Video: Meizu M8 mini One OS looks very, very familiar

Besides that very early prototype handset, Meizu also brought along a rough (and we mean rough) engineering board and display to show off the M8 mini One's UI and feature set. It was lacking Bluetooth, camera, or WiFi so we weren't able to see those features of the Opera browser which the mini One will one day happily tout. Still, we had high hopes of seeing just how talented Meizu's software engineers are at recreating the iPhone's lauded user experience. Well, from the demo we saw, they've come pretty close but they've got some serious house cleaning to do before the August launch. Rubber banding scroll bars, finger flick gestures, big inviting icons... it's all there. Unfortunately, the wheels fell off when set to motion. Meizu claims the issues seen during the demo are due to the display -- a stock, touchscreen and sensor with plastic screen (the final product will be glass) which was quickly cobbled together for the purposes of the CeBIT demonstration. Regardless, finger taps were more often than not greeted with cold, stilted silence. Be sure to check out the video to hear how Meizu's device is different than the iPhone. It's a bit long and sometimes painful, but if you hang in there long enough you'll see (and hear) Engadget get the first public phone call from a Meizu M8 mini One... prototype, thingy.

[apeguero @ Mar 4th 2008 9:27AM]

Slow, slow, slow. And it's also huge! What a tiny ass screen.

[Blackster @ Mar 4th 2008 9:37AM]

apparently you've never seen prototypes before, eh? ;)

[fred @ Mar 4th 2008 10:02AM]

It doesn't matter if its a prototype, Engadget has wanted to destroy this phone from the first day they had heard of it. They are going to go all out at this point now.

Im surprised they didnt physically attack the women that gave them a look at it, seeing how flipping demented they have been behaving when it came to this.

[Cyon @ Mar 4th 2008 10:11AM]

Here's the reason why Chinese cars (or other Chinese-made crap) are "deathtraps" (very low quality & extremely unsafe):

Anybody who understands East Asian culture and history will tell you how they are drastically different from each other. Just because something happened in one location at one time doesn't mean it will repeat at another location at another time. You only need to see the history of Hong Kong, Singapore, and Taiwan to tell that global brands like Toyota, Sony, Samsung, and Hyundai won't emerge from China. Why is that? Because of Chinese tendency to pursue short term profits in exchange for a long term growth, and the government's failure to establish an economic plan with a long term vision.

You cannot compare Chinese auto industry with Japanese/Korean auto industry for following reasons.

1. Japanese/Korean auto makers had tiny domestic markets and were forced to crack US and EU markets just to survive from the beginning. China's domestic market is rather large and Chinese auto makers don't have to go to overseas to survive. In fact, engineering cars to be US/EU regulation compliant could be fatal in a market condition where there is zero regards for safety and quality, and consumers shop only based on pricing alone. Make your car better than your competitor and raise your price, your competitor undercuts your price with an inferior but cheaper car and you are dead in China where the prices drop every quarter.

2. Chinese consumers themselves no longer consider Chinese brand vehicles when the intended price budget is more than $5,000. Accordingly, almost all Chinese brand vehicles are priced below $5,000. This heavy focus on low-price vehicles prohibit Chinese makers from higher priced and higher quality vehicles suitable for the US and EU markets.

- Japan(5-star-ratings): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KxGr38YSIn4
- Korea(5-star-ratings): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fhX2Q8X9ha4

- China(Zero-star-ratings): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F06LjugtIUo

[anoldcarsnickname @ Mar 4th 2008 10:10AM]

It's a prototype rip-off of a phone that has been on the market for some time now. And you're blaming engadget for putting it down?

The lengths apple haters will make.. so funny. :')

[apeguero @ Mar 4th 2008 10:11AM]

Damn people, chill. Of course I know it's a prototype. I also know the size of the final phone is supposed to be more in line with the touch than the iPhone. I've been following this development since my iPhone hating days. Unfortunately, this damned Meizu has taken so long that I decided to buy the iPhone in the end. Now, I'll bet when Meizu finally decides to finish this one and make it available people will be asking "does it play Duke Nukem Forever?".

[Ellianth @ Mar 4th 2008 10:12AM]

Dear Fred,

Your comment about the attack made me laugh. You brightened my boring day.

Regards,
Ellianth

[aron @ Mar 4th 2008 11:16AM]

Cyon:

So anyone with a Chinese-ethnicity (including Taiwan, Singapore, Hong Kong) is not capable of creating innovative brands? What kind of bullshit is that? I guess ASUS and Acer must be Japanese. Oh, and I guess ATI is crap too since they were founded by ethnic Chinese.

Oh and since the Japanese race are such masters of design, I guess we must getting iPhone killers and Xperia's out of Peru, cuz y'know, they even had a Japanese president!

[Cyon @ Mar 4th 2008 11:55AM]

@aron, actually, I meant the "global" brands that translate "power" in their logos, not the second-tier IT brands like iriver, cowon, zalman, asus or bankrupted acer/benq.

http://bwnt.businessweek.com/interactive_reports/top_brands/

[James Cameron @ Mar 4th 2008 12:47PM]

Screw M8 and iphone. Xperia X1 will own all.

[jake @ Mar 4th 2008 3:11PM]

@Cyon
Well this phone was designed specifically for the Chinese market in the first place, where people haven't gotten their hands on the iphone yet and where most people can't afford it. And all of the crappy Chinese cars you are talking about are pretty much the only cars that most commoners can afford in China, and there is still a huge market for that. They are basically the same as the US cars 20 years ago. That is why China is forcing foreign automakers who want a slice of the Chinese automarket to partner up with domestic companies. And it is well known that they will reverse engineer and learn all the modern auto technology from these partnerships. That is when you will see safer cars from china. So call it cheating or whatever, but that is how China's industry is going to learn: by copying. This is the same strategy that Japan and Korea used: they started out by making knockoff products at cheaper prices and that is how they got where they are today. In regards to Japan breaking into the EU or US markets, you see some Chinese brands trying to do the same. They haven't been successful because they are still trying to sell on low price, but you see the same patterns occuring.
In many ways the market in China is pursuing a policy like the US's if it didn't went with the various regulations against corporations. If it weren't for that kind of push we would have cars without seatbeats, airbags or any of those safety features. The major problem is the lax regulation of China's industry. However, their economy is booming right now while ours is declining. Maybe at the expense of quality products or the environment, but there are tons of people getting very rich in China right now. And there are tons of people outside getting rich from exploiting Chinese labor. And China didn't need any of the brand identity to do that, they just rely on foreigners coming in to exploit the cheap labor. Maybe not the best long term strategy, but until some other country can supply the same amount of cheap labor they will still do fine. And by copying they are building their own domestic industry, maybe not enough to break into foreign markets but enough for the domestic market. I'm not even sure if they need to break into other markets to continue the economy boom; they may continue to have a bad image, but doesn't stop most people from buying products with "made in china" labeled in the back.

[k2001 @ Mar 4th 2008 3:39PM]

Cyon:
You got to realize that the Chinese market just emerging. The government only open up for development in the 1979. How could you establish a brand in such a short time. Sony for instance was at first know for it cheap radios but . It seem to me that you are very prejudice as the Chinese people. By the way Acer is second-tier IT brands. Oh it is also bankrupted. My bad, I'm sorry that I interrupted smoking.

[Chris @ Mar 4th 2008 10:19PM]

"And all of the crappy Chinese cars you are talking about are pretty much the only cars that most commoners can afford in China"

Have you been to China? Most of the cars I saw there were foreign. I saw tons of Fords and my wife's parents recently bought a Ford.

[MrEats @ Mar 4th 2008 9:30AM]

who really cares?....really?

[Liam @ Mar 4th 2008 10:47AM]

Yeah. They won't be able to sell it in the EU or the US legally, and they're clearly having a lot of trouble getting it out the door. It doesn't bode well for the finished product.

[Mark L. @ Mar 4th 2008 4:13PM]

Why the can't Meizu sell it in the US? Cause it's free-market competition.

[Jonhimslf @ Mar 4th 2008 9:35AM]

I feel like it would have been funnier if instead of having the Nokia or HTC, you had an iPhone and just pulled up the exact same screens.

[Eric M. @ Mar 4th 2008 9:36AM]

By the time this comes out a 3G iPhone will be in the wild and current gen iPhones will most likely be cheaper then these. Meizu its time to put your horses into another race.

[Hung @ Mar 4th 2008 6:14PM]

Well, did anyone notice that he said the final version wouldn't be in English (0:10-0:14)? Maybe it's not an iPhone competitor?



...says the overly observant commentor ignoring the fact it's understanding.

[Hung @ Mar 4th 2008 6:15PM]

understanding. → a misunderstanding.

[nickels @ Mar 4th 2008 9:37AM]

really surely apple can sue or something, as it is just copying everything?

[MatthewJ @ Mar 4th 2008 12:19PM]

I'd say Microsoft have more of a chance, that looks nearly identical to Windows Media Player 11s UI. The only thing "Apple" about it is the font used.

[Scott @ Mar 4th 2008 2:32PM]

Well since it's running WinMo (probably illegally), it *should* look like Microsoft UI.

[jake @ Mar 4th 2008 2:39PM]

@MatthewJ
Now that you mention it, it DOES look a crap load like Windows Media Player 11's UI (Almost exactly the same in terms of the buttons & style); I should know because I am looking at it RIGHT NOW on my computer.

[Trevsweb @ Mar 4th 2008 9:40AM]

might be cheaper that getting an iphone tho... on a expencive contract.. here in the uk they want a £35 contract onto of a £299 price tag... one carrier :( sucks big time

[Jack @ Mar 4th 2008 9:43AM]

its 269 quid for the iphone here in uk, u dont need to get a contract with it, jus buy it in the o2 store and then jail brea.......

[Simon Richards @ Mar 4th 2008 9:43AM]

Hilarious video, thanks engadget!

[Only morons take this seriously. @ Mar 4th 2008 9:43AM]

this is why you never show prototypes to non-technical stakeholders. All they notice is what doesn't work, and they never fail to ignore all the amazing shit that DOES work.

[sola6loria @ Mar 4th 2008 10:01AM]

The irony of this remark re: complaints about the iPhone kind of blows my mind. We're not laughing at the fact that it doesn't work. We're laughing that it completely ripped off features and presentation off the iPhone (saving them plenty of R&D) and it STILL doesn't work.

Apple didn't seem to be kidding when they said they were a couple of years ahead of the competition. No one has yet released as elegant or functional of a product, and they're already prepping the second revision.

[fred @ Mar 4th 2008 10:06AM]

"No one has yet released as elegant or functional of a product,"

Um, plenty of people have. Apple fanatics are just wired to NEVER see those products as better in any way at all. They then take those personal opinions of theirs and broadcast them as indisputable facts so they create, along with other Apple fanatics, a distorted reality that gives the impression that no can do better than Apple.

[sola6loria @ Mar 4th 2008 10:21AM]

"Um, plenty of people have. Apple fanatics are just wired to NEVER see those products as better in any way at all."

Please, show me a single touch-screen phone (preferably one in the iPhone's price range) that boasts the ease of use, flexibility, and expandability of the platform. And I'm referring to the full flexibility of the platform, including SDK and jailbroken 3rd party applications.

The iPhone lacks several features, some of them fairly large, but it is currently unmatched on the market in terms of pure user experience. And soon, as a palm-top computer for the masses.

[rock99rock @ Mar 4th 2008 11:00AM]

"Please, show me a single touch-screen phone (preferably one in the iPhone's price range) that boasts the ease of use, flexibility, and expandability of the platform."

Flexibility? The iphone gives up its flexibility in order to pursue the "ease of use" market. Are you kidding me? Wheres the memory card slot? Oh right.. What about the push email? Oh dang... What about High speed internet via 3g? Yea, lets make what we think is the most awesome phone ever, then stick it on last generations' network speeds. Brilliant. Built-in GPS? (dont even try to mention the google maps "within 2000 yards bullshit") Nope. I could go on another page or so, but i wanna give other people the chance to negate this one as well.

Wait, what expandability? If you refer to "jailbreaking", you need check yourself. Why void a warranty of a +/- $500 phone when you can have the ability to install Thousands, yes, THOUSANDS of readily available 3rd party apps for WINmo, without having to void shit. Symbian has many apps available also.

HTC Touch (and dual, and cruise, also tytn, tytn2, and most other recent WINDOWS MOBILE touchscreen devices.)

Nokia N95 (and other touchscreen symbian/linux devices that have been around for years).

"And I'm referring to the full flexibility of the platform, including SDK and jailbroken 3rd party applications."

Dude, you dont even know what flexibility the SDK will offer. I would not call it flexible until its official, and even then, its NOT GOING TO BE FLEXIBLE.

"The iPhone lacks several features, some of them fairly large,"

Hence, its unmatched "flexibility" i suppose?

"but it is currently unmatched on the market in terms of pure user experience."

Have you ever had a smartphone before? Maybe a Blackberry even?

"And soon, as a palm-top computer for the masses."

If by masses, you are referring to people who have poor eyesight and bad judgment, then you are correct sir.


Turn off your computer, and go sit in the corner. Baaaaad. Baaaaaaaaaad.

Signed- FORMER IPHONE USER

[Alan Strangis @ Mar 4th 2008 11:10AM]

@ sola6loria:

"Please, show me a single touch-screen phone (preferably one in the iPhone's price range) that boasts the ease of use, flexibility, and expandability of the platform. And I'm referring to the full flexibility of the platform, including SDK and jailbroken 3rd party applications."

Somebody sold you some bad weed. :D Are you seriously arguing that the Apple SDK is anywhere as open or flexible as the current gen WM6 devices? Hell, even that hoary old Palm OS has an 'in the wild do what you want with the hardware' approach which has lead to the development of THOUSANDS of apps.

Don't get me wrong, both the UI (esp with multi-touch) and physical form factor of the iPhone are amazing (reminds me of the old Sony Clie TH55). Those pluses in no way define it as either open or flexible, two words that are the antithesis of Apple's approach.

[[ W ] @ Mar 4th 2008 11:15AM]

you know what I noticed? AN IPHONE RIPPED OFF UI !!!

[clak @ Mar 4th 2008 11:56AM]

@rock99rock

I've used the HTC Touch and it's an absolute joke. You would have to use a hammer to get the responsiveness of the iPhone. And what's this about the fucking expansion slot? The Touch has 256 MB of flash! With the option of a 1 GB card. You're comparing that to the iPhone, which offers up to 16 gigabytes of space? COME-ON! And to top if all off, the HTC is ugly as deep fried sin.

And you guys complain about the lack of 3G when you know Apple is about to release a new version. Every other complaint you have, can be fixed in future software upgrades. You guys don't have a fucking leg to stand on. The iPhone is revolutionary because of the platform: OS X on a phone. With multi-touch. That's why it's going to take over the market. Complain all you want, but there's nothing you can do to stop that from happening. And you know it!

God, the hatred for Apple is clouding your mind. You need to step back, take a deep breathe and let go of this irrational fear or envy you have for Apple. It really is pathetic.

[Jeff @ Mar 4th 2008 12:49PM]

@rock99rock

I second that the HTC Touch is a turd. I've spent plenty of time trying to make my roommate's HTC Touch not suck, i'm very familiar with it. (physically it feels nice, and looks good enough, but actually using it is where the suck starts to become painfully apparent.)

the N95 looks cool, but isn't that a bit out of the price range we're talking about? (especially when equipped with a comparable amount of Disk space?)

also, "former iPhone user" my ass. your hatred for apple is obvious, and pretending like you used to own one is a pretty lame attempt at pretending to be unbiased.

you haters are predictable and boring.

[Alan Strangis @ Mar 4th 2008 1:53PM]

@ jeff & clak:

rock99rock raises some specific and accurate points re: sola6's post. As it stands, the iPhone is NOT the most flexible mobile platform out there, plain and simple. The very NEED to jailbreak to install 3rd party apps at this point means that it is neither flexible or open.

It MAY become that, depending on how Apple handles it's SDK and 3rd party app development, but as it stands (and looking at Apple's history), it's highly unlikely that it's going to be as open as other smartphone OSes.

That doesn't mean that the iPhone hasn't done a lot to spur advances in OTHER aspects of smartphone design (mainly UI), but it's certainly not in the realm of flexibility or openness.

Instead of labeling everyone who critiques any aspect of the iPhone as a hater, read what's being said, and see why a lot of current smartphone users are either NOT switching to the iPhone, or returning to their WW/Blackberry devices.

- Oh yeah, clak, I've had no problem using an 8GB SDHC card in a WM5 device from 2005 - upgraded to WM6.1, so I don't know where this "1GB option" on the Touch comes from, unless you simply googled some specs instead of having first hand knowledge.

[rock99rock @ Mar 4th 2008 2:10PM]

"clak" and jeff.

I had the touch for a short period of time after my iphone. The iphone interface is quite slick, i NEVER debated that. It was slick as shit, but that was it. "Yay, cool scrolling awesome!" That shit should never sell you a $500 piece of equipment. If it did, you my friend have failed. I only mentioned the Touch because hands down, with was still a more feature filled phone than the iphone. The "flexibility" and "expandibility" is what we were discussing all along. Get your shit straight for the love of anything that makes sense.

the HTC Touch supports SDHC. Have you messed with the tytn any or the tytn2? Look it up. Its awesome. They have this thing called a keyboard. Unbelievable. 8gb cards are out right now, and soon, the 32gb cards.

The HTC's supports bluetooth GPS, shit, bluetooth anything.

The iphone bluetooth on the other hand:

• It can't transfer files to a PC, or appear on a desktop for drag-and-drop file juggling.
• It can't send a photo to a Bluetooth printer.
• It can't stream audio via Bluetooth to a compatible speaker system or headset

Its like the verizon V710 all over again. And that was 4 freaking years ago. Expandability what?

"God, the hatred for Apple is clouding your mind. You need to step back, take a deep breathe and let go of this irrational fear or envy you have for Apple. It really is pathetic."

I have no hatred for Apple. I have hatred for people that don't use their brains and common sense to justify statements. I think Apple is one of the most innovative companies out there. They take leaps where others crawl. I just have issues with the "Flexibility" and the "expandibility" of their current hardware. And your mom is pathetic. And goes to college.

"And you guys complain about the lack of 3G when you know Apple is about to release a new version. Every other complaint you have, can be fixed in future software upgrades. You guys don't have a fucking leg to stand on. The iPhone is revolutionary because of the platform: OS X on a phone. With multi-touch. That's why it's going to take over the market. Complain all you want, but there's nothing you can do to stop that from happening. And you know it!"

Apple forever!! Apple Forever!! Clak you nerftard. 3g is EVERYTHING when you discuss a DATA DEVICE of this nature. Of course everything can be fixed with a software upgrade, BUT IT WONT. WhoTF cares what can happen if so-and-so could possibly do something. You could make toast with a windows mobile phone if the toaster was USB or bluetooth enabled :) Call me once you get untouched OSX on there, i wont be hearing from you anytime soon.

Granted the n95 is a little more expensive, but that is only because of the unavailability on a major carrier. Once ATT picks it up in a month or so, the subsidy will kick it down to par with the iphone.

I will get the iphone with 3g, so dont judge so quickly. That was my major peeve about it. I assume most of my gripes will be fixed, but it will never be as flexible or expandable as a windows mobile professional device. That, cannot be debated. It is simply fact.

[Teetdogs @ Mar 4th 2008 2:11PM]

@ alan strangis

Where did you get windows mobile 6.1? I would love upgrad my htc titan with it.

[clak @ Mar 4th 2008 2:53PM]

You guys are just like all those morons that said the Zune was going to beat the iPod because it had a freaking radio in it. The majority of people do not want what Geeks want. Geek power of foresight is hampered by that reality. Apple will win because of ease of use. Yes, you can probably do more on a Win Mobile device. You probably have more features, but no one is going to use those phones unless they can pick it up and just use it without consulting a user's manual. That's where Win Mobile fails.

I have a Samsung phone right now that has internet, video capture, texting, all the usual suspects and I never use those features. You know why? The software is so bad, it's embarrassing.

But, the biggest problem with you guys is that you're going to bitch no matter what Apple does in the next year. If they come out with a 3G phone, you'll complain that it doesn't have 5G, if there is such a thing. If Apple comes out with the SDK and tells everybody, go ahead, do whatever you want, we'll just make the phone and let you run the software, you guys will turn around and complain about lack of support. If Apple makes all the apps free, you'll complain because you can't make money. If Apple says, okay, we'll charge five dollars an app, you'll say you want everything free. If Apple says you have to sell the apps through iTunes, you guys will complain about control. If Apple allows you to download apps from anywhere, you'll complain about security. If Apple comes out with all the features that you complain about it lacking, you will turn around and say, hey, you can get a [insert phone here] that does all those things for less. The user interface will suck like hell, but it won't matter to you, because its NOT Apple and that's all you really care about. You don't want people to be happy with their phones, you just don't want them to buy Apple.

So no matter what, you guys will complain because at heart you're a bunch of bitches. Bitches for Microsoft.

[rock99rock @ Mar 4th 2008 4:39PM]

Clak. You are making me laugh with your idiocy, and TOTALLY unfounded remarks. I had my IT staff read your post, they got a good laugh too. Thank you! Keep them coming :)

[Hung @ Mar 4th 2008 5:43PM]

"And you guys complain about the lack of 3G when you know Apple is about to release a new version." —clak

By your logic, the iPhone fails in comparison the the hundreds of unreleased phones that will come with +16 GB, WiMax, VGA resolution (already out), and legal third party support (already out).

But I guess you're kind of right, though. The new Honda Civic (in 2025) totally owns any Maserati (ca. 1957). It doesn't even make sense to argue current gen with current gen, am I right?

[Hung @ Mar 4th 2008 6:06PM]

@ clack

"The majority of people do not want what Geeks want. Geek power of foresight is hampered by that reality. Apple will win because of ease of use. Yes, you can probably do more on a Win Mobile device. You probably have more features, but no one is going to use those phones unless they can pick it up and just use it without consulting a user's manual." —clak

I know right? Those noobs who are using $500 Dell laptops and Honda $5,000 cars (because they're easy to operate, of course) would never bust $600 on an N95 or something like that. They'd rather spend a measly $400 on an iPhone. Even though noobs will listen to marketing say that 5 megapixels is more than 2 megapixels, they're informed enough to know that the utility of either camera is in fact neglible. It's not like those same noobs will look at the feature list and go, "hey, this WinMo device has more features, but I know that how those features work and their usefulness matter more!"
/end sarcasm

Seriously, how many people who care about usability over features would get an iPhone over a free-with-contract RAZR? How many people with RIM/HTC/Nokia E- or N- series/SE/Samsung i-series/etc. smart phones would trade in their business-server-accessing, 3G capable, video-conferencing, QWERTY-keyboard-having, battery-replacing, and third-party-supporting business phones? And yes, it is the business market that makes the majority of high-end phone purchases. Some* iPhone buyers are tech-literate, but most are 15-25 year old fad-riders and old people working for the New York Times who have never even owned an N-series phone from Nokia, the most popular series of high-end handsets.

"If Apple comes out with all the features that you complain about it lacking, you will turn around and say, hey, you can get a [insert phone here] that does all those things for less." —clak

... Let me show you an analogy.

"If Dell sells you a $5,000 'gaming' PC, y'all will turn around and say that you can build/buy a PC for $2,000."

You can go ahead and buy that PC if you want. I'm just saying, I can do it for less. Those are serious numbers, by the way. Go configure an XPS and I'll build the same system or find it from a gaming PC boutique for less than half the price, guaranteed. Any takers?

[Apple China @ Mar 4th 2008 9:43AM]

We tried to sue Meizu.

But the Judge said we have to share the penalties with him, like he literally said that!!!

We do no evil, so we gave up.

And I'm ignoring Steve's phone calls.

[joe23521 @ Mar 4th 2008 9:52AM]

Hey, it's got copy/cut/paste!

[joe23521 @ Mar 4th 2008 9:55AM]

Also, it's pronounced "MAY-ZOO," not "MEE-ZOO."

[Dax @ Mar 4th 2008 9:56AM]

I think its actually SHIT-ZOO

[Ron @ Mar 4th 2008 10:00AM]

What a crap

[mlt @ Mar 4th 2008 10:00AM]

Apple should do a commercial where the appledude says "Hi I'm a mac" and an identical clone saying "and I'm a Meizu". And when the appledude asks "what's going on?" on which point a group of chinese engineers runs out to program a response to the clone :)

Yes, I'm tired!

[DT @ Mar 4th 2008 10:00AM]

It's really quite disgusting how these Chinese firms operate. IP is PROPERTY, and this is outright theft. The Chinese government turns a blind eye to this, as long as the theft is from foreign firms. But I'll bet you don't see a single knock-off "Beijing 2008" item produced anywhere in China this summer.