Samsung Galaxy M31 Review: Megastar in the budget category
Samsung Galaxy M31 comes with a 6,000mAh battery, quad rear cameras and more. Is it a good buy? Read on my review to find out
The one price segment that aptly caters to the needs of us Indians is the budget segment. The cherry on the cake is when these very affordable devices come stacked with high-end features, ending our envy for the premium ones in the mobile world. Samsung, much like Xiaomi, Realme, is striving for the same and has launched a new smartphone in its budget Galaxy M series called the Samsung Galaxy M31.
The Galaxy M31 is the successor to the Galaxy M30s and aims to provide us with a good smartphone experience with all the highlighted features it comes with. However, is it a worthy upgrade to the Galaxy M30s and a tough contender in the budget ring? Read on my review to find out.
Samsung Galaxy M31 Review: Design
The Samsung Galaxy M31 is decently and simply designed when it comes to budget smartphones. There isn’t too much going on but whatever we have on our plates is still eye-pleasing. When I first held the Galaxy M31, it appeared quite bulky. But as it adjusted to my hands I got to know it was lightweight after all. Made up of polycarbonate, the device comes in two colour options: Ocean Blue and Space Black. I got hold of the black colour and loved the classic black tone of the device, which can never go wrong for a smartphone or anything painted in black. Although the smartphone doesn’t have a glass back, it doesn’t come last in the design race and offers us a sleek, not-so-cheap, and sturdy design.
As for the built, the Galaxy M31 sports a rectangular camera module at the back in the top left corner. The camera setup comprises three camera sensors and an LED flash. There is a fingerprint scanner in the middle, followed by the Samsung branding at the bottom. Upfront, there is a waterdrop notch at the top and fewer bezels. The chin has a 3.5mm audio jack, USB Type-C port, and speaker grille (from left to right). The head doesn’t have anything. The left side of the smartphone is home to a SIM slot and the left side houses the volume rocker and the power on/off button. Speaking of the volume button, it is placed quite high and reaching it wasn’t as easy as it is on any other smartphone.
The Samsung Galaxy M31 isn’t a perfectly designed smartphone and doesn’t bring anything new. But, it has decent looks and I give it good marks for its simplicity.
Samsung Galaxy M31 Review: Display
The Samsung Galaxy M31 has a 6.4-inch Full HD+ Super AMOLED display, which is known as the Infinity-U display. The name arises from the presence of a waterdrop notch. It is protected by a Corning Gorilla Glass 3 which is slightly disappointing. The smartphone has a number of display features, which are mostly in the case of every Samsung smartphone. There is Adaptive Brightness, Blue light filter, Dark mode, a choice between Vivid and Natural display colours, Always On Display, Accidental touch protection, Touch Sensitivity and more. While all the display features prove to be helpful, the accidental touch protection doesn’t really provide any protection as the device could easily be accessed accidentally.
The display experience is more than decent and this is the area where Samsung doesn’t fail to excel. For a budget smartphone, we get a display that becomes enjoyable to use. The display is neither huge nor small and is aptly bright. The Infinity-U display ensures the right screen size for both usability and streaming videos. Be it on YouTube or Netflix or any other streaming service for that matter, watching content was good. The smartphone pleased a person who is more into binge-watching Netflix on her TV (Amazon Fire Stick is a blessing over here), and this is the Galaxy M31’s positive aspect.
Samsung Galaxy M31 Review: Cameras
Starting with the camera configuration, the Galaxy M31 has a quad-camera setup at the back. There is a main 64MP snapper, an 8MP Ultra-Wide-Angle lens, a 5MP depth sensor, and a 5MP macro lens. We get a 32MP front camera. The smartphone supports several camera features such as 4K video recording, Super slow-motion videos, Super Steady mode, LED flash, HDR mode, Night mode, among others.
The one word I give to the Galaxy M31 cameras is decent. The cameras perform well in mostly all lighting conditions and that’s a plus point. The negative point is the grainy images in indoor scenarios (on zooming in of course). More often than not we get detailed images and the results aren’t overly processed too. But, they do reflect tints of over saturation. The Ultra-Wide-Angle lens is quite decent, much like it is on any other Samsung smartphone and the HDR mode works fine too. However, the macro lens is really moody and fails to capture a lot many details as I would expect it to. Among others, Night mode works just fine, not brilliantly and the Live Focus works fine but is moody much like the macro lens.
The 32MP front shooter is quite decent. There is less beautification and details are highlighted. But, in this case, too, the images go for warmer tones and that is slightly underwhelming. The video department does well; the Super Steady mode gives out the stability it claims to provide, 4K videos are fine too (it records at 360fps) and slow-motion videos are above average.
Samsung Galaxy M31 Review: Spec Sheet
Here are the Samsung Galaxy M31 technical specifications:
| Specifications | Samsung Galaxy M31 |
| Display | 6.4-inch Full HD+ Super AMOLED |
| Processor | Exynos 9611 |
| RAM | 6GB |
| Storage | 64GB, 128GB |
| Rear Camera |
64MP (main) 8MP (Ultra Wide) 5MP (Depth sensor) 5MP (Macro) |
| Front Camera | 32MP |
| Battery | 6,000mAh |
| OS | Samsung UI 2.0 based on Android 10 |
| Price | Rs. 14,999/Rs. 15,999 |
Samsung Galaxy M31 Review: Performance, Battery, OS
The Samsung Galaxy M31 has the company’s Exynos 9611 processor, coupled with 6GB of RAM. The smartphone gets two internal storage variants: 64GB and 128GB, out of which I got hold of the latter. The storage can be expanded with the use of a memory card by up to 512GB. The smartphone acts as a decent daily driver. I am a ‘basic smartphone usage’ person and doesn’t squeeze a device until its very end. Hence, for me, the Galaxy M31 did more than decent. From social media usage to streaming videos to playing games (both PUBG Mobile and Candy Crush Saga) to clicking pictures -- all tasks were done with ease and I didn’t face many issues with the smartphone. However, there were times when it did stammer and lagged with a number of apps in the background. This was reduced significantly with a simple ‘reduce animation’ trick from the Settings menu. As a reminder, this trick worked well with the Galaxy S10 Lite too.
The battery is the major highlight of the Galaxy M31. With a massive 6,000mAh battery, the Galaxy M31 clearly stands out in the budget arena. The battery, with my usage, lasted me easily for two days and I knew I was at peace (with all the binge-watching) on a single charge. One problem I faced was the not-so-fast charging. The 15W fast charging didn’t charge the device up too fast, hence, I expect Samsung to focus on this area for its budget smartphones as well.
As for the UI, I began liking the Samsung UI 2.0 with the Galaxy S10 Lite and will be sticking to the stance. The UI is clean and easy to navigate. Topped up with the Focus mode, Digital Wellbeing, parent controls, dark mode, and a couple of gestures, I didn’t face issues with the interface of the smartphone. However, what I didn’t like was a number of pre-loaded apps (bloatware) and this time I didn’t like its presence. Among others, the fingerprint scanner and Face Unlock was snappy and the audio quality was fine too. However, I missed the in-box earphones, which I feel Samsung should finally start adding with its budget smartphones as well.
Samsung Galaxy M31 Review: Verdict
The Samsung Galaxy M31, with a starting price of Rs. 14,999, is another Samsung move to maintain its hold in the budget segment. And this time, it isn’t a bad attempt, given that the huge 6,000mAh battery steals the show. However, upgrading from the Galaxy M30s isn't a good idea since both smartphones share most of the features. It competes against the likes of the Xiaomi Redmi Note 8 Pro that comes with a MediaTek Helio G90T processor and Corning Gorilla Glass 5, and the Realme XT that has an in-display fingerprint scanner.
While the Galaxy M31 has some misses as compared to its competition, the smartphone isn’t any less and that’s why it is an option to consider for its UI (I like it better than the MIUI) and decent cameras apart from the battery.
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