Samsung Galaxy M30 review: The new mid-range phone

Samsung Galaxy M30 will go on sale in India on March 7 at a starting price of ₹14,990. Here’s our review of the latest Samsung smartphone.

Samsung Galaxy M30 with triple-rear cameras takes on Xiaomi Redmi Note 7 (HT Photo)

Brand: Samsung
Product: Galaxy M30
Key specs: 6.4-inch FHD+ Infinity U Super AMOLED display, 13MP f1.9, 5MP depth and 5MP 123degree lens, 16MP selfie camera, 5,000mAh battery, USB Type-C, Exynos 7904 SoC, 4+64GB, 6GB+128GB.
Price: ₹14,990 (starting)
Rating: 3.5/5

Samsung last month launched a new budget smartphone series, Galaxy M. The series debuted with Galaxy M10 and Galaxy M20 budget smartphones. The third offering under the latest series is Galaxy M30.

Samsung Galaxy M30 takes on Xiaomi's Redmi Note 7 Pro and Mi A2 with big 5,000mAh battery and mid-range level specifications. The smartphone will go on sale in India at a starting price of ₹14,990. The top-end model with 6GB RAM and 128GB storage is priced at ₹17,990.

Samsung Galaxy M30 doesn't look very different from the Galaxy M10 and Galaxy M20. It has a similar unibody look and feel with glossy finish on the back panel. A subtle difference is the triple-rear camera setup, vertically aligned on the left top corner. On the front, it has Samsung's own cut-out display, Infinity U. Interestingly enough, Galaxy M30's back panel doesn't attract fingerprint smudges as much as M20. It's better to grip and use for longer period of time.

Galaxy M30 comes with a 6.4-inch full HD+ Super AMOLED display. The screen is vibrant and offers pretty satisfactory legibility indoors and outdoors. The Samsung experience v9.5 is slick but it's still based on older Android 8.1 Oreo. The latest Android Pie would have made way for a range of new features such as Adaptive Battery and Adaptive display.

Samsung Galaxy M30 comes with a 15-megapxiel selfie camera. (Samsung)

Samsung Galaxy M30 comes with a 15-megapxiel selfie camera. (Samsung)

Samsung Galaxy M30's highlight is the triple-rear camera setup. This includes a 13-megapixel camera with f/1.9 sensor, 5-megapixel depth sensor, and 5-megapixel ultra-wide sensor with 123-degree viewing angle. The UI is quite similar to what we've seen on older phones like Galaxy A9 2018. As far as the camera performance goes, it's pretty impressive for the given price point. The lowlight images, however, leave much to be desired. Selfie enthusiasts will like the 16-megapixel front-shooter.

Performance wise, Samsung Galaxy M30 doesn't disappoint either. Exynos 7904 octa-core processor can easily handle your day-to-day tasks such as browsing, social networking and streaming multimedia on-the-go. Graphic-intensive games PUBG Mobile, Asphalt and Marvel Contest of Champions run smooth on the phone. The phone does heat up little after longer sessions of gaming, but that's the case with most of the mid-range phones.

The 5,000 mAh battery is quite reliable. On moderate to heavy usage, Galaxy M30 can easily last more than a day. Our use case included lots of browsing, music and video streaming, and gaming. If you're a light user, you can draw more from Galaxy M30's big battery.

Verdict

Samsung Galaxy M30 is a capable mid-range smartphone. If you're looking for a phone with big battery and good camera, Galaxy M30 is worth considering. That said, you may want to wait for review of Xiaomi Redmi Note 7 Pro which offers Snapdragon 675 processor and 48-megapixel Sony IMX586 sensor. The Xiaomi phone will go on sale in India on March 6.