Meizu VS Xiaomi

Interesting Article about J.Wong and a supposed beef with Xiaomi CEO Lei Jun.

War of phones

Got the feeling Meizu are the Apple-esque antagonists now, aren't they?

The thing is that while Wong claims Jun stole ideas which may be true, the article suggests he was clearly trying to learn form Meizu's success, and in many ways has improved on the Meizu Model.

Where Xiamoi has excelled over Meizu is in the fact that firmware development is controlled by both the in house devs but also the community. Official new roms are pretty much dropping weekly and they have implemented a frankly ground breaking dual boot system where you can test other custom roms at the same time. You can also automatically update to the latest official Rom from inside the OS.

Where Apple has excelled and Android has failed on some devices in the past is frequency of updates but the Xiaomi model means they have essentially brought android inline and even excelled past Apple in terms of frequency, ease and regularity of updates.

I used MIUI on my friends Galaxy S the other day and to put it simply it is incredible. The best android experience I have had on ANY phone. They have given so much thought and consideration to the features, customization and visual style of this UI it truly is a marvel to behold. Visually it makes stock android look dated and old. But it also combines some of the visual flare of iOS, yet with way way more customization options.

Then of course you have the price. Again an area where Meizu had started out with good intentions but now seem to have almost fallen into line with other large manufacturers pricing, except, Meizu's Android builds are still not as stable as say a samsung or HTC.

Xiaomi may even be selling the phones at a slight loss, but with with a user base already of 500000, then with this hardware dropping at such a low price, their following is simply going to explode, which they can build on on follow up devices.

For me Xiaomi is doing is what Meizu should have started doing all along. They already had a community behind them they should have let them get more hands on and keep hardware prices down.

I also think many other companies can learn from what Xiaomi is doing, I was just shocked at the speed of the OS, depth of OS customization and enhancements it brings. No duplicate unnecessary functionality or added lag like sense UI or Touch Wiz, mainly real performance enhancement and customization.

Unless things change drastically, every android phone I have in the future will run MIUI from now on, they really are pushing the OS forward in a way no one has done before.

and considering the XiaoMi M1 (M1?! sounds original...) costs 2000RMB, it's a viablr option. You have soothed my fears about MIUI, The Eico designed Meizu UI is maginificent, especially the music player.

Yeah I think Meizu Ui looks great too, MIUI actually looks quite similar. Take a look at this walk trough of it running on the LG optimus. Music App around 8 minutes.

MIUI Rom on G2X / LG Optimus 2X (Android 2.3.5) - YouTube

You can also download the Music player as a seperate APK. Using it on my phone at the moment. Perhaps not quite as good as Meizu's but still good none the less.

http://phandroid.com/2011/08/16/miui...r-all-devices/

i never heard of xiaomi before... are u comparing the m9 to the xiaomi m1? r there other xiaomi's?

Originally Posted by sere83

The thing is that while Wong claims Jun stole ideas which may be true, the article suggests he was clearly trying to learn form Meizu's success, and in many ways has improved on the Meizu Model.

Where Xiamoi has excelled over Meizu is in the fact that firmware development is controlled by both the in house devs but also the community. Official new roms are pretty much dropping weekly and they have implemented a frankly ground breaking dual boot system where you can test other custom roms at the same time. You can also automatically update to the latest official Rom from inside the OS.

Where Apple has excelled and Android has failed on some devices in the past is frequency of updates but the Xiaomi model means they have essentially brought android inline and even excelled past Apple in terms of frequency, ease and regularity of updates.

I used MIUI on my friends Galaxy S the other day and to put it simply it is incredible. The best android experience I have had on ANY phone. They have given so much thought and consideration to the features, customization and visual style of this UI it truly is a marvel to behold. Visually it makes stock android look dated and old. But it also combines some of the visual flare of iOS, yet with way way more customization options.

Then of course you have the price. Again an area where Meizu had started out with good intentions but now seem to have almost fallen into line with other large manufacturers pricing, except, Meizu's Android builds are still not as stable as say a samsung or HTC.

Xiaomi may even be selling the phones at a slight loss, but with with a user base already of 500000, then with this hardware dropping at such a low price, their following is simply going to explode, which they can build on on follow up devices.

For me Xiaomi is doing is what Meizu should have started doing all along. They already had a community behind them they should have let them get more hands on and keep hardware prices down.

I also think many other companies can learn from what Xiaomi is doing, I was just shocked at the speed of the OS, depth of OS customization and enhancements it brings. No duplicate unnecessary functionality or added lag like sense UI or Touch Wiz, mainly real performance enhancement and customization.

Unless things change drastically, every android phone I have in the future will run MIUI from now on, they really are pushing the OS forward in a way no one has done before.

Well for some users it is the question whether to buy the MeizuMX or the XiaomiM1 since the MX Dualcore Version will have similar stats to the Xiaomi, while the Xiaomi is cheaper.
But we will have to wait for a review/hands on to decide IMHO. Especially after hearing that the M1´s prototype-versions are already suffering from lower quality .

I use the MIUI Rom on my Nexus One. Its a fast and clean ROM. Can customize it as much as you want and its running 2.3.5 which is one of the most up to date ROM's out there. I am in the process of designing a MeizuM9 Theme for the MIUI. Also done with the lockscreen from M9. The reason I am doing this is because I like some of the Meizu UI but hate that the ROM is not on the latest version and no ROOT access. I will be buying a different phone soon and run MIUI as well. It's sad cause I like the M9 SO MUCH and would keep using it if they gave me the freedom I need with my device. If they want to be like Apple and lock stuff down then I will find a different company to give my money to.

the only thing that makes me hesitate is the difference in display quality. the meizu's m9 is by far superior - otherwise it'd be clear to go for the xiaomi iimho ^^

Xiaomi Phone review -- Engadget

This sure does look interesting although I´m not quite sure about the phones quality ( -> ?????????????????????-??-????)
Opinion of a Chinese Blog User:

Zhao Lei: millet phone is just a joke, no machine-made God Fame millet phone trouble! Officially on sale in October from less than 10 days, when China had been friends of limitless hope, and was described as the media made the most successful event marketing, mobile phones, "God made machine" millet phone is broke : Engineering commemorative sold a month after the case has appeared in paint, screen Qiaojiao and many other issues.

Zhao Lei: millet phone is just a joke, no machine-made God

On the mobile phone industry, the terminal provider of a product in a certain amount of prenatal problems after normal, especially for a novice never to get involved this is more normal. But the problem lies, after the millet has been pushed too hot, while the LEI is a subtle way to portray Apple iPhone millet, one of the biggest future competitor, regardless of friends or the media also carried the advantage of the millet an unprecedented height.

In China the eyes of many users and the media have been introduced to Lei Jun millet phone sales in the scheduled 30 million net results as a miracle. Let us have another look at the media after the release of millet phone description: the day, like a cottage Jobs Lei Jun, screaming fans, Godfather-style sermon, a Steve Jobs-style black T-shirt, a pair of jeans, a pair of Angry bird of shoes. Since then, the legend of rivers and lakes have a Lei Busi.

Low-cost and high-end consumers in China has been pursuing efforts, sell millet to 1999 dollars with the domestic mobile phone and the first dual-core 1.5G, 1G memory, Sharp, anti-reflective screen and 1930 mAh battery of the phone so millet superimposed together, apparently in line with this standard. This stick was stunned Chinese netizens boiling, and will have yet to get production on the order of 300,000.

Under the millet in this momentum, in theory, can not and should not be a problem, at least there is no reason the accident so quickly. However, success in software and Internet industry in many years, the LEI phone hardware, the moment was a letter layman, he seems not accurate understanding of a large mobile terminal. Not to mention the future of network millet phone sales model will be successful, just for the understanding of the mobile phone industry, Lei Jun and his team are there a lot of weakness.

Printing, media, mobile phone appeared in the case of millet paint, screen Qiaojiao such problems has been reported that, "millet foundry cell phone from Taiwan's Inventec is, with year-round to Motorola, Acer and Apple's OEM experience can be said that in the production of mobile phones on the flaws in the process is unlikely, while the quality of millet door hit the main reason, likely because of millet down the purchase cost of mobile phone accessories, and Inventec in order to ensure its profitability, in the procurement of parts in a discrepancy. "

In the mobile terminal industry, from the old giant Motorola, Nokia, Sony Ericsson and now HTC, iPhone, have appeared more than once the issue of product quality. Domestic mobile phone, the quality problem is more serious, had a lot of influential domestic mobile phone brand is not a one off down under in this channel.

And many of the reports also said that mobile phones have become essential for most people living in the equipment, according to the recent exposure of 3.15 ranked complaints, phone home appliance industry has been the highest complaint rate of the product. Although we can not rule out the poor quality of some mobile phone firms factors, but the phone gradually shift from the fast moving consumer goods electronic devices has become an indisputable fact.

See through these principles, will understand the millet out of things really not a big problem. Of Lei Jun Ye Hao, millet technology worth mentioning that this problem occurs is a good thing, allowing them to make more sense to look at themselves.

As part of our general consumers, equally important reason. The world does not exist "God made machine"!

I wouldn't trust Engadget, the quality of their reviews is terrible, and Richard Lai is biased to anything that's made in China.

The moral of the story is: You get what you pay for.

Anyone else find it funny the Xiaomi in the Engadget review was photographed while lying on a pile of rice? :P

You are deluded if you think that the Meizu MX firmware will be superior to this. MIUI is probably the best custom android rom available for any phone and far superior to Meizu's customized version of android. It is literally rock solid and runs on a whole host of devices. Used it on the Galaxy S and Galaxy S II and neither rom has any issues at all that I could find and the GS II port isn't even official. The M9 still has firmware issues and it is unlikely they will all be rectified in the MX firmware.

And no offense to Meizu but I trust Foxconn more than Meizu when it comes to manufacturing, they have far more experience and make products for most of the major consumer tech companies in the world. Meizu may have an edge in display resolution, which may lead to more clarity but doesn't mean the display quality is any better. @ $470 it's simply not worth it when the Xiaomi is $310 and will probably perform better.

I don't think Richard Lai is that biased either. While he is of Chinese Heritage he is also English and all his reports have been pretty balanced if you ask me. I think he is in a far better position to comment than anyone on here or elsewhere as he has been to both Meizu HQ and Xiaomi HQ and seen all there facilities and used their devices. In fact his Meizu report has definitely helped in changing peoples opinions about Meizu being a Shanzai manufacturer.

Incidentally Xiaomi has 6 co-founders which are 3 ex-Googlers, 2 ex-Motorola, 1 ex-Microsoft and 1 ex-ArtCenter. The company itself managed to raise USD 41 million start up capital from MorningsSide Ventures, QiMing Venture Partners and IDG International Data Group. From 56 Xiaomi employees including the 7 founders, an extra USD 11 million was raised. The company is currently valued at USD 250 million.

The main problem with the Xiaomi will be getting your hands on one. With 300,000 pre orders and no actual official release date yet to third party vendors we may not see any exporters getting hold of units until November.

To be honest I think any good competition is great and the Xiaomi is just what the market needs and will help drive prices down and just shows how ripped we get for tech products when a company can bring a device of this quality to market so cheap.

Originally Posted by sere83

I don't think Richard Lai is that biased either. While he is of Chinese Heritage he is also English and all his reports have been pretty balanced if you ask me. I think he is in a far better position to comment than anyone on here or elsewhere as he has been to both Meizu HQ and Xiaomi HQ and seen all there facilities and used their devices. In fact his Meizu report has definitely helped in changing peoples opinions about Meizu being a Shanzai manufacturer.

Except, he didn't actually use the M9 for more than 5 minutes, yet he thought it was excellent. It wasn't then, it isn't now. He gets caught up in the excitement and neglects to test the product thoroughly. He didn't detect the physical faults, or the software faults - and there's a lot of them even to this day. So why should we believe that his

Xiaomi review is any better?

Originally Posted by sere83

To be honest I think any good competition is great and the Xiaomi is just what the market needs and will help drive prices down and just shows how ripped we get for tech products when a company can bring a device of this quality to market so cheap.

Don't be so quick to associate 'quality' with this device. Until you've used it for more than a few days, there's no way for you to know this.

Let's be realistic.

Richard Lai reports on a whole host of stuff not only Chinese products, I don't know why you think he is so biased, all his reports seem pretty standard fare to me and he sees to remain as objective as any other engadget reporter. The Meizu factory report was at very least interesting.

He never even did a proper review of the M9. Engadget US didn't even commission one. He handled it briefly and seemed to be impressed as anyone else would be on first impressions, as after all the M9 is still a decent piece of hardware/software despite its deeper issues. Don't think he ever claimed it was an incredible flawless product. No one techy would really judge a product on a small hands on if they were looking to buy anyway, they would come to a forum like this to get detailed analysis.

Sean Hollister was far more biased against Meizu than Lai was in favour of Meizu if you ask me.

I can not comment personally on the hardware but from the early hand On's and Chinese reviews I have read (some of which are pretty detailed) including the Engadget piece they have all been pretty favorable. You have to be realistic as well, what reason have you got to suggest it is not a quality product?

Many devices from many main stream tech brands including the iPhone 4 frequently have manufacturing issues and firmware issues when first appearing on the market. Whether they are rectified is another question.

I have had first hand experience of MIUI on two separate devices and I have used it for an extended period on both and chatted to my friends who have owned their Galaxy S and GS II running MIUI for a few months now and still no problems of note. So the software at least seems quality to me. Also look around XDA and Modaco and all the other forums, MIUI is universally praised as is CM7 which it is based on.

I can't 100% confirm it is a quality product but from what I have read it seems so and based on all the evidence I would prefer to get one over an M9 and probably will buy If I can find a seller. More reviews will come soon and shed more light, I could be proven wrong still, but evidence is building in its favour.

When you already have such a strong following as MIUI does I don't know why it would be in Xiaomi's interest to not try and make a decent product. They are clearly not some Shanzai out fit.

Of course you can't tell if a product is quality without using it for an extended period, same with any product but pople can still speculate based on early info. It's still early days for the Xiaomi.

The point I'm trying to make is that one shouldn't rush to buy an unproven product, like I regrettably did with the M9. Sure the OS might be good, but that doesn't mean the hardware is the same, nor that the port to the phone is stable.

yeah, I wouldn't recommend anyone jump straight in without seeing a few solid in depth reviews and perhaps hanging in their forums for a while and asking some questions to owners first about the software stability and build quality etc etc.

But I do think the Xiaomi will be quite different to the M9 as they seem to have a different strategy when it comes to firmware development and manufacturing. Think it will be more polished overall.

It's not fair to criticise Richard Lai's reviews. If he's nice to Chinese phones, it's because he's Chinese. If he's harsh to Chinese phones, it's the Engadget being dicks with their KIRF thing.

Originally Posted by sere83

And no offense to Meizu but I trust Foxconn more than Meizu when it comes to manufacturing, they have far more experience and make products for most of the major consumer tech companies in the world.

Just wanted to add that Meizu MX was going to be made by Foxconn, if I remember correctly.

Sent from my GT-I9100 using Tapatalk

does any1 know when the xiaomi phone will be finally shipped/released?