Samsung M51 Review: The Best Mid-Range Smartphone!

Samsung M51 has been around for some time but it was recently launched in Nepal. It is an update to the M-series and comes as an upgrade to the M31.

Samsung Galaxy M51 is a mid-ranger that is rocking a huge 7000mAh battery which is very rare. Samsung Galaxy M51 price in Nepal is Rs. 39,999 for the 6/128GB variant and 43,999 for the 8/128GB variant.

I have already laid down my first impressions of this device. So check it out if you want. This review builds upon my impression and has more detail about the camera, battery, and performance. So, let’s check it out!

Samsung Galaxy M51 Review

Design

• 63.9 x 76.3 x 9.5 mm, 213 g
• Dual SIM (Nano-SIM, dual stand-by)

Samsung Galaxy M51 is strikingly similar to the Samsung Galaxy A71. Both of them have almost the same size.

As we expect, the M51 also has a plastic back with a glossy finish which is prone to smudges. Even when I have been very careful about how I place the device, the back panel of M51 has gotten scratches and smudges.

So, it is very important to use a case if you want to protect it. Sadly, Samsung doesn’t include a case with the M51 in the box.

On the front, we get a hole-punch design and the front camera is surrounded by a big black border which is what we expect on a mid-ranger.

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The power button and volume buttons are on the right whereas there’s a sim tray on the left. On the bottom, we get a 3.5mm headphone jack, a Type-C port, mic, and a speaker. On top, there’s a single microphone.

The phone is quite big but it fits well in my hands and the button placement feels right for me. The placement of the fingerprint sensor embedded on the power button also feels natural.

With a big battery, we expect phones to be heavy but the M51 has pretty good weight distribution. You won’t feel the device too heavy on your hands.

Overall, its glastic back is the only drawback with its design.

Display

• 6.7 inches Super AMOLED Plus
• 1080 x 2400 Resolution
• Corning Gorilla Glass 3

Samsung M51 comes with a huge 6.7 inches FHD+ Super AMOLED Plus display with a screen resolution of 1080 x 2400 pixels. The display is protected by Gorilla Glass 3+ as well.

Samsung M51 has slim bezels all around with a similar chin as the A71. At this point in time, the hole punch in the middle doesn’t feel distracting at all.

As for the quality of the display, it is the best display for the price. The AMOLED panel has rich color reproduction, a saturated color profile, and excellent viewing angles. I loved watching YouTube videos and Netflix on the M51.

Normal users won’t be able to differentiate between M51’s AMOLED panel and a flagship AMOLED panel. I was even playing games under direct sunlight which means that its sunlight legibility is very good.

Yes, it is not a high refresh rate display but the display felt smooth. Maybe it was due to swift animations, I did not feel the need for a high refresh rate display.

Samsung M51 has the best display under Rs. 40,000. Period!

Hardware

• Qualcomm SDM730 Snapdragon 730G (8 nm)
• Octa-core (2×2.2 GHz Kryo 470 Gold & 6×1.8 GHz Kryo 470 Silver)
• Adreno 618
• 128GB 6GB RAM, 128GB 8GB RAM

Samsung M51 rocks Snapdragon 730G chipset which is a premium mid-range chipset.

It has an 8nm Qualcomm Snapdragon 730G chipset with Octa-core (2×2.2 GHz Kryo 470 Gold & 6×1.8 GHz Kryo 470 Silver) CPU and Adreno 618 GPU. For memory, it comes in two configurations: 6GB RAM/64GB storage and 8GB RAM/128GB storage. The variant I’m using has 6GB RAM.

This phone sails through normal tasks like a boss. The animations are smooth and the performance is smooth while opening apps, switching between apps, and doing normals tasks like browsing.

M51 can perform equally well when it comes to gaming. I tested COD mobile and PUBG mobile on the M51. You can play PUBG mobile up to high graphics and extreme fps setting in smooth graphics. The gameplay is smooth in the highest graphics and highest fps setting. Well, you might see rare frame drops but PUBG runs smoothly on M51.

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Similarly, COD mobile plays very well on the highest settings. You will get more or less consistent frame rate on high graphics and max frame rate options.

Camera

• Rear Camera: 64 MP, f/1.8, 26mm (wide), 1/1.73″, 0.8µm, PDAF
  • 12 MP, f/2.2, 123˚ (ultrawide)
  • 5 MP, f/2.4, (macro)
  • 5 MP, f/2.4, (depth)
  • Video: 4K@30fps, 1080p@30fps
• Front Camera: 32 MP, f/2.0, 26mm (wide), 1/2.8″, 0.8µm
  • Video: 1080p@30fps

Samsung Galaxy M51 has a triple camera setup on the rear. There’s a 64MP main sensor, a 12MP Ultrawide angle sensor, a 5MP depth sensor, and a 5MP Macro sensor. The main sensor here is Sony’s IMX682 sensor.

NORMAL PHOTOS

Photos from the 64MP main sensor are sharp and have very good details even in normal mode.

If you want better details, you can use 64MP mode but the normal mode is more than enough. Also, the 64MP photo doesn’t have HDR, so exposure is better on normal photos.

The color is saturated as we expect from Samsung phones and the dynamic range is also quite good. The exposure is balanced most of the time but some photos do look slightly overexposed.

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And something else that I like about the pictures from M51 is the natural depth effect. It is using a relatively larger sensor than what we see on most phones which helps in achieving a natural depth effect. Some photos really shine with the natural bokeh.

LOW LIGHT PHOTOS

In Daylight, M51 has very good camera performance and the performance carries over in low light situations as well. The photos look good even in low light.

Of course, the photos do have noise and lack detail but still, I was impressed with the low light photos.

Using night mode helps to remove noise and get more detail. Night mode also helps to maintain better exposure with the controlled light source.

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You can also use night mode with an ultrawide angle sensor and the night mode works similarly well with the ultrawide photos as well.

ALSO READ: Realme 7 Review: Good Mid-ranger But A Bit Expensive

ULTRAWIDE ANGLE PHOTOS

Ultrawide photos from M51 have a 123-degree wide FOV and the 12MP sensor provides good details. You will notice noise if you are pixel peeping but the details are very good and the color profile is similar to the main sensor.

I really like the ultrawide angle sensor of the M51. The HDR works really well with ultrawide photos and it manages to capture good photos even in the low light situation.

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The distortion correction is also done well and you won’t notice much distortion on ultrawide photos.

PORTRAIT PHOTOS

Samsung M51 has an extra 5MP sensor for depth sensing and it helps with portrait photos. The portrait shots have really good edge detection as it manages to correctly identify the subject even in tough scenarios. Plus, the depth effect also feels natural.

The HDR also helps with bright light conditions as it controls the highlights in the background.

MACRO PHOTOS

Most smartphones have macro lens these days, but they are mostly useless. Well, Samsung M51 has a decent macro lens. The 5MP sensor captures decent detail and I would not hesitate to upload the macro shots captured from M51.

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But, it is slightly tough to capture with the macro lens as you have to keep the phone steady to get a good focus.

SELFIE

Selfies from the 32MP have lots of details. The face looks sharp and the colors are saturated. The HDR works most of the time which helps in controlling the background lights. Sometimes, the background does come out a bit washed out.

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As for portrait selfies, they look good with nice edge detection and excellent background blur.

VIDEOS

Samsun Galaxy M51 can capture up to 4k 30 fps. It can also do 1080p 30 fps but it doesn’t have a 60fps option even at 1080p. So that is a slight disappointment.

Video quality is best at 4k with rich color and nice contrast. The detail level is good and surprisingly stabilization is also good at 4k. Similarly at 1080p, the detail level is not bad as I had expected.

Battery

• Non-removable Li-Po 7000 mAh battery
• Fast charging 25W, 100% in 115 min
• Reverse charging

Samsung M51 is one of the few phones rocking a 7000mAh battery. And, the battery life is as solid as it comes. With moderate usage, I did not have to worry about charging the phone for almost 2 days.

On average I was getting about 9-10 hours of screen on time. And, I was able to get up to a maximum of 14 hours of screen on time. I was easily able to get through 2 days of usage while I was binging tv shows on Netflix. I did not play games during this usage period though. Check out my usage below.

The problem with a big battery is that it takes a lot of time to charge the phone. With its 25W charger, M51 takes about 2 hours to charge from 0 to 100.

Speaker

M51 has a single bottom-firing speaker and I’m quite satisfied with its quality. The phone is more than loud enough and the clarity is pretty decent.

Software

• Android 10
• One UI 2.5

Samsung M51 runs on One UI Core 2.5 on top of Android 10. The experience is the same as what we get from other Samsung phones like M31 and A71. Some Samsung related apps like Samsung Max, Samsung Global Golas, and My Galaxy comes pre-installed. Else, there is no extra bloatware.

The animations are fluid and the software experience has been amazing. One UI is one of the best UI’s for me.

Conclusion

Samsung M51 is a top-notch phone for the price. AMOLED display with fluid performance is its main highlight along with the humongous battery. The camera setup is really nice. The main sensor, ultrawide, and macro sensor are among the best under Rs. 40,000.

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

It doesn’t provide you the most value when it comes to price to performance ratio. But if you’re looking for an excellent display, good cameras, good performance, and awesome battery life then M51 is the phone for you. It’s a complete package that excels in almost every department.

It is definitely my favorite phone under Rs. 40,000.

What do you think about the Samsung Galaxy M51? Let us know in the comments!