The Meizu PRO 5 Ubuntu Edition is about to roll out globally, and it's the kind of smartphone that can make a huge splash in the market as an alternative to the slew of Android, iOS and Windows devices out there.
In collaboration with Canonical, developer of the Ubuntu mobile platform, Chinese manufacturer Meizu brings an impressive smartphone to the table that makes a strong case for users to switch operating systems.
"Our partnership with Meizu continues to result in the creation of beautifully designed hardware that perfectly complements the Ubuntu user experience. Users are always at the heart of our work together -something that brings an intuitive and rewarding experience to consumers everywhere," Li Nan, vice president of Meizu, says.
The Meizu PRO 5 Ubuntu Edition houses an octa-core Samsung Exynos 7420 processor. Let's take a second and put that into perspective. It's the very same chipset that powers the Galaxy S6 lineup and Note 5, so it'll definitely deliver great performance.
As for the screen, it sports a 5.7-inch full HD AMOLED display with a 1,920 x 1,080 resolution (386 ppi) that's topped off with Corning Gorilla Glass 3. Canonical notes that it "adds a larger field of view to deliver more content, save power and ensure longer battery life."
The Meizu PRO 5 Ubuntu Edition will be available in 3 GB or 4 GB of RAM variants and 32 GB or 64 GB of internal storage with microSD support of up to 128 GB as well. With that said, it features LPDDR4 memory technology that makes it one step above the competition in terms of multitasking or running heavy apps.
Going over the cameras, it's fitted with a 21.16-megapixel f/2.2 rear-facing snapper with dual LED flash and a 5-megapixel f/2.0 front shooter. Also, it's equipped with a fingerprint scanner.
Design-wise, it does look sleek and sturdy with a premium feel. That's just based on the images, though.
As the name suggests, it's going to run on Ubuntu out of the box. It's also worth noting that this is the fifth device that's running on the operating system that Canonical and its partners have launched in 12 months.
The scope experience on Ubuntu has been taken up a notch as well, with Twitter, YouTube and SoundCloud having been improved. The ecosystem of the operating system has been growing as well, with notable additions such as Spotify and Play Canvas games.
The Meizu PRO 5 will be up for preorder at the 2016 Mobile World Congress, where it will also be showcased. That's just a few days away, so there's no need to wait long.
The price of the Meizu PRO 5 Ubuntu Edition has not been revealed yet, but it's presumably more affordable than the Galaxy S6 or Note 5.
Interestingly enough, Meizu started a #TurnTheHeatOff campaign back in October 2015, allowing OnePlus 2 owners to trade in their devices for a Meizu PRO 5. OnePlus also pulled the same trick a few days before that with the #TakeTheEdgeOff promo, giving away OnePlus 2 units in exchange for a Samsung Galaxy S6, S6 edge, S6 edge+ or Note 5.
