Not for the bashful: Meitu M4 will make selfie savants squeal (REVIEW)

The Meitu M4 has arrived, and in case you were wondering: no, there wasn’t a Meitu M3. We last reviewed the M2, after which the app developer-turned-smartphone makerpulled a Microsoft and skipped a digit. The latest model’s name is conspicuously close to Xiaomi’s Mi 4, but while the name might throw some off, no one is going to be confused as to which is which when they see the M4 in person.

The Meitu M4 brings back the vibrant looks that channel all the energy of a high-school cheerleading squad into hardware. The unit I received comes in a relatively mild aqua, but you can still opt for very hot pink. Tack on an extra RMB 300 (US$50), and you can get the Hello Kitty edition. Because why not?

Not that much beyond the looks and camera matter to Meitu’s target audience, but here are the specs:

• 4.7-inch 1280×720 pixel screen
• MediaTek octa-core MT6752 1.7 GHz chipset
• 13MP cameras on front and rear
• 2GB RAM
• 32GB internal storage, no SD slot
• 2,160mAh battery
• RMB 2,199 (US$355)

Look and feel


The look of the M4 resembles its predecessor with a few tweaks. It maintains the curved edges at the top and bottom, though those edges are now plated in metal. This model forgoes the squared-off metal bands that lined the right and left edges of the M2. Instead, the M4 opts for a plastic back cover that tapers off to give the phone a rounded, bubbly feel.



Overall, the phone seems solid. Applying pressure in the form of a light bend test results in a few audible creaks and pops. It’s a bit heavy in hand and a bit on the thick side, measuring 9mm in the center. The plastic rear cover is too slippery, but the curved back makes it easy to pick up off a table and fairly comfortable in hand.

My biggest complaint is that the phone is too long. While the display measures 4.7 inches, it’s as tall or taller than rival smartphones sporting 5-inch screens or larger. That’s mainly thanks to the huge top and bottom bezels, which add on an extra inch or so to each end. The phone is skinny enough to make typing with one hand painless, but I struggled to reach the notification bar and app menus located at the top of the screen.

The M4 sports the usual three soft buttons beneath the display. The circle home key also serves as the phone’s notification light, which gives off an Apple-esque "breathing" glow. Those soft keys give haptic vibration feedback when pressed, but that feature is unfortunately lacking for the touchscreen, such as while typing.



The power button is located on the top along with the headphone jack, while the volume rocker sits on the left edge, and a button specifically for operating the camera on the right. The stereo speakers, which frequent speakerphone users will be glad to know get quite loud, line the bottom edge.

The rear camera is anything but subtle; a big black circle bordered by polished metal and flanked by flashes on both the right and left.

The M4 only allows for nano-SIM cards, but it works with both FDD-LTE and TD-LTE carrier networks.

The screen is sharp and easy to see in daylight. Like its predecessor, the M4 has stuck to a 720 pixel-wide display, which is just fine below the five-inch threshold. Avoiding the 1080p and 2K bandwagon means the M4 saves a bit of processing power and, in turn, battery life.



The battery proved to be adequate, and should last power users an entire day. If you spend the majority of your time on wifi rather than on mobile data, it could stretch to two. Unfortunately, the battery is non-removable, so replacing it down the road won’t be an option.

Battery life is even more impressive when you factor in the octa-core Mediatek chipset that the M4 packs. It’s no Snapdragon, but the M4 easily powers through all the image processing tasks it was designed for. It also performs well while gaming, without a stutter to speak of during testing on a handful of 3D games. The phone does tend to get a bit warm, though – enough to make your hands sweat.

MeiOS 2


MeiOS 2 is Meitu’s custom Android skin sitting on top of Android 4.4 Kitkat. For a new phone, the lack of a 5.0 Lollipop update is a real disappointment, and it doesn’t seem like Meitu plans to roll one out any time soon.

MeiOS 2 is bilingual, offering both English and Chinese interfaces. Like the previous version, it oozes pinks and purples, and the default system sounds and ringtones still make the M4 sound like its full of fairies. It only comes equipped with two themes to choose from, but you can swap out backgrounds, ringtones, swipe animations, and icon shapes as you please. I tried to man mine up a bit.



Other than these aesthetic tweaks, MeiOS is a fairly vanilla version of Android 4.4 under the hood. There are no gesture controls, but double-tap to wake is a nice added feature. MeiOS comes with its own app store.

One pleasant surprise is the FM Radio, which works well but requires headphones to be used as an antenna.

Meitu was originally a startup that made photo editing apps. The company has thrown everything it has in that respect at the M4, as the phone comes pre-installed with so many camera, editing, and beautification apps that I can’t keep track of them all. Ranging from taking quick GIFs and making eyes bigger to skin whitening and sharing pics with friends, Meitu has you covered on the photo front. Of course, all these apps are free, so you could just buy a different phone with Android Lollipop and install all these apps yourself. Just saying.



While the official specs report 32GB of storage on the device, it only leaves about 22.4GB of actual usable space.

Cameras


Just like the M2, the M4 comes equipped with two 13MP cameras on the front and rear of the phone. It also has three flashes – two on the back and one on the front. Without a doubt, this phone was made for the most avid of selfie takers.



Cutesy interface aside, Meitu makes one of the better camera apps on the market today. Besides the par-for-the-course photo, video, and panorama modes, it also boasts a square mode for Instagram-ready pics, slow motion, and a time-lapse option that rivals the iPhone. A quick access menu lets you pick the beautification level on a scale from none to seven, where seven will have you looking a bit… artificial. Beautification whitens skin and teeth, smooths out your complexion, removes the bags from under eyes, and makes you look slimmer, among other enhancements.

The M4 fails to stack up against the iPhone in many other respects, however. The shutter button takes far too long to recover – about one full second – between snaps. Video also only records in 1080p, with no option for 2K or other resolutions.



Despite the emphasis on the M4’s cameras, they aren’t going to blow anyone away and aren’t actually much better than its contemporaries in the same price range. That isn’t to say that it’s bad, but the hardware just isn’t anything special. Even though both cameras are equal when it comes to megapixels, the rear camera has far superior image quality. The front camera seems to struggle with motion blur and is far less sharp in low light, and the fuzz gets worse the higher you crank the beautification level.

Colors are fairly accurate but oversaturated. Reds tend to come out a bit on the pink side (figures). HDR mode isn’t included in the default camera app, probably because it’s more of a permanent fixture. Realism isn’t exactly a priority here, so that’s to be expected. It does a decent job of capturing subtle color gradients, like shades of grey on a cloudy day. I noticed some mild vignetting in the corners.

Here’s a few pics I snapped during my time with the M4:

Meitu M4 sample pics
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Conclusion


The Meitu M4 isn’t for everybody. That much is obvious. It was purpose built with a single, narrow audience in mind – vain young women who love selfies – and for that audience, it’s a match made in heaven. For the rest of us, you’re probably better off going with one of the many emerging one-size-fits-all phones coming out of China these days, like a Xiaomi or OnePlus.

Currently, the Meitu M4 is only officially available in China.

Meitu M4 pros:

• Unique look
• 13MP front-facing selfie camera
• FDD-LTE and TD-LTE compatible
• Extensive suite of photo editing and camera apps
• Fast performance for image processing and gaming
• FM Radio

Meitu M4 cons:

• MeiOS stuck on Android 4.4 Kitkat
• Cameras snap too slowly, no 2K video
• Too long and a bit too thick
• Little storage leftover with no expandable SD slot

This post Not for the bashful: Meitu M4 will make selfie savants squeal (REVIEW) appeared first on Tech in Asia.