Meizu Announces MX3 Android is Coming to North America
At CES Unveiled, we spied the Meizu MX3, a sleek phone that's already been available in China and Hong Kong for a while. One of the worst things about CES is companies that bring their old products and don't offer us anything new or exciting to show you. While the MX3 is already available, there is a reason why it is at CES this year.
Though the company rep was rather coy about it on Sunday night, Meizu has since confirmed that its MX3 is headed for the USA.
"In the North American market, many of the largest smartphone brands have raced to introduce increasingly complex features that can intimidate people who are just beginning to consider a smartphone purchase," said Meizu CEO Aber Bai. "These people are seeking an alternative that combines the elegance and functionality of today's smartphones with a friendly, fun experience along with consumer-friendly pricing, which creates a tremendous opportunity for a player like Meizu in the U.S. market."
The MX3 packs a 5.2-inch 1080 x 1800 HD screen (412 pip) and is based on the Exynos 5 octa-core processor as well as 2 GB of RAM. It has an 8-megapixel camera, a 2-megapixel lens in front, shoots video at 1080p at 30fps (both cameras), and Android 4.2 Jelly Bean. The battery is an integrated 2400 mAh affair.
U.S. availability is currently set for Q3 of this year, though we haven't heard anything on pricing or carriers just yet.
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That said, hardware looks good, but again, all this BS about people being "intimidated"... intimidated users go to Apple. And stock Android UI is the least intimidating thing out there, so why mess with it?
Another reminder how the US market is messed up. In normal countries, you don't buy a phone from a carrier and end up being stuck with a SIM-locked phone (which is now illegal to unlock thanks to screwed up US laws), a ton of bloatware and slow or non-existent updates. You buy a phone in the electronics store, then you go to a carrier of your choice and buy a SIM that doesn't lock you into any kind of contract... and you also pay less for most services. E.g. in India 1 minute of phone call (mobile to mobile) is about $0.02 (and yes, the quality of call is good) and an SMS is less than $0.01 (since they're practically free, carriers throw around promotions like 100-1000 free SMS per month for $1-5 or so).
Vote with your wallets, Americans. Buy unlocked phones only, you end up paying 2-3x with your "contract" BS, it's like getting a credit with an insane interest rate. Make use of WiFi hotspots at home, work and restaurants to avoid using extremely overpriced mobile Internet. Root your phones and unlock features that you are entitled to - tethering and so on. Install Cyanogenmod if you can - despite Google playing on the carriers' side and removing CM one-step installer from Play Store, it's still available on CM site. Make your carriers stop ripping you off, or else they'll soon start charging you for every swipe on the screen. Realize how much your market sucks compared to the rest of the world and change it before it's too late.
Cheers to that! Like why do I need to have a Samsung Gear app on my phone when I don't and won't ever own a Samsung Gear?! I can't even disable the app!!!
I never understood why Sony doesn't do this. They have a huge network of company stores and retail partners. Why they don't sell all their phones directly, like all the other electronics they make I don't understand. How come Apple is the only who can successfully sell their own products?! Makes no sense!!!