Samsung Galaxy M20 smartphone - advantages and disadvantages

When buying a new smartphone, the question always arises, which device is better. The rating of quality phones is often led by popular models of the famous Samsung brand. All the more interesting to get acquainted with the new product of 2019, the Galaxy M20 smartphone.

Galaxy M is an attempt to regain its position in the budget smartphone market

In 2019, Samsung plans to launch a new series of budget smartphones Galaxy M. It would seem that it is so difficult to understand the variety of phone lines of the manufacturer. The release of the new series should just solve the problem of the confusion of the lineup. It is assumed that devices with the Galaxy J, C and On markings will be phased out.

The release of new models should, apparently, reverse the negative trend, when in promising markets the best manufacturers from China crowd out budget Samsung smartphones, offering cheaper and technically advanced devices. This is particularly the case in India, where cost matters. It is assumed that the production of smartphones will be located in this country. To reduce the cost, Samsung may abandon traditional product promotion, and will only sell new Galaxy M smartphones through an online store.

Galaxy M10, M20 and M30 are now being prepared for release. The M10 model should be equipped with the Exynos 7870 chipset, 3 GB RAM, 16 GB or 32 GB permanent memory. The M20 has an Exynos 7885 chip, the same amount of RAM and 32 or 64 GB of internal memory. The M30 will have more advanced features.

Next, we will take a closer look at the details of a very curious middle model of the Galaxy family - M20, known now.

Appearance

The new smartphone will have a stylish frameless design. Almost the entire area of ​​the front panel is taken up by a screen that is slightly over 6 inches. The frames at the edges and at the top are as narrow as possible. And the bottom of the chin is very small. There will be a cutout for the front camera on the screen. But instead of the big monobrow fashionable in 2018, it will be a neat little drop. Perhaps this is the trend of 2019.

There will be traditional buttons - on / off, a volume rocker button and launching the Bixby voice assistant. On the back, in the upper left corner, there is a dual camera with flash, and in the center is a fingerprint sensor.

Specifications

Here are the main technical characteristics of the Samsung Galaxy M20

Performance

The new smartphone is equipped with a powerful processor of its own production Exynos 7885. This is an eight-core chip with an interesting arrangement of cores. It has six 1.6 GHz Cortex A53 cores and only two fast 2.2 GHz Cortex A73 cores. Responsible for the graphics Mali G71. The chipset is made using a modern 14-nanometer technological process.

The processor is fast and only slightly inferior in synthetic tests to the powerful Snap 660:

• AnTuTu Benchmark - 122,000;
• GeekBench 4 all cores - 4380;
• GeekBench 4 single core - 1.

The processor has enough power for all everyday needs - both for fast operation of all applications and for active games. The Mali GPU is still inferior to Adreno, but not as significantly as before.

The M20 has 3 GB of RAM and 32 or 64 GB of storage, which can be expanded by installing an SD card with a capacity of up to 512 GB.

In general, the new smartphone has quite decent parameters for playing games, watching videos, and surfing the Internet.

Autonomy

The M20 will be equipped with a good 5000mAh battery. Samsung has finally realized the importance of autonomy for users. Previously, the manufacturer did not install such powerful batteries. Now the Samsung phone can be safely used for a couple of days without recharging. The new device supports fast charging.

Cameras

The rear camera of the new smartphone with two photo modules 13 Mp and 5 Mp, with two-color LED flash and autofocus. It's fast enough to shoot well at night, with an f / 1.7 aperture. The selfie camera has an 8 megapixel sensor. With the help of the front camera, it is possible to unlock the device in the face.

Communications

The smartphone supports a wide range of 2G, 3G and LTE 4G frequencies. According to preliminary information, Wi-Fi is supported only at 2.4 GHz. This is a minus if this is really the case. Implemented Bluetooth 5.0, GPS and Glonass navigation.

The device has OTG technology. This means that through a special adapter you can connect various USB devices to it - flash drives, keyboards, mice, and even scanners and printers. You can connect a USB hub, and several devices to it at the same time. It turns out to be a replacement for a computer or laptop. The phone is also capable of recharging other devices that can be charged via USB.

The module of contactless payments NFC and FM radio is installed here. This is a plus.

Comparison with other popular models

The Galaxy M20 will retail for $ 215 in a minimum configuration of 3/32 GB. Let's compare with other inexpensive promising smartphones so that we can understand which model is better to buy.

Comparison with Xiaomi Redmi Note 7

Let's start a comparison with another new product of 2019 Redmi note 7 from Xiaomi. The smartphone is just appearing on sale, but already now it is possible to predict it as successful a fate as its predecessors in the Redmi Note line. Indeed, at a price cheaper than the Galaxy M20, you can buy a device that surpasses the competitor in many ways.

Externally, smartphones are similar. The front panel looks pretty much the same - very narrow bezels around the screen and a small waterdrop notch. And on the back in the same place is a dual camera with flash and a fingerprint sensor.

The Note 7 has a more powerful Snapdragon 660 processor versus the Exynos 7885 in the M20. For $ 205 it will be possible to purchase the Note 7 in a maximum configuration of 6/64 GB. For the amount of memory like the M20 3/32 GB, the price of $ 147 was announced.

Separately, it must be said about the main camera. The Redmi Note series has always been famous for its good cameras. But here is a camera with a main sensor of 48 megapixels (by the way, made by Samsung) and an auxiliary 5 megapixel. There are already the first reviews and examples of photos. The camera is great, especially when you consider the price of the phone. A Samsung with a camera with run-of-the-mill features is unlikely to catch up with Xiaomi. The front camera of the Note 7 is also better - 13 megapixels.

Samsung is ahead of the competition in 5000 mAh versus 4000 mAh battery capacity, and in the presence of an NFC module. It is an old bad habit of Xiaomi - to put NFC on only the most expensive models.

What are the selection criteria for these two phones? If you do not need an NFC module and a very capacious battery, then the choice is obvious. In all other respects, the M20 is inferior to its competitor.

• capacious battery;
• the presence of the NFC module.

• powerful processor;
• large amount of memory;
• great cameras;
• low price.

Comparison with Asus ZenFone Max Pro M2

Another hit that could prevent Samsung from recapturing the budget market is Asus ZenFone Max Pro M2... He has the same powerful 5000 mAh battery and cameras that are comparable in characteristics and have proven themselves in practice. NFC is also present.

Asus has a more powerful Snapdragon 660 processor and more memory even in the minimum configuration - 4 GB of RAM and 64 GB of storage.

Samsung can oppose all this with a proprietary screen with a very small cutout, in contrast to the rather large monobrow from Asus. And, of course, Samsung has more brand power. Asus is not yet as respected in the smartphone world as Samsung.

• branded display with a teardrop notch.

• powerful processor;
• a lot of memory.

Comparison with Honor 8X

Honor 8X was released in the fall of 2018, but in 2019 it remains a very relevant smartphone. He, like the M20, has thin frames. The case is very colorful - iridescent and shiny glass. Honor's screen is larger - 6.5 inches, but has a large notch.

Honor's proprietary Kirin 710 processor is slightly more powerful than the Exynos 7885. The 8X also has more memory. There is even a maximum configuration of 6/128 GB. The cameras here are very good, they are not inferior to Samsung cameras.

The M20 outperforms the 8X in battery life, with Honor's 3,750mAh battery.

• a neat teardrop notch on the screen instead of a monobrow;
• great autonomy.

• slightly faster processor;
• large amount of memory.

Bottom line: the pros and cons of the Galaxy M20

• large bezel-less screen with a teardrop notch;
• high performance;
• expandable memory;
• capacious 5000 mAh battery;
• NFC support;
• fast charging.

• GPU not powerful enough for games;
• no dual band Wi-Fi.

The release of the new Samsung line and, in particular, the M20 model is expected with great interest. This smartphone has good performance and attractive appearance. Will this be enough to crowd out Chinese competitors in the market? Time will tell.