Samsung Galaxy M31 review
Expert’s Rating
Pros
Cons
Our Verdict
It’s far from the best budget phone on the market, but Samsung fans looking for a cheap alternative to the company’s flagships won’t be disappointed here.
Despite the profound impact of the coronavirus pandemic in 2020, the deluge of Samsung phones shows no sign of abating.At £245, the Galaxy M31 is one of the most affordabledevices in the company’s current lineup,aiming to providea great smartphone experience at a fraction of a cost of the S and Note lines.
With a mammoth 6000mAh battery and competitive specs across the board, on paper it looks like Samsung is onto a winner.But how well does that translate to real-world usage? Read our full review to find out.
Design and build
Samsung has clearly cut some corners with the Galaxy M31’s design. The most notableis the plastic back and frameof the device, meaningany illusionofthisbeinga premium deviceis quickly lost. I was initially fooled by the Galaxy A51’s so-called ‘glasstic’ design,but there’s no mistaking that Samsung has opted forthe cheaper material here.
Itfrustratinglyremains a fingerprint magnet, but on the black model I tested the smudges aren’t toonoticeable. The phone’s also available in blue and red, if you’d prefer.
Choosing plastic over glass usually leads to a more lightweight device, but that’s not the case here. The M31 comes in at 191g,significantly heavier than the regular S20 and only slightly lighter than the stylus-wielding Note 20.
While these things would be significant drawbacks for some people, Ifound they quickly faded into the background once I started using the device as my main phone.
That’s due in part to the screen,a gorgeous6.4Full HD (1080×2340) OLED panel which offers rich, vibrantcolours and an excellent level of detail. I often wonder just how much of a tangible benefit displays of 1440p and above actually provide, so this was a wise compromise for Samsung to make.
It’s only 60Hz, but with the latest iPhones still not supporting a higher refresh rate, it would be wrong for me to complain about its absence here.Thatissomething you’llfind on the £179.99Realme7, though.
Where I will complain is the teardrop notch,which protrudes into the top of the display and houses a 32Mp selfie camera.It feels completely unnecessary, particularly when the bezels aren’t the smallest and there’s a sizeable chin.
It does at least support a face unlock, offering amostlyreliable alternative to the physical fingerprint sensor on the back of the device. The latter is a bit higher up thephone than feelsnatural, butwas impressively resistant to dust and moisturein my testing.
Next to itis a rather imposing camera module, housing 64Mp main, 8Mp ultrawide, 5Mp macro and 5Mp depth sensors.It doesn’t quite sit flush with the back of the device,but it’s sufficient that there’s not too much rocking when flat down on a table.
There’s not much to write home about thesides of the device, which thankfully means there’s no Bixby button in sight. Power button and volume rockeron one side, dual SIM card tray on the other, simple as that.
It’s at the bottom where you’ll find the most notable inclusion: a 3.5mm headphonejack. The M31 is something of an outlier in a world where most phones, including many Samsung handsets, have ditched the port.Thephonesupports Bluetooth 5.0, but it’sstill nice to havethe option to connect wired headphones.
Hardware and performance
The Galaxy M31 comes runningtheExynos9611chipset, which combines with 6GB of RAM and 64GB of storage on the model I tested.Samsung’s ownprocessorshave typically struggled when compared to Qualcomm’s Snapdragon line, although there are signs it’s fighting back.Performanceon theExynos9611isthoughtto besimilar tothe Snapdragon 712,with both found primarily onmid-rangephones.
Unfortunately, in my testing time it fell short of what I expect from phone in 2020, even one that’s priced so affordably.The main problem I encountered were app freezes, with Chrome one of the big offenders. It would often lag on awebsite for quite a few seconds, although that may be due in part to the number of open Chrome tabs I had.
The other notable area of slowdown was in opening and switching between apps. I found it takinga comparatively long time to launch everything from Facebook Messenger toSpotify, while the aforementioned double tap of the power buttonto launch the camera was far from instant.
These issuesdon’t make the phone unusable by any means, although they are frustrations you’re likely to experience on a regular basis.It’ll still work fineifyou’rewilling to be patient, but the M31’s shortcomings aremore glaringwhen you consider the strong performance in somanyotherbudget phones.
The performance gap is illustrated in the below benchmarks, where the M31 pales in comparison to some of the best cheap phones around
Anotherarea of performance that’s worth noting is the speakers – and it’s a much more positive story here. A single downward-firing speaker combines with the earpiece to provide clear, rich audio.I still wouldn’t recommend listening to music or watching a film on it, but for the occasional YouTube video and social media it’s more than acceptable.
Software and features
The Galaxy M31 comes running One Ui 2.5 over Android 10, and there’s no word on when it’ll get the upgrade to Android 11.If you haven’t used it before, Samsung’s skin is quite a departure from the so-called ‘stock’ version you’ll find on Pixel phones, although it’s come a long way from the clunky TouchWiz days.
The big appeal of One UI with regards to this phone is itsoptimisationfor big-screen devices.Samsung dividesthe display into two sections,withall the controls you’ll needwithin easier reach at the bottom of the device.It won’t quite turn the 6.4in M31 into a one-handedphone, butdoes make a big difference to day-to-day usage.
Of course, this won’t extendto all third-partyapps, butmakes a big difference when you’re moving through Settings, taking a photo ormaking a call (yes, smartphones still do that!).
I’m a big fanof the quick settings menu, which allows you to make modifications directly from the notification shade, instead of taking you into the main app.Talking of settings, you can alsocustomisethe power key to open any app of your choice with a double press. I found the default quick launch of the camera to be particularly useful, but if you’d rather head straight to Instagram the option’s there.
Bixby’s appearances are also fleeting these days, with even the Google Discover-style cards to the right of the home screen ditched on recent One UI versions. It seems like Samsung has finally admitted its virtual assistant isn’t up to scratch, particularly when Google Assistant is available via a long press of the home button.
You can swap out that and the other two on-screen buttons for gestures,but I found the latter to be a bitlaggyand generally not enjoyable to use on the M31.
Cameras
Cameras are often an area where corners are cut on budget phones, but they remain a crucial ingredient of the smartphone pie. The M31 comes sporting quadruple rear lenses, with the main 64Mp sensor joined by 8Mp ultrawide, 5Mp macro and 5Mp depth sensors.
In general, I was impressed with the quality of stills from the M31. They offer a good level of detail and accuratecolours, choosing to saturate images slightly less than Samsung phones have done in the past.Dynamic range is alsosolid, although it can struggle with exposure at times.
The camera app has a built-in sceneoptimiser, and seemed to do a good job of adjusting the settings automatically depending on what you’re taking a photo of. This includes switching to night mode, although that didn’t make a huge difference to the quality of low-light shotsI was able to take.
The depth sensor enables portrait-style shots,although it tended tostrugglequite a lot with edge detection.Like many other phones, the macro lens added almost nothing to the experience, as it wasn’t particularly impressive for close up shots.
A 32Mp front-facing camera yieldshigher quality selfies than I’ve seen on many phones, and italsooffersthe option tozoom out slightly and get more people into the shot.
The M31 is also capable of 4K video at 30fps on both the front and rear cameras, although theelectronic imagestabilisation(EIS) makes it a more pleasing experience on the latter.
Battery life
Battery life is an area where the M31 excels on paper,with a huge 6000mAh cell. That’s larger than you’ll find on most phones in 2020, although it’s matched by the current budget champ in thePoco X3.
The two phones posted near-identical scores inPCMark’sbattery test (14h22 for the M31 vs 14h24 for the Poco X3), which is impressive considering the M31 has a more power-hungry OLED screen.
A score of 8 hours and 30 minutes inGeekbench4’s battery test is more average, but I doubt you’ll have any problems with battery life here. In my experience, I was able to geta good couple ofdays ofmoderate usageon a single charge.
When you do finally run the battery down, the included 15W adapter gets youback up to around23% back in 30 minutes.This is marketed as fast charging, although many other devices can be juiced up much faster.
There’s no wireless charging, but that’s not a surprise or dealbreaker at this price point.
Price and value for money
Talking of price, the Samsung Galaxy M31 comes inat£245/US$299, and it’s exclusive to Amazon in the UK. The 6GB/64GB is the only model you can get on this side of the pond, although the International version linked above doubles the storage to 128GB.
That’s just about inbudget phoneterritory, although competition is fierce at this price point. The likes of thePoco X3,Realme7andOppoA9 2020are all compelling alternatives and more more affordable than the M31.
It’s muchmoreappealing if you’re only consideringSamsung phones,withaffordabledevices like theGalaxy A20eoffering a notably reduced experience.
Verdict
The Galaxy M31hasn’t beenmarketed nearly as heavily as Samsung’s flagships or even themid-rangeA-Series, so you might notrealisethe companymakes such asolid budget phone.
For £249, you get a gorgeous OLED display, excellent battery life and a highly polished software experience.There’s even a 3.5mm headphone jack, although the impressive speakers and Bluetooth 5.0 mean that might not be necessary.
It’s definitely not all good news though – performance is more than a littleunconvincing at timesand the sizeablenotch and chin will be unsightly for some.
Asa result, it’sunlikely to tempt people away from some other great Android handsets around this price point. But if you’re looking for the core Samsung experience at a more affordable price, this is definitely an option worth considering.
Specs
Samsung Galaxy M31: Specs
Author: Anyron Copeman, Mobile Editor, Tech Advisor
Anyron is Mobile Editor at Tech Advisor, where he’s been a mainstay of the editorial team since 2019. In his current role, Anyron is responsible for all smartphone, tablet and mobile network coverage on the site. A BA Journalism graduate, he has experience with a wide range of consumer tech products and services, including smartphones, tablets, foldables, wearables and more.
