Samsung Galaxy M31 in Kenya

The Samsung Galaxy M31 has a recommended retail price starting at KSh28,000. It features a Super AMOLED display, an Exynos 9611 (10nm) chipset, a triple 64 MP camera, and a large Li-Po 6000 mAh non-removable battery. Galaxy M31 comes before Galaxy A11 which was released 2020, May 01.

This smartphone was released on 5th March 2020. It is similar to Galaxy A51 but comes at a lower price and improved specs. It goes for KSh29,000. This smartphone has a 6.4-inch Super AMOLED capacitive touchscreen, 16M colors, and a resolution of 1080 x 2340 pixels, and a 19.5:9 aspect ratio (~403 PPI density).

Design

Samsung Galaxy M31 measures 159.2 x 75.1 x 8.9 mm and weighs 191g. it has a Glass front (Gorilla Glass 3), plastic back, and plastic frame. the back has a glossy finish with a rounded finish that feels good in the hand and with a comfortable grip. The rear houses a Quad main camera set up 64MP + 8MP + 5MP + 5MP, LED flash, and fingerprint scanner. At the front is 6.4 inches display with Corning Gorilla Glass 3 protection. The display holds a teardrop notch design with a selfie camera and an earpiece.

On the left side towards the top, there is a 3 in 1 tray that holds 2 4G/LTE Nano sims and a microSD card for memory expansion. On the right side are power and volume keys that are perfectly placed for easy access. They have a soft click when pressed. At the bottom, there is a single bottom-firing speaker grille that produces decent audio, a USB-C port, and a headphone jack. The phone is available in Ocean Blue, Space Black, and red.

Display

This smartphone has a 6.4-inch Super AMOLED capacitive touchscreen, 16M colors. Super AMOLED display has some advantages worth noting down.

1. It consumes less power (energy efficiency) when compared to other display technologies.
2. A thinner physical profile translates to flexibility and lightness.
3. High contrast ratio meaning the difference between the brightest whites and the darkest blacks.
4. Overall display quality is brighter and more vivid than images displayed on typical IPS panels.
5. Better viewing angles than high-end IPS panels. No noticeable color shifts, brightness, and vibrancy remain unchanged even when viewed from extreme angles.
6. Better response time and refresh rates than conventional IPS panels. This means that moving images are more fluid and less straining to the eyes.

With a screen resolution of 1080 x 2340 pixels and a 19.5:9 aspect ratio (~403 PPI density), you will experience an immersive watching experience with great cinematics. You can play graphic intensive games and enjoy customizable characters and detailed environments. The screen is reasonably big for easy viewing in order to protect your eyes from straining. It is equipped with an Always-On display which allows you to customize your screen to show time, date, notification, screensavers, and battery status.

Perfomance

This smartphone runs Android 10, One UI 2. 1 which has a live caption that automatically captions the media playing on your phone. You also get suggested responses with the recommended action. It is also equipped with a sound amplifier that boosts sound and filters the background to give you fine-tune. Gesture navigation is quicker and much more intuitive. It also offers a dark mode that is gentle on your eyes, no more straining at night. You also get data control to help you keep your data safe from unauthorized access.

It is powered up by Exynos 9611 (10nm) combined with Octa-core (4×2.3 GHz Cortex-A73 & 4×1.7 GHz Cortex-A53) which performs simple tasks more quickly and makes complicated applications to be more practical. The phone has ample memory and high APP performance. Apps can run smoothly in the background without any need for refreshing when switching from one App to the other.

It has 6GB RAM for ample running of your Apps with no lags when switching from one task to the other. It permits multitasking in the background and you can easily access previously used Apps without the need to refresh them. it is very reliable. Replying to your messages and browsing the web will b much easier with such RAM.

Platform

It runs Android 10, One UI 2. 1 and is powered by Exynos 9611 (10nm) combined with Octa-core (4×2.3 GHz Cortex-A73 & 4×1.7 GHz Cortex-A53). It has 6GB RAM for better performance. You get 128GB ROM for internal storage. It has a Quad rear camera set up 64MP+8MP+5MP+5MP and a 32MP selfie camera.

Camera

This smartphone is equipped with a Quad rear camera module.

• 64 MP, f/1.8, 26mm (wide)- delivers great photos with excellent color and dynamic range
• 8 MP, f/2.2, 12mm (ultrawide)- you can capture more details in one shot
• 5 MP, f/2.4, (macro)- it lets you get really close to the subject.
• 5 MP, f/2.2, (depth)- allows you to get better bokeh on your shots therefore it will do a great job focusing on the subject and blurring out the background.

It has helpful features which include:

• Live focus mode-which enables you to adjust the level of blur on the background so that the subject stands out.
• Super Slow-Mo allows you to record videos using a high-speed camera and to capture moments that the human eye can’t capture by playing them slower than normal.
• Bixby vision- it detects what you’re looking at and gives you the information you need.it can find products online, search for similar images, shows notable locations nearby, translate texts, reads QR codes and so much more.

The selfie camera packs 32 MP, f/2.0, 26mm (wide) to give you an exciting selfie experience with great colors and clarity.  You can record stable and decent videos at 4K@30fps and 1080pixels@30fps. A selfie camera supports face unlock and video calls for you to have a one-on-one conversation with your loved ones.

Power

You get a healthy Li-Po 6000 mAh, non-removable battery to keep you juiced up all day. Gaming and watching are now limitless with this battery.  It is Fast charging 15W there saves you time.

Connectivity

• WLAN-Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, dual-band, Wi-Fi Direct, hotspot
• Bluetooth-5.0, A2DP, LE
• GPS-with A-GPS, GLONASS, GALILEO, BDS
• Radio-FM radio, RDS, recording
• USB-2.0, Type-C 1.0 reversible connector