Chinese phone maker Meizu made headlines earlier this year with the Meizu Zero, an attention snatching, yet ultimately failed portless concept device. Now, the company is back with a more conventional flagship, the Meizu 16s. It comes with a dual-camera setup, no notch, an in-display fingerprint sensor, and Android 9.
Let's first address the elephant in the room, the 48MP and 20MP rear cameras. The primary camera is supposedly great for low-light photos with an optical image stabilization system and some engineering that allows it to capture more lights with clusters of pixels on the main lens. The front camera uses a so-called "ArcSoft AI Beauty" software which will probably end up overly softening the skin on selfies.
Other than that, the phone's specs are good, but basically the same we've seen in other manufacturer's offerings. It has a flagship Snapdragon 855 processor paired with 6 or 8GB of RAM and 128 or 256GB of storage with an (almost) 2:1 Quad-HD display and no notch. The device gets a big plus in my book for having a symmetrical top and bottom, a look that's become rare among all the notched and hole-punched displays.
Unfortunately, the 16s uses an in-display fingerprint reader, which might lead to problems like slow unlocking or inaccurate recognition. I'm not getting my hopes up that Meizu is better at this than Samsung and HMD Global, but it does claim that it worked hard on optimizing the experience.
SPECS
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Processor
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Qualcomm Snapdragon 855
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Display
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6.2 inch, 2232x1080, AMOLED, 18.6:9 aspect ratio
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Memory
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6GB / 8GB
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Storage
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128GB / 256GB
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Rear cameras
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48MP OIS f/1.7 lens and 20MP f/2.6 lens
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Front camera
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20MP, f/2.2
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Battery
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3,600mAh
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Size
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151.9 x 73.4 x 7.6mm
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Colors
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Carbon Black, Pearl White, Phantom Blue
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Overall, the phone feels pretty standard – if not bland – for 2019. There isn't a crazy zoom camera included, and while it has quite a good screen-to-body ratio, it doesn't compare to Samsung's immersive hole-punch display. It's also certainly not as eye-catching as Meizu's own never released Zero phone. However, it's mostly the very competitive price that might help Meizu win customers. The 16s is available for pre-order from the Meizu website today and will start shipping April 28. It can be configured with 6GB of RAM and 128GB of storage, 8GB/128GB, and 8GB/256GB, with respective costs of RMB3198 ($475), RMB3498 ($520), and RMB3998 ($600).
PRESS RELEASE
Meizu 16s Flagship Smartphone Unveiled, Snapdragon 855 and 48MP OIS Dual Camera
Zhuhai, 23rd April 2019 -- Meizu Technology Co., Ltd (Meizu) has officially introduced its latest flagship 16s and will be available for sale in China on 28th April starting at 3198 RMB. The signature Meizu Design brings a sense of elegance to the phone. Powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 855, the 16s features a 48MP + OIS Dual Camera, making it the best device to use for everyday shots. The latest flagship 16s is a testament to the 16 years’ experience in phone making of Meizu. The company has spared no effort with 100% dedication in producing premium phone for quality-seeking users, despite the size of the target market. 16s is a product that reflects ‘100% efforts for 1% selected Products’, Meizu strives for excellence with passion.
Meizu 16s comes in Pearl White, Carbon Black, and Phantom Blue, of which 6+128G, 8+128G and 8+256G will be respectively priced at 3198 RMB, 3498 RMB and 3998 RMB, and will be available on Meizu official website for pre-order starting 23th April 2019 at 10:00 PM and will be for sale on 28th April 2019 at 12:00 AM.
Creating a nice in-hand feeling is a craft on its own. Jack Wong, founder of Meizu, who has more than 10 years of experience in this area, personally crafted this exquisite piece from the arc design of 0.5°on the back, to a tolerance of only 0.15mm for a comfortable hold yet great in-hand feel. With a 7.6mm ultra-slim body, the Meizu 16s fits all the contours of your palm, giving you a smooth hand touch feeling, and its well deserved a title of ‘Flagship Smartphone 2019 with the Best In-hand Feel’.
A combination of visual appeal and functionality, Meizu 16s unleashes the full excellence of a 6.2-inch Super AMOLED display, attributed to the COF bonding technique and the large-radius corners, 16s has a bottom chin within 4.2mm, creating a perfect 91.53% screen-to-body ratio. The Super Retina anti-blue light screen is VDE Blue-Light protection certified from Germany, which is able to filter 33% harmful blue light. Meizu 16s features DC dimming, which effectively reduces stroboscopic and allows the display to reduce eye strain. Upon over 45,000 times of debugging, Meizu increased the fingerprint recognition speed of the in-screen sensor by 100% and boosts unlocking success rate with wet hands by 30%, making 16s delivers a Super mTouch experience.
In the face of the defining color trend of smartphones, Meizu 16s features more unique color options. The ‘Carbon black’ color scheme reflects the looming carbon fiber texture under the multi-layer nano-scale optical coating, which highlights its cool and elegant style. The ‘Pearl White’ adopts multiple exposures and plasma polishing technology, a rare color featured by full-screen smartphone. Inspired by the deep desert on the Mozambique Straight, ‘Phantom Blue’ has eight layers of gradient nano-optical coating, and the addition of two-color of a gradient tilted 45 degrees, a phantom-like color combination of ocean and oasis , plus a little gradient color action depends on how it’s held in the light.
Performance: Latest Snapdragon 855, 7 Killer Features for Smooth Run
The latest Snapdragon 855 is the first mobile platform with an 8-Core processor, the most advanced and powerful chip ever, giving Meizu 16s the top-tier connectivity with its prime core. The Kryo 485 CPU offers more flexible, cluster arrangements between different cores, driving great leaps in performance and power efficiency. Meizu’s seven killer features, including the Hexagon 690 DSP make 16s outperform other smartphones with Snapdragon 855. The combination of these top-notch specs making 16s arguably the most intelligent smartphone with AI computing power. Meizu optimizes the performance of 16s from the fundamental computing technology to speed up the phone while offering smooth run and saving power. The leading GPU works in conjunction with Hyper Gaming, a smart GPU planning technology developed by Meizu, delivers steady and smooth graphics performance during games on 16s.
In addition to strong performance, heat dissipation and power saving are equally important for smartphones. The Snapdragon 855 is built on 7-nanometer architecture, which saves on power consumption compared to other smartphones. To improve the heat dissipation, Meizu redesigned the motherboard to make the 16s be able to dissipate heat, even being used for hours. Attributed to the adjustment of the motherboard, the Meizu 16s has improved internal integration. Without compromising the size, the Meizu 16s comes with a big 3600mAh battery, which is optimized for users’ gaming experience with unmatched battery life.
Camera: OIS+ True 48MP multi-stack lens Captures every Joyful Moment
Meizu attaches great importance to camera specs, comes with 48 MP Sony IMX586 + IMX350 dual camera, Meizu, once again, shocks the world with its impressive camera setup in Meizu 16s after the Meizu 16th flagship smartphone. The advanced algorithm of AI-engineered cameras allows users to take photos with joy.
Sony latest IMX586 smartphone sensor comes with 48MP and Quad Bayer filter array, in which every 2×2 pixel array has the same color filter. As the signals from the four adjacent pixels are added, raising the sensitivity to a level equivalent to that of 1.6 μm pixels (12 megapixels), resulting in bright, low noise images. With an F/1.7 aperture and the OIS (Optical Image Stabilization), it significantly boosts Meizu 16s camera performance during low light capturing, allowing it captures mind-blowing pictures in dark light conditions.
Further improving the 20MP ultra-small front-facing lens in previous flagship smartphone Meizu 16th, Meizu 16s adds the ArcSoft AI Beauty software to the camera, which allows you to realize the most beautiful selfies. Thanks to our powerful multi-frame composition algorithm we’ve managed to bring front-facing HDR tech, even in poorly lit environments. Combined with ArcSoft AI’s software the 16s produces some of the clearest and sharpest shots of all.
16s Packs In Top-line Features
Thanks to our mEngine 3.0, playing ‘BuildTopia’ with Meizu 16s is surprisingly immersive. With the new generation of the double stereo sound system, Meizu 16s brings the intense gaming experience to your palm. With the latest NFC, you can travel freely, pay easily, and unlock doors with 16s in your pocket.
