The SmartQ5 - A direct shot at Meizu?

For some time now, anticipation has been building for SmartQ's upcoming "MID", the Q5. Yesterday, ZOL published actual photos of the device:

Q5 photos

Interesting enough.

But today, ZOL published another article claiming that the Q5 uses an ARM11 processor running at 667Mhz...sound familiar?

If all the rumors and speculation are true, the Q5 would spec out this way:

-ARM11 processor@667Mhz (probably the Samsung 6410)

-Wolfson DAC (probably the WM8987 as used in previous SmartQ players)

-4.3" 800x480 16m color touchscreen with "TouchLens" hardened coating (probably resistive, but rumored to be capacitive)

-WiFi a/b/g/n (confirmed; it's not a phone, no problem)

-Bluetooth (confirmed)

-Linux-based environment (LXDE) with web browser, FBReader, a PDF reader, handwriting recognition, and of course audio & video players

-game emulator (confirmed, SmartQ's forte)

-USB OTG (confirmed)

-SD card slot (like previous SmartQ products, there's probably no built-in memory, so all your files are stored on SD cards)

-Price: 899 RMB (confirmed by a SmartQ rep posting on imp3's SmartQ forum)


At first I thought SmartQ would continue using the ADI Blackfin processor as they've done for all their players. Now, if there really is a Samsung 6410 in the Q5, it's arguable that SmartQ's purpose in building the Q5 is to take a direct shot at the M8 and say to Meizu, "Look, this is how you should have done it".

Frankly, I would be amazed if it all came together this way; the result would be so far ahead of the MP4 pack in China and such a statement for the industry it almost defies belief.

Source