Meizu M8 unboxing and hands-on!

Yes, folks -- things are about to get really real. We have managed, through a series of delicate negotiations, to get our hands on an honest-to-goodness Meizu M8 -- heretofore the stuff of pure legend. At first glance, the build quality of the phone is actually pretty decent -- it's mostly plastic, but everything seems to snap together firmly. The battery (which is removable, naturally) is quite large, though we haven't had a chance to test its life in any significant way. Of course, the real showpiece here is the software -- which admittedly owes its entire existence to the iPhone. We've found that it's quite snappy, and the styling and functionality of the UI is really kind of impressive (though this did spend a long time in the oven). Still, the phone's KIRF roots are clear -- you can judge for yourself in the gallery below.

Thanks to the good folks at MP4 Nation for the hookup!

Meizu M8 unboxing and hands-on!

[kadajawi Posted Mar 27th 2009 2:57PM]

I played with it a couple of months ago (one of the first publicly available beta units), and it was fine. But no WiFi and the Pre killed it for me.

It is similar to the iPhone, but it's intention is not to just trick a few people into buying it, thinking it's an iPhone (like most KIRF phones, which are really, really horrible to use), but to be a competitive (though too similar) product.

Oh, and about the price: That is around 250-270 Euro. Without contract. Depending on the exchange rate. The exporters just charge a ridiculous fee for exporting it.

[TheCow5 Posted Mar 27th 2009 3:00PM]

I was about to buy one of those (as I so do want one) on eBay but I found that only the 8GB has WiFi, the 16GB does not have WiFi, which is the one I want.

Why would they make a 16GB version without WiFi.?
I don't care about 3g so it does not matter to me that this phone does not have it.

[trainwrecka Posted Mar 27th 2009 4:47PM]

Guess there was a typo on their iPhone 16GB spec sheet.

[(Unverified) Posted Mar 27th 2009 8:15PM]

Is not a typo.
It is illegal to have wifi on a cell phone (at least license to sell at china).
8GB you mention is a test unit, which sold to the public with proper license.
The official one don't have wifi on either 8GB or 16Gb (the test unit only has 8GB version).
Samething for the GSM. Meizu only register for two band, so they can only advertising as a dual-band phone.
It still have a quad-band chip inside, but not sure if it needs to unlock with software.

[tomzero Posted Mar 27th 2009 3:41PM]

Great huge logo: M8

In German this is spoken "Macht" which is the actual word for "The Force" or "Power".

[saintdavid Posted Mar 27th 2009 3:42PM]

Seeing how much this device seems to piss off iPhone owners makes me want one.

[Master of the Intangible Posted Mar 27th 2009 3:45PM]

I for one welcome our Chinese phone overlords.

[logicbombde Posted Mar 27th 2009 7:20PM]

Nice one, Dr. Breen!

:)

[comscier Posted Mar 27th 2009 3:51PM]

For multimedia... meizu m8 is way better than iphone....
the only thing iphone achieve better is the safari + wifi....
iphone for music... quality sucks...
iphone for videos... lot of restrictions... limited codecs... encoding&decoding limitation
apps... officially speaking... through apple only....

By the way... these kind of phones and mp4 players exist in asia... way before iphone being introduce...

US isn't the world... the consumer electronic sector.... you guys are way behind...
i am from hong kong... currently living in toronto....
and i have to say... US + Canada really does look like a freaking huge village...
when u ask why not have wifi on phones.... go ask a japanese...
their cellphone network is faster than you freaking wifi
and they are already enjoying HDTV on cellphones....
(for mainland china & hong kong, we have way cheaper unlimited data plans.... so... why the hell we need wifi....)

[(Unverified) Posted Mar 27th 2009 8:24PM]

Learn... how... to... not... use... so... many... ellipses... before... you... post... again...

thx...

...
...

...

also... nobody...cares... about... your... whiney... rant... about... cell... network... speeds...

[(Unverified) Posted May 16th 2009 3:32AM]

@Zak

Lean...how....to....not....be...an....ass...

[(Unverified) Posted Mar 27th 2009 4:06PM]

In the side by side shot, I much prefer the look of the M8, it looks sharper and more professional.

The Iphone is a bit to bold, even a little garish.

If I had the money to get either one, I'd go for the M8. ( Mainly to play diablo 2!)

[theos Posted Mar 27th 2009 4:09PM]

uhmm...too many iMoaners here :(

[SOTEC Posted Mar 31st 2009 2:57PM]

To me, the best thing about this is that it's a clone.

It's cheaper than the iphone, and it's non-proprietary.

Win-Win for me.

[(Unverified) Posted Mar 27th 2009 5:01PM]

Phucking knocloffs....nice try.

[MrLinux Posted Mar 28th 2009 1:14AM]

Hmm a knock of phones with a list a mile long of features the iPhone doesn't have, you know.... things like a removable battery and twice the screen resolution and A2DP bluetooth. BTW the iPhone interface was ripped of Qtopia's graphical mobile touch interface first shown in 2003, right down to the sliding unlock and crystal icons on a black background.

[shimrra74 Posted Mar 27th 2009 5:25PM]

This cant be real. April 1st is just around the corner....

[goopy Posted Mar 27th 2009 5:43PM]

This has got to be the first chinese product that doesn't look like trash.

[(Unverified) Posted Mar 28th 2009 7:35AM]

I live in china, if i sent you one of these a while ago, would you have paid me? I see all types of "kirf"'s out here, but dont really pay attention.Why would I? But i saw a boxed and unboxed m8 months ago (maybe a month ago). Could have bought one, but i spent $20 on a cheap mp3 instead, and it suits my needs great.

[(Unverified) Posted Mar 27th 2009 6:12PM]

Sorry, but I only like the fact that you can buy this "Meizu" (sounds like a disease) without any contract and for a good price....But you can´t use the perfect combination iTunes / AppStore - one of the biggest advantages of the iPhone. And when this "M8" would be so much better than the iPhone, why they even try to copy the packaging??

For me (and a lot of experts) China is still good in copying products, not in developing. They try to copy nearly everything, from German cars and machines to Italian textiles and maybe the next product is French wine....The iPhone is still the best phone on the market. Not because of hardware, it´s much more about the nearly perfect OS. And, btw, it would be very easy to stop the ChinaCopyCompany: Western countries only should prohibit to import products of Western companies that have been produced in China. How fast do you think all these companies would begin to produce again in their home countries?

Apple should offer two versions of the iPhone: A smaller, cheaper one and a fully equipped version. And especially here in Europe they should try to offer the iPhone without any contracts, cause lots of Europeans don´t buy a product only because there´s a huge "hype" about it.

[(Unverified) Posted Mar 28th 2009 4:17AM]

regardless of you saying all the CNN style "truth" about China (seems you think you know more about my country than me???@@......)

i just wanna ask one thing: "it´s much more about the nearly perfect OS", do you really say it genuinely???...OMG

[(Unverified) Posted Mar 27th 2009 7:22PM]

If imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, then Apple should be smiling from ear to ear.

[artissco Posted Mar 27th 2009 7:47PM]

lol, US is small market for Meizu, in China is 4 times more people so it is bigger market... if Meizu sells their stuff only in China and India ( second biggest country in the world) they don't need some small country (population wise) like US :D

[MrLinux Posted Mar 28th 2009 1:09AM]

Looks nice, stuck between the Meizu M8 and the Samsung Omnia HD now, choices, choices

[JELP Posted Mar 28th 2009 4:47AM]

Even the earphones look the same!

[brie987 Posted Mar 28th 2009 1:13PM]

The Meizu 8 is "Mysticalware". Out of "Vaporware" it actually materialized. Im just surprised that they maintain the name Meizu 8, shouldnt it be Meizu 12 by now? Still I would love to see a video display by Engadget. And yes please make it available for recession antidote!!!

[(Unverified) Posted Mar 29th 2009 1:55PM]

Wow...Not only the phone itself but packaging and earbuds, plugs and charger are all apple knock offs. Don't defend this pile duders.

[victorstuber Posted Mar 29th 2009 2:40PM]

this would have been exciting if it wasn't delayed almost 3 years.

[kadajawi Posted Apr 27th 2009 3:40AM]

Are we going to see a review? What happened?