So yesterday Xiaomi has launched their awaited Xiaomi Redmi Note 2, and while I was thinking that after the failure of Mi4i, Xiaomi is losing the pace, they really freaked me out with their beast. Looking at the price to spec ratio, I would say Redmi Note 2 is rather a flagship killer, but hold on, we also have one of the highly anticipated phone launched just couple of months back, Meizu M2 Note. So today we would be comparing both of the phones in respect to their specifications as well as would be giving our initial thoughts.

Xiaomi Redmi Note 2 vs Meizu M2 Note

Design

Redmi Note 2 as well as Meizu m2 Note has very similar design. Both of them has a shiny back while have a black front. Both of these have a curved design which in my opinion is good as it helps in making the grip for holding. As i have used the m2 note, I can say that the m2 Note feels very compact and comfortable with the slim bezels, while the Redmi Note 2 also has almost the same dimension, it would also be very comfortable. Both of the phones have a round camera at the top with a round flash on the Redmi Note 2 while the meizu m2 note has a dual coloured flash making it bit of an oval size. The volume and the power button are on right of the Xiaomi Redmi Note 2 while are on the left in Meizu m2 note. I feel the button placement on the right is better than on the left. The Redmi Note 2 has 2 capacitive touch buttons which are back-lit while the M2 note has a single button and in which the light press performs back and hard press performs as a home key. I would be a little inclined towards the M2 Note this time as it is something different and unique.

Build

Meizu m2 Note has all plastic body similar to Redmi Note 2 but the Meizu M2 note is much lighter as compared to Redmi Note 2. We can’t really say about the build of the Xiaomi Redmi Note 2 but clearly, the Meizu m2 has a fair quality in its price range. The back cover of Meizu m2 note can’t be replaced but the Redmi Note 2’s cover is easily replaceable.

Display

The Xiaomi Redmi Note 2 as well as the Meizu m2 note has a full HD 1920 x 1080 display which ensures that the users get a crispy experience. As both of these phones have a 5.5″ display, they get a same ppi of around ~402. Both of these phones support multitouch as well as have the Corning Gorilla Glass protection. The display on the Xiaomi Redmi note 2 is a IPS LCD display while the Meizu M2 Note has a IGZO capacitive touchscreen. Overall both the phones have the same display with the same size.

Performance

Well here is not much to tell here, the Helio x10 is a Antutu killer and can shut the mouth of the MTK6753 easily. The Mediatek MT6795 is a octacore processor with Cortex-A53 cores clocked at hefty 2.2Ghz that’s like something I can’t describe. Its Awesome! The last phone I saw with Helio x10 was HTC m9+ and belive me, this processor is hell of a beast. I am pretty sure even with 2GB of RAM the Redmi Note 2 will score more than 40K on Antutu. Well now talking about some other stuff, The Xiaomi Redmi Note 2 has PowerVR G6200 GPU while the Meizu m2 Note has a Mali-T720MP3. Both of these phones have 2GB of RAM. According to me the processor may be an overkill for Redmi Note 2 but lets see.

Camera

In terms of the camera, both the Redmi Note 2 and the Meizu M2 Note have a 13-megapixel camera on the back and a 5-megapixel camera on the front. While the Redmi Note 2 has a 13-MP Samsung sensor on the back with a 5-element lens at f/2.2, the M2 Note has an un-known sensor with the same f/2.2 aperture, and both the phones boast a dual-LED flash on the back. Both cameras can record 1080P at 30fps, and there are more software features like touch to focus, smile detection, HDR, and panorama. The front facing cameras on the both phones can shoot 5-MP stills; while the M2 note can record 1080P at 30FPS, Redmi Note 2 only records 720P ar 30FPS on the front facing camera.

OS

This is where things get interesting and confusing. Chinese manufacturers are vicious when it comes to the OS and the skin they use. Virtually every OEM based in Mainland China has their own UI on top of android. In regards to the Redmi Note 2, and M2 Note, both the phones ship with Android 5.0 Lollipop out of box. However, Xiaomi has their own MIUI 7, and Meizu has their Flyme 4.5 on top of Lollipop. If you are hoping to get the Andorid M update when it comes out, you will be waiting for a long time. Xiaomi took close to a year to release MIUI based on Lollipop. You must be asking, ‘If they have their own skin on Android, what would get an upgrade on day-one gonna change anything?’ and it’s a valid question. No, the UI might not change, but you will get the latest features of Android. Take lollipop for example, it has better power management than Kitkat, so, that would be an upgrade.

UI & UX

As mentioned before Xiaomi’s Redmi Note 2 ships with MIUI 7, and Meizu’s M2 Note ships with Flyme 4.5. What are the major differences? Let’s get the similarities out the way first. Both the UI’s have no App drawer, which is not a huge surprise. MIUI has a lot of customization options out of the box, along with a lot of useful features. While Flyme does have most of these, it’s still a relatively young UI. MIUI is more mature, user-driven, and has overall more features than Flyme.

Conclusion

Both the Redmi Note 2, and the M2 Note are excellent devices, spec wise if not cost wise. However there is only one winner. So, purely going by the specs, and the research and feedback we’ve accumulated from users who already used either one if not both the devices in person, and taking into consideration the price, and how readily the device would be available, we would have to give Xiaomi’s Redmi Note 2 the crown in this battle.

What do you guys think? Do you agree with our decision, or do you think otherwise? Let’s continue this conversation in the comments below.