Meizu Pro 6 Plus review: imPROved

Introduction

Meizu Pro 5 used to be an excellent device and when the company didn't follow the same formula with the Pro 6 it left many of us surprised and its fans disappointed due to the choice of specs, which didn't seem to make it a true successor to Meizu's top dog.

Today, the new Pro 6 Plus brings back the big 5.7" AMOLED screen and also comes with 1440p resolution. It comes with the top-end Exynos chip by Samsung - the same one that powers the Galaxy S7 series.

And if these upgrades aren't enough, Meizu is also throwing 4-axis optical stabilization for the camera, a bigger battery, and a surprising addition to the already cool mTouch key - a heart-rate sensor.

There is so much to talk about, so let's cut to the chase, shall we?

Key features

• 5.7" 1440p Super AMOLED display of 515ppi; 3D Press
• Flyme OS 5.6 on top of Android 6.0 Marshmallow; Flyme 6.0 coming in February
• 64GB model: Exynos 8890 chipset - octa-core processor with four 2.0GHz Mongoose and four 1.5GHz Cortex-A53 cores; Mali-T880 MP10 GPU; 4GB of RAM
• 128GB model: Exynos 8890 chipset - octa-core processor with four 2.3GHz Mongoose and four 1.6GHz Cortex-A53 cores; Mali-T880 MP12 GPU; 4GB of RAM
• 12MP Sony Exmor RS IMX386 camera sensor; 1.25µm pixel size, f/2.0; 4-axis optical stabilization; phase-detect and laser-assisted autofocus; two-tone 10-LED ring flash, 2160p video recording @30fps
• 5MP front-facing camera with 1080p@30fps video recording
• 64GB or 128GB of built-in storage; non-expandable
• Cat. 9 LTE (450/50Mbps); Dual SIM; Wi-Fi a/b/g/n/ac; Bluetooth 4.1; NFC; GPS/GLONASS/Beidou; USB Type-C port, USB On-The-Go
• mTouch Home button with a fingerprint scanner and heart-rate sensor
• Active noise cancellation via a dedicated mic
• Hi-Fi audio ES9018K2M + AD45275 chip
• 3,400mAh battery with 24W mCharge 2.0 (up to 50% charge in 30min)

Main disadvantages

• Underclocked processor and fewer GPU cores on the 64GB model
• No waterproofing (flagship phone and relatively high price)
• No memory expansion option
• No VoLTE for the international model
• No NFC and heart-rate sensor support for the international model, but update is on the way

We guess the Pro 6 had its purpose. We may never know what it was as it is already hard to come by. If you ask us, we appreciate it for the fact that it introduced the new eye-pleasing antenna strips design on the back well before the iPhone 7 generation was even announced. It was also among the first devices to showcase pressure-sensitive display technology in an Android smartphone.

Whatever the case was, we're glad it's behind us and that we already have the Pro 6 Plus in our hands - the true successor to the Pro 5. It's a phone that delivers a solid punch in every single aspect.

Our only issue is with the underclocked Exynos chip for the 64GB model. We doubt anyone will suffer from the lower processor clock, but the fewer GPU cores are enough to raise an eyebrow - especially when the graphics chip is tasked to support such premium display resolution. But we'll dig into that in our performance section.

Waterproofing could have been nice, as well as memory expansion options, but we are still too much impressed by the other upgrades to really mind that.

The Pro 6 Plus is what the Meizu Pro 6 should have been in the first place, and we can't wait to put it through its paces and find out if the wait was worth it. You are welcome to join us for our hardware checkup right after the jump.