<div><strong>Indian Market Matures</strong></div><div><table align="left" border="1" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="2" style="width: 200px"><tbody><tr><td><img alt="" src="http://bw-image.s3.amazonaws.com/puneet.jpg" style="width: 200px; height: 300px; margin: 1px; float: left;"></td></tr><tr><td><strong>Puneet Mehrotra</strong></td></tr></tbody></table></div><div>The Indian consumer has never had it so good as far as smartphones are concerned. It's literally raining smart phones. It's no longer about the under ten thousand market but the mid premium segment between Rs 20,000- Rs 30,000 that is catching the fancy of smartphone markers. This development is important because it shows the maturing of Indian smartphone market. Coming on offer are phones that can simply be game changers in time to come.</div><div> </div><div><strong>Meizu - The New Entrant on the Scene</strong></div><div>This Wednesday Meizu officially launched its high-end flagship phone PRO5 which will soon be available in India. Meizu is one of the top ten smartphone brands in China. Interestingly, Alibaba Group Holding Ltd., China’s leading e-commerce company, recently invested $590 million for a minority stake in Meizu. </div><div> </div><div>Meizu had entered the Indian market last month with MX5 launched at Rs 19,999 exclusively on Snapdeal. It won't take a genius to build connections between Alibaba, Snapdeal, Meizu and more. </div><div> </div><div> </div><div><strong>Make in India is Working</strong></div><div>Noteworthy is the attractiveness of the Indian market is being viewed by Chinese giants that investments are flowing in India. Interestingly Make in India slogan seems to be working as Li Nan, Vice President, Marketing, said in a conversation, “It just makes economic sense to setup a manufacturing base as India is the biggest market outside China.” Li Nan added “The Indian market is maturing and Meizu wants to make available high models in India." He added his biggest priority is the Indian market now.</div><div> </div><div> </div><div><strong>Meizu PRO5 </strong></div><div>Available in gray, silver-white, silver-black and rose-gold PRO5 plays with metal in a good way. It is sturdy and tough. Consider this, 3D polishing three times makes the body delicate and tougher, five times spraying accurately to 0.02 mm thick makes the surface smoother and more durable, mechanical and manual polishing ensures a perfectly rounded arc.</div><div> </div><div><strong>Processor</strong></div><div>An Exynos 7420 8-core 64-bit processor, octa-core Mali-T760 graphics renderer, 14nm 3D FinFET processing technology.</div><div> </div><div><strong>mTouch 2.1</strong></div><div>The PRO5 uses the latest generation of fingerprint sensor of Fingerprint Cards to enhance the accuracy and response speed of the fingerprint module, under the premise of ensuring safety. Panasonic and other well-known suppliers supply components for the fingerprint module of the PRO5 with a large metal area and longer key travel, making the necessary force more uniform, yet softer to the touch using the same amount of pressure,</div><div> </div><div> </div><div><strong>Hi-Fi Sound 2.0</strong></div><div>With the ES9018K2M and OPA1612 elements which are normally only used on a Hi-Fi player, PRO5 also has a Solo amp circuit at benchmark level on this basis and added four pairs of NXP high current transistors. As a result, the drive capability of the PRO5 has improved greatly, the transient performance is excellent and the sound is powerful and accurate, even the high-end headset can accomplish any task with ease. </div><div> </div><div><strong>Camera</strong></div><div>The PRO5 features the new SONY 21.16 mega-pixels CMOS, which makes full-sized zero-delay shutter a reality. In addition, the PRO5 camera also integrates PDAF phase focusing and laser-assisted focusing to significantly improve the focusing speed under complicated lighting conditions. </div><div> </div><div><strong>Optimized 4G Data and Voice</strong></div><div>The PRO5 has a faster 4G network downloading speed, and supports the LTE Cat.6 standard, with downlink peak speeds up to 300Mbps in the TDD LTE 4G frequency band. In addition, the PRO5 also uses the latest VoLTE technology to make switching between voice and data networks smoother. ET technology is supported, which can greatly reduce power consumption.</div><div> </div><div><strong>Display</strong></div><div>The 5.7 inch 1080P display screen, 2.5D arc glass.</div><div> </div><div><strong>Battery</strong></div><div>mCharge supports up to 24W fast charging and 30 minutes of charging will give up to 65 per cent of battery capacity. The battery with a typical capacity value of 3050mAh is built into the phone, and the Sony/ATL fast-charging cell is used. </div><div> </div><div><strong>Pricing</strong></div><div>The approximate pricing is under Rs 30,000</div><div> </div><div><strong>The Last Word</strong></div><div>There is a lot available beyond the Apple. Overall if you look at the specifications you do wonder why spend a grand Rs 60,000 on a smartphone just for the pedigree when you can get lots more for half the price. Backed by Alibaba, Meizu is a company to watch out for. Will it go the success route of Xiaomi and Gionee or be just another brand is something time will tell. But PRO5 launch does set new standards and benchmarks for smartphones across the world both in specifications and pricing.</div><div> </div><div> </div><div><em>Puneet Mehrotra is a columnist on Life & Technology. <br>puneet.im puneet@tbe.in</em></div><div> </div><div> </div>
