Samsung reigned supreme in the Indian smartphone industry until an army of Chinese companies, led by Xiaomi, came along and changed the rules of the game. Carpeting the market with well-designed and strong-performing smartphones at never-before prices, they wrapped up the budget segment by working very hard at it.

But recently, Samsung has decided to step in and fill the gaps in its own portfolio, one could say, to take back what was once its own territory. And so, the company started to strengthen its Galaxy A series with more interesting cameras and pretty designs, and has now introduced a new series called the Galaxy M, where M stands for Millennials.

BL31TechAnchor2
 

Affordable pricing

The first two phones in this series are the M10 and M20, to be available on Amazon and Samsung’s website from February 5. The Galaxy M20 will be priced at ₹12,990 for the 4 GB+64 GB variant, while the 3 GB+32 GB variant will cost ₹10,990. The Galaxy M10 is priced at ₹8,990 for the 3 GB+32 GB variant and ₹7,990 for the 2 GB+16 GB.

We have both the M10 and M20 and are checking them out. As you can guess, they’re very similar indeed. In fact, we have both in the same Ocean Blue colour, which makes the phones look even more similar. Of course, the M20 is the higher-end offering of the two and does have several differences. Quite immediately, one notices the M20 being the heavier of the two because it has a 5,000 mAh battery, which is a great advantage and one of the reasons to pick up this phone. The M10 has a 3,400 mAh battery, which also is pretty good, actually, considering that’s what some flagship phones still have.

The two phones look very standard and might one venture to say, unremarkable. If they’re ‘inspired by Millennials’ as Samsung says, perhaps some nice popping colour options might have been in order instead of a black and a sedate corporate-looking blue.

Bland looks

Everything about the rounded edges and corners and the Samsung logo at the back, as well as the overall build is quite familiar looking. The back panels don’t stand out not just because they’re not colourful but because they’re not glass. On the plus side though, the devices will accordingly be less vulnerable to damage from drops. They certainly don’t look fragile, which is perhaps why no case has been provided in the box — one can do without it quite easily.

Both phones have a water-drop notch, a trend to which amusingly enough Samsung has given in. Many may remember the ads from Samsung mocking the notch when it first came out on the iPhone X. But the notch is actually more than welcome here because it allows for the edges to be minimised, providing more screen space. The displays are both vivid though I had the impression I would have wanted better viewing angles on the M10. In this and other hardware features, there is a clear separation between the Galaxy M series and the pre-flagship Galaxy A series so at least you know what you’re getting. But all said and done, Samsung is the king of smartphone displays and that shows, even if the screens are not in the same league as those of more expensive phones.

Not fast enough

I’m a long-time user of Samsung phones and though not using one currently as one of my daily drivers, instantly find myself in familiar territory when setting up and starting to use the phones. Samsung’s interface is well known but on these phones may just be too much as neither of them is blazingly fast and smooth. This is where the difference between these devices and phones from Xiaomi, Asus and several other players stands out. Others have managed to streamline and offer fast smoothness, which the two M phones don’t seem to have, though the M20 is not that far behind. There is something about these phones that gives the feeling of datedness. Perhaps long-term use will feel otherwise but the fact is that the processors used are perhaps not on par with those used by others like Xiaomi and Asus, which offer stock Android options.

For now, the Galaxy M phones don’t come with Samsung’s new OneUI interface and are running on Android 8.1, like almost all phones in the budget segment right now.

The phones also have just too many notifications pushing you to get this app or the other app and that is an annoyance you encounter right from the start.

The cameras on both phones include an ultra-wide lens so more people or landscapes can fit into the frame. Users can’t help loving that. They work adequately well for both photos and videos but deeper use will show whether they are worthwhile, which of course is what can be said for the phones on an overall basis as well.

comment COMMENT NOW