Meizu 16s Review

• Overview
• Design and Build Quality
• Display
• Performance
• Software and User Interface
• Camera
• Battery Life
• Connectivity and Networking
• Additional Features
• Comparison with Other Related Phones
• Pros and Cons
• Conclusion

Overview

The Meizu 16s is a captivating flagship smartphone that delivers a compelling package of features and design. With its sleek and slim body, it offers a comfortable grip and a stunning 6.2-inch AMOLED display with minimal bezels. Powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 chipset and paired with up to 8GB of RAM, this device ensures smooth performance and multitasking. The impressive dual-camera setup, featuring a 48MP main sensor and a 20MP telephoto lens, captures stunning photos and videos. Other notable features include an under-display fingerprint sensor, NFC, and a 3600mAh battery with fast charging support. With a competitive price of around 420 EUR, the Meizu 16s is an outstanding choice for tech enthusiasts seeking flagship-level performance without breaking the bank.

Design and Build Quality

The Meizu 16s boasts a sleek and premium design that exudes elegance and sophistication. With its slim profile and minimal bezels, the phone offers an impressive 87.2% screen-to-body ratio, providing users with an immersive viewing experience. The device measures 151.9 x 73.4 x 7.6 mm and weighs 165g, making it compact and lightweight for easy portability. The combination of a glass front and back, along with an aluminum frame, gives the phone a sturdy and robust construction. The smooth texture and finishing touches add to its overall premium look and feel. The back panel houses a dual-camera setup, which is neatly aligned and surrounded by a subtle ring, enhancing the aesthetics of the phone. The placement of buttons and controls is ergonomic, ensuring easy accessibility and one-handed usability. The absence of a 3.5mm headphone jack is compensated by the inclusion of a USB Type-C port. The Meizu 16s strikes a perfect balance between form and function, with its sleek design and attention to detail, making it an attractive choice for users seeking a well-built and visually appealing device.

Display

The Meizu 16s boasts a 6.2-inch AMOLED display with a screen-to-body ratio of approximately 87.2%, providing an immersive viewing experience. With a resolution of 1080 x 2232 pixels and a pixel density of around 400 ppi, the display delivers sharp and vibrant visuals. The OLED technology used ensures deep blacks and excellent contrast levels. The colors on the Meizu 16s display are accurate and vibrant, making it ideal for multimedia consumption and gaming.

The display offers good brightness levels, making it easily readable even under direct sunlight. It also features an anti-reflective coating that helps to reduce glare, enhancing outdoor visibility. The touch responsiveness of the screen is smooth and precise, allowing for effortless navigation and smooth scrolling.

To protect the display from scratches and accidental damage, Meizu has not specified the use of any specific display protection like Gorilla Glass. However, it is advisable to use a screen protector for added protection.

The Meizu 16s does not have a notch design, resulting in slim bezels and a clean, uninterrupted display. The wide viewing angles ensure that the content remains clear and vibrant, even when viewed from different angles. The device also supports an always-on display feature, allowing users to quickly glance at notifications and other information without fully waking up the device.

Other notable features include a blue light filter for reduced eye strain, adaptive brightness for automatic adjustment to ambient lighting conditions, and screen calibration options for users to personalize the display settings according to their preferences.

Overall, the Meizu 16s offers a high-quality display with accurate colors, excellent brightness levels, and smooth touch responsiveness, making it a great choice for multimedia enthusiasts and gamers.

Performance

The Meizu 16s boasts impressive performance thanks to its powerful chipset and efficient GPU. Equipped with the Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 chipset, this device offers exceptional CPU and GPU performance. The octa-core Kryo 485 CPU, consisting of a 2.84 GHz prime core, 3x 2.42 GHz performance cores, and 4x 1.78 GHz efficiency cores, ensures smooth multitasking and speedy app loading speeds.

The GPU, Adreno 640, delivers outstanding graphics scores and contributes to an immersive gaming experience. The Meizu 16s performs exceptionally well in gaming benchmarks, showcasing its gaming capabilities. Users can enjoy lag-free gaming with impressive frame rates and smooth gameplay.

In terms of synthetic benchmarks, the Meizu 16s showcases its performance prowess. It excels in benchmark tests, achieving high scores and surpassing expectations. This device's processor efficiency and GPU efficiency contribute to its overall stellar performance.

Additionally, the Meizu 16s offers a smooth user experience thanks to its system optimization and efficient thermal management. Users can expect a seamless and lag-free performance, even during extended periods of usage. The device's overall performance metrics are impressive, offering a reliable and efficient gadget for daily use.

Overall, the Meizu 16s is a powerhouse in terms of performance. Its Snapdragon 855 chipset, coupled with the Adreno 640 GPU, ensures excellent multitasking capabilities, smooth user experience, and impressive gaming performance. Whether it's running resource-intensive apps or playing graphics-intensive games, the Meizu 16s delivers exceptional performance that exceeds expectations.

Software and User Interface

The Meizu 16s runs on Android 9.0 (Pie) with the company's own Flyme 7.3 user interface. The software experience on this device has received mixed reviews. While some users appreciate the clean and minimalistic design of Flyme, others find it lacking in terms of customization options. The interface is said to be smooth and responsive, and the overall user experience is generally positive. However, there have been complaints about the presence of pre-installed apps and bloatware, which can be a drawback for those who prefer a more streamlined software experience. Additionally, some users have reported occasional software bugs and glitches, although these seem to be relatively minor and infrequent. Overall, the software on the Meizu 16s offers a user-friendly interface with decent performance, but it may not appeal to those who prioritize extensive customization options or a completely bloatware-free experience.

Camera

The Meizu 16s boasts an impressive camera setup that delivers excellent image quality across various shooting scenarios. The dual rear camera system includes a 48-megapixel primary sensor with a wide f/1.7 aperture and optical image stabilization (OIS), ensuring sharp and detailed photos even in challenging lighting conditions. The secondary 20-megapixel telephoto lens provides additional focal length options for capturing subjects at a distance.

The camera excels in daylight photography, producing vibrant and natural colors with excellent sharpness and dynamic range. It performs exceptionally well in both indoor and outdoor photography, maintaining accuracy in color reproduction and preserving details. The low-light performance is commendable, thanks to advanced noise reduction techniques and a dedicated night mode. The camera's low-light sensitivity allows for capturing stunning night photography with minimal noise and improved clarity.

The Meizu 16s camera comes equipped with various features to enhance your photography experience. Portrait mode creates beautiful bokeh effects, blurring the background and keeping the subject in focus. HDR mode helps capture scenes with a wide range of lighting conditions, maintaining balanced exposure in high-contrast situations. The panorama mode allows for capturing breathtaking wide-angle shots, while the pro mode gives enthusiasts manual control over settings like ISO and shutter speed.

When it comes to video recording, the Meizu 16s supports 4K resolution, delivering detailed and crisp footage. The inclusion of video stabilization ensures smooth and shake-free videos, while slow-motion and time-lapse features add creativity to your recordings. The device supports various video formats, providing flexibility for sharing and editing your captured moments.

Overall, the Meizu 16s camera impresses with its high-resolution sensors, versatile shooting modes, and excellent image and video quality, making it a compelling choice for photography enthusiasts and smartphone users who value top-notch camera capabilities.

Battery Life

The Meizu 16s comes with a non-removable Li-Po 3600 mAh battery, which offers decent battery life. The battery capacity is adequate for most users, providing enough power to last through a full day of moderate usage. The device also supports 24W wired fast charging, allowing for quick charging times. It does not, however, support wireless charging.

In terms of battery performance, the Meizu 16s offers good power efficiency and optimization features, ensuring that the battery lasts longer. It also has a battery saver mode to further extend battery life when needed. The device manages battery usage well, minimizing battery drain during standby and offering a reliable battery backup.

While the Meizu 16s doesn't have the largest battery capacity compared to some other smartphones, it makes up for it with efficient power management and fast charging capabilities. Users can expect a satisfactory battery performance from this device, with enough endurance to last through a day of regular use.

Connectivity and Networking

The Meizu 16s offers a comprehensive range of connectivity options to keep users connected on the go. It supports dual SIM functionality, allowing users to easily switch between two SIM cards for convenient network compatibility. In terms of wireless connectivity, the device supports Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, enabling fast and reliable internet access. Bluetooth 5.0 ensures seamless communication with other devices, offering improved data transfer speeds and enhanced overall performance. The inclusion of NFC allows for convenient mobile payments and quick pairing with compatible devices. The presence of a USB Type-C 2.0 port enables fast data transfer and charging capabilities. When it comes to navigation, the Meizu 16s features GPS and BDS, ensuring accurate positioning for users. Additionally, the device supports various Wi-Fi standards, providing users with a wide range of connectivity options. Whether it's connecting to a mobile hotspot, transferring files wirelessly, or navigating with GPS, the Meizu 16s offers a comprehensive set of connectivity features to meet the needs of modern users.

Additional Features

• Standout features: The Meizu 16s boasts an impressive set of features that make it stand out from the competition. With its sleek and slim design, it is both visually appealing and comfortable to hold. The device also offers a high screen-to-body ratio, thanks to its AMOLED display, resulting in a captivating viewing experience.


• Water and dust resistance: Although the Meizu 16s does not have an official IP rating for water and dust resistance, it is built to withstand daily wear and tear. This means it can handle accidental splashes or exposure to dust without compromising its performance.


• Wireless charging: The Meizu 16s supports Qi wireless charging, allowing users to conveniently charge their device without the need for cables. This feature provides a hassle-free charging experience and eliminates the clutter of tangled wires.


• Advanced sensors: The device is equipped with a range of sensors, including an accelerometer and gyroscope, which enable precise motion tracking and enhance the gaming and virtual reality experiences. Additionally, the Meizu 16s includes a sensor suite that includes environmental sensors, providing users with valuable data on temperature, humidity, and air quality.

Comparison with Other Related Phones

The Meizu 16s is a competitive smartphone that offers a range of features and specifications that make it a strong contender in the market. When comparing it to other related devices, such as the Xiaomi Mi 9 and the OnePlus 7 Pro, the Meizu 16s holds its ground.

In terms of specifications, the Meizu 16s boasts a Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 chipset, which is also found in other high-end smartphones like the Xiaomi Mi 9 and OnePlus 7 Pro. This ensures smooth performance and efficient multitasking capabilities. The Meizu 16s also offers a large AMOLED display, similar to the OnePlus 7 Pro, providing vibrant colors and excellent viewing angles.

When it comes to camera capabilities, the Meizu 16s excels with its dual 48MP + 20MP rear camera setup. This is on par with the Xiaomi Mi 9's triple camera system and the OnePlus 7 Pro's dual camera setup. The Meizu 16s also offers various camera features like Six-LED dual-tone flash, Auto-HDR, and panorama, allowing users to capture high-quality photos and videos.

In terms of pricing, the Meizu 16s is positioned competitively compared to its rivals. It offers similar specifications and features at a slightly lower price point, making it a value-for-money option for consumers. The Meizu 16s is priced at around 420 EUR, which is slightly lower than the Xiaomi Mi 9 and OnePlus 7 Pro.

In the competitive landscape of the smartphone market, the Meizu 16s differentiates itself with its sleek design and the inclusion of an under-display fingerprint sensor. These unique features set it apart from its competitors and provide an added convenience for users.

Overall, the Meizu 16s offers a compelling package of specifications, features, and pricing that positions it as a strong competitor in the market. It provides a high-end smartphone experience at a relatively affordable price, making it an attractive option for consumers looking for a value-for-money device.

Pros and Cons

Conclusion

The Meizu 16s offers an intriguing combination of impressive hardware and frustrating software. Its sleek design and AMOLED display make for an immersive visual experience, while the powerful Snapdragon 855 chipset ensures smooth performance. The camera setup, featuring a 48MP main sensor, captures detailed and vibrant photos. However, the absence of expandable storage and a 3.5mm headphone jack may disappoint some users. The under-display fingerprint sensor adds a touch of modernity, but it's not the fastest. Overall, the Meizu 16s is a compelling alternative to pricier flagship phones, offering great value for its price. Potential buyers looking for a well-rounded device should consider the Meizu 16s.