Take 1: Meizu M8

Here, I present to you the iPhone Meizu M8. The thing is, it really reminds me of another device. But I just can’t put my finger on it.

Alright, so perhaps I was a bit harsh. After all, it does sport a touchscreen with dimensions that seem amazingly similar to the iPhone, but who am I to judge? After all, people did accuse Creative of plagiarizing the iPod design. Errr…maybe that’s a different scenario, actually; this really looks like the iPhone. It’s almost like the iPod Nano compared to something like this. And, coincidentally enough, it comes from China (err…the knockoff).

Now, I realize that Meizu is a Chinese company. I also am myself a Chinese Canadian and am not oblivious to our reputation for fantastic knockoffs. And, even though it’s annoying, I can now see why. Least to say, this is definitely not helping our reputation.

Alright, enough with the scoffing. Let’s put aside the completely obvious fact that it looks exactly like the iPhone and take it apart and examine it. Except we can’t, because 1. we don’t have the Meizu M8 yet, 2. it’s not out, and 3. I highly doubt it will be coming to North America. Even if it plans to launch there, I doubt the lawyers and Apple nor Steve Jobs will let that happen.

So, the iPhone is sitting at the steep cost of $499 for the 4gb version and $599 for double that storage. The Meizu M8 comes at approximately $305 and $400 for the 4gb and 8gb versions respectively. Shocked? So am I. That’s almost the same-looking package for a bill less than the iPhone! And if you don’t need or want a camera, you can pay either $195 or $285 for the standard version of the M8. It comes with a 3.2 inch 720 x 480 screen (sound familiar?), and a UI that looks amazingly like Windows Vista (which leads me to wonder if it’s really vista, or just another…well you get my drift).

Source: http://www.cellphones.ca/news/upload/meizu_m8.jpg

Anyway, I just wanted to bring this to light. Maybe you might not have such a strong reaction; in fact, you might grow to quite enjoy the idea of this Meizu M8 vs. iPhone. I kind of feel bad for the iPhone, but at the same time, I don’t blame cell phone manufacturers for jumping on it so quickly after seeing how the iPod dominated the digital audio player industry.