**Hands-On with Maus M5, M5s, and M5 Note: A Comprehensive Review**

The Maus M5 series is a trio of budget-friendly smartphones that promise to deliver premium hardware and polished software at an affordable price. In this review, we'll delve into the details of each device, exploring their strengths and weaknesses, and sharing our hands-on experience with these intriguing devices.

**Design and Build Quality**

One of the first things that struck us about the Maus M5 series was its design. The phones are built around a similar aesthetic, featuring a sleek and compact body made of plastic and metal. While not particularly groundbreaking, the design is solid and premium-feeling, making it easy to forget that these are budget devices.

The M5 Note, in particular, stood out for its large 4,000mAh battery, which provides an impressive amount of power for a phone in this price bracket. The M5s and M5 also boast decent battery life, but the M5 Note's is the most disappointing, with an estimated 2 hours of screen on time under heavy use.

**Audio and Display**

The Maus M5 series comes equipped with built-in speakers, which are surprisingly good considering the low price point. The M5s has the best speaker among the three, but even that can't mask the fact that each device produces a decent amount of distortion when playing music or videos. We recommend using external audio instead.

The displays on these phones are also worth mentioning. With resolutions ranging from 720p to Full HD, they're not exactly high-resolution devices. However, the low-end processors used in these phones don't lend themselves well to demanding tasks like gaming or video editing.

**Camera Performance**

One of the standout features of the Maus M5 series is their camera performance. The rear cameras on each device deliver different results, but overall, they're a significant improvement over many budget smartphones. However, there are some notable limitations – particularly with dynamic range and color accuracy.

The M5s struggles to capture both highlights and shadows in most scenes, while the M5 Note has trouble focusing on still objects. Despite these issues, we did manage to take some great shots with each device.

**Software Experience**

Maus Flyy 5 Skin is a unique skin that runs on top of Android 6.0 Marshmallow. It's significantly different from stock Android and offers a simplified user experience. We appreciate the balance between customization and practicality it provides, making it easy to navigate the interface.

However, there are some quirks to be aware of – particularly when it comes to Google services. Since Maus doesn't have an official relationship with Google, they use unauthorized methods to get Google Apps and services on their smartphones. This can result in hit-or-miss notifications for certain apps like Hangouts, and overall, the experience can be a bit quirky at times.

**Conclusion**

The Maus M5 series is a great option for those looking for budget-friendly smartphones with premium hardware and polished software. While there are some limitations to consider – particularly when it comes to camera performance and battery life – these devices punch above their weight in many areas.

For Western users, we would recommend exploring alternative options that better address the global software quirks and poor performance issues associated with Maus's offerings. However, for those in China or looking for affordable alternatives, the M5s, M5 Note, and M5 are worth considering – especially if you're willing to compromise on some features.

**Pricing and Availability**

The Maus M5 series is available in various configurations and color options, starting at CNY 700 (approximately $100 USD). While this may not be the cheapest option available, it's certainly an attractive price point for a device that offers so much value.

Ultimately, whether or not the Maus M5 series is right for you will depend on your specific needs and expectations. If you're willing to overlook some of the quirks and limitations, these devices could be a great choice – but be sure to do your research and weigh the pros and cons before making a decision.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enhey guys this is Bailey Stein with Android authority and today we'll be checking out mesa's latest affordable smartphones all right so before we get started yes this is indeed a single review of three different smartphones the M5 the m5s and the M5 note we balanced our critiques of each device and pack them into this single review because while there are some differences between these models they offer very similar overall all experiences without any further Ado let's get into the review the m5s and M5 note follow mau's standard design language their boxy metal slabs with deliberate antenna lines and chamfered edges unlike the M5 note the m5s has plastic top and bottom caps but the M5 note is otherwise more or less a larger version of the m5s overall the design and build quality of each of these phones is impressive given the pricing the M5 takes a slightly different route with its all plastic design it's not quite on par with the others in terms of build quality but we found it to be the most ergonomical of the bunch thanks to its more extreme curves we wish that each of these devices had a texturized power button like some other phones do in order to make it easier to differentiate between the power and volume buttons other than that these designs are great since these are mesu phones they include mesu single key navigation setup dubbed mtouch what this means is that the single tactile key on the bottom of the phone can be tapped to go back or pressed to go home home for multitasking you just swipe up from either of the sides and you're good to go this setup can take a day or two to get used to but we find ourselves preferring it over the traditional Android layout is it just feels more natural in practice it's nice to see Mau also embed fingerprint readers into the front keys of each device they're not very fast but they certainly get the job done and for this price that's all you can really ask for the displays on these units are fine the M5 notes display is 5.5 in and 1080p where the M5 and M5 s's displays are 5.2 in and 720p the M5 and m5s displays lack contrast which makes colors appear washed out the m5's note display is a bit better but it's still firmly low-end sunlight readability is a pain across the board though so you want to think twice if you spend a lot of time Outdoors moving on to Performance unfortunately all of the models here are noticeably slow even when doing Simple tasks like launching apps with their processor choices to it seems like mesu is simply Clearing House of old Parts as the selection feels totally random these phones are each powered by different old low-end mediatech chips which range from 1 to 2 years old if you're looking for better performance at this price we recommend taking a look at phones that utilize the Qualcomm Snapdragon 430 instead the M5 m5s and M5 note are all unlocked dual SIM devices sadly none of them include support for 4G LTE in the United States this means if you live in or travel to the US you'll want to look elsewhere as you'll be stuck on 3G on both AT&T and T-Mobile the base variant of each of these includes 16 GB of storage but you can insert a Micro SD card in place of a second SIM card to expand the storage the M5 notes built-in speaker is the best of the three and the M5 s's is the worst but to be honest each produced crappy distorted audio you'll definitely want to stick to external audio with these phones we were really hoping for great battery life with these phones given their low-end processors and low resolution displays however even though our testing was limited to 3G we were left disappointed the m5's battery life is adequate we estimate a full day with 4 and 1/2 hours of screen on time when connected to LTE the m5s is is slightly worse we estimate 3 and 1 half hours of screen on time under the same conditions but the M5 notes 4,000 mAh battery left us the most disappointed we estimate 2 hours of screen on time and with about 12 hours of use while connected to LTE but we had inconsistent results so take that with a grain of salt there seems to be a bug with system service as it drained a lot of power in our M5 note battery test hopefully Mau can address this in the future also just something to keep in mind each of these phones includes the older micro USB standard but will'll let you decide whether that's a positive or A negative although the M5 series all used 13 megapix f2. 2 rear cameras and 5 megapixel f2.0 front cameras each model delivers different results the Mau m5's camera sits somewhere in the middle in terms of quality as you can see the colors are overly warm and there's a noticeable lack of contrast the phone tends to under expose image too and struggles to capture both the highlights and shadows in many scenes sadly the camera on the m5s performs worse this one really struggles with dynamic range and colors can be incredibly inaccurate well it's certainly possible to get a nice photo we often found it difficult to work with the M5 notes camera is better thankfully but still has some major flaws it also has serious trouble with dynamic range but more noticeable is how flat and muted the colors look in most of our sample images oddly enough it also had trouble focusing on still objects as you can see from some of these blurry shots it can produce nice images though too but again these aren't great to work with video recording is kept off at 1080p at 30 FPS on each model as you can see from this sample clip taken with the M5 note the software can't really decide on white balance and exposure which leaves for abrupt shifts in color and brightness on a positive note the camera app is quite nice the app offers a good amount of control while still remaining easy to use the software is the same across all three devices the running Maus flyy 5 skan on top of Android 6.0 marshmallow while flyy is r ically different from stock Android that doesn't make it bad flam's design and simplified user experience is commendable everything seems well thought out from the UI colors to the special balance between customization and practicality we want to highlight that the core fllying experience is great even for foreigners however there are still some issues that you need to be aware of since mesu doesn't have an official relationship with Google they use unauthorized methods to get Google Apps and services on their smartphones this means a few things some apps like Android pay won't work notifications can be hit or miss for some apps like Hangouts and the overall experience can just be really quirky at times it's also important to recognize msu's update strategy instead of offering Android OS and security updates mesu instead updates their own flimy skin this isn't unusual at this price but again it's something that you need to be aware of you can now purchase the mesu M5 m5s and M5 note in China starting at 700 un or about $100 there's a bunch of different variants as you can see plus multiple color options for each model mesu has once again managed to deliver super affordable smartphones with few compromises for its target audience the M5 m5s and M5 note punch above their weight with premium Hardware polished software and detailed editions like fingerprint sensors however mesa's offerings do little to stand out from the competition well we think it's great to have options we do not recommend these devices for Western users the global software quirks poor performance and inconsistent battery life are major drawbacks even at $100 instead you might want to consider xiaomi's budget options or if you're in the US take a look at options directly available through your carrier and that will be all for this video please be sure to give it a thumbs up if you liked it and don't forget to subscribe if you haven't already finally check out our website for even more coverage is we are your source for all things Androidhey guys this is Bailey Stein with Android authority and today we'll be checking out mesa's latest affordable smartphones all right so before we get started yes this is indeed a single review of three different smartphones the M5 the m5s and the M5 note we balanced our critiques of each device and pack them into this single review because while there are some differences between these models they offer very similar overall all experiences without any further Ado let's get into the review the m5s and M5 note follow mau's standard design language their boxy metal slabs with deliberate antenna lines and chamfered edges unlike the M5 note the m5s has plastic top and bottom caps but the M5 note is otherwise more or less a larger version of the m5s overall the design and build quality of each of these phones is impressive given the pricing the M5 takes a slightly different route with its all plastic design it's not quite on par with the others in terms of build quality but we found it to be the most ergonomical of the bunch thanks to its more extreme curves we wish that each of these devices had a texturized power button like some other phones do in order to make it easier to differentiate between the power and volume buttons other than that these designs are great since these are mesu phones they include mesu single key navigation setup dubbed mtouch what this means is that the single tactile key on the bottom of the phone can be tapped to go back or pressed to go home home for multitasking you just swipe up from either of the sides and you're good to go this setup can take a day or two to get used to but we find ourselves preferring it over the traditional Android layout is it just feels more natural in practice it's nice to see Mau also embed fingerprint readers into the front keys of each device they're not very fast but they certainly get the job done and for this price that's all you can really ask for the displays on these units are fine the M5 notes display is 5.5 in and 1080p where the M5 and M5 s's displays are 5.2 in and 720p the M5 and m5s displays lack contrast which makes colors appear washed out the m5's note display is a bit better but it's still firmly low-end sunlight readability is a pain across the board though so you want to think twice if you spend a lot of time Outdoors moving on to Performance unfortunately all of the models here are noticeably slow even when doing Simple tasks like launching apps with their processor choices to it seems like mesu is simply Clearing House of old Parts as the selection feels totally random these phones are each powered by different old low-end mediatech chips which range from 1 to 2 years old if you're looking for better performance at this price we recommend taking a look at phones that utilize the Qualcomm Snapdragon 430 instead the M5 m5s and M5 note are all unlocked dual SIM devices sadly none of them include support for 4G LTE in the United States this means if you live in or travel to the US you'll want to look elsewhere as you'll be stuck on 3G on both AT&T and T-Mobile the base variant of each of these includes 16 GB of storage but you can insert a Micro SD card in place of a second SIM card to expand the storage the M5 notes built-in speaker is the best of the three and the M5 s's is the worst but to be honest each produced crappy distorted audio you'll definitely want to stick to external audio with these phones we were really hoping for great battery life with these phones given their low-end processors and low resolution displays however even though our testing was limited to 3G we were left disappointed the m5's battery life is adequate we estimate a full day with 4 and 1/2 hours of screen on time when connected to LTE the m5s is is slightly worse we estimate 3 and 1 half hours of screen on time under the same conditions but the M5 notes 4,000 mAh battery left us the most disappointed we estimate 2 hours of screen on time and with about 12 hours of use while connected to LTE but we had inconsistent results so take that with a grain of salt there seems to be a bug with system service as it drained a lot of power in our M5 note battery test hopefully Mau can address this in the future also just something to keep in mind each of these phones includes the older micro USB standard but will'll let you decide whether that's a positive or A negative although the M5 series all used 13 megapix f2. 2 rear cameras and 5 megapixel f2.0 front cameras each model delivers different results the Mau m5's camera sits somewhere in the middle in terms of quality as you can see the colors are overly warm and there's a noticeable lack of contrast the phone tends to under expose image too and struggles to capture both the highlights and shadows in many scenes sadly the camera on the m5s performs worse this one really struggles with dynamic range and colors can be incredibly inaccurate well it's certainly possible to get a nice photo we often found it difficult to work with the M5 notes camera is better thankfully but still has some major flaws it also has serious trouble with dynamic range but more noticeable is how flat and muted the colors look in most of our sample images oddly enough it also had trouble focusing on still objects as you can see from some of these blurry shots it can produce nice images though too but again these aren't great to work with video recording is kept off at 1080p at 30 FPS on each model as you can see from this sample clip taken with the M5 note the software can't really decide on white balance and exposure which leaves for abrupt shifts in color and brightness on a positive note the camera app is quite nice the app offers a good amount of control while still remaining easy to use the software is the same across all three devices the running Maus flyy 5 skan on top of Android 6.0 marshmallow while flyy is r ically different from stock Android that doesn't make it bad flam's design and simplified user experience is commendable everything seems well thought out from the UI colors to the special balance between customization and practicality we want to highlight that the core fllying experience is great even for foreigners however there are still some issues that you need to be aware of since mesu doesn't have an official relationship with Google they use unauthorized methods to get Google Apps and services on their smartphones this means a few things some apps like Android pay won't work notifications can be hit or miss for some apps like Hangouts and the overall experience can just be really quirky at times it's also important to recognize msu's update strategy instead of offering Android OS and security updates mesu instead updates their own flimy skin this isn't unusual at this price but again it's something that you need to be aware of you can now purchase the mesu M5 m5s and M5 note in China starting at 700 un or about $100 there's a bunch of different variants as you can see plus multiple color options for each model mesu has once again managed to deliver super affordable smartphones with few compromises for its target audience the M5 m5s and M5 note punch above their weight with premium Hardware polished software and detailed editions like fingerprint sensors however mesa's offerings do little to stand out from the competition well we think it's great to have options we do not recommend these devices for Western users the global software quirks poor performance and inconsistent battery life are major drawbacks even at $100 instead you might want to consider xiaomi's budget options or if you're in the US take a look at options directly available through your carrier and that will be all for this video please be sure to give it a thumbs up if you liked it and don't forget to subscribe if you haven't already finally check out our website for even more coverage is we are your source for all things Android\n"