Meizu M1 Note to be priced at P7,990 in PH. What?!

Meizu M1 Note

The Meizu m1 Note, one of today's most desirable phones, is getting a low P7,990 price tag as soon as it becomes available in the Philippines.

If you've been eyeing a budget LTE smartphone to make the most of your telco's data packages, you may want to reconsider your top pick, whatever it is. On the sidelines of the Meizu Mx4 Pro mini-launch at Gateway Mall, Meizu local distributor Novo7 Tech said the Meizu m1 Note is headed for the Philippines as early as March 2015.

So why all the fuss about another smartphone from another Chinese manufacturer? (As if the market isn't saturated enough with all kinds of devices from China, right?) The short answer: On paper, the m1 Note is one of the most desirable smartphones now. Meizu's "OnePlus One"—except much, much cheaper. And to think the elusive yet wildliy popular One starts at just $299 (about P13,000).

Just how affordable is the Meizu m1 Note? Novo7 Tech execs told us to expect a P7,990 asking price for the white 16GB variant at launch.

For almost half the price of the One, you're getting dual-SIM slots; a 5.5-inch 1080p display fronted by Gorilla Glass 3; a 64-bit, octa-core processor from MediaTek with 2GB of RAM and an LTE radio; 13- and 5-megapixel rear and front cameras; and a delightfully intuitive interface based on Android KitKat in Flyme 4.1. An update to Lollipop is reportedly coming in March. Also, the 3,140mAh integrated battery is decent enough for a phone this large.

 

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Meizu m1 Note beside an iPhone 5c (via ePrice). Main image above via TeknoUp

What you just read are (mostly) the specs of a product that can pass as an early-2014 flagship model at a fraction of the cost, with the exception of a very few handsets; one that also closely resembles a bigger iPhone 5c—or what the love child of an iPhone 5c and 6 Plus would look like. Now you know why we sound giddy.

We'll keep our ears close to the ground as March approaches and report back to you. If you've got questions, though, tweet us at @aloraguerrero (Alora Uy Guerrero) or @monchlopez (Ramon Lopez).

Specs of the Meizu m1 Note (Price in the Philippines: P7,990; Availability: Most likely March 2015):
* Dual SIM
* LTE
* 1.7GHz octa-core MediaTek MT6752 CPU
* Mali-T760 GPU
* 2GB RAM
* 16GB internal storage
* 5.5-inch IGZO display (1,080 x 1,920 resolution)
* 13-megapixel rear camera with dual-tone flash
* 5-megapixel front camera
* 3,140mAh battery
* Android KitKat 4.4.4

This article was originally posted on Tumblr.

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