Hands-on with the Meizu MX3 at CES 2014

Meizu is one of the up and coming Chinese companies that harbor international ambitions, even if still few in the Western markets are familiar with its name.

At CES Unveiled, a pre-show event held on Sunday, we had the opportunity to take Meizu’s latest flagship, the MX3, for a quick spin. The MX3 actually launched in September, but this was the first chance we had to give you our hands-on impressions of this interesting device.

The Meizu MX3 packs a 5.1-inch Full HD IPS LCD display with an excellent 412 ppi density and is powered by a Samsung Exynos 5410 octo-core processor and 2GB of RAM. The device stands out through its storage options, which include an unprecedented 128GB version. All that space will come to good use if you use the MX3 the way Meizu sells it, meaning for media consumption; the phone is supposed to have excellent sound quality, though the bustle of CES Unveiled prevented us from putting this claim to the test.

To some, the design of the Meizu MX3 may reminisce a little too much of the iPhone 3G, though it’s true that the phone is good looking, especially in the white version that we tested. Based on Android 4.2, its operating system is called Flyme OS, a stylish and distinctive interpretation of Android that we actually enjoyed very much.

The Meizu MX3 is a 3G-only phone, but Meizu revealed it plans to announce its first LTE device soon. The company is still largely confined to China and some neighboring markets, but, like other local rising stars, it’s only a matter of time until it takes the world by storm. For now, know that you can purchase the Meizu MX3 16GB for about HK$3,000, which translates to a very attractive $387. If you can get your hands on it in some way, we recommend you at least give it a try.

Stay tuned for more CES coverage, as the craziness has just started.