Meizu 17 Pro review: great design and battery life but photos lag behind its rivals

A noticeably smaller selfie camera than other phones is an impressive hardware engineering feat but the Meizu 17 Pro’s photo software lets it down

The ceramic back makes the phone great to handle and it starts at least 25 per cent cheaper than recent ‘Pro’ flagships from Huawei, Oppo or Xiaomi

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Despite its attractive look, tiny selfie camera and impressive battery life, the Meizu 17 Pro does not stand out when compared to similar powerhouses from other smartphone companies. Photo: Ben Sin

Published: 2:15pm, 20 May 2020Updated: 2:15pm, 20 May 2020

Meizu is one of the oldest smartphone makers in China but has, in recent years, fallen behind rivals with more resources and marketing muscle. However, after going nearly a year without a mobile release, the Zhuhai-headquartered company is back with a new flagship to mark its 17th anniversary.

Just like almost every phone line today, the release has a standard model and a “Pro” model, with the latter sporting a more versatile camera system and a premium ceramic finish. This review is of the Pro model.

Design and hardware

Meizu is the only phone brand to have never gone with a notch for its camera. Instead, it stuck with a traditional top bezel throughout 2018 and 2019 until the tech for the hole-punch cut-out design matured.

A closer look at the hole-punch cut-out in the upper right corner on the Meizu 17 Pro. Photo: Ben Sin

Meizu hasn’t just adopted the same hole-punch design as other brands, though – it has found a way to make the hole noticeably smaller than those on rival handsets. It is an impressive hardware engineering feat, considering that it houses a respectable 20-megapixel selfie camera.

The 6.6-inch OLED display panel doesn’t curve like other phones, but it does sport a high refresh rate (90Hz out of the box, with a later software update boosting it to 120Hz). Meizu’s UI animations aren’t as fine-tuned as other brands though, so despite the high refresh rate, the screen doesn’t feel as buttery smooth as a recent OnePlus or Samsung model.