Friends+Design
- Decent looks and build quality - very similar to the Samsung Galaxy M30s, with a a unibody polycarbonate design, and glossy finish on the back panel - the only major difference is the camera module which now packs a fourth camera
- The plastic body keeps the phone feeling relatively lightweight at 191 grams, which is mighty impressive for a phone packing a big 6000 mAh battery
- It also feels great to hold with a seamless curved panel that meets the display up front
- Modern, Infinity-U front - bezels around the screen are slim, except for a slightly thick chin - you still get around 90 per cent screen-to-body ratio, which is great
- Fingerprint sensor at the back is easy to reach
- The power button and volumes are quite flush with the frame which means they lack that tactile, clicky feel
- Design feels a bit dated and underwhelming, there is no spark in Galaxy M31's design as we see in other brand's phones like Xiaomi and Realme
Display
- Gorgeous, 6.4-inch FHD+ Super AMOLED display with excellent viewing angles, and brightness levels - easily one of the best displays in the price bracket
- It also comes with "Widevine L1" certification, which helps stream content in crisp HD resolution
- Blacks are deep on the AMOLED display, which looks good with Night mode enabled
Software
- Samsung's OneUI is today one of the more clean, refined Android UIs that's especially well optimised for large displays like this
- One UI also brings in other useful stuff, like a System-wide Dark mode (which turns the background completely black, and looks great on the M30s' AMOLED display), and Always On Display option
Performance
- Decent performance with the Exynos 9611 at the core (similar to Snapdragon 665) - the device is fairly quick to load up apps - multitasking is a breeze
- However, this is an old chipset and heavy gaming isn't best on this phone - the Redmi Note 8 Pro, the POCO X2 and the Realme XT are much better options that will handle gaming better than the Galaxy M31
Camera
- Good quad rear camera setup - 64MP main sensor + 8MP wide-angle lens + 5MP depth sensor
- Shots taken with the primary camera during daylight are quite satisfactory, images are detailed, especially the 64MP shots, and they showcase good dynamic range
- The ultra-wide sensor, like on any budget phone, is a good addition - it takes social media-worthy images in great lighting conditions (in low-light, the quality dips and pictures look grainy and noisy, wide-angle shots also have barrel distortion at the edges)
- Photos taken in low-light looks good - switching to Night mode helps reduce grain in the output and further improves image quality
- Live Focus shots are quite impeccable and the camera app does give you the option to set the level of blur before taking a shot - edge detection is very good and the Galaxy M31 does a good job of separating the subject from the background
- The macro camera takes decent shots outdoors (though, the quality dips when indoors and the output is restricted to 5MP in resolution)
- The 32MP selfie camera is quite good and takes detailed selfies (though, in low light, the quality goes down a notch and results are grainy)
- Overall, the cameras on the M30s are good for the price bracket, even though they are not the best (that title crowned to the POCO X2)
Battery
- Monster 6000mAh battery delivers an incredible 2-3 days of usage easily, making for one of the largest battery life smartphones currently available
- Supports 15W fast charging
- Samsung Galaxy M31 falls behind in fast charging as competitors are offering close to 30W fast charging, the 15W on M31 feels low
Verdict
- Samsung has seen success with the Galaxy M30s, so it didn't want to fix what isn't broken, they upgraded the RAM, put in a fourth rear camera, and preloaded Android 10 - if you don't care for benchmark scores and just want a device that covers the basics and has great AMOLED display, has great battery backup and has a versatile set of cameras, the Galaxy M31 will do just fine
- Having said that, the Redmi Note 8 Pro and the Realme X2 will still offer you more bang for your buck overall and when it comes to intensive tasks like gaming, you’ll be better off choosing the POCO X2 or the Redmi Note 8 Pro that are probably the best phones for gaming in this segment
