AFTER bringing the Nokia 6 and Infinix Zero 4 and Zero 4 Plus to the Philippine market, Hellotronics will be releasing two new Meizu phones next month, its owner revealed to Revü.

Shipping soon (provided there are no setbacks) are the Meizu M5 (click for complete specs) and the Meizu M5 Note (click for full specs), two budget handsets that serve as direct sequels to the M3 and M3 Note. The latter is still being sold online by Hellotronics for P7,790 ($156).

The company, as you may recall, is the Lazada Philippines merchant that imports popular smartphones from Chinese brands that have little to no retail presence locally. We’re told it has plans to put up brick-and-mortar locations across the nation, as well as an online store where it will sell and ship directly to customers.

Hellotronics, which has plans to put up brick-and-mortar locations and its own online store, will sell the Meizu M5 and M5 Note for P7,490 ($150) and P9,990 ($201), respectively.

The Meizu M5 and M5 Note will feature only minor cosmetic and internal upgrades compared to their predecessors, with the step up to Android Marshmallow being considered by some as a major highlight.

A full-metal casing with rounded glass over an LCD display? Up to 5.5 inches of screen real estate? Octa-core processors and 13-megapixel cameras? Big whoop. (Insert sarcastic eye roll here.) The good news is that their predecessors are well-liked by enthusiasts and critics, so perhaps these new Meizu models don’t fall too far from the tree.

And if you’re wondering why Meizu skipped the number 4 in its entry-level range, it’s because the Chinese consider the number to be unlucky. (Xiaomi obviously thinks otherwise.) In any case, both the M5 and M5 Note have been listed on Lazada’s local website, even though they’re currently not available for purchase.

Not only that, but their prices are identical, which means the listings only act as placeholders until shipments arrive. So how much will they cost online? Well, if you’re really interested in the handsets, the base models of the Meizu M5 (2GB RAM and 16GB storage) and M5 Note (3GB RAM and 16GB storage) will be sold by Hellotronics for P7,490 ($150) and P9,990 ($201), respectively. Versions with 3GB of RAM and double the storage will set you back P1,000 ($20) more.

Video you may want to watch: Nokia 6 preview

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