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Back in September 2014, Meizu - one of the top smartphone manufacturers in China -, released the Meizu MX4 phone running Android OS. In may 2015, this high-end, premium looking phone was made available in China running Ubuntu Phone (Ubuntu Touch), and starting tomorrow (June 25th) it will go on sale in Europe as well.

Like the other Ubuntu phones (BQ Aquaris E4.5 and Aquarius E5 HD Ubuntu Edition), the Meizu MX4 targets early adopters and developers, so don’t get your hopes up about native apps like Facebook and Instagram just yet. Still, if you are an Ubuntu user and are looking for a slick device that packs plenty of processing power and a high-end camera, you will find the Meizu quite appealing.

Even though the recently released Aquaris E5 HD Ubuntu Edition has pretty good specs, I think it's safe to say that the Meizu MX4 Ubuntu Edition is the first high end Ubuntu phone. The device looks top notch and feels high quality - at 144 x 75.2 x 8.9 mm, the phone is robust and the ergonomics are quite good.

The Meizu MX4 Ubuntu Edition features a beautiful 1080p display (5.36 inch, 1152 x 1920px resolution, 418ppi) with a capacitive circular button under it. Almost the entire front is covered with Gorilla Glass 3, with the exception of a small excision for the earpiece.

Besides the earpiece, above the display there's also a 2 MP front camera which is not exactly impressive. However, it can record 1080p@30fps videos so it should be good enough.

A small note about the circular capacitive button I mentioned earlier: after I got the phone, it was updated to version "1" and back then, this button could be used to bring up the Today (home) scope for the Ubuntu edition, but this no longer works after a recent update ("2") and right now, this button does nothing. Update: this was fixed, the button now brings up the Today scope and it glows when there are unread notifications.

From what I've read, this button allows unlocking the device (as an alternative to the power button) on the Android version but, like I said, that's not the case with the Meizu MX4 Ubuntu Edition.

At a first look, both the phone frame and the matte back cover (which is removable, despite the battery being non-removable, so the only time you'll have to remove it is when you insert the microSIM card) seem to be made from metal, but in fact only the frame is, while the back is plastic. Even so, the phone doesn't just look but feels premium altogether.

The back features an impressive 20.7 MP camera with dual-LED (dual tone) flash, which uses a Sony premium IMX220 Exmor RS sensor that supports 4x digital zoom and is capable of 4k video - well, at least in theory because Ubuntu Phone allows 1080px at most right now, but hopefully the OS will get 4K recording support soon.

The camera takes great pictures in the sunlight and with a flash however, low light pictures are pretty grainy and unclear - you can see a few pictures I took today using Meizu MX4 Ubuntu Edition below:




The photos above are not in full size. If you want to take a look at the original photos, you can find them HERE.

As far as calls are concerned, the phone works great - the sound is crystal clear and thanks to the extra microphone for noise cancellation, the person you're talking to should hear you loud and clear as well. Also, I didn't experience any signal issues.

The phone's MediaTek MT6595 chipset with eight cores (A17 2.2GHz x 4 and A7 1.7GHz x 4), quad core PowerVR G6200 MP4 GPU and 2GB of RAM make sure that the phone doesn't lag and it's as snappy as Ubuntu Phone allows it to be. I'm saying that because it is a bit annoying that each time you open an app (that wasn't already running) you have to wait about 2 seconds for it to load, but that's OS and not hardware related and it will hopefully improve.

Regarding the Internet connectivity, Meizu MX4 Ubuntu Edition has everything you'd expect in a high-end phone: dual band 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz Wifi as well as 3G and 4G (it supports TD-LTE and FDD-LTE 4G networks, which can reach a download speed of 150 Mbps). 

Here, I should mention that initially, my Meizu MX4 Ubuntu Edition didn't connect to 3g/4g and I had to enable "Data roaming" to get it to work but after a couple of restarts, that wasn't required any more (now 3g/4g work with data roaming disabled) - I'm not sure why this occurred.

I ran some Internet speed tests (using speedof.me and not the popular speedtest.net because the phone doesn't support Flash) and the results are pretty much the same as on my HTC One M8. Although not of very much use, since it depends on the carrier, signal and so on, here's a 4G speed test taken on Meizu MX4 Ubuntu Edition:

Regarding the battery, I can't post my conclusions just yet, because I've been using the phone either heavily or not at all - after a few days of regular phone usage, I'll update this article with information about this.

According the the phone OS Build Details, the device I've received is currently running Ubuntu 15.04 (20150611 build). I didn't review the OS because there are basically no visual changes since my previous Ubuntu Phone review (of the BQ Aquaris E4.5). Check out  THIS article for information on the OS.

Meizu MX4 Ubuntu Edition (16GB internal memory variant only) will be available for purchase in Europe on 25th of June and is priced at 299 Euros. According the the official announcement, the "phone will be available through an invitation only system in the form of an interactive origami wall on Meizu's website".

More information will be available HERE (the link should go live tomorrow).

The phone is already available in China since May 17th.

Here is an overview of the most important fixes. There are several others that may be not mentioned here.

• Re-enable Review and References features that were disabled by mistake
• Fix crash after showing “Insert Bibliography” second time (bug 335458)
• Fix bug “Can’t change footnotes style” (bug 303489)
• Do not crash when reducing number of columns on page (bug 322429)
• Do not crash after selecting more than one table and pressing Ctrl+C (bug 330284)

• General:
  • Fix error when configuring Calligra (related to the Marble maps component) (bug 345318)
• Forms & Table views:
  • Make combo-boxes in table and form views show just one column (bug 345631)
  • Fix displaying records in data aware combo boxes (bug 345350)
• Forms:
  • Fix crash when removing elements in the object tree (bug 345336)

• Don’t show the zoom level on-canvas message while loadidng
• Fix initialization of the multi-brush axis
• Add some more kickstarter backers to the about box
• Fix memory leak when loading presets (and a bunch more memory leaks)
• Fix crashes related to progress reporting when running a g’mic action
• Add a toggle button to hide/show the filter selection tree in the filter dialog
• Fix a focus bug that made it hard to edit e.g. layer names when activating the editor in the docker with a tablet stylus
• Fix geometry of the toolbox on startup in some cases
• Fix lock proportions in the free transform tool when locking aspect ratio
• Add an option to hide the docker titlebars
• Update the resource manager lists after loading a resource bundle
• Make the resource manager look for bundles by default
• Make the eraser end of the stylus erase by default
• Make krita remember the presets chosen for each stylus and stylus end
• Make Krita start faster by only loading images for the references docker when the references docker is visible
• Fix a crash in the g’mic docker when there’s no preview widget selected
• On switching images, show the selected layer in the layer box, not the bottom one
• Show the selected monitor profile in the color management settings page instead of the default one
• Make the Image Split dialog select the right export file type.
• Fix saving and loading masks for file layers
• Make the default MDI background darker
• Fix loading some older .kra files that contained an image name with a number after a /
• Don’t crash if the linux colord colormanager cannot find a color-managed output device
• Clean the code following a number of PVS studio code analyzer warnings
• Add tooltips to the presets in the popup palette
• Fix a problem where brush presets in the popup palette were sometimes misaligned

• Fix a crash on Format page (bug 345273)
• Fix memory leaks
• Make line number of cursor (statusbar) count lines of text instead of hard breaks (bug 298365)
• Many fixes for sections

Install Calligra 2.9.2 on Ubuntu and Linux Mint via PPA :

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:kubuntu-ppa/backports
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install calligra

optional to remove, do:

sudo apt-get remove calligra

Install SFLphone 1.4.1 on Ubuntu 15.04 vivid Vervet, ubuntu 14.10 Utopic Unicorn, Ubuntu 14.04 Trusty Tahr (LTS), Ubuntu 13.10/13.04/12.04, Linux Mint 17.1 Rebecca, Linux Mint 17 Qiana, Linux Mint 13 Maya, Pinguy OS 14.04, Elementary OS 0.3 Freya, Elementary OS 0.2 Luna, Peppermint Five, Deepin 2014, LXLE 14.04, Linux Lite 2.0, Linux Lite 2.2 and other Ubuntu derivative systems via PPA

SFLphone is an open-source SIP/IAX2 compatible softphone for Linux. SFLphone is free software released under the GNU General Public License. Packages are available for all major distributions including Debian, openSUSE, Fedora, Mandriva and the latest Ubuntu releases. It is also available in Maemo Community.

SFLphone is one of the few softphones under Linux to support PulseAudio out of the box. The Ubuntu documentation recommends it for enterprise use because of features like conferencing and attended call transfer. It has been named by CIO magazine among the 5 open source VoIP softphones to watch.




Version 1.4.1 is a minor and bugfix release with the following changes:

• Fix call transfer
• Fix Speex 16kbs codec
• Fix freeze when hanging up
• Fix rare crash when using the PulseAudio backend
• Build packages with the OPUS codec support
• Fix crash when using IAX2 accounts 

• Rewritten contact matching algorithm, it should handle more use cases
• Fix history call direction
• Improved contact filtering speed
• Correctly stop the "busy tone" when removing calls

• Fix compilation with video disabled
• Fix a crash when right clicking on history empty areas
• Fix the bookmark context menu
• Improved translations 

Here is an up-to-date list of features currently available in the latest stable release or upcoming, ordered by category.

• Unlimited number of lines
• Call history + search feature
• Attended call transfer
• Auto answer
• Call hold
• Call recording
• Multi-way conferencing
• Peer to peer calls
• Video calls
  
• Instant Messaging
  

• SIP and IAX2 protocols support
• DTMF support (SIP INFO, RTP)
• Multiple accounts support
• STUN support per account
• SIP Re-invite
• SIP Routes
• SIP early media support

• Pulseaudio support
• Native ALSA interface, DMix support
• High definition audio codecs: Opus, Speex 16000/32000, G722 + Standards (G711, GSM), G.729, iLBC
• Audio device detection
• Silence detection with speex audio codec
• Linear 16 bit wave format support for ringtones
• Ability to select an independent ringtone playback device

• Support for H.264, H.263, VP8, MPEG-4 Video
• Resolution/framerate selection

• Voice encryption (SRTP)
• ZRTP key exchange protocol
• SDES key exchange protocol
• Signalling encryption (TLS)
• Multiple realms authentification mecanism

• GNOME, KDE and python-cli clients available
• X11 keyboard symbols integration (0.9.8)
• Network Manager integration (0.9.8)
• Account assistant wizard
• Desktop notification
• GNOME/KDE address book integration
• Minimize on start-up
• Minimize to tray

• Automatic opening of incoming URL
• Central server providing free SIP/IAX account
• Locale settings: translated in 25+ languages
• Configuration system based on YAML serialization format

Install SFLphone 1.4.1 on Ubuntu and Linux Mint via PPA :

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:savoirfairelinux
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install sflphone-gnome-video
sudo apt-get install sflphone-plugins

Ubuntu Touch 14.09 RTM Build 20141208 was released

Ubuntu Touch is an open source and freely distributed Linux operating system that aims to fit the world’s most popular and amazing distribution, Ubuntu, on a smartphone device. It comes with a great collection of applications, a unique user interface, as well as a powerful set of features.

Dubbed Ubuntu Phone OS

Based on the latest Ubuntu OS

Supports a wide range of smartphones

 

Distributed as IMG images and tar archives

About Ubuntu

After years of development, the first Ubuntu phone is finally here (Europe only) and while the hardware is average at best, the OS is a breath of fresh air, bringing innovations like scopes and "magic edges", designed not just to be different, but in many ways, better than the current trends.

Before proceeding, note that the phone targets early adopters and if you just want WhatsApp or Skype, Ubuntu phone isn't for you just yet, as these services aren’t yet available.

Aquaris E4.5 Ubuntu Edition is the first Ubuntu phone and it was made in partnership with BQ, a Spanish producer of smartphones, tablets, electronic readers, and 3d printers.

Hardware-wise, the phone doesn't come with anything special: from the plastic case and average screen (4.5'' 540x960 resolution) to the CPU (1.3 GHz MediaTek Quad Core Cortex A7), internal memory (8 GB) and battery (2150 mAh), everything's basically unremarkable however, at €169.90, it's a pretty good deal.

For someone who cares more about the OS / Ubuntu, like me, the mid-range hardware is not a deal-breaker, not even close, but what does frustrate me hardware-related is the camera: the pictures are decent but could be better and furthermore, photos taken with the flash are too bright and basically unusable (here’s an example), which is kind of a major inconvenience. Update: the too bright (flash) photos issue was fixed recently - here's a new photo.

The plastic case and the ~2cm bezel underneath the display (Aquaris E4.5 was initially an Android phone and this space served for Android's home/back buttons) are more reasons why the phone itself is a bit disappointing. But Canonical had to start somewhere and while not perfect, Aquaris E4.5 is a decent phone overall - it doesn't lag, comes with dual sim, the speakers are good and it's the perfect size, at least for me.

What makes the Aquaris E4.5 Ubuntu Edition special is of course the OS, which can run HTML5 web apps as well as native QML apps.

You'll find apps in any mobile OS but Canonical also implemented scopes, an innovative (and this is to be appreciated, because innovations nowadays are Android copying iOS, iOS copying Windows Phone and so on - well, more or less anyway) feature thanks to which the content from multiple sources can be displayed in one place - you basically have the content that interests you in one place, when you need it.

For instance, the main screen consists of Today's scope which includes the date with the sunrise and sunset information, weather, upcoming holidays, upcoming events, recent calls, messages, headlines from various sources and more. Each of these can be enabled or disabled, so Today's scope will only display the information you need, which is pretty cool.

The same goes for other scopes - for instance, the Music scope includes sources such as 7digital, Grooveshark, SoundCloud, YouTube and Songkick, but if you only use YouTube, you can disable the others. Or, you can completely disable the Music scope if you don't plan on using it.

I must confess that the scopes are actually my favorite Ubuntu Phone feature, even though I wasn't a fan of it on the desktop, at first because it was slow and then because some pretty important sources like YouTube were missing. But that's not the case with the phone and on top of that, the scopes are actually more customizable on the phone than on the desktop.

However, while the whole scopes idea is great, the implementation is not ideal because they are pretty limited in functionality and what's most important, the content is mostly not displayed in the scope itself and must be opened in the web browser. For instance, you can listen to single tracks from say SoundCloud, but you can't add songs to the queue or anything like that and furthermore, YouTube clips or Grooveshark songs must be opened in the browser. Pretty much the same goes for news articles: you can read an excerpt but to read the whole article, you must open it in the web browser. 

While the phone is scope-centric, it does run apps as well and by default, it ships with native browser, music, camera, gallery, media player and calculator apps (along with phone/messaging/contacts apps of course) with more available via Ubuntu Store (which can be used to install both scopes and apps):

For services like Facebook, Twitter, Google+ or Google Maps, Ubuntu Phone uses web apps, which even though integrate with the OS, are not as nice as the official applications for Android or iOS (for instance, in my opinion, the Facebook mobile website is not exactly pretty).

Of course, the apps are as beautiful and featureful as those services' mobile website and until Facebook, Google, etc. build their own applications for Ubuntu Phone, that's not going to change. That's why I'm not a big fan of web apps and while I understand their utility, I really hope they will be replaced by real apps at some point.

Unfortunately, there are also some services that are missing from the Ubuntu Store, like Whatsapp (but Telegram, a nice alternative to Whatsapp, is available), Skype, Instagram (there is an Instagram scope that displays the Instagram feed though) and that's going to be a major downside for some, but then again, right now, Ubuntu Phone isn't targeted at the masses, but at early adopters / Ubuntu enthusiasts and I don't know about you, but I can live without them (well, I don't have Whatsapp, Skype and Instagram installed on my Android phone either). For now.

Unlike Android or iOS for example, Ubuntu Phone doesn’t make use of any hardware buttons and instead, it uses all four screen edges for navigation, app switching, settings and indicators, this being yet another feature which feels natural and most importantly, very useful.

Using the left Ubuntu desktop-like launcher, you can easily launch your favorite applications, pin and unpin apps and see what’s running. With a swipe to the right, you can see a preview of all running apps, switch or close them:

The bottom edge holds the settings: when you’re in the the scopes for instance, a swipe from the bottom allows configuring which scopes to display, or in Contacts, swipe to add a new contact.

Quick access indicators are at the top and if you don’t fully open the drawer, you can navigate between the Time & Date, Battery, Sound, Network, Notifications and so on, with a left or right swipe, this being yet another feature which I really like and if I were to guess, I’d say we’re likely to see it in other mobile operating systems at some point.

There's much more to say about this very first Ubuntu phone and especially about the OS, like click packages and the fast, secure transactional updates, the cool default browser and other default apps and so on, but I don't want to bore you with all the details.

Overall, Aquaris E4.5 Ubuntu Edition is a decent phone with a very interesting and innovative OS which I really hope will succeed. Not with this device of course, it’s too rough and not for the average consumer, but the potential is there and while it’s risky, in a market dominated by giants like Apple and Google, if Canonical does everything right, this could be the beginning of something big.

To get a better idea on what I’m talking about in this article, I’ve recorded a video showing some of the phone’s features:

Aquaris E4.5 Ubuntu Edition will be available in the coming days on BQ.com, through a series of “flash sales” and it will cost 169.90 Euros (~ $193 / £127). The exact date, time and URL of the flash sales will be announced on the Ubuntu and BQ Twitter accounts as well as the Ubuntu Facebook and Google+ pages starting this week, so keep an eye on them if you want to be among the first to get an Ubuntu phone.

Update: the BQ Ubuntu Phone is now available for general purchase in the European Union.

Aquaris E4.5 Ubuntu Edition is the first Ubuntu phone and it was made in partnership with BQ, a Spanish producer of smartphones, tablets, electronic readers and 3d printers. 

The phone, which costs 169,90€, uses a 4.5” display (540x960 resolution) and comes with a Quad Core Cortex A7 1.3GHz MediaTek CPU, Mali 400 up to 500MHz GPU, 1 GB of RAM, an 8 Mpx rear interpolated (dual-flash and autofocus) camera and a 5 Mpx front camera.

It's important to note that the phone targets early adopters and if you just want WhatsApp or Skype, Ubuntu phone isn't for you just yet, as these services aren’t yet available.

You can read more about the Aquaris E4.5 Ubuntu Edition phone in our review.

Buy Aquaris E4.5 Ubuntu Edition (169.90€)

The phone, made by the Spanish smartphones, tablets, electronic readers, and 3d printers producer BQ and, just like the first Ubuntu phone (Aquaris E4.5 Ubuntu Edition), this was initially an Android device.

Compared to the first Ubuntu phone, Aquaris E4.5 Ubuntu Edition, the new device comes with an improved rear camera (from 8 to 13 Mpx), double internal memory (8 GB vs. 16 GB), larger capacity battery (2150 mAh vs. 2500 mAh) as well as a better screen (5'' 720 x 1280 for the E5 HD while the E4.5 has a 4.5'', 540x960 resolution screen).

As for the price, the new Aquarius E5 HD Ubuntu Edition costs €199.90 (including taxes but excluding shipping), €30 more than the Aquaris E4.5.

Pre-order Aquaris E5 HD Ubuntu Edition - €199.90 (the order will be processed starting from June 22nd)