Meizu Returns with the Meizu 22, Its First Flagship in Three Years
· smartphones
After three years of rumors and a near-total pullback from the smartphone market, Meizu is back. The Meizu 22 launched in Zhuhai on April 22, positioned as the brand’s first true flagship since the Meizu 20 Pro. The phone runs on Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 2 and ships with Flyme OS 12, the first major Flyme release since the Geely-backed restructuring.
Why it matters
Meizu’s smartphone business shrank to almost nothing between 2022 and 2024, with the brand effectively functioning as a software and AI lab within the Geely empire. The Meizu 22 is a test of whether there is still a market for a small, design-led Chinese phone brand in an industry that has consolidated around six players.
What is new
- Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 2 with a vapor chamber twice the size of the Meizu 20 Pro’s.
- 6.7-inch flat OLED at 1.5K resolution, the first flat display on a Meizu flagship since 2019.
- mBack returns as a software gesture, replacing the pressure-sensitive Home button that was dropped in 2022.
- Flyme OS 12 brings tighter integration with Geely’s car infotainment, including deep linking to Lynk & Co and Zeekr vehicles.
Pricing starts at 3,999 yuan (about $550). The phone is sold in China only for now, with no international launch announced. Meizu said a budget companion, the Meizu 22 Note, will follow in Q3 2026.