Meizu Note 2 hands-on: Details make a big difference

Meizu brought the Meizu Blue Note 2, which has almost no changes in hardware, and the entire press conference focused on the "imperfections" of the previous generation Meizu Blue Note. However, from the feeling of using it, the Meizu Blue Note 2 makes me feel that it is a second-generation product that only retains half of the similarity. Let's start with the changes.

The change of the side curve is the most detailed change of Meizu Note2, but it also brings the biggest change. Although at the press conference, Mr. Bai said that Meizu Note2 is 0.2mm thinner than the previous generation (when the two phones are placed flat on the table, it can be seen that Note2 is a little thinner than Note). This is because the edge of Meizu Note2 is more rounded, which makes it more comfortable to hold, but also thicker and heavier visually. I think this is a good thing, it has completely lost the plastic feel of the previous generation, and it is more in line with Meizu's slogan of "Youth Quality Products".

The oblate Home button, with a metal ring, gives people the "illusion" of an MX4 Pro. There is nothing wrong with returning by touching and returning to the home page by pressing. In fact, Nokia has implemented a similar design idea in product lines such as Asha ("<" capacitive return button, long press to return to the home page), but Meizu is still the first to implement it on Android. After using it for a while, this operation method did not cause any discomfort at all. It is much more comfortable than the previous upward swipe to return, and there are no compatibility issues at all. However, after I formed a habit, I would unconsciously start to press the Home button twice in a row (in iOS, this operation will call up the background task) - of course, nothing happened. The physical structure of this button is actually highly similar to that of iPhone5s and later models, and it is imperative to develop related button operation gestures.

White is Meizu Blue Note, gray is Meizu Blue Note 2, the same below

The power button and volume button are both on the left side, which is a "complete break" from the iPhone 5c. However, this makes the screenshot operation a bit awkward. You should know how to take a screenshot by pressing the volume down and power buttons together. If the volume down and power buttons are close together, you need to use a "single finger" operation, which seems to lack the "ritual" required for taking a screenshot. In addition, due to the use of a depressible Home button, some users may mistakenly think that the combination of the power + Home button can take a screenshot.

Running Flyme 4.5 does not actually bring any improvement in appearance. Using Android 5.0 seems to have improved the smoothness of the entire phone. After canceling the SmartBar, the windows of various APPs have become more comfortable, which should be considered a big change. However, this touching detail is easily overlooked.

I found two more practical changes. One is that the camera supports separate metering and focusing, while the previous generation has global metering. The other is that the sound quality of Meizu Note2 has been significantly improved, completely eliminating the background noise, and the music performance is very clean. Although it is not as good as the MX4 Pro series, it has made listening to music, a normal entertainment method, more realistic on a mobile phone under 1,000 yuan. This is also an important prerequisite for the microSD card expansion feature to be practical.

Finally, let me talk about the color and surface craftsmanship. From the gray color I got, it is darker than the gray color of MX4 Pro, and the texture of the frosted surface is relatively "soft" and "sticky" (compared to the "smooth" and "smooth and lively" of the previous generation, you can feel it yourself). In addition, I deeply regret the cancellation of lemon green and yellow, and the gray color is not as eye-catching as the sand tin color of HTC 8S back then. Excluding the details that the external screen glass of the existing evaluation machine is not coated with anti-fingerprint coating and feels jerky, if you like the existing colors, Meizu Note2 is a more worthwhile thousand-yuan mobile phone.

As a winner of Toutiao's Qingyun Plan and Baijiahao's Bai+ Plan, the 2019 Baidu Digital Author of the Year, the Baijiahao's Most Popular Author in the Technology Field, the 2019 Sogou Technology and Culture Author, and the 2021 Baijiahao Quarterly Influential Creator, he has won many awards, including the 2013 Sohu Best Industry Media Person, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Beijing Third Place, the 2015 Guangmang Experience Award, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Finals Third Place, and the 2018 Baidu Dynamic Annual Powerful Celebrity.