At the height of smartphone revolution, Samsung had captured one-third of the market for mobile phones. But over the years it lost this share to Xiaomi, Oppo, Vivo and others. The company, after being drubbed by Chinese players, is making a comeback and beating them at their game. Although this trend started long back when it launched its J series and M series, the launch of M31 gives it an extra edge. The new phone has everything from a bright and responsive screen, RAM and battery. But it still lags behind its peers in terms of raw power and sound.
Design: There is nothing radical about M31’s design, if you have dealt with Samsung devices in the past. It has two buttons on the side, a fingerprint scanner at the back. The four-point camera is a different design, but nothing too radical. As compared to a Vivo or Oppo, the Samsung phone lacks the looks. The plastic feels cheap and is susceptible to fingerprints.
Camera: What the phone lacks in design, it more than makes up for in camera department. There is a 64 MP main camera (hold your breath), a 8MP ultra-wide, 5MP depth, 5MP macro. Despite all these, colours in Samsung phones are off for some reason. There is too much saturation and the image lacks depth. If you can toggle with the pro settings, adjust white balance and saturation, M31 does perform really well. At the end of the day, it is the software which is still not up to the mark in any of the Samsung phones.
Screen and sound: Samsung does not disappoint as far as screen is concerned. With 420 nits, the screen is perfect and best in class. The blacks are pronounced, and low-light is actually low light in this phone. The sound, however, is disappointing. The Dolby Atmos (only with headphones) does make an impact, but not enough. The loudness was there, but again it was more noise than sound.
Processor: Samsung comes equipped with a 6GB RAM and 6,000 mAH battery. So, there are hardly any complaints. The phone does drain fast, but given the massive size of the battery, it holds for a good day or more. Gaming is excellent on the phone, but given the refresh rate and low processor speed, heating up was more of an issue than battery life. Gaming performance, for something like a Fortnite, was below par. Exynos 9611 is not the ideal processor and seems to have some lags in performance.
Price: This is the phone’s forte. Given the Rs 15,999 price tag, there is an additional Rs 1,000 off for ICICI Bank credit cards, there cannot be many complaints. Samsung has packed as many features as it could, save the sound and processor. But then again, how much can you ask for in that price range.
Estimated street price: Rs 15,999
