14 DAY TRIAL // Meizu has started shipping its MX4 Ubuntu Edition to a select few, and we now have a chance to test it. The review is not yet ready, as we're waiting for a new major update, but we can give you a first impression, and we all know that first impressions are everything.
The Meizu MX4 Ubuntu Edition comes in two colors, and the version we got for review is a white one, which instantly feels like the best choice, but I would probably feel the same about the other, golden color. The first thing I did was to give the phone to someone in the office who never started an Ubuntu phone and never used one.
I've been using Ubuntu Touch for more than two years, long before it was even functional. It was a time when Canonical only had a sort of mockup, with a few working apps and nothing more. I know a lot about the OS, so the phone wasn't going to be a major surprise. So, I wanted to have the opinion of someone who has no idea of how the OS works and has never used Ubuntu on a mobile platform.
Did I mention he's the guy who usually covers Windows and Microsoft related products? Well, he liked it and the first thing he said when finishing the small tutorial at the beginning was "cool." Like most people, we're fascinated with new technologies and things we've never seen, and Ubuntu Touch fits that bill perfectly.
Don't expect it to be perfectly smooth
I also have a Nexus 4 phone, and I've used Ubuntu Touch extensively on it. It's rather old hardware, but it still manages to keep up. Canonical is using it as a reference device, despite the fact that it's no longer built (don't know what I'll do if mine breaks down), but you can feel Ubuntu dragging its feet on Nexus 4.
I had hopes that the power of the MX4 will make a really big difference and that the experience will be a different one. And the truth is that it does. It's a huge difference. Everything is faster and works better, but there are still hiccups. Not big ones, but we have to keep in mind that all new OSes feel this way at first on mobile devices. It's also the sort of stuff that usually gets ironed out with updates.
At the current rate of development, it looks like the ever-increasing power of the phones will render these issues moot well before the developers get a chance to better optimize the OS, at least for Ubuntu. The truth is that Ubuntu for phones used to be much more sluggish, but things have gotten exponentially better over the past year or so.
The phone itself
Putting Ubuntu Touch aside for now, the phone itself is quite beautiful. It's the flagship device for Meizu, along with the Pro version, so you know it's a quality build. It feels really good to hold and it's not big. The first thing that you're going to notice is the display, which is superb. It's bright, with vivid colors, and really well balanced. It's miles ahead of Nexus 4, but that shouldn't surprise anyone.
I also got a chance to play with the camera a little bit, which is said to take some amazing pictures. I need to do some more testing in this area, and I need to compare it with some of its rivals, so more about the camera will be detailed in the full review.
Initial conclusion
I said that first impressions are the most important, and the first thing I thought about when I opened the box and held the phone was "damn, I want a phone like this one." And I think that as first impressions go, you can't really do much better than this.