The Meizu MX3 launch is in full swing. We’ll add all the latest news from the launch event in Beijing here as it happens!

The MX3 has been uncovered and it is unsurprisingly much like the previous MX2, but Meizu have managed to surprise us a few times with what they have done with the new phone!

Meizu MX3 design

First off is the new design. It is larger than the MX2 measuring in at 66.1 x 110.2mm but at 9.1mm it is 21% thinner than the MX2. While we are doing comparisons the battery in the MX3 is 35% larger than the MX2 and the screen is 20% bigger. If we compare that to the iPhone 5 then the MX3 offers 64% screen!

As usual the Meizu have but a lot in to the design of the MX3 and the whole first part of the MX3 launch was taken up with statistics as to why they chose to design the phone they way they have.

Meizu MX3 display

Moving on to the display the panel on the MX3 is a 5.1-inch unit with an aspect ratio of 15:9 (as we reported before the launch) and a pixel density of 415PPI! Leaks were correct as the display is manufactured by Sharp and JDI, and uses similar technology that Sony, Hitachi and Toshiba are currently using.

Meizu MX3 Performance

Again our sources were right on the money with the processor and the MX3 does in fact use the Octa-core Exynos 5 processor from Samsung with 2GB DDR3 RAM.

In addition to the powerful Octa-core CPU, Meizu have worked on improving the battery live of the MX3 and have added some interesting features including 5G WIFI which can save up to %50 power, PSE screen refresh and a Sensor Hub, which helps the phone work on the Little side of the CPU rather.

According to Meizu’s calculations this all adds up to 14 hours of 3G, 12 hours of 2G, 9 hours of 3G web browsing, 10 hours of WIFI web browsing, 7 hours of 1080 video, 40 hours of music of 393 hours of standby time from the small 2400mAh Sony battery!

Meizu MX3 camera

Just before the launch of the MX3 we heard news that the MX3 wouldn’t have a 13 mega-pixel camera but instead an 8 mega-pixel unit. This has turned out to be surprisingly true!

Meizu are stating that the 8 mega-pixel sensor with F2.0 Aperture on the MX2 can absorb more light and is capable of capturing images 21% faster than before.

As for the sensor it is a third generation Sony back illuminated 8 mega-pixel sensor which also allows for a faster burst mode!

Meizu MX3 other details

Meizu started as a MP3 manufacture and they have continued to follow their audio roots with each and every phone they have launched to date. The MX3 is no different and features a Wolfson audio processor for better headphone performance.

The MX3 also supports Bluetooth 4.0, GPS, intelligent dual band WIFI and NFC.

Flyme 3.0

Although Meizu have always made great hardware their phones have always been let down by their often buggy Flyme ROM.

The latest version of Flyme promises to end this and builds upon features which were first launched with the MX2.

The Smart Bar returns as Smartbar 2.0, a feature I actually really like. It is basically a virtual menu bar which disappears when not in use to increase the useable screen size.

Flyme 3.0 now offers sliding menus, plus a way of using apps over apps which can be seen here with a calculator application running over the keyboard.

We could go on about the changes in Flyme 3.0 but there are so many we should really leave room for an article of it’s own!

Meizu MX3 pricing!

Meizu have launched 7 versions of the Meizu MX3 in total. 4 phones will be available on China Mobiles TD-SCDAMA a 16GB/32GB/64GB/128GB with pricing starting at $408 rising to $653, while China Unicom users can choose between a 16/32/64GB versions priced at $441 for the base model rising to $539 for the flagship option.

We’ll have more Meizu MX3 news at it is available!