Friends+Design
- Premium, beautifully balanced design - you get a glossy metal frame with glass at the back, and the black color makes it look beautiful from all angles
- Good build quality
- In a world of smartphone screens stretching to the edges and notches galore, the Meizu 16th sticks to the classic design with a small forehead, and a small chin - if you dislike notches, you will like this design
- The in-display fingerprint sensor works pretty well
- There's also some quick face recognition, if you prefer that
Display
- Very good, 6-inch full-HD+ AMOLED 18:9 display - it's crisp, has good brightness levels, and good level of color accuracy
Software
- The Flyme OS UI powering the phone isn't particularly impressive, and runs on the previous version of Android, Android Oreo
- It's buggy at places such as the bothersome search tool that is supposed to trigger when pulled up from the bottom of the screen - but rarely does so quickly
- There are also bloatware apps that can’t be uninstalled like the TouchPal keyboard app or the separate app store that doesn’t offer anything special
Performance
- Flagship grade performance with the powerful Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 SoC along with 8GB of RAM - the phone can handle anything you throw at it including graphics-intensive games such as PUBG Mobile and heavy multi-tasking - image editing is also a breeze on the device, and video editing is capably handled as well
- It does tend to heat up a bit under load though
Camera
- Decent set of dual rear cameras - a 12-megapixel primary camera and 20-megapixel secondary camera for depth-effect shots and 3X lossless zoom
- Photos taken with the Meizu M16th generally have good detail, and the phone is quick to focus
- The app's AI capability boosts colours, making them pop
- Decent portrait mode, with the phone managing good edge detection (uses the second camera to gauge depth)
- Macros are easy to take, as the phone manages sharp results with good separation between the subject and the background
- The M16th is also quick to switch night mode on when it detects less-than-adequate lighting - low-light shots are good, though the phone does keep the shutter open for slightly too long, resulting in blurry photos if you aren't patient while shooting
- Decent selfie camera too - selfies taken with the Meizu M16th in favourable lighting have good detail
- The rear camera is prone to inconsistent color accuracy and white balance though, due to the sometimes over-aggressive AI fixes
- The selfie camera lacks a selfie flash and surprisingly even a screen flash, which makes it hard to take good selfies in low light
- Video recording quality is average, with no stabilization
Battery
- Fast charging support with a 24W fast charger bundled in the box - you get a full charge in a little over an hour, with the initial burst of power giving you about 60 percent in 30 minutes
- Average battery life with a 3010mAh battery - with heavier use you will need to recharge the phone again before night
Verdict
- Overall, the 16th will find it very hard to compete in its segment, with the average software, sometimes inconsistent cameras, and a below average battery life holding it back - instead well-established phones like the OnePlus 6T and LG G7+ ThinQ will offer much superior experiences
