Samsung has finally come into the affordable smartphone segment market with its new M series smartphones. The M series smartphones start from Rs 7,990 for the Galaxy M10 with 2GB RAM and 16GB internal memory. There is also an M20 variant which comes with up to 4GB RAM and 64B internal memory for Rs 12,990. Both the smartphones come with almost every feature a modern smartphone needs.
We have the Galaxy M10 with the 3GB RAM and 32GB internal memory for the review. Here is the hands-on and initial impression of the smartphone.
Design and Build
Samsung is making quite a hype about their new smartphones all because of its new display and the design. The smartphone comes with a full polycarbonate unibody with a smooth finish at the back. The smartphone feels sturdy with a robust build as well. The Smartphone comes with a headphone jack at the bottom side along with the micro USB port.
The volume rocker and the power button is on the right and the SIM card tray is on the left side of the smartphone. The loudspeaker of the smartphone is provided at the back of the smartphone, there are no tabs provided to keep the smartphone elevated a bit when placed on a flat surface. Overall, the design of the smartphone is just what you can expect from a smartphone with this price range.
Display
The Samsung Galaxy M10 comes with a 6.2 inches display with HD+ (1520 x 720) resolution with 19.5:9 aspect ratio. The display is the biggest display you can get on a smartphone at this price. The smartphone comes with a TFT panel which is a cheaper substitute to the IPS LCD panel which majority of the smartphones uses right now.
The display on Galaxy M10 comes with a small notch on the top which Samsung is calling Infinity-V display (*cough* waterdrop notch.) The smartphone does not use the notch part of the display except the user interface itself. The color reproduction and viewing angles of the display being a TFT panel is not very good. The maximum brightness is also lower than expected and the content seems to wash away in sunlight.
Camera
Samsung has provided a decent camera setup on the Galaxy M10; it comes with a 13MP + 5MP setup on the back and a 5MP camera on the front for selfies. The 13MP sensor is a regular shooter whereas the secondary 5MP shooter is a wide angle shooter which takes wide-angle pictures to 120 degrees. The smartphone comes with a 5MP selfie camera on the front with a bit wider pictures.
The smartphone is capable of shooting 1080P FHD video using either the front or the rear camera. The camera lacks any type of stabilization, not even software based. Here are some of the picture and samples which will let you decide for yourself whether you like the camera or not.
Software and Performance
The Samsung Galaxy M10 comes with the Exynos 7870 which is an octa-core processor paired with Mali GPU. The smartphone comes with 2GB of RAM and 16GB internal memory, it also comes in 3GB RAM and 32GB internal memory variant. The smartphone runs the Samsung Experience UI based on Android 8.1 Oreo out of the box.
The user interface is smooth and Samsung already promised the Android 9 Pie update in Q2 this year. The user interface is smooth in every way but when we push its limits while playing games, the apps start to reload. The smartphone can play PUBG Mobile but it will be smoother in the 3GB RAM version. Here is the AnTuTu benchmark if you believe in the numbers.
Conclusion
The Samsung Galaxy M10 is a good budget smartphone if you want a decent camera, good display, and Samsung branding. The smartphone comes at a starting price of Rs 7,990 and in this price range, you have very limited options in the market.
