JOIN USSamsung Galaxy M13 review: Feature-rich budget 5G phone
Recently, Samsung launched budget Galaxy M13 series phones in India. It comes in two variants--one regular Galaxy M13 4G and a top-end Galaxy M13 5G.
The company is offering Galaxy M13 5G in two configurations-- 4GB RAM + 64GB storage and 6GB RAM + 128GB storage-- for Rs 13,999 and Rs 15,999, respectively.
I used the Galaxy M13 5G for close to a week and here are my thoughts on Samsung's latest budget 5G phone.
Design, build quality and display
The Galaxy M13 5G sports a slim design language. It has a smooth shell on the back and the dark shade of the midnight blue model ensures, there is less visibility of the fingerprint smudges on the back. It has two circular camera sensors, which are aligned vertically, very similar to what we see in the top-end Galaxy S22 Ultra.
The phone features rounded corners and the back cover is made of polycarbonate material. Though it is smooth, the slim profile (8.8 mm thickness) makes it easy to hold on to the phone with less chance of slipping and feels sturdy too.
On the front, it features 6.5-inch HD+ (720 x 1600p) PLS (Plane to Line Switching) LCD screen (270 ppi), which is said to offer more brightness compared to standard LCD panels. It also supports 90Hz refresh rate and a peak brightness of 400 nits.
The display is really good enough to read news on the websites outdoor without having to stress my eyes. However, I have to note that I had manually increased the brightness to the maximum level.
It also comes with Eye comfort mode for low-light conditions. It reduces the blue light emissions, which harms the eyes, particularly during the night.
The display panel has Gorilla Glass 3 shield, which ensures protection against scratches from pens and keys when kept in the pant pocket or in a handbag.
Also, the side-mounted fingerprint sensor, which also doubles up as a power button is very tactile and responsive too, much better than the in-screen biometric sensor.
Performance
The Galaxy M13 5G houses 7nm class MediaTek MT6833 Density 700 (2.2 GHz Cortex-A76 x 2 cores + 2.0 GHz Cortex-A55 x 6 cores) octa-core chipset backed by Mali-G57 MC2 graphics processor and runs Android 12-based One UI Core 4 OS out-of-the-box.
It is available in two variants--4GB RAM + 64GB storage and 6GB RAM + 128GB storage. Our review unit has the latter, enough to store several apps and hundreds of photos and videos.
It also supports a microSD card and users can expand it up to 1TB). Not just that, users extend the physical memory by to 6GB extra through RAM Plus feature, meaning it can reach up to 12GB, provided there is enough storage space.
The main intention of the RAM Plus is to allow most used apps to work even in the background and also, don't affect the performance of the device in terms of loading speed, day-to-day tasks such as browsing on the internet, and operating the camera without any lag-ness.
It also supports Asphalt 9: Legends and even most of the battle royale genre games, and performance is decent, on par with any of the phones under the Rs 18,000 price range. I did not face any pressing issues to complain about.
The device houses a 5,000mAh battery with 15W charger support. With this, the device was able consistently to deliver one and half days under normal usage. Even if you indulge in video binging, it can still offer a full day without any anxiety of battery dying out before you could reach home from the office.
Also, the Galaxy M13 is one of the most affordable phones to support 5G and Samsung says, it supports 11 bands -- 5G FDD Sub6: N1(2100), N3(1800), N5(850), N7(2600), N8(900), N20(800), N28(700) and 5G TDD Sub6: N38(2600), N40(2300), N41(2500), N78(3500).
It is certain to be covered by at least Airtel and Reliance Jio when they roll out the 5G commercial operations in the coming weeks.
It should be noted that Airtel has signed a multi-year deal with Samsung for equipment supply as part of upgrading cellular infrastructure to deliver 5G service in India.
With low latency, Galaxy M13 5G users will be able to play cloud-based games better and also stream high-quality 4K or 8K content without buffering delays. Or even download 8K content in a few seconds.
Photography
Samsung's new budget phone features a dual-camera-- main 50MP wide-angle sensor (with f/1.8, PDAF: Phase Detection Auto Focus) backed by a 2MP depth sensor (f/2.4) with LED flash on the back.
It takes pretty good pictures in the natural sunlight and even under cloudy overcast conditions. It does overprocess the colours particularly the red and pink shades of the flowers. But, it manages to capture finer details.
Even the portrait images are of fine quality and do a decent job of bringing the bokeh effect in the background without making it come out too artificial.
In the Night Mode, the picture will come good in certain conditions and you should have a steady hand, as the autofocus loses speed.
It can record full HD (1080p) and HD (720) videos at 30 fps (frames per second). The video quality is on par with any of the phones under Rs 18,000.
On the front, it houses a wide-angle 5MP sensor (f/2.0,). The selfies and even the video recording quality are good in natural light, but noise begins to creep in when taken indoors or in low light conditions. But, still, the quality, is good for the asking price.
Surprisingly, Samsung does not offer superficial filters and editing tools to enhance facial structure as we see in Chinese smartphone brands. Instead, it offers AR Zone, which comes with a set of modes such as AR Doodles, AR Emoji Studio, and AR Emoji Stickers to create your own emojis, caricature, and many more fun tools.
Final thoughts
With 5G service expected to be rolled out in India soon, the new Galaxy M13 is a compelling phone to buy. The performance in terms of day-to-day use and camera is decent for its affordable asking price. Also, most importantly, the big battery may come in handy while streaming content with a 5G cellular connection.
Samsung also offers generic Galaxy M13 4G mode. It is available in two variants-- 4GB RAM + 64GB storage and 6GB RAM + 128GB storage-- for Rs 11, 999 and Rs 13,999, respectively.
It differs in terms of display size, processor, battery capacity, and camera specifications.
Read more | Key features of Samsung Galaxy M13 4G
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