Samsung Galaxy M-series is probably one of the highest-selling series from the Korean giant. The M-series is the pinnacle of a long-lasting battery, crisp displays and performance. We have seen multiple devices in this portfolio that have become one of the best in their respective segment, whether it be Samsung Galaxy M30, Galaxy M30s or Galaxy M31.
With each launch, the company is improving the flaws of its predecessor and the latest edition of the Galaxy M31s takes this to another level. The smartphone comes with a host of interesting features like the Infinity-O display, improved cameras, better Fast charging and more. Starting at Rs 19,499, the smartphone is touted to be the Monster from Samsung? But does it really justify its price point? Let’s take a closer look.
Samsung Galaxy M31s: Look and Feel
The Samsung Galaxy M31s comes with a plastic finish, which the company calls it as Glasstic. You get two paint jobs including Mirage Blue and Mirage Black. We got the flatter for review and it sure looked premium with the gradient design at the back. The camera module at the top-right corner is distinguished with a black module, while the volume controls and power on/off button are located at the right side. The power on/off button also acts as a fingerprint sensor, which is a sensible thing as you will unlock the device much as compared to the in-display Sensors present in other Samsung smartphones.
Coming to the device, the phone looks comfortable to hold in hand and despite sporting a massive 6000mAh battery, it is surprisingly not that heavy when you hold it. Overall, the Samsung Galaxy M31s comes with a refined design language as compared to its predecessor.
Samsung Galaxy M31s: Display
Samsung Galaxy M31s comes with a 6.5-inch Full HD+ Super AMOLED Infinity-O display with a screen Resolution of 2400 x 1080 pixels. Samsung has a legacy of including some high-end AMOLED screens in its range of smartphones, which looks crisp, bright and colourful. And the display present in the Galaxy M31s is able to retain this legacy. The Infinity-O display is a first for M-series and it sure looks promising as compared to the other smartphones available at this price point.
However, others do compensate for this with higher refresh rates, but it seems that currently higher refresh rates will be restricted to the high-end smartphones from Samsung. That said, the display present in the Galaxy M31s is crisp and we liked the dynamic range of the AMOLED panel. The texts are easier to read even in direct sunlight, which is a good thing.
Samsung Galaxy M31s: Hardware and Software
The Samsung Galaxy M31s is powered by the Samsung Exynos 9611 processor. The phone is loaded with up to 8GB of RAM and 128GB of internal storage. It seems that Samsung is really obsessed with the Exynos 9611 processor. This is due to the fact that the majority of the smartphones in the Galaxy M-series and Galaxy A-series are loaded with this chipset. The list includes Samsung Galaxy M31, Galaxy M30s, Galaxy M21, Galaxy A51, Galaxy A50s and more are based on this chipset. So, we thought that might be this time Samsung will use a different or better Chipset for this smartphone, but that didn’t happen.
That said, the Processor is slightly dated now, but it does not mean that it is sluggish. The phone is able to manage the daily tasks like a breeze and you can thank up to 8GB of RAM for that. Multi-tasking is not that bad and there was no major drawback when using it day-to-day. In terms of gaming, the phone is able to handle most of the casual titles with ease, but high-graphics titles can be played as well. We also played PUBG Mobile and didn’t encounter major lag when played in modest settings.
Coming to the software, the Samsung Galaxy M31s runs on OneUI 2.1, which is based on Android 10 operating system. The user interface comes loaded with noticeable pre-loaded apps like Microsoft Office, OneDrive, Linkedin, Outlook, Facebook, Netflix, Amazon, Prime Video, Snapchat, Smart Tutor, Connections, Dailyhunt. The user interface is smooth and the animations have been improved with OneUI 2.1. The phone comes with interesting options like dual apps support and more. It also comes with Galaxy Store, which side by side updates the apps. The My Galaxy App is also present and it still sends notifications from time to time.
Samsung Galaxy M31s: Cameras
The smartphone is loaded with a quad-camera setup with a combination of a 64-megapixel primary lens with Sony IMX682 sensor, f/1.8 aperture, 12-megapixel ultra-wide lens with 120-degree FoV, 5-megapixel Macro lens and a 5-megapixel depth sensor. For the front, there is a 32-megapixel selfie shooter.
The interesting feature to use in the camera section is the Single Take mode. The feature basically allows users to capture the moment with a combination of photos and videos. The feature captures the best moment, smart crop, original video, hyper-lapse video, boomerang and more. When you choose this feature and click a photo, it will take around 15 seconds and then provide you with the best shot and above-mentioned things. In our opinion, it is quite a fun thing to use if you really love clicking yourself and posting it on social media channels.
Coming to the daylight performance, you get crisp shots and the colours are close to the source. However, the Wide-Angle mode does come with EDGE distortion, which is a sad thing as other Samsung smartphones come with better performance. The macro shots came out to be decent and the Portrait mode works fine in the well-lit conditions.
Coming to the low-light conditions, the quality is reduced, but you still get some manageable shots when the light is somewhat right. The Night mode comes to the resume as it helps in reducing the noise and providing more exposure to the shot, which is helpful in areas where the light is low. However, the wide-angle shots and macro shots are not very usable in low-light conditions.
Moving to the front, the phone is loaded with a 32-megapixel selfie shooter, which is also present in the Galaxy A51 smartphone. The photos came out to be crisp and good in well-lit conditions and the skin tones were decent as well. The portrait mode does a good job in well-lit conditions, but it is not that great in low-light conditions.
Samsung Galaxy M31s: Battery
The Samsung Galaxy M31s is loaded with a 6000mAh battery and it comes with 25W fast charging support. The best thing about this smartphone is the long-lasting battery. The smartphone comes with a massive battery backup, which easily lasted for more than 2 days under normal usage. If you are a power user, you can still get one full day of battery backup with ample juice still left in it. Coming to the charging time, it takes almost 2 hours to get fully charged, which is better than the Galaxy M31m which took almost 3 hours to get fully charged. You can thank the 25W fast charging support for this.