Meizu Pro 6 review: Changing lanes

3D Press makes its way on Android

Apple was the first to bring the long-rumored and highly anticipated Force Touch on a smartphone that you can actually buy. It's an additional pressure-sensitive layer of sensors above the display and it can detect different levels of pressure. Its main purpose is to allow for new interactions with the operating system and hopefully add a new dimension to the user experience.

Apple calls its Force Touch feature 3D Touch, while Meizu named it 3D Press. Gionee, Huawei and ZTE are also offering Force Touch-enabled smartphones, but only in a very limited premium editions of an otherwise mass-market smartphones. So, the Pro 6 is the first Android smartphone we meet with a 3D Press screen.

Meizu learnt from Apple most of the tricks it has added on its Flyme launcher, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. Before we start checking the 3D Touch gestures, you should know you can turn it on/off from settings and you can choose its intensity. The available options are String, Normal, and Soft, with the latter being the level of sensitivity we've used to operate on the iPhone 6s series.

So, 3D Press, just like on the iOS, provides some handy shortcuts on a variety of system apps. You can get pop ups for new messages on the Messages icon, a shortcut for new alarm on the Clock app, a new Memo options on the Memo icon, and so on.

3D Press options • 3D Press on Messages • 3D Press on Clock • 3D Press on Memos • 3D press on Browser

If you press hard on an email within the Mail app, it will pop a preview into a balloon for you to see it. From there you can swipe it upwards for more option, or downwards to mark it as read.

3D Press on the Mail icon • The Mail app • 3D Press on an email • Pop-up preview options • Mark as Read

You can do the same in Messages and the Gallery - a firm press opens a preview of the message/picture and you can get more options or dismiss it.

Pop-up preview in Messages • Message preview options • Pop-up preview in Gallery • Gallery preview options

The Browser app in addition to the new pop-up shortcuts (New Tab, Search, Bookmarks) gets a very useful pop-up link preview. You just need to force press on a clickable link and you'll get a preview of the page it's linked to. Then you can go up for open in new window/in the background, or dismiss it by swiping it down.

The web browser • Link preview • Preview options • Icon shortcuts

Those are pretty much the use cases for the 3D Press. Some apps offer pop-up shortcuts on their homescreen icons and you can preview various content in bubbles within selected system apps (News, Messages, Gallery, Browser, Memos). That's it.

Apps and their 3D Press-activated shortuts

Since Android does not officially support Force Touch screens, if you change the Flyme launcher with something else you'll lose those features altogether. What's even worse is the chance of Android developers embracing the company's custom SDK seems very low. Until Google brings official support functionality will likely remain limited to what Meizu itself delivers.