Meizu's MX4 Ubuntu Smartphone Requires An Invite To Purchase

If you’re looking to try out an Ubuntu phone, take a number. The Meizu MX4 Ubuntu Edition will be available for purchase starting Thursday in Europe. But getting your hands on one isn’t quite straightforward.

The only way to get the smartphone for now is through an unconventional invitation driven by an “interactive origami wall” on the website of Meizu, a Chinese smartphone manufacturer. There, invites will be randomly generated and placed on a daily basis. If a visitor to the site gets invited, they’ll be able to purchase the phone for 299 euros ($334).

Ubuntu is primarily known as a Linux desktop operating system and alternative to Microsoft’s Windows. But in January 2015, U.K.-based Canonical brought a version of its OS over to the mobile world, starting with the BQ Aquarius E4.5, a dual-sim smartphone manufactured by Spanish company Mundo Reader. Just like the Aquarius, the MX4 is a version of a smartphone currently available on the market that runs Google's Android.

Shoppers looking to purchase the MX4 will be able to choose from two colors: silver and gold. As for specs, the MX4 comes with 16GB storage, a 20.7MP camera, 2MP front facing camera and 5.36-inch high resolution screen with Corning’s Gorilla Glass 3 display cover. It also comes with a MediaTek octa-core processor and 2GB of memory. While it’s a step up from the budget friendly Aquarius E4.5, which came with a tiny 4.5-inch 540x960 touch screen and 8MP camera, the MX4 is primarily a mid-range smartphone.