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Xiaomi shipped over 15 million MI2 series phones, lowers MI2s to $210 in China
While Xiaomi's been pushing its budget Redmi Android phone into Singapore recently, it's also managed to reach a new shipment record for its mid-tier MI2 series, which includes the MI2, MI2s and MI2a. According to the company's announcement, it has now shipped over 15 million of these devices, which is a notable jump from the 9.19 million figure announced at the MI3 launch back in September. To celebrate this occasion, Xiaomi has reduced the price of the 16GB, 8-megapixel MI2s in China from CN¥1,699 (about $280) to just CN¥1,299 (about $210). The 32GB version with a 13-megapixel camera remains at CN¥1,799 ($290), which is just less than the 16GB, CN¥1,999 ($330) MI3. All of these are still very attractive prices of their specs, of course. In response to this price drop, Meizu swiftly announced that its 16GB MX2 RE (refurbished edition) is now also priced at CN¥1,299, whereas the MX2 enhanced edition is now at CN¥1,599 ($260). It's unclear how long this bloody fight will last for, but here's hoping that these price drops will be applied outside China as well.
Mobile Miscellany: week of July 22nd, 2013
If you didn't get enough mobile news during the week, not to worry, because we've opened the firehose for the truly hardcore. This week brought hints of a jumbo-sized Lumia smartphone, an early preview of an advanced camera app for CyanogenMod and the arrival of the Meizu MX2 in white. These stories and more await after the break. So buy the ticket and take the ride as we explore all that's happening in the mobile world for this week of July 22nd, 2013.
Inevitable: Oppo Find 5 meets Xiaomi Phone 2 and Meizu MX2
With all three major Chinese phone makers now showing their quad-core cards, it's only natural for us to take a friendly portrait of their latest flagships: from left to right we have the Meizu MX2 (due December 19th), the Xiaomi Phone 2 (already out) and the freshly announced Oppo Find 5 (due January). At 8.86mm thick, the Find 5 is subtly slimmer than our two other 10.2mm-thick phones when compared visually, but the five-inch 1080p screen is clearly a winner in terms of size and pixel density -- the latter is made more obvious by the fine details on the tactfully designed icons; just too bad you won't be able to fit much 1080p video content into the 16GB built-in storage. As for aesthetics, we're currently leaning towards the Find 5 for its less obvious bezel around the glass panel, and the phone's shape is also a nice change from the usual rectangle-with-evenly-rounded-corners form factor. Still, the feel and contour of the Meizu MX2's crystal back cover gave the most comfortable grip out of the three, only to be hampered by the Flyme OS' eccentric UX. Obviously, we shall do a more detailed comparison once we have our review unit, so stay tuned.
Meizu MX2 packs 1.6GHz quad-core chip, 4.4-inch display and Jelly Bean, due mid-December
Amidst the fierce competition in the Chinese mobile market, Meizu has managed to keep up with its annual cycle to unveil its latest flagship device, the MX2. Announced at the launch event in Beijing earlier today, the MX2 comes with a Samsung-made 1.6GHz, Cortex-A9 quad-core SoC dubbed "MX5S," along with 2GB of RAM, a 30-percent faster GPU, a 4.4-inch 347ppi (1,280 x 800) gapless display with 3.15mm bezel and efficient "New Mode 2" technology (the description of which sounds like IGZO to us), an improved eight-megapixel BSI F/2.4 camera and a choice of 16GB, 32GB or 64GB of built-in memory. There's also a front-facing camera, dual-mic noise cancellation, MHL video output, S/PDIF audio output, a non-removable 1,800mAh battery, Bluetooth 4.0 and HSPA+ radio at 2,100MHz (2G at 900/1800). As before, the white double injection-molded back cover can be taken off to access the SIM card slot, but there should also be various color options in the near future. Read on for more info, and do also check out the official introduction video after the break. Update: We now have some hands-on photos courtesy of Stone Ip from Engadget Chinese. They're in the second gallery below.
Meizu to unveil MX2 flagship smartphone in Beijing on November 27
It's that time of the year again. Meizu's just sent out invitations for the upcoming launch of its new flagship device which, according to founder Jack Wong, will be dubbed MX2. While details are scarce, Wong previously mentioned that he's still not interested in making tablets, but he'll certainly be making a larger phone. In fact, Wong recently leaked a screenshot (posted after the break) that contained sketches of the new UI, but the screenshot itself came at a resolution of 1,280 x 800, which is rather different from the old 960 x 640 in terms of detail and aspect ratio. Considering that Wong had also expressed that there's no point in going beyond 400ppi (ouch), chances are the MX2 will come with the more common 330ppi pixel density, which would give a 4.57-inch diagonal screen size; though 312ppi is also a possibility, which would make it a 4.8-inch device. Both options would still be sharper than the original 4-inch MX's 292ppi. Whatever the truth is, we shall find out at the Beijing Water Cube on November 27, so stay tuned.
