New Chinese smartphone player in town

The Meizu Pro 6 smartphone is new to SA and available for R7 999.

---

Smartphone brand Meizu is the latest Chinese player to launch a range of devices in South Africa.

The company started out in 2003 as a consumer electronics company specialising in MP3 players.

Meizu formally entered the smartphone market in 2007 with the launch of the Meizu M8, and, according to Meizu SA national marketing director Francois van Louw, has since become one of the fastest growing smartphone brands in the world.

Van Louw says the brand has done very well in other emerging markets and SA was a natural choice to launch in as the company expands globally.

He says the company hopes to secure a top-selling spot in SA's competitive smartphone market by delivering good quality products and services at reasonable prices.

Two Meizu devices are available here: the Meizu M3 Note and Meizu Pro 6. Three new smartphones at different price points are expected to be launched in the second quarter of 2017.

The M3 Note retails for R3 299 and is aimed the mid-market. It features dual-SIM capabilities, has expandable memory and a large battery.

The Pro 6 is priced at R7 999 but has many features that premium Android devices from Samsung and Huawei have for a much higher price tag. This includes a Type C connection with fast charging, an aluminium body and a 21MP main camera.

Van Louw says what makes Meizu smartphones stand apart from other devices is its Flyme operating system that is layered over Android and gives users extra features.

These include the Flyme Toolbox which comes with a flashlight toggle that supports three modes of brightness, a feature only recently introduced to Apple's iOS. The Toolbox allows users to place their phones in different modes, including SOS and Mirror, and has a compass, level, ruler and magnifier.

Flyme also has its own security centre, cleaner, accelerator and data monitor. These built-in apps do things that would require third-party apps on different Android phones, such as allowing users to block spam calls, scan and clear junk and unwanted files, display the amount of RAM in use, and set limits to data usage.

The Meizu phones feature only one button at the bottom of the device, unlike most Android devices but similar to the iPhone. Van Louw says this button has a fingerprint sensor and works with the Flyme mBack feature.

He says: "mBack allows users to navigate through the entire user interface using just one home button and a few gestures. We believe it is more intuitive once users become accustomed to it. Users can go back by tapping the home key and go to the home screen by pressing it."