By now, we already know almost everything there is to know about the Galaxy S10 lineup. They are beautiful, powerful, expensive yet desirable for the most part. For today, we have the full leaked renders of both the smartphones, along with their color options on offer. These are, after all, Samsung’s soon to be the latest and greatest smartphone lineup of 2019. That is until the Note 10 comes along or we see a drastic change in Samsung smartphone launch strategy.
Back
Front
Starting off with the alleged official marketing pics of both the Samsung Galaxy S10 and the S10+. These renders are the courtesy of a reliable tipster, named Roland Quandt, you can check out his twitter account here. The new renders do not show a whole lot of new things about the smartphones, but they do put a bit more weight to past design leaks. Besides a panning of the phone’s front and the back, we have quite a few renders for you to check out below, along with two new color options on offer.
Samsung Galaxy S10 Design renders:
Samsung Galaxy S10 Renders
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Midnight Black
Midnight Black
Midnight Black
Prism White
Prism White
Prism White
Emerald Green
Emerald Green
Emerald Green
So, the Galaxy S10 should come in three color variants, and the same goes for the Galaxy S10+. Seems like Samsung is too, hopping into the gradient bandwagon for its flagships, the midnight black being an exception. All devices look pretty neat and are a fresh breath of air when it comes to color options. Sure, Samsung did try a bit with the Note 9, but these new color options are absolute eye cachers. We also see the inclusion of the Bixby buttons, a triple camera setup, and the Infinity O display.
Samsung Galaxy S10+ Design renders:
Midnight Black
Midnight Black
Midnight Black
Prism White
Prism White
Prism White
Emerald Green
Emerald Green
Emerald Green
The Galaxy S10+ does look awfully similar to the regular sized Galaxy S10. The only difference we can see from the renders is the slightly larger camera cutout at the front. That is probably for the dual front-facing camera setup. Rest of the setup including the triple camera setup, Bixby button, and the color options remain more or less the same. Sadly, no renders for the smaller S10 Lite have been revealed yet. You can check out the size difference between both these smartphones above.
Being a tech enthusiast, I attend the CAN Infotech every year. And although this is supposed to be the biggest tech expo in Nepal, it feels more like a Haat Bazaar of sorts. Why? Because it is now more of a platform for businesses to advertise themselves and sell their products rather than ideas or new concepts. And I, personally, feel like the quality of this mega tech event is going downhill – year after year.
This 25th edition of the mega event was no different. Named Subisu CAN Info-Tech 2019 in association with eSewa, the promotion of the event looked promising. There were various schemes to attract visitors too. Besides the attractive discounts on the products there, consumers could win various gift vouchers and prizes every three hours, and 1 lucky winner could get a bumper gift hamper every day.
But it’s really difficult to find anything that will compel you to stay for more than 2 hours – at best. It’s a new edition of the event, but same old exhibitors and same old shortcomings. Actually, some old exhibitors have stopped exhibiting themselves at CAN now. Because, well, anyone can plainly see the event is not what it is supposed to be.
The Good
Fine. Let’s also talk about what is good at CAN Info-Tech 2019. There actually is not much to talk about, though. There is no wow-factor…nothing particularly interesting and not worth much of your time either. So, when I say “good aspects”, I mean it is good compared to other exhibits that are there.
The thing that first cost my attention a few desktop computer exhibits were showcasing computers with the latest RTX series graphics and up to i9-9900K processors. Ocean Computers, the authorized distributor of MSI in Nepal was one of them and Nagmani (ASUS computers) was another. But the price of the computer was hefty, starting at Rs. 380,000! But that is to be expected for top-end gaming rigs. However, we found that they were selling their products there with huge profit margins. Antec, who specializes in power supplies, PC coolers, and cases, also displayed attractive products, and if you want to build your own custom PC, they are a good choice as well.
Good of Can Info Tech 2019
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RTX series graphics ASUS
RTX series graphics MSI
9th gen CPUs
Antec
Affordable 3D printer
AI Security Camera
Another exhibit showcased 3D Printers that were manufactured in Nepal itself. Which means 3D printers for an affordable price in the country itself. They were also showing a live demo of the printing mechanism, which looked interesting. The price of the 3D printers was as low as Rs. 35,000! They were a bit slow, but the price seemed right.
It was really difficult to find good exhibits at CAN Info-tech. However, it does look like Security Systems are at quite a demand in Nepal right now. Judging by the number of security system companies that were there. Adhua Technologies exhibiting AI security cameras that could predict the gender, age and facial expression of the people in the view. That is a bit interesting, but not really new, though.
What else? Karkhana made its presence known by giving demos and “smart classes” to enthusiastic children and youngsters about various kind of technology. That is a good way to get children to innovate, and something worth mentioning. As usual, there were some engineering students showcasing their projects like mini robots and such. That is there, every year, but it, at least, catches your attention. Doko Recyclers were making people aware about e-waste and recycling them, which is a good initiative, too.
The Bad
Where do I start? I wouldn’t say anything is bad, because nothing is really good at all, besides the things mentioned above. There were no phone companies this time around, no new products were launched. They know that it is really no use paying a hefty sum to present themselves at an expo whose standard is decreasing. There was, however, one brand, Vitu, which makes super cheap phones with modest specs.
Even ISPs like Vianet and WorldLink were a no show. The only ISP present was Subisu, which is the title sponsor of the event. And we mostly hear nothing but complaints from Subisu users anyway.
eSewa was marketing itself pretty aggressively I’d say. Visitors could register themselves for a lucky draw which would lead to an eSewa account being created. But eSewa personnel were going around collecting numbers of people for that very reason. Now, I have an eSewa account, apparently. Marketing themselves is fine and all, but that looks very aggressive.
Bad of Can Info Tech 2019
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Accessories
Utlilities
Cheap phones
Subisu
The Info-tech is really a Haat Bazaar. Companies were selling things like shaving razors to massagers. Pilot pens are something that has always been there. Also, leather goods are something that we can do without at a tech expo. In addition, we even saw coffee and tea powders being exhibited. Now, I love coffee as much as any other person, but CAN Info-Tech is supposed to be the largest technology expo in Nepal, and these things just don’t fit in there!
Companies were luring visitors with discounts and schemes of various kinds. But seeing as how some of them were already placing hefty profit margins, I doubt the discounts are even genuine at all. I would like to give those companies the benefit of the doubt, but for some reason, I can’t. All this doesn’t sum the bad aspects of the expo, but there’s no point in going on about something that’s all bad.
The Ugly
Even after a tech expo that is mostly bad, you know what the ugly part is? That we, as consumers and people have gotten used to the decreasing standards. The expo still gathers a lot of crowds. People swarm in by the thousands, and most leave disappointed. Only some, who actually come to buy stuff might be content.
Sammy Traders, a former exhibitor at CAN expressed that CAN doesn’t really encourage exhibitors to launch new products but exhibit the ones that generate more profit. And so, they have stopped exhibiting themselves at CAN InfoTech.
The essence of CAN Info-Tech is now nothing but a platform to buy flash drives, earphones, and mobile accessories for cheap. And nobody complains. Maybe, partially, because there is no responsible body to take action. CAN (Computer Association of Nepal) is the one organizing it, and the way they started out is commendable. To introduce something like this in a country where IT field is very backward is great. But they haven’t been able to maintain the standard.
What could be the solution to this? Do we need a new body to organize such things in a more effective way? Or is it, us, as general consumers who need to demand more from such tech expos? Do let us know what you think of this year’s CAN Info-Tech.
Last year, we saw the ZTE Blade V9 and V9 Vita in MWC 2018 with average specs and until date, we had no news as of when the next iteration of the device will surface. But, the news is, TENAA, China’s regulatory site has passed a report confirming a new device, whose model name is ZTEV1000 (which is believed to be ZTE Blade V10) will be shown in the MWC this year and most probably will hit the market after that.
The report suggests that the device, which is most likely to be a successor to last year’s Blade V9 will sport a 6.3- inch IPS LCD display that has Full HD+ resolution that counts to 2280x 1080 pixels. The device at the front will also spot a water drop notch. The back is made of glass as the reports say. The phone will most likely be powered by the Helio P70 processor, which is an octa-core processor.
Also, rumors are that the Blade V10 will have two memory variants, a 4GB RAM variant that with 64 GB internal storage and a 6 GB variant with 128 GB expandable memory. Both the variants will feature a microSD card slot for people who want more storage.
As for the software, the ZTE Blade V10 will most likely come with Android 9 Pie. Onto the cameras, there are dual cameras at the back with a 16MP+5MP setup. The front of the phone will have an 8MP snapper!
Apart from that, the device is said to come with 3,100mAh battery. As far as other specs go, there is a fingerprint sensor at the rear portion. The images that are leaked show the phone in Black color.
As of now, news and reports show that the device will be launched in the MWC this year. Similarly, we don’t have news as to how much the device will be priced at. But as the device has been spotted at TENAA, we are hopeful to see the ZTE Blade V10 very soon!
Vivo’s V11 and the Vivo V11 Pro were somewhat of a hit in the smartphone market. The V11 Pro was the cheapest phone around with an in-display fingerprint scanner. And the V11 was a toned down version of the V11 Pro. I, personally, liked the V11 Pro better, but both were good phones nonetheless. The cameras were also pretty great, and the phones, overall, were good value for money.
So, Vivo is shaping up the successors to the V11 and the V11 Pro. And by the naming convention, the names of the successors should be V13 and V13 Pro. But no, that is not it. Call it superstition or whatever, but the number 13 is considered unlucky in many countries, cultures, and all around. So, the Chinese company is going to skip the number 13, and jumping to 15. Just like what OnePlus did by skipping the OnePus 4 / 4T. Hence, the new phones will be called the Vivo V15 and the Vivo V15 Pro and the pro version is expected to launch in India on 20th of Feb next month. In Nepal, the V15 Pro is expected to launch on the first week of March and V15 on the third week of March.
Diving into more rumors, there is exciting news. Vivo seems to be taking the Full-View display seriously, and there are rumors that both the V15 and the V15 Pro will not have any kind of notch up front. Instead, there will be a Pop-up Selfie camera, just like the Vivo Nex! That flagship feature coming to the mid-rangers is a pretty big deal in itself.
So, both phones will have a Full-view display with the same size as the V11 and V11 Pro, i.e. 6.3″ on the V15 and 6.41″ on the V15 Pro. But without any notch, the full-screen experience will increase even with the same screen size. Inside, the V15 might be powered by the Snapdragon 660, whereas the V15 Pro will have the Snapdragon 675 processor. There is no news about RAM configurations, but of course, there will be multiple configurations available from 6 GB to 8 GB. Storage wise, they will have 128 GB of internal storage.
Another major difference between the V15 and V15 Pro is that the Pro will have an in-display fingerprint sensor, while the V15 will have a rear mounted one. It seems like the in-display fingerprint feature is reserved for the pro variants. And knowing Vivo, both these phones will have great cameras and battery, but there are no numbers for now.
Talking about the camera, the V15 will feature a dual camera on the back, whereas the Pro version will feature a triple rear camera that includes a wide angle lens. Since, Vivo is known for its selfie camera, the company is expected to provide a high res camera of 32MP.
If anything else surfaces, we will surely let you know. And what do you expect and what else do you hope to see on the Vivo V15 and V15 Pro? Do let us know.
When it comes to budget smartphones, we are habituated with a mediocre processor, low-res display, average cameras, and cheap aesthetics. But when the Redmi Note 7 launched in China, it astounded the entire tech community. The handset comes with a features Snapdragon 660 chipset, appealing design, and a whopping 48MP camera.
But the good things do not end there. Owing to the durability test done by the Redmi’s CEO Lu Weibing, we also came to know that the screen of the device is sturdy enough to evade the vulnerabilities of cracks and scratches in numerous occasions. Although we won’t break watermelons or crack walnuts with our smartphones, but Lu Weibing tested that. And we got the point. With so much of amazing features, the smartphone is one of the sought handsets in today’s date. If you ask me, I was also quite interested on the device, until recently.
Xiaomi Redmi Note 7 Bend test video
Technical Guruji, the most popular tech reviewer in India recently did unboxing & first look video on YouTube. Since the CEO had done durability test of screen number of occasion, the tech YouTuber also performed a bend test to check the credibility. But contrary to what we expected, the phone cracked open on his bend test. The frame of the device cracked on three different places on the frame and the screen shattered completely.
Video Credit: Technical Guruji
However, the back panel of the device remained intact on the test. When he showed the rear panel, there was not enough adhesive to keep it glued to the frame. That was the reason why it flipped open completely and didn’t crack on bending the device.
Technical Guruji is one of the most respected tech Youtubers. But since he rarely does bend and durability tests, we are still unsure if we should really rely on his test. But before we pass the final judgment, we should probably have to wait for the durability test from Jerry Rig Everything. Jerry Rig Everything is particularly known for durability tests and teardown videos, he would be the reliable person in this context.
Xiaomi Redmi Note 7 Durability Test Videos:
If you haven’t watched any of the durability tests from the company CEO, below are the few videos we got from YouTube. After watching the videos from Lu Weibing and Technical Guruji, please drop your thoughts regarding the Redmi Note 7.
You probably are pretty tired of hearing so many rumors and stuff about Samsung’s new upcoming flagships. I mean, there has been quite a lot of rumors and then some, about the Galaxy S10-series. Why is the world obsessing so much over them? Well, for starters…these days, smartphones rarely bring something new. And even if they do, they’re hardly usable like the ones we see on Vivo Apex 2019. And Samsung pretty much did a great job with their Galaxy Note 9. So, with them announcing they’ll come up with 4 variants of the Galaxy S10, there are a lot of expectations.
Which is why we hear Samsung Galaxy S10 this..Galaxy S10 that… Anyway, the latest rumor to surround the Galaxy S10 series is that they will have Reverse Wireless Charging. Just like what we saw on the Huawei Mate 20 Pro. So, this may not be anything new. After all, Samsung has been accused time and again of stealing features from iPhones over the years. While that is an arguable case, this time, it looks like they moved to another one – Huawei, which overtook Apple as the second largest phone company recently.
Now, we can either say they copied the design or got inspired by it, but the end result is the same. Nevertheless, it seems the Galaxy S10 series will pack this reverse wireless charging. But apparently, Samsung is calling it Powershare. And it works just like it does on the Mate 20 Pro. You place your phone on the back, and if your device supports Qi Wireless charging, it will draw power from the other phone. But the usability is pretty limited. Wireless charging is still slow, and even more so, with a phone as the power source.
However, this can improve later. Let’s see if Samsung does some improvements with it on their phones. This rumor started with a picture on Samsung Member Community of a controller that demos various features of the S10 when various buttons are pressed. And one particular button depicts reverse charging. And all the hype started.
But according to the rumors, all variants of the S10 series will support this feature. Even the “Lite” version of the S10, that has only 3100 mAh battery. The standard S10 with a 3500 mAh battery, and the S10 Plus, with 4100 mAh battery, all will have this feature. And also the S10 5G with a massive 5000 mAh battery.
Let’s see how this feature materializes on these much hyped upcoming flagships.
What comes after 9? Not 10. Well, not for some Chinese smartphone companies anyway. After the success of Oppo F9, the Chinese company is set to launch Oppo F11 and Oppo F11 Pro soon. And alongside them, will be the Oppo R17 Neo. And by soon, we mean by the first quarter of 2019.
So, about these devices…the Oppo F11 and Oppo F11 Pro carrying the model numbers CPH1909 and CPH1969 were certified by NTBC in Thailand. Which means, we will be seeing these phones very soon. And these phones will launch in India first.
There is not much information available about these phones at present, though. The only thing we know for sure is that the Oppo F11 and the Oppo F11 Pro will have a triple camera setup and will feature 10X Optical zoom technology. And that is a new technology in smartphone cameras, which is interesting as well. The highest Optical zoom at present is at 3X, which is in the Huawei Mate 20 Pro.
But Oppo is reportedly, going to showcase its 10X Optical Zoom in the MWC (Mobile World Congress) 2019, so, it should be packing a good one. And that’s all we have on the F11 and F11 Pro.
On the other hand, the Opp R17 Neo is just a toned down variant of the Oppo R17. Which, in turn, is the toned down variant of the R17 Pro. The Oppo R17 Neo, looks, more or less, like the Oppo R17. This one, too, has dual cameras at the back with 16 MP primary lens but only a 2 MP depth sensor compared to the 5 MP depth sensor on the R17. On the inside, it will be powered by the Snapdragon 660 and have 4 GB of RAM. But, it will include other latest features like an in-display fingerprint sensor.
In addition, it will have a 6.41″ Super AMOLED screen with Full HD+ display with a tear-drop notch. Also, it will have the same 25 MP selfie camera just like its beefier counterparts. A 128 GB internal storage and a good 3600 mAh battery make the phone look appealing enough on paper.
There is no fixed launch date, and neither is the price. But after its launch in the Indian market, it is also evident that we might see it in Nepal soon after.
After teasing the handset for a fair amount of time, Vivo has finally launched the Vivo Y91i in Nepal. The phone packs dual rear cameras, tall display, and a huge battery on the inside. But what more features are there on the phone. Let’s check that out.
Vivo Y91i Overview
The phone is targeted at the multimedia enthusiasts and the tall 6.2-inch display readily cues it. The display on the device is also capped with 2.5D curved glass on the top. The screen on the device is a Halo display, which is Vivo’s fancy name for the display with teardrop/water drop notch. Since the notch is small, it may not be all that obtrusive. However, the screen on the Vivo Y91i is only HD+. So, you might notice some pixelation on the display while viewing contents on the phone.
On the performance front, the handset is powered by Helio P22 chipset packing 2GB of RAM alongside. Storage wise, the phone is showered with 32GB of onboard memory, which can be expanded up to 256GB via SD card. Talking about the software, the phone boots on Android Oreo out of the box with Vivo’s custom UI on the top.
Camera is one of the biggest highlights on the device. The phone boasts a dual camera setup at the back incorporating 13MP primary sensor and a 2MP depth sensor. With camera pair at the back, the Vivo Y91i is also capable of capturing portrait images. On the front, an 8MP selfie shooter resides meticulously on its tiny notch.
Big battery is the USP of the phone. The phone packs a humongous 4030mAh battery. And with the power-efficient chipset and a low-res display on the board, the battery is capable of providing around two days of battery life on the normal use. However, Vivo Y91i comes with a micro USB port, which looks antiquated these days. Also, there is no fast charging support mentioned. So it may take a substantial amount of time to get the battery fully charged.
The phone comes in Starry Purple and Ocean Blue color variants. And both of these handsets are available for purchase at Rs. 20,990 on the retail stores.
So, Samsung replacing their Galaxy J-series with the new M-series is evident by now. And they have launched two new phones in the M-series with so many updated features and stuff. While the J-series were good phones, other phones from Chinese brands were just a lot better. It was high time that they did something about it, and with the M-series, they’re really trying.
What we have today, here is the Samsung Galaxy M10, which was launched alongside its bigger sibling, the Galaxy M20. But the M10 is Samsung’s attempt at a budget category. And this has been the weak spot of Samsung. Will Samsung be able to change that with the M10? Let’s find out in this Samsung Galaxy M10 Review.
Samsung Galaxy M10 Specifications:
Display: 6.2-inch IPS LCD display with 2.5D curved glass on the top
Resolution: HD+ (720 x 1520 pixels) @ 269PPI
Chipset: Samsung’s Exynos 7870
CPU: Octa-core 1.6 GHz Cortex-A53
GPU: Mali-T830 MP1
RAM: 2/3GB
Storage: 16/32GB; Expandable via micro SD card (Dedicated slot)
OS: Android 8.1 (Oreo) with Experience UI 9.5 on the top
Rear Camera: Dual camera – 13MP wide-angle + 5MP ultra-wide-angle camera, LED flash
Front Camera: 5MP
Sensors: accelerometer, proximity, compass
Battery: 3400mAh non-removable battery
Design and Build
First off, the design of the Samsung Galaxy M10 looks not-so-new. It looks, cheap and feels the same in your hands, especially with the speaker grill at the back, which used to be a feature in very old Samsung phones. But compared to what we used to get in the past, this is an improvement. The plastic back has a glossy finish and is not a fingerprint magnet as we usually see on glass or other glossy back phones from OPPO and Vivo.
The build quality seems decent – sturdy enough, and exactly what you’d expect from a phone at this price range. It is plastic, so, durability might be a concern, but when it comes to taking abuse, we know plastic backs do a much better job than metal or glass even if they don’t look as good or premium.
This phone, however, feels a bit hollow inside like the weight distribution is off somewhere. But there are no creaks or bending, or things like that, so its okay.
I am, however, unsure about the front display’s glass protection. I used it without a screen protector and until now, we had minor scratches, but nothing serious.
To talk about other aspects of the design, all buttons are on the right – a volume rocker and the power button. Thankfully, no Bixby button! But being a budget phone, it’s no surprise that there’s no Bixby here. The buttons are also tactile enough.
Display
The display here is a big 6.2” IPS LCD and not the AMOLED one, but it’s pretty good for a budget phone. The resolution is only HD+, so, don’t expect all that sharpness.
In terms of brightness, it is stellar, even outdoors, there is literally no problems. And this is something you cannot say for most Samsung phones even today.
The color reproduction is fine too, crispy and vibrant. I cannot say I disliked any part of the display, really. And look Samsung has also included an auto-brightness sensor!
For the price, this is as good as it gets. One thing I have to complain is that while its outdoor brightness is remarkable, its minimum brightness is still too bright for taste.
If you have this habit of using your phone in the dark before going to bed, then, it will be difficult to do so with this phone.
Also, the smartphone has a notch on the top. Samsung is a company that has been ranting others for having ugly notches on their screens. But this time, they have a notch up top and calling it the Infinity-V display, because, well, it’s a V-shaped notch. It looks like pure hypocrisy from the company, as Samsung used to make a lot of fun of notches in the past. But, to be honest, the notch does not look that ugly and it’s easy to get used to. Looks like Samsung understood that as well.
Performance
On to the performance, the Galaxy M10 packs an Exynos 7870 processor, and not the rumored Exynos 7872. But with the SoC, it runs as expected. Of course, the chipset is around 3 years old, it was first seen on the J7 2016, and the fact that it is still being used on an upgraded phone bugs me a bit. Did they make a truckload of the 7870 chips or something? Because it seems they’re still using it from the same batch every now and then.
But the performance leaves very less to complain about though for a budget phone. The unit I reviewed had 2 GB RAM, but for that, the performance is quite good. The user interface is smooth enough. There were no lags of any kind or any stutters either. Apps like Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube run smoothly. Games like Asphalt 9 runs pretty smooth too, albeit at low settings.
PUBG is playable too, at lowest settings. The frame rate isn’t that good actually, but it is still playable without much hiccups. And it is very unlike Samsung to provide something this good at this price range. So, there is not much to complain, but again they should have gone with a more powerful chipset.
The phone will also be available in a 3 GB / 32 GB variant, and that might be able to perform slightly better.
Software and UI
Moving on to the software, this phone still runs on Android 8.1.0 Oreo, but Samsung has already announced that this phone will get the Android Pie update later in August. So, okay, we need to bear with it for the time being.
And of course, since, it’s Samsung, you get Samsung Experience 9.5 designed for Galaxy M skin on top of it. So, it is more or less similar to a typical Samsung phone, with a few changes. There are obviously, a bunch of bloatware and unwanted apps. But you can always choose to disable them, so, that’s a nice feature to have as well.
And since this is Samsung’s first phone with a notch, the implementation of it is quite good. There is also an option to hide the notch under Display Settings inside FFull-ScreenApps, and you can also set personal preference for each app. And if you find Samsung’s navigation buttons organized in the wrong way, then, that, too, can be changed from the settings menu. From here, you can also switch to gestures instead of display button navigation. Apart from these, there aren’t worth anything mentioning in the UI or software.
Battery
This phone packs a 3400 mAh battery, which is a good size for a phone at this price. With this battery, you can easily expect over 6 hours of on-screen time with ease. Plus, the display is only HD resolution and the 14nm based Exynos 7870 is power efficient, which helps to improve battery life.
With around half-an-hour of PUBG, around 5 hours of YouTube, 30 mins of scrolling through Social Media, and about 20 minutes of smaller games, this phone still had 60% of battery left. So the battery offers a substantial backup! But to be fair, it was all at minimum brightness. But, you get the idea though.
I also started my day with just about 40% of battery, and I was fairly confident that it would last me the whole day. And it did with around 5% left by the end of the day. The standby times were also great. The battery dropped only by 3% when kept idle for 10 hours, and all of this was without any kind of battery saving turned on. Samsung’s effort on battery optimization really shows here. I was not expecting something like this. So, it pleasantly surprised me.
The one thing it lacks is the USB Type C port and Fast Charging, but with the 2A/5V charger, it took around 2 hours to get charged from 0 to 90%, but it’s not that bad at all.
Camera
Now the cameras. What we have seen in even budget phones these days is a dual camera, and the Galaxy M10 is no different.
It has a dual camera of 13 + 5MP, but the secondary 5MP lens here is not a depth sensor, but a wide angle one. That is a strange convention, but it is good to have a wide angle lens as it is a nice touch.
Normal Mode
Normal Mode
Normal Mode
The camera quality from the primary 13MP lens is nothing to go on about. Basically, there are less sharpness and details. Also, the autofocus is slow and there is no autofocus for wide angle lens. What I found strange was the wide angle lens has better colors and dynamic range when compared side by side with the primary 13MP lens.
You might also notice a bit of fish-eye effect in the images from the wide angle lens, but that can be fixed later by a shape correction option. But what it does is just crops out the fish-eye bit parts of the phone, so, I don’t know what to say about that.
Normal Mode
Wide-angle Mode
Normal Mode
Wide-angle Mode
There is also a Live Focus feature for taking portraits, and without a depth sensor, the portraits are as expected. The bokeh isn’t aggressive enough and unlike previous Samsung phones, you don’t get an option to adjust the blur or choose the focus area, before or after taking pictures.
Normal Mode
Portrait Mode
Normal Mode
Portrait Mode
On the notch we talked earlier, there lies a 5 MP front camera, which is pretty good. The details are okay. It actually better than the rear camera. The selfie portrait is done by software and looks decent as well. You can also find the smart beauty option that smooths the skin and removes the blemishes. It’s not that aggressive as you see on OPPO or VIVO phones, which is good.
Portrait Selfie
AR Sticker
AR Sticker
There are also a few stickers which are fun to use for a time. Other than that, there’s nothing worth mentioning about the cameras.
Talking about the video, you have the option to record from the wide angle as well as the primary lens. But, I suggest you chose the wide angle option, mainly coz of 3 reasons: wide angle, better stabilization, and better colors.
Overall, the camera is not a WOW factor and I think they could have made it a little bit better.
To round up other aspects of the phone, the speaker seems a bit tiny. It is loud, but the sound quality is not very enjoyable. And since the speaker grill is on the back, it is easy to muffle while laying it on the table.
As for the security features, it does not have a fingerprint sensor. There is face recognition, which doesn’t work in low-light and is very inconsistent, i.e. it works sometimes, and sometimes not.
Also, it has DRM Widevine L1 security, so if you watch Amazon Prime content or Netflix content, you can watch it in HD or better. I am bringing this up because even in celebrated phones like Pocophone F1, we don’t get this feature.
Besides that, there is not much to talk about. After all, it is your regular Samsung phone with some revamps and upgrades.
Verdict
So, to sum up, the Samsung Galaxy M10 is a good upgrade over Samsung’s previous budget phone and it has a considerable number of upgrades, except for the chipset, obviously. But still, this is the company’s best effort so far. They’re really trying to listen to the customers. We had been saying from a long ago that they needed to improve their budget and mid-range sector. And now, they are trying to listen.
Having said that, I still feel it’s not enough, especially in India where the Galaxy M10 is targeted to. For instance, the Redmi Y2, that is known as the Redmi S2, here in Nepal packs a Snapdragon 625, making it a better performer than the Exynos 7870. Plus, the Redmi Y2 has better cameras than this one. Samsung has improved a lot but, does it do enough to beat the competition in every aspect? Not really.
Yes, it can compete with the present contenders. But beating them will take some more effort. There is no denying that this is a great phone, even among the best in the Nepali market. They’re trying guys. They’re trying really hard.
But, even for all that attempt, it’s still not a perfect “Budget phone”. Am I willing to give Samsung the benefit of the doubt, and choose this phone over others at the same price? Maybe for once considering the best-in-class after sales it has. But Samsung, keep in mind that there is still a long way to go.
Samsung has finally done what it claimed it would not do. Yes, you guessed it right, Samsung has implemented notches on the Galaxy M series smartphones! And today I will be talking about one of them, the Samsung Galaxy M20!
Like the Galaxy M10, the M20 belongs to the budget segment, among the phones priced below 15000 Indian Currency. By the way, we have also reviewed the Galaxy M10, that was also launched alongside the M20 so make sure you check it out the Samsung Galaxy M10 review as well.
So, moving on, Samsung, this time has tweaked the selling process, making the M series an online brand. Brands like OPPO, Xiaomi, Huawei have been in this game forever and Samsung, as rigid as it was, finally has boarded the same train. Will it be a turning point for Samsung or will it not, we are yet to see. But what we can ascertain right now is how does the M20 fare in real life usage. Let’s find out in this Samsung Galaxy M20 review.
Samsung Galaxy M20 Specifications:
Display: 6.3-inch IPS LCD display with 2.5D curved glass on the top
Battery: 5000mAh with fast charging support (15W fast charging, takes 2 hours and 15 minutes for full charge)
Design:
Let’s get started with the design! The back on the Samsung Galaxy M20 has a shiny plastic material, that feels okay on hands, unlike the M10. The M10 though featuring a similar back material, felt light on hands, but the M20 is heavier and does not feel that cheap. The phone feels heavy, because well, it packs in a huge battery. But the weight on it not evenly distributed, meaning, the lower portion of it feels heavier than the upper portion.
All the buttons are on the right and placed high above and for a people with small hands like me, it surely is difficult to reach the buttons. On the left, we have the SIM tray with 2 nano SIM and a dedicated microSD card. Down below, you see a speaker grill, a secondary microphone, a USB C port, and a headphone jack! We are glad to see the headphone jack here. Upwards, there is only a primary microphone!
To be honest, Design wise, it does not look like a Samsung phone. If the Samsung logo was not there, I would have mistaken it for some Chinese brand. I don’t have a problem with that actually. You will have to do, what you do to keep the costs low!
Display
On the front, you get a 6.3 inches display with Full-HD+ resolution. If you have been expecting a Super AMOLED panel, it’s not. It’s s an LCD one. But it is still a good display by the way. There is a notch on top, that Samsung has a fancy name for, an Infinity V display. With a tiny notch like this and thin bezels, Samsung has managed to deliver a good full view display here. Even the chin here is relatively smaller than what we usually see on the smartphones available at a similar price tag.
So, coming back to the display, it’s a sharp one with good colors and viewing angles. Sunlight legibility is average though! You have an option to use the entire screen or hide the notch during usage. But since the notch is very tiny, I didn’t have problems with it. There is an auto brightness feature, which I glad to see on a Samsung’s budget device. In the past, Samsung usually used to cut off the Ambient light sensor, which is not the case here.
And although Samsung has not specified what kind of protection is there on the M20, it’s really impressive that there are no scratches that have appeared on the screen. Although the back garnered some scratches on my use, it’s not that noticeable.
Performance
The insides of the Galaxy M20 is fueled by Samsung’s new midtier Exynos 7904 chipset. By architecture, it is a 14 nm chipset with 8 cores. Two of those are high-performance ARM A-73 cores clocked at 1.8 GHz and other 6 are Cortex A53 cores clocked at 1.6 GHz.
It’s not a new chipset by any means and if it was the start of 2018, I would have not complained but at the same price range, you get Snapdragon 636 or the Snapdragon 660, which has a better GPU performance compared to the 7904. In terms of CPU, the performance is more or less the same.
Now, moving on to how this one performs, it’s satisfactory. I would not at all complain because my basic tasks ran well. I had no problems in multitasking whatsoever and app opening is fast too. I did not feel lags on heavy usage as well.
As far as gaming goes, I played all different kinds of games in this one, where PUBG is playable at medium settings with a few stutters here and there, nothing that would affect gameplay! Similarly, Asphalt 9 ran quite well, I must say. And I equally kept checking while playing games for any thermal issues but, on a brighter side faced none! So, the performance side of it is decent at the best! As for storage, you get two variants, 3GB RAM with 32 GB storage and 4 RAM with 64 GB storage.
Software and UI
On to the Software side, if you have been expecting One UI, it is not here yet, and so is Android Pie. The phone comes with Android Oreo 8.1 out of the box with Samsung Experience version 9.5 running on the top. But we have had some sources revealing that Android Pie and One UI is to come in the M series very soon. Well, if you ask me, I hope for the soonest.
Anyways, I have always liked Samsung UI. It gives you a little more than the basics, a bit of bloatware in technical terms. Offerings from Samsung, Google and Microsoft are pre-installed here, out of which only some can be uninstalled. On to the usability part, we don’t have an app drawer, but the vertical swiping interface helps make the home screen less cluttered. There are gesture features that may come handy. Other than that, we have nothing new in the UI to talk about actually.
Cameras
Okay, so let’s talk about the cameras now. Up until now, we have rarely seen Samsung make cut-outs of the camera department, well except for the Galaxy A7and Galaxy A9. Here in the M20, we see dual 13+5 MP cameras at the back. The secondary camera is not a depth sensor, but a wide-angle lens. Well, that is something unique on a budget phone. As I checked the cameras, they looked decent to me. But let’s get deeper into specifics. First, let’s go the back camera!
As I tested the cameras, in good lighting, the pictures are good actually with a good amount of details, nothing extraordinary though. They are not over saturated and the balance of colors is actually quite nice to see. It seems natural on objects and sceneries. Other than that, I have quite liked the normal pictures.
Samsung Galaxy M20 Normal Back camera samples
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The camera UI is also very friendly and easy to understand. The icons tell you clearly, which is what function, so I had no difficulty using it.
Samsung Galaxy M20 live focus mode on back camera
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There is a live focus option AKA the portrait mode, which is also not bad to say at the least. However, what I didn’t like is When you are closer to the subject, the blur is very minimum. And, on top of that, you cannot adjust the blur or the focus area – the feature you can find in older Samsung phones. Edge detection is fine though and the blur looks natural too.
Samsung Galaxy M20 Normal vs Wide angle mode
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Now there is something else to talk about too, the wide-angle mode! I don’t know if a wide-angle lens is actually necessary but I am not complaining of having it here. On a device priced below INR 15,000, I did not expect a good one, but its good enough for the price tag.
But, like with the M10, you get a fisheye effect which can be corrected to some extent using a shape correction feature.
On the other hand, night shots are miserable! There are grains and noises all over and the pictures look muddy. We had much much better cameras on a 2-year-old Galaxy J7 Pro, if only, Samsung could replicate the cameras of the J7 pro, it would have been so good.
Samsung Galaxy M20 back camera, night time samples
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As for the videos, they can be recorded up to Full-HD at 30fps. The lack of 4K is expected at this price point. Talking about video quality, its good with nice levels of detail and low noise. But since it lacks stabilization, If your hands are shaky, your videos will turn out like jittery!
Okay, let’s get into the selfie side of things. The 8MP Selfie camera is good, and nothing extraordinary just like the back camera. The selfies I took was bright and colorful but again, they are slightly processed and I got smoother skin every time.
Samsug GalaxY M20 normal selfie samples
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Things are the same in the selfie focus mode too in terms of skin tone.
Samsung Galaxy M20 live focus selfie samples
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The blurring and edge detection in the selfie ficus mode seem good enough though.
There are AR stickers which are not useful but are fun. There is a beauty mode and something called smart beauty as well, which is basically things that make you have fairer and smoother skin. But having said everything, the selfies are not bad, they are what I expected it to be.
But again, night time selfies are not very good. Take a look at some of the samples and be the judge yourself!
Okay, the Galaxy M20 also has something else that needs attention, the battery! There is a huge 5000 mAh battery in here and let me tell you it is very very enduring. On my use, it got me straight 2 days without plugging in a charger.
Even while using it intensively, I got one day’s usage time, which is pretty dope to say at the least. The device can give you a screen on time of over 10 hours. Also, there are various power saving modes that can further add up to battery endurance.
This huge battery is supported by a 15-watt quick charger too. This one takes around one hour to get 50% juice and takes around 2 hours and 15 minutes to get fully charged, which I think is a good amount of time for such a huge battery.
Plus its very difficult to drain it. So, once you charge it, you and your M20 are up for a long time, no denying that! Also, Samsung claims to have some sort of battery optimization software inside that further makes it more durable. This, hands down is very very impressive!
Extras:
Now on to the extras, the speakers at the bottom are average. It is not very loud but the sound quality is good I must say! It’s balanced and does not distort at the highest of volumes. It’s not loud, I would say again, but not bad either!
The fingerprint sensor at the back is fast and accurate. It gets it correct all the time and is also placed at a good and reachable distance. But the facial unlock is a hit or a miss for me. I mean, sometimes it did not read my face at all and I had to switch to fingerprint scanning many times. But there is this slight animation on the notch while scanning your face, which is quite fun to watch although sometimes it does not read your face!
Furthermore, The Galaxy M20 certifies Widevine L1 certification, so I had a good time watching Netflix content in HD or better resolution on the big screen.
And, the M20 has all the necessary sensors, from proximity to gyro to ambient light sensor, but the only tiny thing missing is an LED notification light.
Conclusion
So, the Galaxy M series is definitely a good move by Samsung! The things that I like about the M20 is the battery life, USB type C with fast charging and its bright and color accurate IPS display. However, what Samsung could have done better are the camera performance and the choice of SoC. These are the areas where Samsung, with the resources they have, can definitely do better on their future M-series devices.
So, as of now, can the Galaxy M20 compete against the present devices, like the Zenfone Max Pro M2, the Realme 2 Pro and the Redmi Note 7? Well, like I said earlier, if Samsung had included a better chipset and a better lens, it would have been a steller device but as of now, the other devices I mentioned earlier are more value for money.
So, what do you think about Samsung M20? Is it compelling enough? Would you choose this over other Chinese smartphones out there? Let us know in the comments below! And I am Pratima and see.
