Flyme 8 Vs Flyme 7.3 Comparison – Top 10 Features You Should Know

A couple of days back, Meizu finally released the eighth version of Flyme. The upgraded Flyme 8 launched after a wait of nearly 491 Days. Meizu 16s Pro is the first phone which already comes with the new OS. So the question is: Is Flyme 8 worth waiting 491 Days? Looking at the features let’s find out and do a Flyme 8 vs Flyme 7.3 comparison review as well.

Flyme 8 Vs Flyme 7.3 – Features Worth the Long Wait

1) A Steady Change In The Design With An Artisan Spirit

Right at the start when we unlock the Flyme 8 smartphone which is Meizu 16s Pro, we see the ‘steady change’. It starts from the lock screen of the Android OS to the icon designing. Below you can see the lock screen of the previous Flyme 7.3 (left) and the new Flyme 8 compared.

It can be seen Flyme 8 maintains a family-like high unity in the overall visual style. With a little change to the font and the icons, you can distinguish at a glance that this phone belongs to the fresh Meizu design. Though I do love the previous clock font, however, this one looks okay as well.

In fact, Flyme has long abandoned the past “cool” design seen in versions before Flyme 7.3. The OS is turning its UX to a more vibrant and lively young style. It’s a brighter color tone with higher saturation which continued on the Flyme 8.

2) Meet The Overall Minimalistic But Vibrant Design

Customized Android OS like EMUI, MIUI, and now Flyme have approached to a minimal design with much simplicity and plainness. Why? Such appearance has a better visual impact and easy to distinguish. Flyme 8 is no exception. The design of the UI of Flyme 8 is called ‘Alive Design’ reflecting a vigorous experience rather than something dark.

The most intuitive feeling is the brand new smart wallpaper, which can bring vitality and dynamic. When you light up the screen, the moment is like the change from dusk to dawn, so natural and coherent. The control of these details reflects the first Flyme impression 7 years back.

This Flyme 8 vs Flyme 7.3 comparison will not complete without crediting the new charging animation the Flyme 8 has over Flyme 7.3. As you can see the charging animation of Flyme 7.3 was plain and simple resembling the Samsung OS. However, in addition to becoming more exquisite and beautiful, smart and lively animation is more in line with the style of Flyme 8 which is Alive Design.

3) Say Goodbye to Extra Lining Elements

Flyme 8 has different definitions of UX beauty, and “break the line” idea is the biggest change this time. Many of the icons on the desktop have undergone a new redraw, eliminating the complex line elements of the past, leaving a more complete visual integration effect, making it easier for users to focus on the content itself.

Of course, “break the line” idea can be obviously seen in the system settings and the built-in APP. In the past, there was a clear gap between one content and another. All of this disappeared on Flyme 8. By leaving the line blank, the vision was more coherent, the segmentation was weakened, the interference on the content was reduced, and the user was able to focus more on the content. Segmenting might be useful for content distribution, and without the lines, it can go messy, however, the Flyme 8 ensures proper spacing to counter that.

4) New Pattern

Among the new features of the Flyme 8 and changed from Flyme 7.3 is the new font. It’s a more slender font giving the interface a slim look, this is very different from Flyme 7.3 where the interface is full of spacing.

Moreover, Meizu also adjusts the system DPI size, bringing a 4×6 grid layout. The icon design separates the foreground from the background, increasing the layering effect of the icon. When you open the app, there will be different animation effects. At the same time, the elements look smaller than before, reducing the bloated feeling of the system UX and seeming to be more in line with the modern aesthetic.

5) The Advance Notification Center

The notification center is also the focus of the Flyme 8 change. Unlike the previous drop-down animation on Flyme 7.3, when you drop the notification center on the Flyme 8, the shortcut button will have a real physical fallback animation, making the system UX look even more exquisite with imagination.

The UI of the notification center has also been updated. It has removed more lines on the left, leaving an integrated visual impression. In the context of frosted glass, the whole experience has reached a new level.

The brightness bar also goes under redesigning. The dot plus straight line has been changed to the one-piece horizontal bar making it more unified.

6) Small Window-Mode 2.0

During the use of Flyme 8, the most frequent feature we used was the small window mode 2.0. When you are using some app, you can quickly send a message to your friends. Unlike the pop-up message appearing in the notification center in Samsung and EMUI Android OS which is troublesome to reply, the message appears in a small window to make it easy and clear for the user.

Flyme 8 brings the version 2.0 of this small window mode which was released back in Flyme 7.3.  This solves the problem that can only be opened in a specific interface. No matter which interface you are in, you can open the small window mode. It’s really beautiful to watch a TV show and talk to a friend on a smartphone screen.

However, this magical feature is not as good as it looks, in Flyme 7.3. The most annoying thing about this in Flyme 7.3 was that when many people chat one must switch different windows to talk to each person which was somewhat difficult and uncomfortable. However, Meizu has a good way to design a bubble notification for this situation in Flyme 8. When you are chatting with many people at the same time, there is a bubble at the bottom of the small window. Clicking on the bubble allows you to switch to that person. Nice work there Meizu!

Small window mode 2.0 also adds the function of a parallel small window. When you browse the content of WeChat public account, even if you have WeChat message, you don’t need to exit the browsing interface. A small window can directly reply to the information, which makes this mode even more practical and important for the Flyme and Meizu phones.

7) Aicy Assistant Voice Assistant

Okay, Apple has Siri, Google as Google assistant, Xiaomi as Xiao AI, then why not Meizu fall behind. In Flyme 8, we have the AI voice assistant known as ‘Aicy’. The incredible AI system of Meizu which is One Mind has merged one with Aicy functionality.

Aicy is divided into these major functions

• Voice assistant
• Intelligent screen
• Intelligent overview

The voice assistant is an upgraded version of the previous one. It completely inherits the powerful functions of Xiaoxi voice (a Chinese Ai voice). What you can think of as a voice assistant can do the same in Aicy voice, ask the weather, plan, and distinguish garbage. These are small cases for Aicy voice. Now Aicy Voice can complete nearly 233 conversation scenarios. However, all these are in Chinese like Xiaomi’s Xiao AI. This might motivate you in learning some Chinese though. Such optimism. Such kidding! Let’s hope it comes in multi-language soon. You can use the default Google assistant meanwhile.

8) Improved Intelligent Screen

The intelligent screen function is also available in Flyme 7, however, this time the Aicy screen is a perfect version of the previous intelligent screen. As long as you press the screen, Aicy can intelligently identify the content displayed on the screen. The text content can automatically split and promote the selection. It can also identify image content, QR code, and other information, or automatically search for related content.

9) Aicy Intelligent Overview with One Mind 3.5

As for the intelligent overview function, Aicy’s overview doesn’t need to set again and again every time. It can completely sort out the user’s liked content through the One Mind 3.5 function of Meizu Flyme. It can intelligently track more than 20 kinds of data such as frequent apps, ticket, and work schedule. The smart integration feature makes it easy to see at a cool screen.

10) Performance Optimization

Last but not least, in the comparison review of Flyme 8 vs Flyme 7.3 is the speed comparison. Upgrading from Flyme 7’s OneMind 3.0 to OneMind 3.5, it has been n-tuned based on the previous generation, and the seven functions have optimized the Flyme system in an all-round way. Each improvement can further enhance the system. The performance gives the user a smoother Flyme 8.

But is this enough? Not at all. So here’s another optimization. Flyme 8 has a unique read-write loader that changes the native Android I/O scheduling from the previous full display to the sequential scheduling strategy. It is more suitable for a smartphone’s flash memory and can improve the overall performance of the system.

According to Meizu’s test, the average reading speed increased by nearly 13%, the maximum reading latency was reduced by 77%, the average writing speed was increased by 17%, and the maximum writing latency was reduced by 55% over Flyme 7.3. The improvement is very obvious. In our tests, both the system and the APP can experience a smoother experience and further liberate the powerful performance.

Our Conclusion

Summarizing the whole Flyme 8 vs Flyme 7.3 features comparison, the Meizu phone loaded with the Flyme system, as we said, has a soul of its own. Especially on the latest Flyme 8 system, it doesn’t matter if it’s the Alive Design or Aicy assistant, every change is perfecting the user experience, showing the desire to become a craftsman all the time. It’s worth the long wait.

Of course, this Flyme 8 is the ‘Beta version’ we tested, so one can expect more features and optimizations to come. Meizu has promised that in the future, Flyme 8 will also come to nearly 27 Meizu phones. So for know, Meizu is working hard on improving the uniqueness of its Android OS similar to the smartphones it manufactures. The work of Meizu only needs to acknowledge by more people through spreading. So, why shouldn’t we share it to reach out more?

Image Credit: PCOnline China

Rating Flyme 8 OS

Summary

An OS which has a soul of it's own. Filled with vibrant and dynamic coloring, packed with a new voice assistant, AI engine, and a ground breaking read-write loader, Flyme 8 is worth the long wait.

Reader Rating1 Votes

1.4

Pros

Redesigned UI

Minimal Design

New AI Voice Assistant

Eliminated Spacing and Lining

Improved Notification Bar

Small Window Mode 2.0

Meet One Mind 3.5

Added Read-Write Loader

Will be available to 28 Meizu phones

Cons

Highly bright and colorful OS might not be a good option at night (unless there's a dark mode)

Only available on Meizu 16s Pro at the moment

8.5

Total Rating