Samsung Galaxy M20 First Impressions
The Galaxy M20 was designed to show world that Samsung can also flex its muscles in the budget smartphone realm.
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| Meet Galaxy M20! |
The South Korean tech giant loaded the said handset with modern design, big screen with tiny notch, promising specs, big battery capacity, USB-C, dual cam with ultra wide-angle mode, and more for less.
In fact, it is one of the most attractive phones for the price today. The 3GB RAM/32GB ROM variant of the M20 is priced at just PHP 10,990.
Here are our thoughts!
Build Quality/Design
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| Glossy back design |
Samsung's Galaxy M20 opted to use a polycarbonate material behind and in the frame. On the front, it has a 2.5D curved glass TFT panel with an unknown type of glass protection.
It is evident the Samsung followed what the popular Chinese brands are doing to keep the high specs and the low price tag of the phone.
It is evident the Samsung followed what the popular Chinese brands are doing to keep the high specs and the low price tag of the phone.
And why not? It is a proven and tested solution. Most of the affordable phones with plastic body are also designed to last. Just do not force bend it. If you can put a case, put a case.
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| Top |
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| Bottom |
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| Left |
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| Right |
At the back, the shiny and glossy 3D curved glass-like design looks neat. It has a vertically aligned dual-camera with flash and a fingerprint scanner in the upper middle part behind.
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| Waterdrop screen |
On the front, reminds us of OPPO phones with waterdrop notch. Samsung renamed it as the "Infinity-V" notch. It uses a big 6.3-inch 2.5D curved TFT panel with 1080p+ resolution and 19:5:9 screen aspect ratio.
It has one of the smallest notch in town with slim side bezels. The chin bezel is still a bit thick, but Galaxy M20 still has 90 percent of screen-to-body.
The phone measures at just 156.4 x 74.5 x 8.8 mm. The body of the iPhone 8 Plus with smaller 5.5-inch display is even bigger at 158.4 x 74.81 mm.
Moreover, the 8.8 mm slimness is impressive for a phone with massive 5,000mAh battery capacity.
On top, it has a microphone. Below, you will find the 3.5mm headphone jack slot, USB-C port, another mic, and the single speaker grill.
At left there's a hole for the triple slots. It simply means that you can use two nano SIMs and a dedicated microSD card slot all at the same time.
On the right side, you'll find the power button and volume rocker. Usually, the volume rocker is found at the left of Samsung phones.
Overall, it is a pretty well-made phone that feels quite good to hold. It is quite hard to use with one hand only. It is designed for two handed operation.
The Infinity-V notch is small!
It has one of the smallest notch in town with slim side bezels. The chin bezel is still a bit thick, but Galaxy M20 still has 90 percent of screen-to-body.
The phone measures at just 156.4 x 74.5 x 8.8 mm. The body of the iPhone 8 Plus with smaller 5.5-inch display is even bigger at 158.4 x 74.81 mm.
Moreover, the 8.8 mm slimness is impressive for a phone with massive 5,000mAh battery capacity.
On top, it has a microphone. Below, you will find the 3.5mm headphone jack slot, USB-C port, another mic, and the single speaker grill.
At left there's a hole for the triple slots. It simply means that you can use two nano SIMs and a dedicated microSD card slot all at the same time.
On the right side, you'll find the power button and volume rocker. Usually, the volume rocker is found at the left of Samsung phones.
Overall, it is a pretty well-made phone that feels quite good to hold. It is quite hard to use with one hand only. It is designed for two handed operation.
Initial findings
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| Tiny notch |
1. The Galaxy M20 is a modern looking design with big stylish display. The 6.3-inch display is big and it has a crisp 2340 x 1080 resolution. It is using a TFT panel, but it is a decent type of TFT panel with good looking colors and nice viewing angles. It even has 10 points of touch.
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| Galaxy M20 AnTuTu |
2. Under the hood, it is powered by the 14nm 64-bit Exynos 7904 octa-core processor clocked at 1.8GHz. It is paired with Mali-G71 MP2 GPU. This chipset is powerful enough to get an AnTuTu score of 108K.
The variant that we have here in PH is the 3GB RAM/32GB ROM edition. The 5,000mAh battery capacity of this handset is also one of the biggest at this price point. Gladly, it has a 15W fast charging tech via USB-C. The phone also has 4G LTE.
3. The Galaxy M20 loads with Android 8.1 Oreo with Samsung Experience 9.5 skin. At least it is better and cleaner looking than the old TouchWiz skin. But, it would have been better if it runs with the new Android Pie based One UI skin.
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| Dual-cam! |
4. Behind, the Galaxy M20 has a dual-camera setup behind. It uses 13MP f/1.9 primary sensor and 5MP f/2.2 ultra wide-angle lens. It also has the scene optimizer to improve your auto shots. The wide camera is quite impressive for a budget device. For selfies, it has the usual 8MP f/2.0 sensors.
This phone can shoot decent looking images for an affordable Samsung phone so far.
Related: Samsung Galaxy M20: First Camera Samples
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| Galaxy M20 sensors |
5. The fingerprint sensor at the back just works. However, it doesn't have an LED for notifications and a light sensor for auto brightness. But, it comes with OTG support and a gyroscope sensor.
Samsung Galaxy M20 Specs
Display: 6.3-inch 2.5D TFT screen w/ FHD+ 2340 x 1080 resolution at 409 ppi
CPU: 1.8GHz 64-bit Exynos 7904 octa-core processor
GPU: Mali-G71 MP2
RAM: 3GB
ROM: 32GB expandable via microSD card slot up to 512GB (dedicated)
Back Camera: 13MP f/1.9 + 5MP f/2.2 ultra wide-angle lens w/ AF and LED flash
Selfie Camera: 8MP f/2.0
Battery: 5,000mAh w/ 15W fast charge
OS: Android 8.1 Oreo w/ Samsung Experience 9.5 skin
Connectivity: WiFi 802.11b/g/n, 4G LTE, Bluetooth 5, GPS, GLONASS, dual SIM
Sensors: Accelerometer, orientation, proximity, gyroscope, sound, magnetic
Others: Fingerprint sensor, face unlock, USB-C, Colors: charcoal black, ocean blue
Dimensions: 156.4 x 74.5 x 8.8 mm
Weight: 186 g
Price: PHP 10,990 (PHP 10,490 new SRP)
As of the moment
The Galaxy M20 is a proof that Samsung can make highly competitive affordable phones if they want.
For PHP 10,990, its design, specs, battery capacity, and cameras screams "bang for the buck" right off the bat.
It is the company's most exciting and promising budget smartphone in a long while.
See you in our full review.
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