Samsung M32 First Impressions: A Balanced Budget Mid-Ranger!

Samsung launched the Galaxy M32 earlier this month and it is the upgrade to the Samsung M31.

Samsung M31 was a very popular mid-range device from Samsung and they are looking to repeat the same success with the M32.

How does it feel so far? I’ll tell you all about it in this first impressions article of the Samsung M32.

Samsung M32 First Impressions

Familiar Design

• 160 x 74 x 9 mm
• 196 g
• Dual SIM (Nano-SIM, dual stand-by)

Samsung M32 embodies a similar design route that Samsung has used on its recent A12, M62, and A22.

Talking about the rear panel, it is easily scratchable and is one of the major weaknesses of this smartphone. But, I do like the stripes on its rear.

ALSO READ: Samsung A52 Review: A Fantastic Mid-Range Smartphone

Upfront, it still uses a notch similar to the M31. It would have been nice to see a hole-punch design instead.

The overall design is quite nice but it is not the best-looking phone in the market.

Impressive Super AMOLED Display

• 6.4-inches Super AMOLED
• 1080 x 2400 pixels
• 90Hz
• 800 nits brightness

Samsung has gone for the 6.4 inches FHD+ Super AMOLED panel on the M32 with a 90Hz refresh rate.

The screen quality is pretty good with vibrant colour and good brightness. Actually, it is one of the only phones to provide a high refresh rate FHD AMOLED panel at this price.

The high refresh rate smoothness is not as good as high end phones but its not bad.

Samsung’s New Favourite Chipset

• Mediatek Helio G80 (12 nm)
• Octa-core (2×2.0 GHz Cortex-A75 & 6×1.8 GHz Cortex-A55)
• Mali-G52 MC2 GPU
• 64GB 4GB RAM, 128GB 6GB RAM

Powering the Samsung Galaxy M32 is the MediaTek Helio G80 chipset. We can see the same chipset on the Samsung A22 and Samsung A32.

It hasn’t had a single hiccup while using multiple apps or switching between them. The phone feels smooth and slick but it doesn’t have the best gaming performance.

It can definitely play games but you will be limited to medium to low graphic and low frame rate options. I tested COD mobile on medium graphics and it did perform quite well. However, you should opt for some other phones if you want a better gaming performance.

Familiar Camera Setup

• Rear Camera: 64 MP, f/1.8, 26mm (wide), PDAF
  • 8 MP, f/2.2, 123˚, (ultrawide), 1/4.0″, 1.12µm
  • 2 MP, f/2.2, (macro)
  • 2 MP, f/2.4, (depth)
  • Video: 1080p@30fps
• Front Camera: 20 MP, f/2.2, (wide)
  • Video: 1080p@30fps

Samsung has employed a quad-camera setup on the rear. It gets a 64MP main sensor, 8MP ultra-wide angle sensor, a 2MP depth sensor, and a 2MP macro sensor.

Similarly, it has a 20MP sensor on the front for selfies.

64MP MAIN SENSOR

Images have good details, the colors look saturated as ever and the dynamic range looks good as well. The focus also seems to be on point and it’s a really good snapper overall.

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ULTRAWIDE, MACRO, SELFIE

Similarly, the 8MP ultrawide angle camera also performs quite well. You get good details and the images have a similar colour profile as the main sensor.

I’m not impressed with its macro sensor though. The downgraded 2MP macro sensor does not provide good enough detail.

ALSO READ: Samsung Galaxy M12 Review: 90Hz High Refresh Rate on a Budget!

On to the front camera, M32 can capture really good selfies with good details and good exposure. The HDR also works in tandem to keep the highlights under control.

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VIDEO

Likewise, M32 can only capture up to 1080 30fps. Unlike its predecessor Samsung M31, it cannot capture 4K videos.

Thus, this is one of the downgrades that you get on the M32.

Monstrous Battery with Fast Charging

• Non-removable Li-Po 6000mAh battery
• Fast charging 15W
• Reverse charging

Just like the Samsung Galaxy M31, it has a massive 6000mAh battery along with 25W fast charging support. Though it has a 25W Fast Charging support, it only comes with a 15W charger in the box.

So far, the battery has been good. I was easily able to use it for 1 and a half days under moderate usage. I mostly need to charge it in 2 days

Software

• Android 11
• One UI 3.1

M32 runs on One UI 3.1 on top of Android 11.

My review unit is running on May 2021 update and it has not received further updates. Well, the experience is very similar to that of the A32.

ALSO READ: Samsung Mobiles Price in Nepal: Features and Specs

It also gets swipe right to Google news which is standard on all of the latest Samsung phones. However, Samsung has excluded some of the camera features like Fun Mode and Single Take Mode.

Follow Up

So, Samsung Galaxy M32 looks good for the price. I have been using it for a few days now and I like it so far.

It’s not the top dog when it comes to performance but it is definitely one of the best-balanced mid-range smartphones from Samsung.

This is just an initial impressions article about a few days of using the M32. I’ll revisit what I talked about here in my full review.

Also, watch our review of the Samsung Galaxy A32 in Nepali.