By Sourabh Kulesh

New Delhi, Dec 9 (IANS): If you are looking for a low-budget smartphone loaded with next generation features (and do not want to get lost in the crowded segment), Meizu m2 has to be on the top of your buying list.

With this new product, Meizu -- one of China's top 10 smartphone and consumer electronics manufacturers - has made the competition tougher for companies selling low-cost smartphones in India.

At just Rs.6,999, the new entrant offers a host of features with high-end specifications with grey and white as the colour options.

The phone comes with a 16 GB internal storage variant and has the memory can be extended up to 128 GB via a microSD memory card.

What works for the phone?

It is handy, easily fits into the palm, is sleek and has a fibre chassis. It weighs a mere 131 grams and has four hard buttons on the body.

There is a 3.5 mm jack on the top and a charging point below the home button.

It comes with a 5.0-inch touchsceen display with a resolution of 720 pixels by 1280 pixels at 294 pixel per inch (PPI) density - enabling it to deliver a colourful and detailed viewing experience even under strong outdoor lighting conditions.

With Japanese Asahi Dragontrail Glass, the device becomes more scratch resistant compared to similar phones with Gorilla Glass 2.

For camera lovers, the Meizu m2 is a chocolate pie. It packs a 13-megapixel primary camera on the rear that produces rich, sharp and extremely detailed pictures.

The phone is also loaded with a 5-megapixel front shooter for selfie lovers and has auto, manual, beauty, panorama and light field options.

The camera comes with inbuilt photo-editor, Geo-tagging, touch focus, face detection and slow-motion HD video recording features.

The phone has a 2,500 mAh non-removable battery that offers stand-by for up to 680 hours, talk time up to 23 hours and music play up to 45 hours.

Another interesting feature that caught my eye was the "Easy Mode". I would call it an upgraded "Airplane Mode" that allows you access to basic functions like call and text. All animations just vanish and I was left with 3-4 balloon sized icons to choose from.

It comes with three integrated buttons on the left bumper - volume up, volume down and lock/wake up screen.

A new user may face some problem, as I faced initially, in understanding the functioning of the home button.

It has one touch-enabled Home button that has three functions - a slight tap takes the user to the previous screen, a single press returns the user to the main screen and a long press locks the phone.

The right bumper is reserved for a dual SIM and memory card tray. Two Nano-SIM (GSM and GSM) cards and a memory card can be inserted into the m2's single tray.

As for the hardware, the Meizu m2 is powered by 1.3GHz quad-core MediaTek MT6753 processor compiled with 2GB of DDR3 RAM.

It runs Flyme 4.5 skinned Android 5.1 (Lollipop) user interface, making animation more beautiful.

Connectivity options include Wi-Fi, GPS, Bluetooth, FM, 3G and 4G.

What doesn't work?

The phone does not incorporate FM radio in the feature list. Also, the sound quality of the speaker is not up to the mark. The loudspeaker produces a cranky sound if volume is set on the maximum.

Verdict: The smartphone meets almost all requirements by providing the Indian consumers special features like sleek design and a good-quality camera with zero-delay shooting and slow-motion video recording. The "Easy Mode" is a new concept that other phones may look up to. However, the phone loses some points due to the the lack of an FM radio.

Full Specifications: 1.3GHz quad-core MediaTek MT6753 processor | 2 GB DDR3 RAM | 5-inch display with Dragontrail Glass | 16 GB storage (expandable to 128GB) | 13-megapixel auto focus rear camera with flash | 5-megapixel front camera | 4G LTE | Wi-Fi| Bluetooth | 2,500 mAH battery.