0	399	∞
Sony Xperia Z3	-	-	-	0.65	866	1333
Oppo Find 7a	0.33	280	842	0.68	580	852
Oppo Find 7	0.22	248	1135	0.4	448	1123
Xiaomi Mi 4	0.17	164	940	0.73	679	929
Apple iPhone 6 Plus	0.17	208	1197	0.52	705	1361
Huawei Ascend Mate7	0.11	149	1428	0.37	530	1428

When viewed outdoor in direct sunlight the MX4 Pro remains visible with low reflectivity. It's above average in this regard.

Sunlight contrast ratio

Nokia 808 PureView
4.698
Samsung Galaxy Note 4
4.033
Apple iPhone 5
3.997
Samsung Galaxy Note 3
3.997
Apple iPhone 6
3.838
Samsung Galaxy Note Edge
3.799
Oppo R5
3.678
Samsung Galaxy K zoom
3.675
Nokia Lumia 930
3.567
Apple iPhone 5s
3.565
Samsung Galaxy S5
3.549
Nokia Lumia 735
3.547
Alcatel Idol X+
3.527
Apple iPhone 5c
3.512
Samsung Galaxy Alpha
3.509
Samsung Galaxy Note 3 Neo
3.487
Motorola RAZR MAXX
3.42
Samsung I9300 Galaxy S III
3.419
Samsung Galaxy S5 Active
3.406
Nokia Lumia 925
3.402
Gionee Elife S5.5
3.386
Samsung I9505 Galaxy S4
3.352
Samsung Omnia W
3.301
Samsung Galaxy S5 mini
3.174
Samsung I9000 Galaxy S
3.155
Samsung Ativ S
3.129
Samsung I9190 Galaxy S4 mini
3.127
Samsung Galaxy S4 zoom
3.118
Nokia N9
3.069
Apple iPhone 6 Plus
3.023
Samsung Galaxy Note
2.97
Samsung Galaxy Premier
2.958
Sony Xperia Z1
2.95
HTC One S
2.901
Samsung I8730 Galaxy Express
2.861
BlackBerry Q10
2.856
Samsung I9100 Galaxy S II
2.832
HTC Desire Eye
2.815
Gionee Elife S5.1
2.812
Samsung Galaxy S II Plus
2.801
BlackBerry Z30
2.79
Meizu MX4 Pro
2.765
Sony Xperia ZR
2.672
Huawei Ascend P1
2.655
Sony Xperia Z3
2.618
Sony Xperia Z3 Compact
2.616
Sony Xperia T3
2.609
BlackBerry Passport
2.595
Nokia Lumia 900
2.562
Motorola Moto G 4G
2.546
HTC One Max
2.537
Nokia Lumia 720
2.512
HTC One
2.504
Motorola Moto G
2.477
Sony Xperia Z
2.462
Xiaomi Mi 4
2.424
Samsung Galaxy S III mini
2.422
Lenovo Vibe Z2 Pro
2.416
LG G Flex
2.407
HTC One (M8)
2.371
Motorola RAZR i
2.366
Meizu MX4
2.366
Sony Xperia ZL
2.352
Samsung Galaxy Note II
2.307
HTC One (M8) for Windows
2.291
Oppo Find 7a
2.279
Alcatel One Touch Hero
2.272
Apple iPhone 4S
2.269
HTC Desire 600 dual sim
2.262
Nokia Asha 311
2.25
LG Nexus 5
2.228
Nokia Lumia 820
2.193
HTC One (E8)
2.185
Oppo N3
2.181
Nokia Lumia 920
2.17
HTC One X
2.158
Nokia N8
2.144
Nokia Lumia 620
2.142
Nokia 515
2.134
HTC Desire 500
2.129
Sony Xperia acro S
2.119
Xiaomi Redmi Note
2.119
Nokia Lumia 1020
2.103
Oppo Find 5
2.088
Sony Xperia SL
2.078
Nokia Lumia 630
2.056
BlackBerry Z10
2.051
Huawei Ascend Mate7
2.024
Samsung I9295 Galaxy S4 Active
2.022
Apple iPhone 4
2.016
HTC One mini
2.003
Xiaomi Mi 3
2.001
Huawei Ascend P7
1.992
LG G2
1.976
OnePlus One
1.961
Oppo R819
1.957
Sony Ericsson Xperia ray
1.955
Lenovo Vibe X2
1.952
Sony Xperia Z2
1.944
Sony Xperia E3
1.943
Nokia Lumia 1320
1.941
HTC One mini 2
1.94
Samsung Galaxy Camera
1.938
Samsung Galaxy Grand Prime
1.935
Sony Xperia J
1.932
Acer CloudMobile S500
1.931
LG Nexus 4
1.926
LG G Pro 2
1.922
Samsung Galaxy Mega 6.3
1.913
Nokia Asha 308
1.911
HTC Butterfly 2
1.905
Sony Xperia T
1.894
Nokia Lumia 830
1.887
HTC Desire X
1.878
HTC Windows Phone 8X
1.873
HTC Butterfly
1.873
HTC Butterfly S
1.867
Huawei Ascend P6
1.865
Huawei Ascend Mate
1.845
LG G2 mini
1.838
LG G3
1.82
Nokia Lumia 1520
1.813
HTC Desire 616 dual sim
1.797
Sony Xperia V
1.792
HTC Desire 816
1.783
Sony Xperia Z1 Compact
1.772
HTC Desire 700 dual sim
1.769
Sony Xperia U
1.758
Meizu MX3
1.754
LG Optimus G
1.753
Sony Xperia T2 Ultra
1.74
Sony Xperia Z3 Tablet Compact
1.735
Sony Xperia SP
1.733
LG Optimus 4X HD
1.691
Oppo Find 7
1.691
HTC One V
1.685
BlackBerry Q5
1.682
LG Optimus Vu
1.68
Xiaomi Mi Pad 7.9
1.672
LG Optimus GJ
1.666
LG Optimus 3D Max
1.658
HTC Desire V
1.646
Samsung Galaxy Xcover 2
1.632
Samsung Galaxy Ace 3
1.622
Jolla Jolla
1.605
Sony Xperia Z Ultra
1.578
Sony Xperia go
1.577
Samsung Galaxy Ace 2 I8160
1.566
Samsung Galaxy Core
1.563
LG Optimus G Pro
1.552
Motorola Moto E
1.545
LG Optimus 3D
1.542
Nokia Asha 302
1.537
Samsung Galaxy Core Prime
1.507
BlackBerry Curve 9320
1.488
Sony Xperia M
1.473
Oppo N1
1.47
Meizu MX 4-core
1.462
Nokia Lumia 610
1.432
Samsung Galaxy S Duos
1.4
Samsung Galaxy Grand Neo
1.393
Sony Xperia M2
1.393
Microsoft Lumia 535
1.393
Samsung Galaxy Grand 2
1.38
Sony Xperia E1
1.372
Nokia Lumia 625
1.371
Gigabyte GSmart G1355
1.361
Sony Xperia L
1.351
Samsung Galaxy Mega 5.8
1.35
Xiaomi Redmi 1S
1.35
HTC Desire 510
1.34
Sony Xperia M2 Aqua
1.331
Sony Xperia miro
1.324
Samsung I9082 Galaxy Grand
1.321
Samsung I8530 Galaxy Beam
1.315
HTC Desire C
1.3
Nokia X
1.291
Sony Xperia C
1.283
Nokia Asha 503
1.281
Nokia Asha 501
1.27
LG Optimus L7
1.269
Nokia Lumia 510
1.268
Samsung Galaxy Fame
1.245
LG Optimus L9
1.227
Meizu MX
1.221
Samsung Galaxy Young
1.22
Sony Xperia E
1.215
Nokia XL
1.204
Sony Xperia E dual
1.203
Asus Memo Pad 7 ME176C
1.198
Samsung Galaxy Pocket
1.18
Nokia Asha 305
1.178
Nokia Asha 306
1.175
Sony Xperia neo L
1.169
Sony Xperia tipo
1.166
Nokia Lumia 520
1.161
Samsung S6802 Galaxy Ace Duos
1.148
Samsung Galaxy mini 2
1.114

Battery life test

The MX4 Pro has 250mAh of extra battery capacity compared to the MX4 - for a total of 3,350mAh. Meizu claims the 20nm Exynos 5 Octa processor and the power-efficient LED-backlit screen should ease the strain on the battery, promising a day and a half of uptime in a LTE network.

3,350mAh battery

Our own test produced a lower overall battery rating than that of the LG G3 but, to Meizu's credit, the individual video playback and web browsing times are notably better.

Our battery testing procedure is described in detail if you want to learn more about it.

Connectivity

The Meizu MX4 Pro comes with quad-band 2G/GPRS/EDGE, quad-band 3G with HSDPA and HSUPA, as well as either tri-band or quad-band LTE depending on the target market. There's a CDMA option for China Mobile as well. The MX4 Pro offers LTE Cat4 for up to 150Mbps of downlink speed.

Local connectivity is covered by dual-band Wi-Fi a/b/g/n/ac with DLNA, so you can easily play media (photos, videos, music) from DLNA-enabled storage devices or push content from your phone to a DLNA-compatible TV or music player.

Bluetooth 4.0 is also on board with A2DP. The microUSB 2.0 port supports USB On-The-Go so you can attach USB flash drives or connect peripherals. You can also stream your display via the Wireless Display feature (Miracast). NFC is supported as well.

GPS and GLONASS support is enabled. There's no FM Radio or IR port on the Meizu MX4, there is no wired TV-out option either.

Next Page » 4. User interface

3. Display, battery life, connectivity

Reviews Meizu MX4 Pro reviewPage 3