Meizu MX 4-core battery life test concludes, results are inside

The Meizu MX 4-core is a revamped version of the ambitions MX smartphone, which challenged both the iPhone and its Android kin alike with a heavily customized OS. The MX 4-core, as the name suggests, uses a quad-core Exynos chipset from Samsung (like the one in the Galaxy S III) and also has a slightly bigger battery than its predecessor – 1700mAh vs. 1600mAh.

What other changes has Meizu done under the hood to improve battery life? The Chinese haven’t gone into specifics, but we saw improvement across the board.

The original MX posted a pretty respectable talk time endurance, but the Meizu MX 4-core beats its achievement by over an hour. That makes it one of the best performers in this category and puts it within 20 minutes of the Samsung Galaxy S III (which packs a far larger 2100mAh battery).

Talk time

• Motorola DROID RAZR MAXX
  20:24
• Huawei Ascend P1
  12:30
• Samsung Galaxy Note
  12:14
• Samsung Wave 3 S8600
  11:07
• HTC One X (AT&T, LTE)
  10:35
• Samsung I9300 Galaxy S III
  10:20
• HTC One V
  10:00
• Meizu MX 4-core
  10:00
• HTC One X
  9:57
• HTC One S
  9:42
• Samsung I9103 Galaxy R
  9:40
• HTC Sensation XL
  9:30
• Nokia Lumia 710
  9:05
• HTC Vivid
  9:02
• HTC Rhyme
  8:48
• LG Optimus 3D Max P720
  8:42
• Sony Ericsson Xperia neo V
  8:41
• Meizu MX
  8:39
• Samsung Galaxy S II
  8:35
• Nokia Lumia 800
  8:25
• Samsung Galaxy Nexus
  8:23
• Samsung Captivate Glide
  8:20
• HTC Rezound (LTE)
  8:10
• Samsung Galaxy Note (LTE)
  8:02
• LG Optimus Vu
  7:57
• LG Optimus 4X HD
  7:41
• Apple iPhone 4S
  7:41
• Samsung i937 Focus S
  7:25
• HTC Evo 4G LTE (LTE)
  7:21
• Samsung Galaxy S Blaze 4G
  7:14
• Samsung Rugby Smart I847
  7:09
• Sony Ericsson Xperia Pro
  6:57
• Nokia N9
  6:57
• HTC Radar
  6:53
• BlackBerry Curve 9380
  6:52
• Samsung Galaxy Pocket
  5:54
• Nokia Lumia 900 for AT&T (LTE)
  5:53
• Sony Xperia ion LTE
  5:52
• Sony Xperia P
  5:33
• Nokia 808 PureView
  5:16
• LG Nitro HD (LTE)
  5:16
• HTC Titan II (LTE)
  5:10
• BlackBerry Bold 9790
  5:00
• Pantech Burst
  4:46

The web browsing time saw an increase by nearly an hour and is above average. It’s almost an hour and a half behind the iPhone 4S, but beats the likes of the HTC One X (by a little) and the LG Optimus 4X HD (by over an hour).

Web browsing

• Motorola DROID RAZR MAXX
  7:23
• HTC Radar
  7:17
• Apple iPhone 4S
  6:56
• HTC One V
  6:49
• BlackBerry Curve 9380
  6:40
• Samsung i937 Focus S
  6:15
• Sony Xperia ion LTE
  5:56
• Samsung Rugby Smart I847
  5:53
• Pantech Burst
  5:51
• Samsung Galaxy S Blaze 4G
  5:45
• HTC Evo 4G LTE
  5:41
• Samsung Wave 3 S8600
  5:34
• Samsung Captivate Glide
  5:33
• Samsung Galaxy Note LTE
  5:24
• HTC Sensation XL
  5:20
• Meizu MX 4-core
  5:19
• Samsung I9300 Galaxy S III
  5:17
• HTC Rezound
  5:16
• HTC Rhyme
  5:08
• Samsung I9103 Galaxy R
  5:07
• HTC One X (AT&T)
  5:03
• Sony Ericsson Xperia Pro
  4:50
• LG Optimus Vu
  4:49
• HTC Vivid
  4:46
• Meizu MX
  4:35
• Nokia N9
  4:33
• Samsung Galaxy S II
  4:24
• Sony Ericsson Xperia neo V
  4:20
• HTC One X
  4:18
• Nokia 808 PureView
  4:14
• LG Optimus 3D Max P720
  4:10
• Nokia Lumia 900 for AT&T
  4:10
• Nokia Lumia 800
  4:07
• HTC Titan II (LTE)
  4:05
• HTC One S
  4:03
• BlackBerry Bold 9790
  4:02
• LG Nitro HD
  4:00
• LG Optimus 4X HD
  3:59
• Sony Xperia P
  3:59
• Nokia Lumia 710
  3:51
• Samsung Galaxy Pocket
  3:47
• Samsung Galaxy Note
  3:35
• Huawei Ascend P1
  3:23
• Samsung Galaxy Nexus
  3:01

The Meizu MX 4-core endures an hour more than its dual-core predecessor when it comes to watching videos too. It’s well behind the Galaxy S III, but once more bests other quad-cores (One X and Optimus 4X HD by a healthy distance).

Video playback

• Motorola DROID RAZR MAXX
  14:17
• Samsung I9300 Galaxy S III
  10:01
• Nokia 808 PureView
  9:53
• Samsung Rugby Smart I847
  9:34
• HTC One S
  9:28
• Apple iPhone 4S
  9:24
• HTC Evo 4G LTE
  9:07

• Nokia N9
  8:40
• Samsung Galaxy Note
  8:25
• Samsung Galaxy S II
  8:00
• Samsung i937 Focus S
  7:55
• Samsung Wave 3 S8600
  7:52
• Sony Ericsson Xperia neo V
  7:45
• Huawei Ascend P1
  7:38
• Samsung Galaxy S Blaze 4G
  7:33
• Samsung Galaxy Note LTE
  7:30
• Meizu MX 4-core
  6:33
• HTC One X (AT&T)
  6:26
• LG Optimus Vu
  6:23
• Samsung I9103 Galaxy R
  6:21
• HTC Sensation XL
  6:12
• Samsung Galaxy Pocket
  6:06
• Samsung Captivate Glide
  6:04
• Sony Xperia ion LTE
  6:03
• Samsung Galaxy Nexus
  6:02
• HTC Vivid
  6:00
• HTC Radar
  5:54
• Nokia Lumia 800
  5:52
• HTC Titan II
  5:50
• BlackBerry Bold 9790
  5:47
• HTC One X
  5:45
• Sony Ericsson Xperia Pro
  5:44
• Pantech Burst
  5:38
• Meizu MX
  5:27
• HTC Rhyme
  5:23
• HTC One V
  5:20
• Nokia Lumia 900 for AT&T
  5:18
• BlackBerry Curve 9380
  5:09
• HTC Rezound
  5:03
• Sony Xperia P
  4:30
• LG Nitro HD
  4:17
• LG Optimus 4X HD
  4:14
• LG Optimus 3D Max P720
  3:28
• Nokia Lumia 710
  3:27

In the end, the Meizu MX 4-core got an endurance rating of 38h, suggesting about 38 hours of autonomy if you talk on a 3G network for an hour, browse the web for another hour and watch an hour of video. Overall, Meizu have done a pretty good job of improving the battery life and the 4-core model will last you longer than the old one in most scenarios.

You’ll notice that the original MX has an endurance rating of 39 hours – an hour more than the new one. That’s due to the less efficient standby. We don’t know if it’s the new processor or the new Flyme OS that’s eating more battery, but if you use the phone more intensively, you’ll see an increase in battery life – the standby advantage of the old model won’t become apparent unless you leave the smartphone sitting idly on your desk for over a day.