What is a person looking for in the mid / low end of the
Android market? Difficult, if not impossible, to give an univocal answer.
However, certainly there is a type of user who focuses a lot on autonomy,
looking for a smartphones that does not cost too much, that is able to overcome
the classic day of use and that has performances that allow you to perform the
usual daily activities.
The Samsung Galaxy M31 is part of this context, a smartphone
that we have used over the last few weeks and that arrives in Italy exclusively
by Amazon at a price of 279 euros . Galaxy M21 has also recently arrived, but
that model will be discussed later on these pages.
Design and unboxing
The package designed by Samsung opens vertically and
contains inside, in addition to the classic manuals and the pin for extracting
the SIM compartment, a USB Type-C cable and a 15W charger . A basic equipment,
which is a bit turn up your nose in a period in which we are now used to seeing
more performing covers and chargers in the package. On the other hand, the 3.5
mm audio jack for headphones is available, which is locate at the bottom next
to the USB Type-C port (no video output, but there is the OTG), the first
microphone and the speaker .
On the right side the power button and the volume rocker
peek out, while the trolley for the SIM (triple slot, two nanoSIM and microSD)
is on the left. At the top there is only the second microphone.
As for the unlocking modes, both facial recognition and the
fingerprint sensor are present. Here we find an "oval" one on the
back, which has never given us any particular problems. Speaking of the rear
design, at the top left there is a camera module with noticeable dimensions
that highlights the four cameras and the LED flash. The protrusion is very
small, so the smartphone does not wobble almost at all when placed on a flat
surface.
For the rest, we are face with a device that in general has
a very classic look, since on the front we find a panel with a "drop"
notch. The color we tried is the Black one, but there are also Blue and Red
ones, and the main material used is plastic, so the construction solidity is
normal, as well as exactly what is expected from a low cost smartphone. The
grip is good: the Samsung Galaxy M31 hardly slips out of the hands.
The dimensions of the device are equal to 159.2 x 75.1 x 8.9
mm, for a weight of 191 grams . These are average numbers, which give the
smartphone a handling in line with what is seen in this market segment.
Ultimately, the design of the Samsung Galaxy M31 is exactly
what we would have expected from a device of this type. A classic look, which
does not stand out in any context compared to the myriad of models on the
market but makes users feel "at home".
Technical features
Few surprises also in terms of technical specifications: to
push the device there is an Exynos 9611 octa-core processor , which operates at
a maximum frequency of 2.3 GHz (4 x 2.3 GHz + 4 x 1.7 GHz), flanked by a
Mali-G72 MP3 GPU, 6GB of RAM and 64GB of internal memory (expand via microSD up
to 512GB). In short, we are faced with the classic configuration offered by a
device in this price range. There are smartphones that are able to do better at
the level of brute force, but in general Samsung Galaxy M31 is able to satisfy
everyone in the classic daily activities.
Coming to the screen, we find a 6.4-inch Super AMOLED panel
with Full HD + resolution(2340 x 1080 pixels) and standard refresh rate of 60
Hz. This is a very good screen, which is hardly seen in solutions sold at this
price.
The maximum brightness is excellent, even exceeds that
offered by the panels of some higher-end devices, and the colors are well
balanced. There is no shortage of Widevine L1 DRMs and the possibility of
viewing the contents offered by streaming platform such as Netflix and Amazon
Prime Video in Full HD is guaranteed. Also present is the always-on mode and
the ability to balance colors and choose the screen mode (Vivid or Natural).
Another aspects not to be underestimated is the fact that
the panels with "drop" notch are now well optimized for the
full-screen reproduction of applications and multimedia contents. Of courses,
there are still some apps that don't want to cover the part in front of the
notch, but they are trifles.
As for the photographic sector, Samsung's proposal is not
bad. At the data sheet level, we find a front camera from 32MP (f / 2.0) and a
quadruple rear camera with sensors from 64MP (f / 1.8, main), 8MP (f / 2.2,
ultra-wide, 123 degrees), 5MP ( f / 2.2, for depth of field) and 5MP (f / 2.4,
for macro). The four rear sensors can record video in 4K / 30fps, but we advise
you not to go beyond 1080p / 30fps for good stabilization. The equal goes for
the front camera, which can also go up to 4K resolution. Among the various
features available within the Camera app, we find Live Focus, Macro, Pro,
Panorama, Food, Night, Super slow-mo (240 fps in HD), Slow motion and
Hyperlapse. Unmissable Bixby Vision and Emoji AR.
The South Korean company has done a good job: the macros
have a higher resolution than the average and the photos taken during the day
have well-balanced colors in most cases, although the artificial intelligence
sometimes goes to distort a little too much. the original context.
Not everything is perfect, as often happens with smartphones
in this price range: the maximum digital zoom is 8x and night photos cannot
stand out even using the appropriate mode. On the other hand, the selfies are
excellent, able to convince everyone. In short, we are certainly faced with a
photographic sector capable of satisfying the average user, despite the fact
that there are limits. In any case, considering the price range, the device
does not disappoint from this point of view. If you wants to learn more, you
can find uncompressed shots in our Drive folder dedicated to Samsung Galaxy M31
.
Let's move on to the peculiar feature of this model: the
6000 mAh battery . The South Korean company has focused a lot on autonomy and
the results are excellent: in the "quieter" days we have often
managed to bring home two full days. On the most demanding days, however, we
always arrive in the evening with a good amount of residual charge, around
30/40%. An aspect that is a bit 'turn up the nose is the 15W charger: by now
the competition has reached higher speeds in this range, but after all,
considering the excellent autonomy, you can also turn a blind eye.
Not bad the connectivity sector, where we find 4G, Wi-Fi
802.11 a / b / g / n / ac, Bluetooth 5.0 and NFC. However, theinability to use
Samsung Pay . Forget IP68 certification and wireless charging, but in this
range it is practically obvious. The audio sector is not the best, which is
mono and has a maximum volume only in the average (our tests showed 76.3 dBA).
Software
The operating systems is Android 10 with One UI 2.0
customization . The security patches, at the time of writing, are those of May
2020. We know Samsung's software customization, from the excellent gestures to
the Night mode, passing through Galaxy Themes, Galaxy Store and Double Account.
Obviously it is not with a low cost device that particular
additional features are introduced, so there is not much more to say, except
that the fluidity at the system level is good.
Performance and benchmarks
Samsung Galaxy M31 is not the best performing device in
terms of brute force. However, as already mentioned above, we are faced with a
smartphone capable of satisfying the average user from this point of view.
To give you some concrete information, the device achieved a
total of 188266 points on AnTuTu Benchmark . On Geekbench, however, it stopped
at 265 points in single-core and 1310 points in multi-core. In short, the
numbers are in the average of the price range.
Just to give you a more complete picture, Realme 6 reaches
290582 points on AnTuTu, but it is a rare case. Indeed, during our tests, Redmi
Note 9 reached 189112 points and OPPO A52 stopped at 177526 points. In short,
Galaxy M31 is not the most powerful device of this range, but it defends itself
well.
Gaming
At this point of the analysis, you will have already guessed
that we are not exactly talking about a gaming smartphone. However, it's always
interesting to put these low-cost devices to the test with titles like Call of
Duty Mobile, ARK: Survival Evolved, and Pascal's Wager.
Call of Duty Mobile runs discreetly with details and FPS on
"High" . However, it may be necessary to go down to
"Medium" for maximum fluidity.
As for ARK: Survival Evolved, this title runs discreetly
only at "Low", but it is a particularly demanding game in terms of
resources. The interesting soulslike Pascal's Wager, on the other hand, can be
played with a "Medium" graphic preset . In short, Samsung Galaxy M31
is not exactly one of the most suitable devices for gaming, but this is not its
target. In any case, for those wondering, the Game Space is present with all
its statistics and features.
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