Samsung's latest online exclusive got us curious because of its huge battery and industry-defining features for its price.
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| Meet Samsung Galaxy M31 |
The smartphone market is currently flooded with a range of smartphones to appease the consumers. These devices are packed with different features which may or may not consumers need.
Samsung Galaxy M31 is the latest offering of the South Korean giant which boasts a massive 6000mAh battery, 64MP rear camera, and a lot more. But, could this be the latest millennial favorite? Why or why not?
Let's find out.
Meet Samsung Galaxy M31
The device arrives in a clean white box with the print showing the smartphone's look with the highlights of its features.
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| The Galaxy M31 and its accessories |
Inside, you will find the paper manuals, warranty, wired earphones, USB-C cord, and 15W fast charging plug. However, it has no any free silicone case to protect the device.
Samsung Galaxy M31 comes in two variants: Ocean Blue and Space Black. The back design neatly features the device's quad camera along with flash, fingerprint scanner, and a Samsung branding placed on the lower part.
The body is made from a polycarbonate material. It has a nice grip but it is prone to fingerprint smudges. You better put on a case if fingerprint smudges on the phone is your pet peeve like me.
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| Samsung Galaxy M31 is made out of a polycarbonate material |
Its secondary microphone is the only thing placed on the top frame of the device. Meanwhile, the 3.5mm headphone jack, USB-C port, main microphone, and single grille speakers are placed at the bottom frame.
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| Top |
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| Bottom |
It's worth noting that it has the 3.5mm headphone jack most especially for consumers who still prefer the wired earphones.
The volume rocker and power buttons are placed together on the right side of the device. While the triple slot drawer lies on the left side.
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| Left |
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| Right |
Samsung Galaxy M31's built looks good and premium for its price. It does not feel heavy nor bulky.
Big and high-quality AMOLED display!
Upfront, Samsung retained the 6.4-inch Infinity-U Super AMOLED screen—which its predecessor Galaxy M30 was carrying almost a year ago. It has the FHD+ 2340 x 1080 resolution at 403 ppi.
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| Samsung Galaxy M31's 6.4-inch Super AMOLED screen |
As expected, it has nice viewing angles which makes it perfect for me to binge-watch my favorite series, browse social media, and a lot more.
Apart from its predecessor, Samsung Galaxy M31 is equipped with 2.3GHz 10nm Exynos 9611 octa-core processor and Mali-G72 MP3 plus 6GB LPDDR4X RAM. It has 128GB UFS 2.1 expandable memory via dedicated microSD card slot up to 512GB.
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| Android 10 w/ One UI 2.0 |
For gaming, Samsung Galaxy M31 can handle the crowd favorite Mobile Legends: Bang Bang with a smooth, lag-free experience. Overall, the gaming experience on this device is good.
When it comes to heat management, the M31 doesn't get too hot while charging, playing, and even with high brightness.
Extra strong battery life!
Of course, how can I forget to stress out its humongous 6,000mAh battery? As for the battery test, it lasted for a total of 24 hours and 32 minutes using the PCMark app. Meanwhile, on actual usage, M31 was able to last up to two full days with casual gaming and mostly texting and social media surfing.
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| Samsung Galaxy M31 battery test |
If the previous Galaxy M30 was equipped only with 13MP + 5MP + 5MP triple camera setup, the new Galaxy M31 sports quad camera setup of 64MP f/1.8 Samsung GW1 w/ AF + 8MP f/2.2 123-degree ultra-wide-angle + 5MP f/2.2 macro + 5MP f/2.2 depth + LED flash.
Its 13 camera modes are as follows: Live Focus, Photo, Video, Pro, Panorama, Macro, Food, Night, Super Slow-mo, Slow motion, Hyperlapse, Bixby Vision, and AR emoji.
Rear Camera samples
For a mid-range smartphone like the Samsung Galaxy M31, you can expect better shots than entry-level devices. But of course, one of the edges of this smartphone is its 64MP, quad rear cameras.
64MP quad-cam for less!
Starting off with the daylight shot, it captures highly-detailed photos with great contrast and punch. However, it kind of changes the colors when taking photos using the wide mode. Take a look at these photos below:
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| Normal daylight shot |
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| Wide daylight shot |
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| Normal daylight shot with our dog Brix |
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| Wide daylight shot with our dog Brix |
Meanwhile, indoor shots are still great with nice color accuracy.
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| Normal indoor shot |
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| Wide indoor shot |
There's a dip in quality in low light shots on point and shoot mode. But, it is noticeable that it has less noise, thanks to the 64MP, quad rear camera. It also has the handheld Night Mode feature. And it's perfect for brightening up a scene when it's too dark. Take a look:
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| Night shot (auto) |
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| Night mode shot |
Samsung Galaxy M31's front camera features a 16MP f/2.0 with filters beauty effects.
On daylight, Galaxy M31 can capture nice selfies with great contrast and details. You can put different filters such as cool, warm, lolli, pale, blossom, and a lot more. The beauty effects intensity is up to level 3.
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| Normal daylight selfie with beautification feature at level 2 |
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| Normal daylight selfie |
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| Wide daylight selfie |
Indoor selfies are great too as long as the area is well-lit. Meanwhile, night selfies are crisp and detailed too, though you will see some grain.
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| Normal indoor selfie |
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| Wide indoor selfie |
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| Normal night selfie |
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| Wide night selfie |
For videos, Galaxy M31 can record up to 2160p resolution with a super steady option for stabilized videos, beauty and filters effects, and of course the AR effect (that's super cute!).
The rest of the features
The Samsung Galaxy M31 connects to WiFi and 4G LTE. It also has Bluetooth 5.0 LE, FM Radio, OTG, GPS, GLONASS, and dual SIM with a dedicated microSD slot as mentioned earlier.
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| Packed with monster 6000mAh battery |
It has the following sensors: accelerometer, orientation, proximity, gyroscope, sound, and magnetic. The device is packed with two security features such as fingerprint sensor and face unlock.
We also can't miss noting that the Galaxy M31 is supported by Dolby Atmos. As a quick recap, it is a surround sound technology that brings you a 3D cinematic experience. The volume rocker has 15 levels. If you like the volume on a 'just right' level, you should put the volume on level 7 or 8. Although it only has one grille speaker, the volume on level 15 is loud enough to fill a small to medium-sized room.
Samsung Galaxy M31 runs on a 10nm 2.3GHz Exynos 9611 octa-core processor with Mali-G72 MP3 GPU.
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| Samsung Galaxy M31 benchmark |
Samsung Galaxy M31 Specs
Display: 6.4-inch 2.5D Super AMOLED screen w/ FHD+ 2340 x 1080 resolution at 403 ppi
CPU: 2.3GHz 10nm Exynos 9611 octa-core processor
GPU: Mali-G72 MP3
RAM: 6GB LPDDR4X
ROM: 128GB UFS 2.1 expandable via microSD card slot up to 512GB (dedicated)
Back Camera: 64MP f/1.8 Samsung GW1 w/ AF + 8MP f/2.2 123-degree ultra-wide-angle + 5MP f/2.2 macro + 5MP f/2.2 depth + LED flash
Selfie Camera: 32MP f/2.0 Sony IMX616
Battery: 6,000mAh w/ 15W fast charging
OS: Android 10 w/ One UI 2.0
Connectivity: WiFi 802.11b/g/n, 700MHz 4G LTE, Bluetooth 5.0 LE, FM Radio, OTG, GPS, GLONASS, dual SIM
Sensors: Accelerometer, orientation, proximity, gyroscope, sound, magnetic
Others: Fingerprint sensor, face unlock, Dolby Atmos, USB-C, Colors: Black, Blue
Dimensions: 159.2 x 75.1 x 8.9 mm
Weight: 191 g
Price: PHP 13,990
Quick thoughts
At PHP 13,990, Samsung Galaxy M31 is a bang-for-buck midrange smartphone. It has the essential features a consumer may need. It can give you performance without hurting the pocket.
As for the question, if Samsung Galaxy M31 could be the new millennial's favorite, my answer is definitely a YES.
For us, the Samsung Galaxy M31 goes to the list of millennial's smartphone favorites because of its price, performance, and features.
Do you agree with us?
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