Samsung Galaxy M31s Review

Samsung Galaxy M31s Review: Samsung Galaxy M31s sports an Infinity-O AMOLED display

The Samsung Galaxy M31 managed to make a fantastic effect in the budget segment thanks to its sharp AMOLED display and a big battery, which helped distinguish it from the contest. Samsung has launched its successor, known as the Galaxy M31s.

The newest Galaxy M31s sports an Infinity-O display and the Single shoot camera attribute, both firsts for the Galaxy M series. Beginning at Rs. 19,499, do all these new features justify the higher cost? I examine the Galaxy M31s to discover.

Samsung Galaxy M31s layout: Premium looks

The Samsung Galaxy M31s has a somewhat new design which makes it stand out compared to its own allies from the Galaxy M series. It will get a 6.5-inch Infinity-O display with a hole-punch embedded camera centred at the top. I've seen such a layout on the Galaxy Notice 10+, and the Galaxy Lite twins.

Recently, the Galaxy A51 (Overview ) and Galaxy A71 additionally launched with comparable screens, so the same design on the Galaxy M31s makes it look premium. The bezel size is suitable for the price tag, but a couple of people may find the camera hole in the middle somewhat distracting.

These buttons can be reached while holding the smartphone in the hand, but need a small stretch. I'd have preferred that the volume buttons on the left, which merely has the SIM slot. The USB Type-C port, 3.5millimeter audio jackspeaker and speaker are at the base while the top has a secondary mic.

The telephone has a plastic back, which Samsung refers to as'Glasstic'. It's a shiny finish and picks up fingerprints quite easily. I had to keep wiping the back regularly to keep its glossy look.

Samsung offers the Galaxy M31s in 2 gradient finish options, Mirage Black and Mirage Blue. I had the Mirage Black variant with this particular review, and I liked the appearance all around.

The Galaxy M31s includes a quad-camera module in the back that appears like the one seen on the Galaxy M31$16,499 (Inspection ), but with all the sensors transferred around.

The module also houses the single-LED flash. The Galaxy M31s has a 6,000mAh battery, which causes it to tip the scales at 203g. You may truly feel the majority when holding this phone for a while. The spine is curved at the edges however, which makes it a little less uncomfortable.

We have seen this chip in multiple Galaxy smartphones now including the Galaxy M21$13,999 (Review) which is priced under Rs. 15,000. The Exynos 9611 SoC has been an established processor but I was anticipating Samsung to use something newer and more powerful.

The smartphone is available in 6GB RAM and 8GB RAM choices, but the storage stays unchanged at 128GB. You do have the choice to expand storage up to 512GB by means of a microSD card.

There's support for Bluetooth 5, dual-band Wi-Fi ac, and GPS as well as double 4G and VoLTE. Samsung has bundled a 25W USB Type-C charger in the box, which will be a first for the Galaxy M collection. . You also receive a USB Type-C into Type-C cable that can be employed to undo control other devices using the Galaxy M31s.

Concerning software, the Galaxy M31s runs OneUI 2.1 on top of Android 10. My review unit had the July Android Security patch. The UI is quite like what I have seen on other Galaxy M string smartphones that I've reviewed like the Galaxy M31 and the Galaxy M21.

The Galaxy M31s also has the Galaxy Store program which is an alternative to the Google Play Store. The telephone does have Glance Lock Screen Stories, and that means you will see promotional photographs and stories on the lockscreen.

You can disable this if required. I did see a few notifications from the My Galaxy program from time to time.

You do get the choice to customise the appearance of the UI using the themes app. The Galaxy M31s also has other useful software features like dual apps, which let you run two instances of the identical program.

You get Android's Digital Wellbeing attribute, which makes it possible to monitor your smartphone use, and a Game Launcher that clubs all the games installed on the device in 1 area. There's a Game Toolbar too, which lets you block notifications and full-screen gestures, also offers in-game screen recording.

Samsung Galaxy M31s functionality and battery lifetime: Holding back

The Samsung Galaxy M31s has a slightly outdated processor but this did not impact day to day operation. I did not experience burnout or stutter while going through the menus and using the default apps. I'd the 6GB RAM variant, and it could multitask between different apps easily. However, loading heavy programs took longer than usual.

Face recognition was convenient but not the fastest I've used. The display on the Galaxy M31s is crisp, has great viewing angles, and can get glowing enough outside. The camera hole the center could be distracting especially when watching videos.

After using the Samsung Exynos 9611 in a few different smartphones, I had a reasonable idea of its functionality, and the Galaxy M31s didn't surprise me with its reference scores.

In AnTuTu, it scored 192,550 points, which is lower than competitors like the Redmi Note 9 Pro Max Rs.16,999 and Motorola One Fusion+ Rs.17,499 , which achieved 277,058 and 273,407 respectively. In Geekbench 5 single-core and multi-core evaluations, it performed 346 and 1,252 respectively.

Graphics performance is not very strong , and the device may only hit 42fps and 14fps respectively in GFXBench's T-Rex and Manhattan 3.1 tests. The Motorola One Fusion+ handled 55fps and 21fps at the very same tests.

I played PUBG Mobile on the Galaxy M31s, and the game defaulted into the High preset with graphics set to HD and the frame speed to High. I could play the sport in these settings with no stutter. The apparatus did get hot to the touch after playing for 20 minutes.

The Galaxy M31s provides good battery life, and lasted for near two full days together with my use. In our HD video loop test, the smartphone went for 24 hours and two minutes, which was impressive. Samsung does lower the screen brightness once the battery falls below the 15% mark, however.

The furnished 25W charger was fast to recharge the battery, carrying it to 34 per cent in 30 minutes and also to 65 percent in one hour. Charging the telephone completely took a bit over one hour and a half. Total the battery performance is excellent, and thanks to reverse charging, you can use the Galaxy M31s' 6,000mAh capacity to charge other devices in a pinch.

Samsung Galaxy M31s Pictures: Mixed bag

The 64-megapixel main camera has an f/1.8 aperture. There's also a 12-megapixel ultra-wide-angle camera using a 123-degree field of opinion, a 5-megapixel macro camera, and a 5-megapixel depth sensor. The camera app is quite like what I've observed on other non invasive Samsung apparatus.

It's the Single Take feature that delivers a wide variety of output including pictures with pre-applied filters, as well as hyperlapse and boomerang video outcomes, instead of just shooting a very simple video clip. It also has a Guru shooting mode which lets you take whole control of these settings.

The Galaxy M31s takes 16-megapixel shots by default by binning the output of its own 64-megapixel primary sensor. In daylight, the phone is fast to meter light correctly and the AI can detect scenes immediately. Pictures taken in daylight were sharp and had sufficient detail.

You have the option to take shots in the whole 64 megapixels but we selected the ease of the default 16-megapixel resolution.

The wide-angle camera offers a wider field of view but there is distortion, and photos are warped at the edges. The resolution is high enough that you can harvest into these shots, however the level of detail is lower compared to what the primary camera produces.

Close-ups had good detail, along with the telephone can manage a soft bokeh effect for the background which looks fine. The Galaxy M31s has a Live immersion mode for portraits, which permits you to set the level of blur before taking a shot.

The macro camera will not allow you to get quite close to a subject but it didn't manage to capture colors very well.

I did try the Single Take attribute, which gave me multiple presses for the footage that I listed. After hitting the shutter button, the telephone displays for about 15 seconds and provides multiple choices including the very best shot, a few filters, a wise harvest, hyperlapse, boomerang, and the initial video. The photographs and the movie it provides were of a lower resolution.

In low light the Galaxy M31s managed decent shots and kept noise in check. The camera did not perform that well, however. Shooting photos in Night mode results in certain cropping. The output is not drastically brighter but it does have slightly greater detail.

For selfies, the Galaxy M31s includes a 32-megapixel shot and conserves 8-megapixel shots by default and 12-megapixel ones if you want a broader frame. In daylight, the telephone was able to capture decent detail but you need to keep it stable after hitting the camera to get a sharp shot.

It does give you the option to capture portraits utilizing the Live Focus style, and managed good edge detection. Low-light selfies didn't offer the exact same kind of detail.

Video recording shirts out in 4K with the principal camera as well as the selfie shooter. There is stabilisation for video but we noticed a shimmer effect in the output at 4K, while 1080p footage was better. In low light, I detected a shimmer in the output at both resolutions.

Verdict

Samsung's Galaxy M series is always popular, and the company has been launching new models to the industry fairly quickly. The Galaxy M31s is the successor to the Galaxy M31 and receives a new look, the new Infinity-O AMOLED display, and quicker charging using a greater capacity bundled charger.

It retains the same 6,000mAh battery and aging processor though, which might prevent buyers from placing down their money.

The camera functionality is quite similar to what the Galaxy M31 achieved, along with the newest Single Take feature delivers interesting results however, the tradeoff is lower-resolution output.

If battery life is still the main concern, there are not many phones that come close to the Galaxy M31s' performance. However, you could save yourself some cash by going to your Galaxy M31, in case you don't obey the old fashion dewdrop notch.

Good

Superb battery life
Crisp AMOLED display
Bundled rapid charger

Bad

Terrible low-light camera functionality
Poor video stabilisation

Samsung Galaxy M31s Key

Display: 6.50-inch
Processor: Samsung Exynos 9611
Front Camera: 32-megapixel
Rear Camera: 64-megapixel + 12-megapixel + 5-megapixel + 5-megapixel
RAM: 6GB
Storage: 128GB
Battery Capacity: 6000mAh
OS: Android 10
Resolution: 1080x2400 pixels

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