Meizu Mini Player M6 Review

Specs
Manufacture: Meizu
Official Site http://www.meizu.com/
Official English Site http://en.meizu.com/
US Distributer
http://www.jtcelectronics.biz
Capacity: 512MB, 1GB, 2GB & 4GB flash player, 8GB coming soon…
Reviewed by K.C. Kim

We all know Apples dominance in the MP3 market. They hold nearly 80% of the market share with their Ipod line. The second nearest competitor is the Sandisk with their Sansa brand of players with only 9% market share. With this large of a gap from 1st to Second they’re obvious room to grow. MEIZU Electronic Technology Co. is one of the leading manufacturers of high-end MP3 and MP4 players in China. Well if you’ve never heard of them you will soon as they release there new product the MEIZU Miniplayer M6 as they also try to expand there business beyond China to the overseas markets.
HARDWARE

Supports MP3, MP2, WMA, OGG audio files. Voice recording. FM radio broadcast with Bass
and Treble adjustable. FM radio recording. Mobile Disk. Synchronized song lyric showing. Text view. Photos browse.Games.

* Supports DRM10 and Microsoft MTP
* 2.4″ 260K-color QVGA (320×240) large and vibrant TFT-LCD screen.
* User-defined EQ, adjustable bass boost
* Hi-Fi treble & bass compensation system
Various EQ modes
Including: Normal, Rock, Jazz, Classic, POP, Bass, Disco, User1, User2, User3
* Unique design and Super Mini Aluminum alloy body
* High speed USB2.0 interface. High capacity USB flash storage for mobile disk.
* Clock setting. Screen Saver Settings
* Super FM stereo radio function, supports auto searching tune channels and channels management as well as FM Recording (with 30 preset channels)
* Built-in Microphone supports high quality recording, up to 9 hours of long recording time
* Calculator function and Game function
* Headphone supported
* Dynamic graphics menu. Human user operating interface.
* Supports various music formats, MP3, WMA, WAV, OGG, etc.Movie playback, supports AVI format.
* Dynamic Playlist supported. Synchronized Song Lyric Showing. TXT View
* Photo album + Slide show: BMP, JPG, GIF formats
* Long playback time
Built-in rechargeable Li-ion battery, plays up to 20 hours
(The playing time may be shortened if visualization is used.)
* Multi-language Supported. ID3V2, ID3V1, Filename Supported
There are English, Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese, Japanese, Korean languages
* Innovative power supply design, reducing the interferences and noises. High precise electronic components coupled with 8 layers PCB ensure the clearness of sound quality.
* Enhanced Integrated Navigator, Jog lamp ON time control
* Play/Pause, Stop/Power OFF, Recording Next Track/Previous Track
Fast Forward/Fast Rewind, Scroll speed. Infinite Loop
* Resume function. Auto Power OFF. Hold function
* Value-added Service,Software Upgradeable. Free driver USB connector
* SN Ratio: >90dB
* Frequency range: 20Hz~20kHz
* Weight: 55g
* Compact size: Approx. 79mm*48.2mm*10mm(H*W*T)
* Product info display (Software version, Memory Usage)
 Windows98 SE/ME/2000/XP, Mac and Linux OS

Accessories – The miniplayer comes in a nice white box with the front cut out to show the M6 in its full glory. Inside the box you will find the player, white earphones, paper-thin pouch, usb cable, wrist strap, cleaning cloth, manual, and software cd.

What is included with the package should be everything you need to get started but if you wish you could always purchase better accessories separately.

Design – The Meizu Miniplayer M6 is stunning with its glossy white finish front and metal back. You really have to see it in person to get a grasp of how cool this player really is. While some would compare it to the Ipod Nano I like to think its actually better in terms of design. The player is dominated by 2.4″ screen compared to the Ipod Nano’s 1.5″ screen which leaves a lot areas bare while the M6 with it’s large screen and touch strip looks more proportioned. The Meizu M6 also offers protection from scratches with a thin layer of scratch resistant plastic factory installed on each units front and back. Which is something that Apple should have done with their complete line of Ipods.

Function

GUI and Interface – The background is very Mac like (but can be changed to anything you want) and the user interface is a bit Ipod like but overall it is clean and easy to see where you navigating to. The touch sensitive strip on the other hand is not very accurate. I previously own a Sony HMP-A1, which had an excellent touch sensitive interface. Though the HMP-A1 is a much larger PMP so Meizu had to fit much more into a smaller space.

Audio – The M6 shines in terms of being a music player. Sound was excellent on this little player providing crystal clear sound with ample amounts of bass. The M6 can playback MP3, OGG, WMA, WAV, and in the latest firmware Flac. Its good that the M6 supports most standard formats and the open source OGG and Flac support are a nice added bonus for those who want the very best in audio quality.

Video – A major advantage the Miniplayer has over the Nano is that it supports video. Whiles its not top notch the M6 can playback Xvid encoded videos that are up to 384 bitrate at 20fps. Overall I say its good enough to watch animated shorts or music videos on.

Additional features – To complete the feature set Meizu includes several nice extras such as Fm Radio, two games Box Man and Hua Rong, Voice Recorder, Calendar, Stopwatch, Caculator, TXT viewer as well as displaying images(in JPEG, GIF, and BMP format.)

Conclusion –Will the M6 unseat the Ipod? Probably not at lease in terms of number of sales. But with buzz about the Miniplayer in full force. And word of mouth spreading about the little player. The Meizu Miniplayer M6 could very well become the next big thing. If you’re looking for the best flash player currently out in the market look no further than the Meizu Miniplayer M6.

Rating 9.5 out of 10

What’s Hot
Large Screen
Design
Sound Quality
Long list of Features
OGG, Flac(lossless) support
Firmware upgradeable and updated frequently

What’s Not
Touch Strip
User Interface has a couple of minor quirks

To view the Photo Gallery click HERE
Nano vs Miniplayer photo gallery HERE

***Due to change of ownership at miniplayer.info I can no longer recommend purchasing products from their.**

To purchase this item in the U.S. head over to JTC Electronics HERE
To go to the official Meizu site please click HERE

Reviews from peers
Cnet 8.3 out 10 HERE
AnythingButIpod HERE
Dapreview 86 out of 100 HERE