Meizu M2

The m2 will seem instantly familiar to anyone who’s seen the m2 note. MEIZU has opted for an almost identical design, with a polycarbonate back panel and rounded edges. The compact device is comfortable to use single-handed, with the curved edges ensuring a firm grip. The texture of the rear panel also ensures that smudges and scratches aren't easily visible.

The m2 features a 5-inch display with HD resolution, resulting in a pixel density of 294ppi. Unlike its predecessor, which didn’t incorporate any protective coating above the display panel, the m2 note gets a layer of Asahi Dragontrail glass. The screen offers decent viewing angles, although visibility under bright sunlight is questionable. The screen is smooth and responsive to touch, and fine for typing, gaming and gestures alike. While colours appeared bright and true-to-life, you can adjust the colour temperature to your liking in display settings.

Handling photography on the m2 is a 13MP primary camera with a Samsung CMOS sensor, a 5-element lens and a f/2.2 aperture. The front camera is a 5MP fixed-focus unit. The camera app is a simple affair with the shutter button and controls for the video and gallery on one side. Next to these are another set of buttons for the camera settings, front camera toggle, filters and flash. To switch between the camera modes, you just need to swipe down on the viewfinder. The modes on offer include Auto, Manual, Beauty, Panorama, Light field (lets you refocus the subject after you shoot), Scan (for scanning QR codes) and Slowmotion.

The m2 is powered by a 64-bit quad-core MediaTek MT6735 processor clocked at 1.3GHz, working in tandem with 2GB of RAM. The smartphone is reliable for daily usage, and runs smoothly with multiple apps running in the background. There were a few occasions when the device seemed a bit sluggish and apps crashed unexpectedly, but nothing that was serious enough to make us worry. For gaming purposes, we tested some old-time favourites like Riptide GP2 and Dead Trigger 2. With graphics-heavy games, the occasional frame drop is inevitable considering the smartphone’s innards, but gameplay was otherwise unmarred by any glitches or freezes. The top part of the smartphone, near the camera module, heats up after 15-20 minutes of continuous gameplay, but not to uncomfortable temperatures.