Meizu Pro 7 Plus review: Two-Face

Meizu Pro 7 Plus retail box contents

The Meizu Pro 7 Plus comes in one of the fanciest retail boxes we've opened. Within the half glossy, half matte box is the phone itself, a transparent plastic case, a 24W charger plug, and a USB Type-C cable.

Meizu Pro 7 retail box • its contents • the Pro 7 Plus wrapped in the case

There is a dedicated slot for headphones, but our unit came without them. The availability of those will vary from market to market.

Meizu Pro 7 Plus 360-degree spin

Meizu Pro 7 Plus measures 157.3 x 77.2 x 7.3 mm - 1.7mm taller than the Pro 6 Plus, which also sports a 5.7" display. The Pro 7 Plus gained some weight too - 12 grams and now tips the scales at 170g. If we are to size it up next to the Galaxy S8, the Pro 7 Plus would be both 1cm taller and wider, but then again, its strength lies not in an Infinity display, but in a secondary one.

Design

Anything that breaks the smartphone's design trend requires out of the box thinking, and more often than not repositioning or even retiring some other functional elements. Meizu could have employed some eye-catching technique to highlight that secondary screen, but instead it chose a more understated approach - a secondary screen that's going with the design instead of breaking it.

On paper the 5.7" QHD Super AMOLED screen is identical to the one we saw on the Pro 6 Plus. It takes up most of the front, but leaves some bezels for the earpiece and the signature mTouch key. There is no 3D Press this time around, but we doubt anyone will miss it. The heart-rate sensor is gone too, but that never worked properly on the old model, so not a great loss either.

The new antenna design, first introduced by Meizu with the Pro 6, is here to stay. The two antennas are completely invisible on our black model and follow the top and bottom edges perfectly.

The highlight, of course, is that glass piece at the left of the rear panel. It accommodates the second AMOLED display and the dual-camera. The display is not always-on, but offers enough features to justify its existence. The option to use this one as a viewfinder for high-res bokeh-enhanced selfies is enough to make a lot of people want such tech immediately.

The camera lenses are separated from the screen by a tiny metal rim, while the flash is flush with the glass. We noticed that Meizu has bent the left portion of the glass to match the side curve, which creates an illusion of a curved display.

The Meizu Pro 7 Plus is a premium-built device, and you can immediately feel it once you grab it. The Pro 7 Plus feels solid and secure, with the all-metal panel providing very decent grip and being very resistant to smudges. It's not enormous either so it will fit in most pockets. Finally, the second display was placed thoughtfully so it serves its main purpose well, rather than getting a more central positioning, which might have looked better but would have worked worse.

Handling the Meizu Pro 7 Plus

Controls

The earpiece, the selfie camera, and a couple of sensors are all above the screen. Below the big AMOLED is the familiar mTouch key with an embedded fingerprint scanner in its surface. The latter is not always-on, but it's still decently fast.

Meizu Pro 7 Plus • turning the screen on • the earpiece • the mTouch key

The dual nano-SIM slot is on the left, while the right side has the volume rocker and the power/lock key.

The left side • the SIM slot • the right side • the keys

The secondary mic pinhole is the lone thing of interest at the top of the Meizu Pro 7 Plus. The mouthpiece, the audio jack and the loudspeaker grille are flanking the USB port at the bottom.

The top • the bottom • the USB port

The back of the Pro 7 Plus is surely the most interesting part. The upper left is where the dual-camera, the dual-flash, and the secondary AMOLED screen share a common glass plate. The camera and its metal rim are bulging out just a tiny bit, but not enough to cause any wobbles when the phone is laying on an even surface.

The secondary display • the dual camera • the tiny hump of the camera