Samsung Galaxy M: Samsung has its sights set on India with a new lineup of Galaxy M smartphones

29 Jan 2019

Will Georgiadis

The smartphone giant will pit its Galaxy M phones against market leaders Xiaomi in India

If you’re interested in a Samsung smartphone, but are put off by the high price, then the firm’s new Galaxy M range might be just the ticket. The recent announcement shows off a trio of new affordable handsets that will be launching first in India this January before reaching the rest of the world.

As the launch date looms, we’ve gathered all of the relevant leaks, news articles and internet rumblings to help construct a firm picture of what to expect when Samsung’s Galaxy M phones finally arrive on shop shelves.

Samsung Galaxy M: Everything you need to know

Samsung Galaxy M release date: When will it launch?

Samsung’s Galaxy M lineup will launch in India first. This is an effort on Samsung’s part to mitigate some of the damage done by Chinese phone manufacturer Xiaomi, who is currently ruling the roost in the south Asian smartphone market. The Korean smartphone manufacturer is keen to tap into the Indian millenial generation, and will try to combat Xiaomi’s growing store presence in the area.

The launch is currently slated for 28 January 2019, which means Indian consumers can expect to see all three phones on sale within the following few weeks. Two of the three phones have been confirmed as Amazon-exclusive products in India.

If you aren’t living in India, you’re going to have to wait a little bit longer. There’s been no official word on when we can expect the phones to release elsewhere: the only snippet of news we have so far is that the launch will likely follow soon after the Samsung Galaxy M range releases in India. With all eyes on the upcoming Galaxy S10 reveal event, however, the Galaxy M releases might fall under the radar.

Samsung Galaxy M price: How much will it cost?

This is the good bit. Prices for the three Samsung Galaxy M phones start at a mere £110, and reach £220 for what we assume is the high-end model. This puts Samsung in direct competition with the kings of the budget phone market, fighting against rival manufacturers such as Nokia and Motorola.

Samsung Galaxy M features: What’s special?

As we’ve mentioned, the Samsung Galaxy M is in fact three phones. Thanks to a plethora of leaks and a very recently-discovered user manual, we now know a lot more about the Samsung Galaxy M20; the Galaxy M10 and M30 remain reasonably anonymous, although we can infer that this phones bookend the £110-£220 price range. Here’s what we know so far.

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1. Display and camera

The Samsung Galaxy M20 will feature Samsung’s Infinity-V display, one of three variants of the classic notch that were announced by the Korean company in November 2018. This display will be a 6.3in FHD+ LCD panel with a native resolution of 1,080 x 2,340 and an aspect ratio of 19.5:9.

We’ve had no news on the M20’s front camera, other than a very obvious indication that it exists. The main rear camera is a 13-megapixel unit (with an aperture of f/1.9), which works with a secondary 5-megapixel depth-sensing unit for blurred background portraits.

The M10, conversely, will have a 6.2in HD+ Infinity-V display, and will use the same rear camera as the M20. There’s been no word on the front camera for this phone either.

2. Battery and storage

Keeping the Samsung Galaxy M20 ticking along will be a massive 5,000mAh battery. Also confirmed by promotional material on the Samsung India website is a fast charging feature, offering three times the speed of regular charging, although there’s no indication of how fast this actually is.

Samsung’s new phone will offer 3GB of RAM, with storage options sitting at 32 and 64GB. The user manual for the Galaxy M20 suggests that the phone will offer expandable storage with a combined SIM/memory card tray.

3. Other features

Notable extra features include 3.5mm headphone jack, slotted neatly next to a 15W USB Type-C charging port. A fingerprint scanner sits on the rear of the phone, and all remaining useful buttons such as the volume rocker line the right-hand side of the device. The Galaxy M10 – and presumably the M30 – will also offer everything listed here.

The M10 and M20 will run Android 8.1 Oreo with the usual Samsung overlay tweaks and a Samsung Exynos 7885 chip running the show. This is a CPU that plants the Galaxy M series squarely in the mid-range in terms of speed, and provides a speedier experience than the Snapdragon 630/636 chipsets inside the Xiaomi Redmi phones that are taking India by storm.

These specs are for the Samsung Galaxy M10 and M20. Based on promotional material, the M30 will feature the same Infinity-V notch design, and if the image above is to be believed, will be slightly larger than the Galaxy M20.

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