Meizu Pro 7 vs Xiaomi Mi 5X: Which should you buy

meizu-pro-7

So the day has come. Xiaomi and Meizu, both the Chinese companies have outed their latest offerings today called the Xiaomi Mi 5X and Meizu Pro 7 respectively.

Chances are, some of you may want to purchase either of these newly launched smartphones. But, which one to buy? Can the Mi 5X offer strong competition to the Meizu Pro 7? Is the secondary display on the latter just a gimmick?

Well, if you have these questions in your mind, bear with us and continue reading.

Design 

As for the design, the Meizu Pro 7 and Mi 5X both get an all-metal unibody. While the former comes with a brushed metallic finish, the latter gets a smooth finish which all of us are familiar with.

Xiaomi has approached the Mi 5X with a more straightforward design — “tried and tested,” if we were to add. The Meizu Pro 7, on the other hand, gets a slightly offbeat design, which should attract people well.

But again, it boils down to your personal preferences. Both the handsets look pretty good nonetheless.

What makes the Meizu Pro 7’s design standout a bit, though, is the presence of the secondary display on the back. Speaking of which…

Display 

The Xiaomi Redmi 5X features a 5.5-inch Full HD IPS LCD display. The Meizu Pro 7, on the other hand, as you may all know, by now, will have two displays one each at the front and back of the device.

At the front, the Meizu Pro 7 rocks a 5.2-inch Full HD Super AMOLED display in-line with the previous leaks. Which means you get deeper blacks, saturated colors, and since the display size is comparatively smaller, you get higher pixel density with the Meizu’s offering.

Clearly, the Pro 7 has the edge over Xiaomi’s offering as far as the display is concerned. Well, at least on paper.

If you are inclined towards AMOLED displays, the Pro 7 should be your choice. The Mi 5X, otherwise.

Processor 

The Meizu Pro 7 is powered by a MediaTek Helio X30 SoC or a MediaTek Helio P25 in comparison to the Snapdragon 625 SoC on the Xiaomi Mi 5X.

For the unaware, the Helio X30 is built on a 10nm process node which among many other things makes it more power-efficient than the Snapdragon 625 SoC which is based on the 14nm node.

This, by any means, is not to say that the Snapdragon 625 SoC is not power-efficient nor to mean it’s not powerful. It’s just that the Helio X30 is more powerful which makes the Meizu Pro 7 a better choice, at least on paper.

Real life performance may vary as it depends on a multitude of things including software optimizations and the like.

RAM and Storage

The Meizu Pro 7 was earlier rumored to come in three storage options: 4GB RAM + 64GB ROM, 6GB RAM + 128GB ROM, and 8GB RAM + 128GB ROM.

Well, that’s partly correct. Meizu Pro 7 packs 4GB of RAM and is available in two storage variants: 64GB or 128GB. There’s a 6GB RAM variant too but it’s only restricted to the Plus variant.

The Xiaomi Mi 5X, on the other hand, features 4GB of RAM and 32GB of native storage under-the-hood which again leaves the Mi 5X slightly behind the Meizu Pro 7 slightly superior.

Software 

Both the Meizu Pro 7 and Xiaomi Mi 5X come with Android Nougat out-of-the-box. In fact, to be precise, the Mi 5X boots Android 7.1.2 Nougat out-of-the-box. That gives the Xiaomi’s offering an upper hand over the Pro 7, technically speaking.

But again, software is one thing that entirely depends on your preferences. For instance, the Mi 5X comes with heavily skinned MIUI 9. While many of the Xiaomi users like it, a good number of people don’t.

The Flyme 6 OS on the Meizu Pro 7, on the other hand, is also skinned but not as much as the MIUI 9. It’s fairly light and features a bunch of useful features.

Camera 

Okay, this is where things get a bit interesting. Of late, the camera has become the differentiating factor among mid-range phones and upwards.

Both the Meizu Pro 7 and Mi 5X feature dual cameras on the back. While the latter gets an iPhone 7 Plus-like telephoto lens with optical zoom capability, the former boasts a Huawei P10-like setup which captures images in RGB and monochrome to result in sharper images.

As for the specs, the Meizu Pro 7 boasts a dual 12MP PDAF camera along with dual-tone LED flash. We are looking at a 16MP shooter at the front for selfies.

The Mi 5X, on the other hand, also gets a 12MP dual camera setup on the back with the front sporting a 16MP camera.

Battery 

The Meizu Pro 7 is backed by a 3,000mAh battery and comes bundled with a 24W charger along with the company’s mCharge 4.0 fast charging support.

A 3,080mAh battery backs the Mi 5X.

Conclusion

The Meizu Pro 7 carries a price tag of CNY 2,880 (approximately $425) for the base variant and reaches as high as CNY 3,380 (approximately $500) while the Xiaomi Mi 5X will set you back by CNY 1,499 — approximately $220.

As you can see, there’s a significant price difference between both the phones. And to be honest, comparing these two devices isn’t entirely fair since one of them is a flagship handset while the other is a mid-range device (which means the Meizu Pro 7 will obviously be better than the Mi 5X on paper, at least).

With that being said, both the phones offer pretty decent specs for what they are worth. If you don’t mind shelling out $425, get the Meizu Pro 7 otherwise pick the Mi 5X.

We have already highlighted where each of these handsets excel and have the upper hand over the other earlier. It’s up to you to decide now.

Posted by
Prajith

Travel and adventure junkie. Which is why he's now one of those cliche guys with a camera around his neck at all times. When doing neither, you'll find him uber lazy and glued to Netflix. Email: [email protected]