The Meizu PRO 5 Review

Camera Still Image Performance

Smartphone cameras have evolved from nice-to-have features into essential hardware as the terms phone and camera become indistinguishable for more and more people. The Meizu PRO 5’s 21MP Sony IMX230 Exmor RS sensor, 6-element LARGAN lens system, and hybrid autofocus system should help it capture high-quality images, but a lack of optical image stabilization (OIS) and an aperture area that’s merely average may hold back low-light performance. Software post-processing plays an important role in final image quality too.

To see how the PRO 5’s hardware and software work together, we’ll be comparing its photos to those taken by several other phones. The Moto X Pure Edition uses the same camera sensor as the PRO 5 and also lacks OIS, which will make for an interesting comparison. The other four phones in this roundup all have lower resolution sensors. The Mate 8 uses a 16MP Sony IMX298 Exmor RS sensor, while the iPhone 6s Plus, Nexus 6P, and Galaxy S7 all use different 12MP Sony sensors. The Mate 8, iPhone 6s Plus, and Galaxy S7 are the only phones in this roundup with OIS.

Even shooting outdoors with ample light we can see obvious differences in image quality. The PRO 5 handles the first scene well, managing to capture a bright image without overexposing and clipping the white cloud. Its white balance is also good, properly capturing the red tone of the dirt without turning the sky purple. The Galaxy S7 and iPhone 6s Plus also handle exposure and white balance well, although the Galaxy S7’s colors are a little too saturated and the iPhone clips the white cloud a bit. The Moto X Pure Edition overexposes the cloud and its white balance is far too cool. Both the Mate 8 and Nexus 6P underexpose and produce dark images.

The PRO 5’s 21MP sensor helps it capture the most detail of the group, with its image showing more texture on the rocks and trees in the background. In contrast, the Moto X’s heavy noise reduction processing smoothes away detail, negating some of its resolution advantage. The PRO 5’s image does show a little noise grain that’s similar to the Nexus 6P but less than the Mate 8. The Galaxy S7’s camera captures the image with the least of amount of noise.

All of the phones appear to be applying some degree of edge sharpening, with the Galaxy S7 and PRO 5 being the most aggressive. While this causes visible light or dark haloing around objects when magnified, the artifacts are not really visible when viewing the image as a whole. Speaking of artifacts, both the PRO 5 and Moto X PE seem to be using a higher degree of image compression to keep the image sizes produced by their large sensors under control, although it’s nowhere near as bad as what we see with the OnePlus 2.

The analysis of the second set of images showing the fountain, where earth tones and blue sky dominate rather than green grass and white clouds, is largely the same. The PRO 5, Galaxy S7, and iPhone 6s Plus all produce nice looking images, although which one is best is a matter of personal taste.

The PRO 5 uses the Exynos 7420’s dual-channel, 14-bit ISP for photo processing, but unlike Samsung’s Galaxy S6 (and other Galaxy phones) it does not provide a live preview of the HDR effect. The PRO 5 is also slower to capture HDR images, taking up to two seconds between HDR shots, which is the same as the Moto X PE and most other phones in this price range. It's fairly likely that unlike the Galaxy phones Meizu is doing multiple exposure combination rather than on-sensor HDR like many OEMs are now.

Looking at the two example scenes in the photo galleries above, we see each phone handle HDR imaging differently. The Galaxy S7 does an excellent job brightening the darker areas, but does little to fix the overexposed clouds. The iPhone 6s Plus does the opposite, effectively reducing the glare in the clouds, but leaving the darker areas virtually untouched. The PRO 5’s HDR mode is less sophisticated, simply brightening the entire image. This makes the already bright or overexposed areas worse. Colors also turn out heavily oversaturated, giving the image an unnatural appearance, which is most obvious when looking at the green grass in the first image and the orange wall in the second. It’s too bad the PRO 5’s HDR mode performs so poorly given how good its regular pictures look.

In the first series of images with the neon signs, which were taken just as the sun was setting, we see only subtle differences in exposure and white balance, with the Galaxy S7 and Moto X PE looking the brightest and the Nexus 6P the darkest, although none of the phones exhibit major issues here.

Once again the PRO 5’s image is the most detailed, showing nice texture on the bricks, followed by the Nexus 6P and iPhone 6s Plus. The Galaxy S7’s and Moto X PE’s heavy noise processing greatly reduces noise grain, but also wipes away fine detail on the building. There’s a little noise grain in the PRO 5’s image, a little more than the iPhone’s but significantly less than the Mate 8’s image. The PRO 5 also does a good job capturing the reflection of the pink neon on the side of the building, giving its image a warmer feel compared to the harsher appearance of the iPhone’s image.

In the series of images in the second photo gallery, we again see fairly subtle variations. The PRO 5 and Nexus 6P do well with exposure, while the Galaxy S7 and Moto X PE are a little too bright and the Mate 8 and iPhone are a little too dark. White balance is good overall, although the PRO 5’s image shows a little too much magenta.

The PRO 5’s autofocus struggled in this low-light scene, resulting in a somewhat blurry image. However, it still turns out better than the Mate 8’s image and substantially better than the Moto X PE’s, whose noise reduction algorithm makes its photo look like an oil painting. The Galaxy S7 definitely handles this scene the best.

A camera’s optical system and lens correction software also play an important role in image quality. While evaluating our test images, we saw no evidence of optical distortion from any of the cameras in this roundup. Another common problem in lens system design is controlling lateral chromatic aberration (purple fringing). We’ve seen the LG G5 and iPhone 6s Plus struggle with this problem to some degree, but this is not an issue with the PRO 5. Vignetting (dark shading in the image corners) is another common issue that is easily correctable in software. The Nexus 6P is the only phone in this roundup to exhibit this problem.

The PRO 5 is certainly capable of taking some good photos. It consistently does a very good job setting exposure and white balance, and its high resolution sensor captures a lot of fine detail. Image noise is present but not horrible. The only real disappointment is the PRO 5’s poor HDR processing. Because it tends towards brighter exposures anyway, it’s probably best to just leave it off unless you find highly oversaturated colors desirable.

Video Quality

With many smartphones, video recording is of secondary importance to still image photography. Part of the reason is priority: The popularity of taking and sharing photos make it an essential feature. But hardware also plays a role too; recording high-resolution video at 30-60fps requires a great deal of processing power, placing pressure on the CPU, ISP, DSP, and system memory. This is why less-expensive phones generally have fewer features and lower quality video.

The PRO 5 is one of Meizu’s flagship devices and is packed with some powerful hardware, so it’s reasonable to expect good video performance. After all, its processing capability is very similar to Samsung’s Galaxy S6. However, its price is closer to mid-range devices that usually make serious compromises when it comes to video recording. This contradiction impacts the PRO 5’s video capability, allowing it to excel in some areas but fall short in others.

The PRO 5 is capable of recording 4K videos at 30fps without any self imposed time limit. Even more interesting, the PRO 5 is the first device we’ve tested that encodes 4K videos with the newer H.265 codec, otherwise known as High Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC). This is significant because H.265 offers twice the compression ratio of H.264 at a similar quality level or significantly better quality at the same compression ratio. The PRO 5’s camera app still uses a relatively high 36 Mb/s bit rate, ensuring clean looking video.

All of the lower resolution video modes use the standard H.264 codec with a baseline profile and 96Kbps AAC audio. Unfortunately, 1080p30 video is captured with a fairly low average bit rate of 12 Mb/s, the same bit rate used for 720p30, which results in obvious motion artifacts from the higher compression ratio. Switching to 720p vanquishes the motion artifacts, and one could argue that the PRO 5’s 720p video actually looks better than the 1080p video despite the resolution deficit.

Overall video quality is actually quite good, other than the low bit rate issue for 1080p video. Both the front and rear cameras adjust to changes in lighting quickly, readily adapting exposure when moving between light and dark scenes, and do a good job setting white balance, although colors are a little less saturated when using the front-facing camera. The PRO 5’s videos are also less noisy than the LG G5’s and Moto X Pure Edition’s. Its hybrid autofocus system is another strength, continuously adjusting focus to keep videos looking sharp. The video sample below, which has been compressed for streaming, demonstrates some of these qualities.

The PRO 5 is missing a few features that impact video quality, however. Even though the PRO 5’s underlying hardware supports it, there’s no 1080p60 mode. It also cannot capture HDR video, another disappointing omission considering the Samsung Galaxy S6, which uses the same Exynos 7420 SoC, can use HDR at 1080p30 and below. The PRO 5’s lack of video stabilization, either optical (OIS) or electronic (EIS), also results in shaky looking videos.

The slow-motion video recorded by most phones is basically unwatchable because of dropped frames and overall low quality; however, the PRO 5’s 720p120 slow-motion video is surprisingly good. The video looks very smooth and is native 720p, rather than being captured at a lower resolution and then upscaled, a trick some other phones employ that degrades quality. Slow-motion video shows more noise grain, but this is unavoidable because of the higher shutter speed. Like most other phones, the PRO 5 does not record audio when shooting slo-mo. It also imposes a 60-second recording limit.