Samsung Galaxy M31 is available in two variants and starts at a price of Rs 14,999
The key highlight of the budget device is its 64-megapixel quad camera set-up
The Galaxy M31 also gets a 6.4-inch Full HD+ display and a 6000mAh battery
South Korean tech giant, Samsung, has already launched a number of smartphones this year, with some of them even being launched at price points that Samsung has been shy of competing in previous years.
But with its latest smartphone in India, the Galaxy M31, Samsung appears to have turned its focus to a price segment in which the company had enjoyed a decent amount of success last year. Launched as the successor to the Galaxy M30 from last year, this new smartphone sticks to the same core philosophy for providing a refined Android experience to buyers looking for a smartphone on a budget.
We’ve had the device with us for a few days now. Read on our review to find out what we think about it.
Samsung Galaxy M31: Design and display
Despite being a budget segment smartphone sold at an affordable price point of around Rs 15k, the Galaxy M31 does not disappoint when it comes to the display fitted on it. Much like the panels we’ve seen on other Samsung smartphones recently, this one too is quite expansive and features good viewing angles, as well as, punchy colours.
As a consequence of the price point the Galaxy M31 has been launched at, the phone’s display does see a fair amount of bezel enclosing the actual 6.4-inch Full HD+ Super AMOLED display fitted on the device. There’s also a small waterdrop notch on the display.
However, when you watch movies or play games on the device, the Infinity-V display on the device doesn’t distract the user too much from the content at hand and manages to provide an overall immersive experience.
This is especially true while you’re watching movies or streaming content on the Galaxy M31. For the latter, Samsung also promises Widevine L1 certification to help users stream their favourite TV shows and movies from platforms like Netflix and Hotstar at the display’s highest possible resolution -- 1080 x 2340 pixels at 403 ppi pixel density.
To help make the device appear more premium than it is, Samsung has also used a sheet of 2.5D curved glass on top of the display which melts right into the plastic unibody of the device.
Talking about the body of the phone, on the right of the Galaxy M31 we have the power button and just above it the volume rocker. The device’s 2+1 SIM card slot is housed on the left, while at the bottom, we have a Type C port flanked by a 3.5mm jack and a mono speaker grille on each side.
Moving to the back, there’s a pill-shaped fingerprint scanner sat close to the phone’s quad-camera module that would remind you very much of the Galaxy S10 Lite at the first glance. However, as we’d explain later on in the review, the two modules, and the lenses found in them are nothing alike.
The phone’s body is made of glossy plastic which is particularly prone to picking up smudges. Samsung has launched the device in two different colours -- Ocean Blue and Space Black -- and as found out during the review of the device, our Space Black unit picked up smudges very easily taking away from the appearance of the device. But if you are not averse to the smudged appearance of the device, then the Galaxy M31 could be a good choice for you.
Samsung Galaxy M31: Specifications, features and battery
Moving on to the spec sheet, we’re again reminded about the fact that the Galaxy M31 is an upper budget segment device. Running the show here is a 2.3GHz Exynos 9611 octa-core chipset fabricated using a 10nm FinFet process. The chipset houses a Mali G72 MP3 GPU and is paired with 6GB of RAM and up to 128GB of storage.
Now for those following Samsung’s work in the last 6 months or so, this chipset will be quite recognizable. This is because the company has earlier used the same chip on the Galaxy M30s, and more recently on the Galaxy A51 launched only last month.
The chipset is quite competent at most tasks, however, as we had found out with the Galaxy A51, it’s just not up to the mark if you plan to use your new phone for heavy gaming, or subject it to the ire of stress tests.
As processors go, this chipset is not the most powerful out there right now for handling performance-oriented tasks. Although still great at handling basic apps of daily use, and even good at handling multitasking, the fact that it isn’t one of the best in the segment when it comes to benchmarks does raise question marks over how future proof the chipset is going forward.
But for the here, and now, the Galaxy M31 doesn’t disappoint when it comes to general use. And much of this is because of the device’s UI, which to be honest is one of the positives of the M31.
For a smartphone that starts retail at Rs 14,999, the M31 brings one of the most refined and might we add, premium, UI to the table. The phone ships with One UI 2 that’s based on Android 10 and is the latest version of Samsung’s revamped One UI software.
Despite a little bloatware, it’s generally clean and brings to the table a lag-free, smooth experience that not only works well but also looks premium while doing so.
The UI of the device also brings some impressive gains when it comes to battery life to the table. And the fact that that the phone gets a massive 6000mAh pack helps it last almost two days on a single charge. However, once it does run out of juice, charging it takes some time as the phone comes with only 15W fast charging support.
Samsung Galaxy M31: Camera
The galaxy M31 also carries on the good work with the phone’s camera system which is quite impressive for the price.
Galaxy M31 sports quad-camera setup, with a primary 64-megapixel lens that does well in most situations. Low light performance isn’t the exception, but considering the price, it does manage to click shots that are generally pleasing to the eye and come out with rich colour and enough detail.
The ultra-wide lens on the device makes the phone more versatile at clicking different type of shots. In the real world, this ultra-wide lens adds an all-new way to look at frames and click pictures fitting in more space than you would be able to use a standard smartphone camera. It gives you the ability to include a wider expanse in the frame by simply tapping a button inside the camera application. However, the ultra-wide lens on the device isn’t the most impressive out there and manages to click shots that often come out a little grainy and appear lacking in detail.
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