Meizu Facebook.png (Photo : Meizu/Facebook)
In a bid to compete with its local rivals, Meizu Technology Co. Ltd. debuted a brand new smartphone at a launch event in Beijing. The Zhuhai-based tech company hopes to grow its share in the low-end smartphone market with Blue Charm, released under its new sub-brand Meilan.
Blue Charm is expected to hit the stores on Dec. 30 with a starting price tag of 999 yuan ($162.44). The new 5.5-inch smartphone aims to take a big chunk out of the domestic smartphone market, with the likes of Xiaomi Inc., Lenovo and Samsung already ahead of the fray. Xiaomi leads the pack with a reported 16-percent share of the market, according to U.K.-based market research firm Canalys.
The new smartphone boasts impressive specs for a low-end phone. It is powered by a 1.7GHz 64-bit Octa-Core MediaTek processor with eight Cortex-A53 64-bit CPUs with Mali-T760 GPU.
Blue Charm touts a 13-megapixel rear camera with sensor and a 5-megapixel front-facing camera with 69-degree-wide viewing angle.
Blue Charm runs on Android 4.4 KitKat with Flyme OS 4 on top with a 5.5-inch 1080p Corning Gorilla Glass display. It has a polycarbonate body and magnesium alloy panel along with a 3140 mAh battery.
The Meizu smartphone comes in different color variants of blue, green, yellow, white and pink. The 16GB model is priced at 999 yuan ($162.44). The 32GB variant costs 1,199 yuan ($190). It will be available for pre-order in China starting Dec. 24.
