madman

My M3 arrived this morning from HouseofDap. It arrived well packed by Registered Airmail in 7 days (China to New Zealand) which was excellent.

Having seen all the promotional photo's etc I was surprised at how compact it was, much smaller than I had visualised and as others have said very smooth and slick looking with only one edge control at the top for the hold function. The player is turned on and off by long pressing play\pause control on the touch strip.

As I mentioned in an earlier post the M3 was sporting the newest firmware version T.2003.2 which at the moment is not released so that was a bonus however will have to wait to skin it without going back to the older version.

The screen although excellent does not seem to be as bright as the M6 although saturation and contrast are good. Setting background blend to 0 made text a lot sharper and easier to read on the small screen and does not seem to have any effect on the EQ visualization which seems to be the same no matter what the setting. Perhaps this could be implimented on the M6.

I do not know the LCD specs but it is a very different screen than the M6 appearing quite grey when turned off unlike the M6 which is much nearer to black. Although the Player is marked SP on the back case with the brightness a little lower and the "T" branding on the firmware I wonder if it is a Toshiba rather than a Samsung.

The touch pad and the < > directional button work very similar to the M6 although why they did not make the < > button a rocker switch rather than double press to change direction is a mystery, imo it would be more user friendly. No directional tap which I use a lot on the M6 and very pleased to see it return after it was removed. It may just be a matter of getting used to but manually setting the EQ is a nightmare and far to overcomplicated with multiple presses needed for selection and no tap adjustment I finally gave up and just used default.

The audio quality is excellent even my old ears could hear a slight improvement over the M6 and using Sennheiser CX300's which I would regard as midrange as far as quality go I notice no hiss. (I just can't seem to get over the barrier that stops me buying earphones that are dearer than the player itself).

The firmware as already noted is visually and functionally the same as the M6 with the exception of video which as we all know is accessed through the browser feature rather than a dedicated menu entry. No games or calculator but the calendar is still included.

I did not bother with the Meizu converter but instead ran a couple of movies through PocketDivxEncoder (Shrek & The Bourne Identity) for testing the video feature and was very pleased with the results.
Although the screen is 176x132 video needs to be encoded at 176x128. I used a bitrate of 360 and 25 frames per second. Audio MP3 48000Hz @ 128kbps. I also tweaked up the contrast, brightness, saturation and volume. Video play is excellent at 25fps noticably smoother than the M6 and I found no audio sync problems in either movie so although Video is not a high feature of the M3 it handles it well and tweaking contrast\saturation makes this mini-cini quite watchable despite screen size.

This brings me to my only grumble about the M3, there are no features or settings for the video function it just stop and go, no FF\REW and no resume. This is a bit of a killer as far as the video function goes because if you stop a movie you have to start again from the beginning the < > button has no funtion in video mode which to me seems pointless.

As the M3 comes with no extras ie protective pouch, wrist strap I also purchased a Crystal case. The player fits snuggley inside and it snaps tightly shut in fact so tight that getting open again is major work without actually breaking it however the second time is a bit easier. The < > button is covered but works the same with long press to change direction and short press to move to next song but the touch function to check direction is not available with the case on which is no biggy it is not that heard to work out.
The opening at the bottom of the case for USB and earphones is possibly OK with the meizu earphone but could be a little wider if you are using other earphones the square surround on the CX300's is a very tight fit and twisting the plug will pop it out slightly


Although I have only had it a few hours I give the M3 an 8 out of 10 losing a point for the lack of video features and another for the lack of directional tap and EQ complication. I think the < > button could be better utilised as well.

serleomar

Thanks for your review! I have been waiting for someone to share their thoughts on the M3 (Mainly because I'm deciding whether to buy one or not!).

I don't plan on utilizing the video function, so those playback options don't affect my opinion. However, are you able to view photos on the M3 as well?

I have also been waiting for someone to post a video on YouTube of the M3. It seems there is only ONE available from some tradeshow before being released. i don't suppose you could do so when you have a moment to spare? If not, not worries. Thanks!

Err0r

I've made a quick video. Converting and uploading right now.

serleomar

So, if I understand you correctly, tapping that small circular button will skip forward to the next track and holding the button will change the direction (skipping tracks in reverse)... is that correct?

What are you referring to with: "touch function to check direction is not available with the case"?

Thanks!

madman

serleomar, With the < > button you can move forward or backward through songs with a short press, a long press changes direction. So if I short press the button I move to the next track, if I long press the button I can change direction and then a short press will go to the last track. When you touch the button without pressing it the direction arrows show on the screen so that you know which direction the button is set. So if I touch the button and << arrow shows I know I have to long press if I want to go >>. With the Crystal case on short press and long press work as normal but the touch function does not work. And yes it has a picture viewer.

serleomar

So when the M3 is in the cystal case, the touch function (to check direction) of the <> button cannot be used? I assume this is because the cystal case doesn't allow you to slide your finger in the correct manner to do such?

Sorry to pester you. I really do appreciate your info. Thanks, M@DM@N!

madman

The crystal case completely covers the button, you can still press it but no touch control.

serleomar

Oooh, I see! Weird. I could have sworn that I saw a picture of the same crystal case but with removable plastic for the <> button. Guess I was wrong!

madman

The button is removable but the case is raised around the hole so that area of the case is 2-3 mm thicker which makes the hole to deep and narrow to press the button even with the tip of my little finger. I found a solution though, using a countersink drill bit carefully enlarged the hole and beveled the edge and now it works perfectly.

serleomar

HAHA. That's amazing. Thanks, man! I think I'll make sure to get this cristal case too (especially since I hear the backing has no protective film; though the front does).

DimaMP4

Can you change the front protective film? When I'll get a Music Card I'll also buy a Crystal Case.