MEIZU has a new budget smartphone on offer in the Meizu E2. But chances are, you won’t even get a whiff of it — unless you live in the company’s home country of China. Sorry, Philippines, India, and the rest of the world.

It is a shame because the E2 fits a 5.5-inch, 1080p display and a front-facing fingerprint sensor in its premium metal design. A MediaTek Helio P20 system-on-a-chip keeps the lights on. And that’s a good thing because the Meizu E2, at least on paper, should be 25 percent more power-efficient compared to handsets powered by the Helio P10, which has become a go-to choice among OEMs [original equipment manufacturers].

The chip runs alongside at least 3GB of RAM and 32GB of storage. Memory capacity goes up to 4GB for RAM and 64GB for ROM, but should you find the latter lacking in room, microSD expansion is available up to 128GB. The phone also comes with a skinned version of Android Marshmallow.

SEE ALSO: Xiaomi Mi 6 with 6GB RAM, Snapdragon 835 launched

For those who like nothing more than to take pictures with their devices, there’s a 13-megapixel main camera with phase-detection auto-focus and quad-LED flash. An 8-megapixel camera on the front, meanwhile, takes care of selfie and video-chat duties. More impressively, the Meizu E2 has a 3,400mAh battery with fast charging that promises 40 percent batter power after 30 minutes of topping up.

And all this for a starting price of ¥1,299 (around P9,400 or $188). Now you know why it sucks that the E2 isn’t widely available just yet. Pre-orders are now live and shipping begins April 29th — again, in China and nowhere else.

Related: Meizu E2 official product video

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