You’re looking at the Meizu PRO 5 Ubuntu Edition, the brand-new flagship Ubuntu phone announced today.
‘The new Ubuntu Phone is powerful, stylish and secure’
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Canonical, the software company behind Ubuntu, has partnered with Chinese smart phone maker Meizu for the launch of the device, said to be the most powerful Ubuntu device released to date.
The 5.7-inch PRO 5 really is PROficient on paper: it has a super sharp 1080p display, an 8-core ARM processor, bags of storage and a USB Type-C port that handles charging, data transfer and, assuming they are ever made, headphones.
Meizu PRO 5 Ubuntu Edition Specs, Price & Release Date
The fifth Ubuntu device to be unveiled by Canonical and its partners in the last twelve months, the Meizu PRO 5 is every bit the flagship Ubuntu Phone.
The Meizu PRO 5 Ubuntu Edition has a nippy 2.1GHz Samsung Exynos 7420 processor (octa-core), a 5.7-inch, full HD display, 4GB of RAM and a 21-megapixel rear camera with dual-flash.
There’s a speedy 64GB UFS 2.0 for storage, and the dual-SIM slot supports either two sim cards or one nano-sim and a microSD card of up to 128GB.
The front of the device house a fingerprint reader. The base has a USB Type-C slot for expansion, charging and other potential use cases.
Exact pricing and shipping dates are to be announced by Canonical during Mobile World Congress event. And, as with the Bq Aquaris M10 Ubuntu Edition tablet unveiled earlier this month, the shipping date is expected to be sometime in March or April.
Image Gallery
Everything (Else) You Need To Know
OMG Ubuntu! was not among the press outlets that Canonical chose to brief on this particular model.
This means we did not have the opportunity to find out more about this device first-hand (we generally like to ask a lot of questions. …which may explain why we weren’t invited this time around!).
Because of this change from the norm it’s only fair that I proviso this post. Until 2PM GMT Feb 17 all of the information this article is based on material passed to us by a third-party and not by Canonical, Meizu or PR companies working on their behalf.
We’ll update this section of the post with more information as we know it.
When Can I Buy It?
The Meizu PRO 5 Ubuntu Edition will be made available to pre-order in the coming weeks. More details are expected at MWC.
Where Can I Buy It?
The Meizu PRO 5 Ubuntu Edition will be available to pre-order through the Meizu website and will be available to customers in “Europe and China”.
How Much Will It Cost?
Pricing for the new phone will be announced during MWC, starting Feb 22, 2016.
Based on past Flyme OS > Ubuntu price conversion you could expect to pay somewhere in the region of ~ €450-500 for the 64GB model.
Does It ‘Do’ Convergence?
While external screen support is part of the USB Type-C standard, the Meizu Pro5 does not support it.
The phone may still be able to ‘converge’ into a desktop using wireless technologies like Miracast, but this is still in development.
Does this Phone Support 4G?
Yes. See the infographic in the middle of this article for more detail on bands and frequencies supported by the Meizu PRO 5.
Will 4G Work in My Country?
It depends on which country you live in and which network you’re trying to connect to.
Meizu has no FCC certification in the USA and do not sell any of its devices directly to the USA. American buyers are unlikely to get stable 4G (or even 3G) speeds.
UK buyers should be aware of user reports that the Android version of the Pro 5 has issues connecting to and maintaining 4G speeds on some mobile networks.
Does the Ubuntu Edition support mCharge?
mCharge is a ‘fast charging’ technology available on this phone. The Ubuntu edition will not support fast charging outside of China.
What can I use the fingerprint reader for?
See this article. More details will announced at Mobile World Congress on Feb 22.
Will you be getting one of these? Share your opinions in the comments!