Samsung’s fair attempt at a big-screen, small-price smartphone

Samsung Galaxy M20 By Samsung

Price: Rs 10,990

South Korean major Samsung was dethroned by Chinese smartphone player Xiaomi in India in 2018 -- the same way Samsung stole the limelight from Nokia in 2012.

Xiaomi dominated 2018 with a market share of 28 % while Samsung grabbed 24 % share in the same period, according to Counterpoint Research.

Samsung has been feeling the pinch in the affordable and budget segment and now, to counter the growing competition from its Chinese counterpart, the company has introduced “Galaxy M” series that marks a strategy shift in terms of design language, chipset upgrade and internals.

Marketed as “India-first” smartphones, the newlylaunched Galaxy M20 and Galaxy M10 are an attempt to offer better specifications at an affordable price.

The Galaxy M10 costs Rs 7,990 for the 2GB RAM+16GB storage variant while the Galaxy M20 will come for Rs 10,990 (3GB RAM+32GB storage version).

IANS used M20 for almost a week and here is what we think of it. The Galaxy M20 is a step forward in terms of design language, courtesy the “Infinity-v” notch screen that houses a selfie sensor in it.

The 6.3-inch screen on the phone has an aspect ratio of 19.5:9 with well-rounded corners. The tiny notch sure renders a tall display real estate.

The rear side consists of polycarbonate panel which definitely didn’t feel as sturdy and premium as those with glass backs.

The device supports a futuristic Type-c charging port sandwiched between a 3.5mm headphone jack and a speaker grille, which a good addition considering the price point.

The Galaxy M20 sports dual rear camera with a 13MP shooter and a 5MP wide-angle lens.

The camera app is easy to use with enough modes to choose from. It captured photos with accurate colours sans any lag.

The images were strictly okay when shot outdoors; a closer inspection of the images revealed loss of details.

We particularly liked the wide-angle snaps.

For selfies, the device has an 8MP snapper that captured detailed photos and had accurate colour reproduction. The front camera also supports “Live Focus” mode that worked well.

The Galaxy M20 comes with Samsung’s homegrown Exynos 7904 processor. During the review, the phone handled everyday tasks with ease. Multitasking such as browsing Netflix, videos and music was smooth too. A high point of the phone was the dependable 5000mah battery which easily lasted over a day and a half with moderate usage. What doesn’t work? Low-light imaging was poor and the photos looked grainy.

The Exynos 7904 chipset could handle everyday tasks but fell slightly short of Qualcomm Snapdragon 636-powered Xiaomi Redmi Note 6 pro. We’ve found phones with smaller batteries, such as Realme U1, offer equally good battery life.

The lack of a notification LED on the front was also a put off.

Conclusion: Galaxy M2 is a fair attempt by Samsung to offer decent internals and bigger screen real estate in a budget. Those looking for a reliable brand to invest in should consider buying the M20.

—Krishna Sinhachaudhury. IANS