Samsung Galaxy M31 Review – Price, Specification With Full Details

Samsung recently launches Samsung Galaxy M31 with rich features like 6.4 inches Super AMOLED Display, 64MP Camera, and Exynos 9611 processor.

Samsung offers powerful options for those who are looking for affordable phones with the Galaxy M series. The Galaxy M30 and M30s models released by the company last year have become the shining stars of the series, and especially the M30s have attracted attention with their robust features and affordable prices. The Galaxy M31, the follower of these two phones, also appeared a while ago. You can find details about the Galaxy M31, which reflects the traces of Samsung's 2020 model design understanding, changing the camera system and processor, in our review.

Samsung Galaxy M31

Galaxy M31 Design

In the case of Samsung Galaxy M31, just like the Galaxy M30s, polycarbonate was preferred as the primary material for phone manufacturing. It is also worth noting that the smartphone does not weight much, even though it carries a 6000mAh battery.

Galaxy M31 does not draw a “top-class” phone image. While the functionality comes to the fore in Samsung's choices, it is also worth remembering that the Galaxy M31 does not have a concern about "looking top class" due to its segment.

Galaxy M31 is available in cherry pink, ocean blue, and space black. The Galaxy M31 comes with a 6.4-inch display in front of its technical specifications, having 19.5: 9 aspect ratios; this screen covers 84.1 percent of the front panel. At the top of this screen, which Samsung calls “Infinite-U,” there is a notch in the form of a letter U.

This notch also houses a 32-megapixel camera on the smartphone. Just above this notch is the handset speaker of the Galaxy M31. On the Galaxy M31, the top and side frames of the screen are quite thin. The lower screen bezel, which has nothing on it, is noticeably thicker than the others.

On the left edge of the Galaxy M31 smartphone, there are slots for the dual nano-SIM and microSD card tray. On the right side, the power button and volume control greet the users. While the second microphone is placed on the upper edge, the headphone jack is located at the bottom edge; USB-C jack, microphone, and speaker grill are also located at the bottom of the phone.

Samsung Galaxy M31

Galaxy M31 camera locates at the upper left corner of the back panel strikes the eye. The Camera panel is set up in a rectangular module consisting of four camera sensors and an LED flash. The arrangement of cameras is made in a way that it makes an inverted "L" shape and flash is placed separately from the cameras at the right corner of the camera panel.

Just below the camera, sensor is the fingerprint scanner of the phone. This fingerprint scanner, the details of which will be discussed later, can be easily accessed with the index fingers of both the right and left hands.

Screen and Display - Galaxy M31

The Samsung Galaxy M31 incorporates a 6.4-inch Super AMOLED display. This screen, which Samsung calls Infinite-U, takes its name from the U-shaped notch on top of it. With an aspect ratio of 19.5: 9, the display offers 2340 x 1080 pixel resolutions and 403 PPI pixel density.

It must be said that the Galaxy M31 offers an excellent screen experience according to its class. Offering wide viewing angles, vivid colors, and deep blacks, the Galaxy M31's screen gives the phone a significant advantage over its competitors. The brightness level of the screen also makes it easy to see under daylight. There is a bit of trouble seeing the screen only when sunlight comes upright on the phone. It is worth noting that the brightness of the screen can be adjusted automatically according to the brightness level of the environment.

The screen tab of the Galaxy M31's Settings menu also offers users the possibility to make various settings related to the screen. While the dark mode is activated through this section, screen mode selection is also made in this section. Users can choose one of the Natural and Vivid modes for the screen. The white balance can also be adjusted manually by users. The settings of the blue light filter can also be changed on this tab.

Hardware - Galaxy M31

At the heart of the Galaxy M31 is Samsung's production Exynos 9611 processor. The South Korean company previously used this processor on the Galaxy M30s, A50s, and A51 models. In short, this processor does not seem to surprise Samsung's popular choice for affordable phones.

The Exynos 9611 has no problems with performing daily tasks. Galaxy M31 runs at a constant speed if you don't open lots of functions, such as switching applications or navigating the interface quickly. Thanks to the 6 GB of RAM that accompanies this processor, the Galaxy M31 has no trouble with multitasking. Two different storage options, including whether they serve to 64 and 128 GB for smartphone, sold the only version with 128 GB of storage.

Galaxy M31 offers both a fingerprint scanner and face recognition as a biometric security measure. Face recognition works smoothly, even in dark environments. Those who wear glasses are asked to record with both glasses and glasses while recording their faces. The fingerprint scanner, which is placed on the back panel of the phone, can be accessed with the index finger of both hands, as we mentioned earlier. The fingerprint scanner also unlocks the screen of the phone quickly.

The Galaxy M31 offers pretty good performance in games like Call of Duty and PUBG, at least in the default graphics settings. The phone may experience some hangouts when launching these games and in the first minutes of the game. However, after a while, these shutters are not seen. The Mali-G72 MP3 GPU is more than enough to play popular games in terms of overall performance. The Samsung Galaxy M31 scores 345 on a single core and 1294 on a multi-core from the Geekbench 5 benchmark test.

Battery – Galaxy M31

Its 6000 mAh battery is one of the most striking features of the Galaxy M31. Thanks to this battery, the Galaxy M31 can continue to work without charging for a long time. The Galaxy M31, which can easily take a day off even in intensive use, can continue to work without charge for two days when the density is reduced and mostly connected to the wireless network.

Although this time is slightly reduced when switching to LTE connection, the comfortable removal of a day in intensive use gives the Galaxy M31 sufficient idea for battery performance.

Galaxy M31 comes with 15W fast charging support. The presence of 15W charging support for such a large battery does not make much difference. Samsung is not expected to make any changes soon in the M series, where it primarily focuses on affordable prices.

It takes about 2.5 hours to charge the Samsung Galaxy M31's battery when it's empty. At the end of the 1-hour charge, the battery is 30% charged. This occupancy rate allows the phone to work for a considerable amount of time.

Firmware – Galaxy M31

Like all other phones Samsung released in 2020, the Galaxy M31 comes out of the box with the Android 10 operating system and the One UI 2.0 user interface. However, this phone has a slightly simplified version of the One UI 2.0, described as "Basic." The South Korean company also featured this version on the Samsung Galaxy M20 vs M30s.

The version does not have some simple features like a built-in screen recorder and Secure Folder. Samsung Pay and Samsung Pay Mini are also not supported in this user interface. Although the Galaxy M31 does not have Samsung's digital assistant Bixby, Bixby Vision, which makes a visual search through the camera application, is available on the phone.

The long-standing collaboration between Samsung and Microsoft continues on the Galaxy M31. Office, OneDrive, LinkedIn and Outlook applications welcome users in the Microsoft Apps folder on the Galaxy M31's home screen.

Google's Android apps are available on the Galaxy M31, like almost all Android phones. It is possible to find applications such as Google Chrome, Gmail, Google Maps, Google Duo, and YouTube Music in the Google folder on the main screen.

Many manufacturers offer Google's Android apps as the default solution on their smartphones. However, Samsung continues to remain outside this group on the Galaxy M31. Apart from Chrome, the Galaxy M31 is also preloaded with Samsung's internet browser. The company, which prefers its solutions for applications such as photos and messages, offers Gmail and Outlook options for e-mail.

However, the list of applications installed on the Galaxy M31 is not limited to these. Popular applications such as Spotify, Netflix, Trendyol, and Facebook also appear as soon as the phone is switched on.

There are a number of extra tools and apps that Samsung offers on the Galaxy M31 is also not so small. The Samsung folder in the smartphone contains tools such as Voice Recorder and Radio. Applications such as Samsung Notes, Samsung Members, and Galaxy Store is also available on the phone, enabling users to take visually rich notes.

Game Launcher, one of the tools offered by the South Korean company in the One UI interface, also maintains its place in the Galaxy M31. This application, which acts as a kind of management centre for games, works as a kind of management centre.

Nowadays, it is now a standard feature to offer dark mode support on a smartphone throughout the operating system. In the Samsung Galaxy M31s, this mode is also called "Dark mode". This mode can be activated via the quick access panel of the phone or it can be set to work depending on the program. In addition to creating their program, users can command to automatically switch to dark mode between sunset and sunrise.

Camera – Galaxy M31

As we mentioned before, the Samsung Galaxy M31 has a quad-camera system. In this camera system, the 64-megapixel sensor takes over as the main camera. The Galaxy M31 also has the feature of being the most affordable option among Samsung's 64-megapixel camera phones.

This sensor, which uses pixel fusion technology, takes 16-megapixel photos in auto mode. It is worth noting that the main camera's performance in daylight is really good. The level of detail in the photos with a good dynamic range is also high. However, the performance of the camera decreases when it gets dark in the Galaxy M31. First of all, even if the phone is held with two hands, the shaking effect can be felt in the photos taken at night. This makes it difficult to capture a completely fixed frame.

If the artificial lighting sources in the environment are sufficient and your hand is not shaking, you can take photos where the level of detail is sufficient and the noise is not felt much. However, the result when it is dark does not seem very satisfying. However, it should be reminded that this situation is not a Galaxy M31 specific, but a class problem.

The Samsung Galaxy M31's camera has a Night mode for better results in photos taken in dark environments. First, it is noticeable that the frames captured with this mode are significantly cropped and users see a smaller frame compared to the standard model.

In addition, the application of a kind of “watercolor” effect in photographs taken with Night mode causes the details to be deformed. It must be said that the night mode is successful in lighting the dark scenes. It is worth noting that a certain amount of lighting is also applied in the photos taken in standard mode.

One of the sensors that accompany the 64-megapixel main camera in the Galaxy M31 is the 8-megapixel ultra-wide-angle camera. This sensor, as predictably, is used when capturing a wider frame. When zooming into photos taken with the ultra-wide-angle camera, not much detail is visible. The 5-megapixel macro camera gives very good results in close-up photos. The system is also complementing the 5-megapixel depth sensor.

Conclusion - Galaxy M31

It can be said that Samsung continues the line it has caught with Galaxy M30s with Galaxy M31. The experience they offer is largely similar, as there is not much difference between the two phones' release times. Increasing the resolution of the main camera, adding the macro camera, and increasing the RAM capacity offered in the base version is among the points that distinguish the Galaxy M31 from the M30s.

The presence of 6 GB of RAM, in particular, ensures that the Galaxy M31 performs smoothly in multitasking. Thus, it is not a problem to run more than one application at the same time. Besides, the Galaxy M31's Super AMOLED display offers a high-end experience in games and videos, both in size and vibrancy.

Its 6000mAh battery is among the most powerful weapons of the Galaxy M31. The phone, which has no problem in removing one day, does not need charging for two days in an average intensity usage scenario. It can be said that this is an important reason for choosing a phone today.

The phone, which easily performs daily standard tasks, also performs well with games. The rear camera of the smartphone does not let users down on both photography and video under daylight. It is written on the plus side of the Galaxy M31 that it comes out of the box with Android 10 installed.

The Samsung Galaxy M31 does not offer users anything different in terms of design. It is necessary to say that the night performance of the phone's camera is also low compared to daytime performance. However, these "class" problems do not change the fact that the Galaxy M31 is one of the most affordable and ambitious options of its price group if you compare the Samsung Galaxy M31 price, then you will come to know.