Emerging Chinese brands like Xiaomi, Vivo, Oppo, Realme all entered the Indian market with a value proposition device – (Budget price, Great internals and a Bigger battery) – a recipe that worked like a charm for all these brands. Witnessing the humongous growth curve Chinese brands have undergone, with most of their offering geared towards the millennial class of Indian economy, Korean giant realized they couldn’t just let the world`s 2nd biggest market slip out of their hands.
Hence, Samsung launched the India specific M series devices with Galaxy M10 and Galaxy M20. With this particular move, Samsung is blatantly aiming to clock some pretty big numbers through its online-only sales channel with Amazon.
We finally got the hands on the New Galaxy M20, let’s dig deep and find out what the Samsung M20 has to offer!
Display and Design
The Galaxy M20 comes with a gigantic 6.3-inch Full HD+ Infinity V Display as they like to call it, with a resolution of 1080×2340 pixels (409 PPI). Cost cutting is evident with the use of TFT LCD screen, but to our surprise, the display is bright and offers great color reproduction. The display is flush with the screen which makes up for better side visibility. M20 doesn’t pack any gorilla glass protection, so it would be best to get a tempered glass right away.
The design is rather functional with smooth edges and rounded departure angles. A teardrop notch makes room for the app notifications, however, it loses out on a dedicated notification LED. The phone comes with a shiny polycarbonate body with a plastic frame that doesn`t look too cheesy or cheap in any sense. Bottom gets a 3.5mm audio jack and a USB Type-C port beside a loudspeaker grill. Samsung managed to account for a dedicated dual sim with a MicroSD card slot, which is a good gesture considering the rivals offer only Hybrid SIM slot.
Back houses a 13MP+5MP Dual camera setup with a single LED flash below it. Fingerprint sensor sits right at the center and feels ergonomically equivalent. The device just weights 186 grams despite packing a 5000mAh battery.
Camera
The Galaxy M20 packs a dual camera setup with primary 13MP (f/1.9) and secondary 5MP (f/2.2) sensor. The Ultra-wide lens facilitates a 120-degree field of view which provides for better wide angle shots.
Bokeh effect is the courtesy of the software which blurs the background using the facial recognition data. The camera app has few in-built features such as Auto, Panorama, and Beauty mode. It also features a full Pro mode that lets you adjust ISO, Shutter speed, focus, white balance, and exposure manually.
In terms of image quality, the photos came with a good dynamic range, accurate detailing and great color reproduction. Daylight pictures lost a fraction of saturation but turning on the HDR mode did the trick! Low-light performance was poor with the images losing out on essential details. The 8MP front-facing camera does its job by providing good selfies on the go. The added Screen Flash feature lit up the face enough to fill in the absence of a front flash.
All considered the camera isn’t the strong suit but does its job quite well under sufficient ambient light.
Software and Processor
The device runs on Android 8.1 (Oreo) with the Samsung Experience version 9.5 on top. Samsung also bundles a set of complementary features to enhance the user experience on top of the traditional UI.
In terms of processing power, it packs the new and improved Exynos 7904 Octa-core 14nm Processor paired with a Mali-G71 MP2 GPU. These specs translate into a smooth and refined real-world user experience, with fluidic transitions and fast multitasking through heavy apps. The Mali graphics engine doesn’t hold well, stacked against the Adreno 509 or 512, but does provide a decent FPS when playing through some graphic-intensive titles.
The fingerprint sensor has a lag before it turns on the device, but Samsung claims to fix it through some additional patches soon. Face recognition doesn’t work in poor lit conditions and is better left out.
Battery life
Galaxy M20 is a powerhouse with its 5000mAh battery which lasts more than a day`s worth of heavy use age. The 15W fast charger included in the box juices up the device in less than 2 hours to 100%. Coupled with the battery saving modes the device renders an unmatched experience that ensures you don’t charge too often.
Gizmo Verdict
The Samsung Galaxy M20 is a commendable device which ticks all the right boxes. With a starting price of 10,999 it’s an absolute bargain – Awesome Display, Snappier Processor and a great after sales service entitles a trustworthy product from the reverent brand that is Samsung.
With this M series, Samsung has taken a page out of their own book, with proven strategies that worked for them in the past against Nokia. – Bigger battery and Bigger display!
If you were looking for a budget device which looks awesome, works flawlessly, last more than a Day, well look no further!
