Samsung kicked off the Galaxy M51 with one of the worst campaigns to come out of that company. Apparently addressing toddlers — no offence to toddlers — with some ‘Meanest Monster Ever’ refrain it keeps on about something defeating something. No offence to monsters either. This is supposed to be some sort of face-off between a monster mascot and an M series phone, with the phone winning every time, since you can’t buy a monster, hopefully. This bit of marketing however means to aim at Gen Z users with a phone that really isn’t bad at all.

The M51 is made in India in Samsung’s largest manufacturing facility for phones, globally. For that alone, Samsung is forgiven all its monsters. The screen on the M51 is a 6.7 inch AMOLED with what Samsung calls ‘Infinity O’ which means it has thin bezels and a tiny round dot housing the front camera. The display has a 1080x2340 resolution and a ~385ppi density. Whatever its specs, it looks really good and typically Samsung. Brilliant colours and plenty of crispness. The back of the phone is on the plain and straightforward side and our review unit is a colour I’m not sure what to name. It could be blue and again it could be black. The variants are Electric Blue and Celestial Black. There’s nothing very distinctive about how it looks on the back and this may appeal to those who like to keep it non-flashy.

Monster power

The M51 has one gigantic USP: a 7,000mAh battery. Considering the average on phones of the same size hovers around 4,000mAh, it’s certainly monstrous in size. I charged it yesterday and have been using it lightly, and it’s only 7 per cent down. Doesn’t look like there’s anything major to drain that battery in a hurry so it’s a good choice for those who don’t want to be obsessed with topping up their phones.

For anyone who has long sessions of phone calls or who watches movies, etc. or games, it’s less likely to surprise you with running out. The battery has fast-charging with a 25W charger and also does reverse charging — not surprising if it’s got that much juice.

The phone’s ergonomics are rather good given that it has such a huge battery on the inside. It’s not as twice as heavy as a phone with a battery half the rating, for instance. It’s also not broad and unmanageable so that it remains quite comfortable to hold for long calls. The balance between weight and battery is actually quite nice.

The M51 uses Snapdragon 730G (read gamers) and is quite nice and snappy. There are two variants, one with 6GB/128 and another with 8/128. Memory card expansion is supported.

For cameras, we have 64MP primary with the usual accompaniments and 32MP in front. The cameras are in a word, ‘fine’. They work very well for everyday casual phone photography, much as they are expected to.

Overall, the M51 is the best in the M series and is quiet all-rounded with an icing of a huge battery on top of that. It’s easy to recommend for someone who wants a mid-range made-in-India phone without an annoying interface.

Price: ₹24,999 and ₹26,999

Pros: Huge battery, great screen, very reasonable specs, good ergonomics

Cons: Nothing in particular

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