Despite the significant competition between smartphone manufacturers, the relatively young Meiigoo brand succeeded to a certain extent attract consumer attention to the new product - Meiigoo M1, due to an attractive price tag, combined with impressive technical characteristics. In particular, the device is equipped with an 8-core processor (up to 2.3 GHz), 6 GB of RAM, a built-in 64 GB storage, a 4000 mAh battery and a dual camera with a Sony IMX214 sensor. This review covers all the most important aspects of this smartphone, as well as its advantages and disadvantages.
Equipment
The standard delivery set, which includes a SIM removal tool, a charger and a USB Type-C cable, is complemented by a set of accessories in a yellow case with the manufacturer’s logo.
The set includes a headset, interchangeable lenses for the camera, a ring holder that can serve as a stand, and an additional USB cable.
Design and elements on the body
The smartphone is presented in a metal case of a classic shape, with neat thin plastic inserts and rounded edges. The build quality is not satisfactory: thanks to the perfect joining of the elements, there are no creaks, backlashes or gaps. In addition, the edge-curved Corning Gorilla 3 glass covering the front panel is highly scratch-resistant. The model is available in three colors: black, gray and gold (with a white front).
Most of the elements on the body are arranged in the usual order. The area above the screen houses the earpiece grille, front photo module, light level sensors, proximity sensors and a customizable 8-color notification indicator.
Meiigoo M1 is equipped with a multifunctional fingerprint sensor, which is built into the panel under the screen. It copes with its main task well, due to good speed and accuracy of fingerprint recognition. The biometric sensor can also be used as a universal button that can be used to return to the home screen, answer an incoming call, scroll through photos in the gallery, etc.
In the upper left corner of the rear panel you can find a dual main camera module, complemented by an LED flash.
Separate mechanical buttons for volume control and power management are located on the right side.
The edge on the left side contains a tray in which there are slots for installing two Nano SIMs, or a memory card along with one Nano SIM. The space on the top edge is occupied by a 3.5 mm jack for connecting headphones.
The holes for the main speaker and microphone are located on the bottom edge, on either side of the symmetrical USB Type-C port. Thanks to the support of the OTG protocol, it is possible to connect external USB devices and the ability to transfer energy to recharge players, phones and other portable equipment.
Display
The smartphone has a high-quality 5.5-inch FullHD display manufactured by LG, which provides clear, rich and contrasting images. During the day in clear weather, the screen content becomes dimmer, but remains readable. When viewed from angles, color inversion is not observed.
The MiraVision utility is provided to adjust color temperature and other display parameters. It also supports reading mode, which reduces the intensity of blue light, which causes strain and discomfort in the eyes. The touchscreen demonstrates high accuracy and speed of response to touch. The light sensor correctly adjusts the backlight brightness automatically, depending on the external lighting conditions.
Processor, memory
Meiigoo M1 is equipped with an energy-efficient and productive MediaTek Helio P20 (MT6757) single-chip system. The processor contains 8 cores, the maximum frequency of which reaches 2.3 GHz. The processor is complemented by the Mali-T880 graphics accelerator, with an operating frequency of 900 MHz. To store data processed by the processor, non-volatile memory with a capacity of 6 GB is provided.
During the performance testing process, AnTuTu and Geekbench 3 applications were used. Despite the far from impressive results of synthetic tests, in practice the smartphone copes well with FullHD and 4K video playback, maintains performance in operation, despite the number of background processes and running applications.
In addition, the processor and video chip have sufficient power reserves necessary to run 3D games. To ensure high FPS, games like World of Tanks Blitz must be run on medium graphics settings. At the same time, games like Modern Combat 5 and Asphalt 8 run without problems at maximum graphics.
The built-in storage capacity is 64 GB, of which about 15 GB is allocated for system needs. There remains approximately 49 GB of free space: for many users this is enough not only for applications and storing captured photos/videos, but also for installing resource-intensive games. Additionally, it is possible to expand the memory using MicroSD with a capacity of up to 256 GB.
Cameras
The shooting application has received a thoroughly redesigned interface compared to the standard one. Its differences lie not only in the location of the elements, but also in the abundance of settings, including manual ones (a full-fledged Pro mode is supported). The rear camera consists of Sony IMX214 (F/2.2) image sensors, with a resolution of 13 MP, and monochrome GC0310, with a resolution of 8 MP. 1080P video recording is supported.
The shooting result directly depends on the lighting level. Images taken on a sunny day are characterized by natural colors, a sufficient level of sharpness and detail, and no blur. In low light conditions, it is not possible to obtain an acceptable result in automatic mode. Naturally, you can always use the Quad LED flash, as well as manual settings, to improve shooting results.
The monochrome sensor is involved in the process of creating images with the bokeh effect. However, you can only count on typical “circular” blur, with the ability to adjust the diameter of the circle.
The 8-megapixel front camera takes very good quality selfies while providing optimal lighting. The weak side of the front image sensor can be considered the modest resolution of recorded videos (640 x 480).
Sound
The manufacturer did not forget to pay attention to the sound component of the device, introducing the Smart PA sound amplification system. The smartphone has only one main speaker, despite the symmetrical slots on the body. However, it produces moderately loud, high-quality sound, without extraneous noise or distortion at maximum volume.
There are no problems with microphone sensitivity, volume and voice intelligibility in the conversational speaker. The interlocutors can clearly hear each other during a telephone conversation. In conjunction with high-quality headphones, Meiigoo M1 can well be used as a good audio player, with clear, expressive sound of musical compositions.
Battery
Meiigoo M1 is equipped with a non-removable battery made by Sony with a capacity of 4000 mAh. Of course, numbers are not always able to give an accurate idea of operating time without recharging. However, in this case the user can really count on decent autonomy. Continuous video playback time at maximum screen brightness is 8 hours. 25 min. At the minimum brightness required for comfortable viewing indoors, video can be played for 13 hours.
In audio player mode, the device can operate for 180 hours. If we take into account the mixed mode of use, on average, under moderate loads, the battery ensures the operation of the smartphone for one and a half to two days. The ability to quickly recharge the charge is also present: thanks to support for MediaTek Pump Express technology, using the included charger you can fully charge the battery in 1 hour. 40 min.
operating system
Meiigoo M1 runs on a multilingual version of Android 7.0 OS. The manufacturer left the standard shell interface, adding only additional settings on my own for more comfortable interaction with device. For example, from the notification curtain you can access the creation of “long” screenshots and the function of video capturing screen contents. You can also note support for one-handed control mode, with the ability to reduce the working area of the screen, and a customizable “Eye Protection” reading mode.
Wireless interfaces
It is possible to work in 2G, 3G and 4G networks, with support for a wide range of frequencies (FDD-LTE Band 1-5, 7, 8, 12, 17, 19 and 20, TDD-LTE Band 38-41). Users can access the Internet using a high-speed LTE Cat connection. 6. The set of wireless connections is represented by Bluetooth 4.0 and dual-band Wi-Fi 802.11a/b/g/n, operating in the 2.4 and 5 GHz bands.
The smartphone is compatible with GPS (A-GPS), Beidou and GLONASS navigation systems. Based on the results of testing the GPS operation, we can note a decent satellite search speed, high location accuracy (within 2-3 meters) and stable signal reception. An equally important factor is support for a geomagnetic sensor, which ensures the functionality of a digital compass, which is essential for navigation when using offline maps.
Advantages and disadvantages of Meiigoo M1
Pros:
- build quality and case materials (metal, tempered glass);
- good autonomy;
- high-quality FullHD screen from LG;
- adequate reserve of productivity;
- impressive amount of RAM (6 GB);
- good cameras for daytime shooting;
- good sound quality in headphones;
- multifunctional fingerprint scanner on the front panel;
- excellent work of navigation modules.
Minuses:
- the body has a slippery surface;
- NFC support is not provided;
- Low resolution video shooting on the front camera.
Results
The use case for this smartphone goes far beyond trivial tasks. At a minimum, Meiigoo M1 is perfect for games, navigation, active web surfing, and watching high-definition videos. In addition, owners will not have to worry about rapid battery drain, lack of network coverage, or lack of free RAM. Meiigoo M1 is another successful example of a smartphone with an optimal set of capabilities, the manufacturer of which managed to maintain a competitive, attractive price.
As part of the pre-sale, it is $268 for Meiigoo M1 in any color design: silver, gold or dark gray.
