Samsung made a comeback in the budget smartphone segment with the launch of the Galaxy M10 and the Galaxy M20 earlier this year. The brand aims to gain back the market share that it lost to the likes of ASUS, Honor, Realme, and Xiaomi in the entry-level and mid-range segment with its Galaxy M series smartphones. The company has now taken one more step in the same direction with the launch of the Galaxy M30. This new smartphone sits above the M10 and the M20. It costs INR 14,990 for the base variant and INR 16,990 for the top-end variant. Looking at the specifications, the Galaxy M30 offers almost everything that you would want from a smartphone at this price. Let us have a look if it performs as good as it looks on paper.
Samsung Galaxy M30
₹14,990
What Is Good?
- Super AMOLED display is a great feature for the price
- Ultra-wide camera comes handy
- Excellent front-facing camera
- Feature-packed, modern-looking UI
- Exceptional battery backup
- Up to date connectivity options
What Is Bad?
- Rear camera could have been better
- Sluggish performance at times
- Poor gaming performance
[P_REVIEW post_id=150100 visual=’full’]
Samsung Galaxy M30: What’s In The Box?
- Samsung Galaxy M30
- 15W Charger
- USB Type-C Cable
- SIM Ejector Tool
Samsung Galaxy M30 Design and Build Quality
The Galaxy M30 has a plastic body, but the device still feels solid in the hand – just like a smartphone that features a metal body. The back panel is also made out of plastic, and initially, I thought that it would get scratched pretty quickly. However, to my surprise, the back panel resisted scratches very well. I used the Galaxy M30 without a protective case during my week-long review period, and the back panel survived with only a couple of minor scratches, which I think is totally acceptable. If you use a case, I am sure that the Galaxy M30 will stay scratchless as long as you have it.
The Galaxy M30 is slim and lightweight in spite of packing a massive, 5000mAh battery, making the device comfortable to hold. The device fits snugly into the palm due to tapered edges and rounded corners. The buttons and ports are also placed ergonomically, making it easier to reach them. Thanks to this user-friendly design, the Galaxy M30 is easier to hold even for longer periods. Looks-wise, the Galaxy M30 isn’t the most attractive in its segment, but it looks pretty good especially because of its sleek design and a gradient color pattern on the back.
Although the build quality and design of the Galaxy M30 are pretty good, they are still no match compared to the Xiaomi Redmi Note 7 Pro. The Xiaomi phone has better build quality, and it feels more premium in the hand due to the glass back panel. In my opinion, Samsung could have worked harder on the design and build quality of the Galaxy M30.
Samsung Galaxy M30 Display Performance
While most other smartphones in the price range come with an IPS LCD screens, the Galaxy M30 features a Super AMOLED screen, giving it a huge edge over its competitors. The screen itself a 6.4-inch unit with Full HD+ resolution. The display features the same bezel-less design with a U-shaped notch that we saw on the Galaxy M20, due to which, the device looks modern. Moreover, the screen comes with Gorilla Glass 3 for impact resistance.
Coming to the quality, the display offers a good amount of brightness, and the visibility under direct sunlight is superb. The colors are vibrant, blacks are deep, and the viewing angles are excellent. There is no doubt that the Galaxy M30 has one of the best displays in its price range.
Samsung Galaxy M30 Camera Image & Video Quality
The Galaxy M30 is the first smartphone at this end of the market to offer a triple-camera setup. First is a 13MP camera with a conventional field of view, second is a 5MP ultra-wide camera, and third is a 5MP depth-sensor. The 13MP sensor has a decent f/1.9 aperture, whereas, the remaining two cameras have an f/2.2 aperture.
Images captured with the 13MP camera in daylight conditions are bright and detailed. The dynamic range is excellent, and therefore, pictures taken in tricky lighting conditions come out very well. Unlike most other smartphones nowadays, the camera of the M30 does not boost colors, and thus the images may not seem very attractive. That being said, the colors are not dull. They are close to what you see in reality. In my opinion, the daylight image quality is on par with what you get from other similarly priced smartphones like the Realme 3, and the Asus Zenfone Max Pro M2.
Things take quite a turn when it comes to lowlight conditions. A lot of noise creeps in, and the amount of detail is below average. The dynamic range goes for a toss due which many details are left out. There is also a decent amount of lens flare, which make photos look ugly. The only upside is that the images are bright. Now, most smartphones (except the Redmi Note 7 Pro, with its Night Mode enabled) at this price range suffer from these issues, and therefore, there isn’t much room for complaining.
The Galaxy M30 can also capture portrait images, courtesy of the 5MP depth-sensor. The portrait mode has a pretty good edge-detection, and therefore, the images feature an impressive background blur effect. The portrait mode, however, is not very useful in low light conditions, as the camera struggles to detect edges of subjects accurately.
Coming to the ultra-wide camera, it comes handy in many day-to-day situations. Pictures taken in daylight have an acceptable amount of details as well as brightness. The dynamic range is pretty good. The colors appear to be slightly dull, but not too far from reality. Overall, you can capture some decent shots in daylight. The ultra-wide camera, however, is utterly useless when it comes to low light conditions, as the images neither have enough amount of brightness nor details. They also suffer from high noise levels.
Moving on to the selfie camera, it is a 16MP sensor with f/2.0 aperture. This camera totally impressed me, as it captures bright, detailed, and vibrant selfies in daylight as well as low light. In my opinion, the Galaxy M30 has one of the best selfie cameras in its price range.
Samsung Galaxy M30 Performance
The Galaxy M30 uses the new Exynos 7904 SoC, which has two Cortex-A73 cores for demanding applications, and six Cortex-A53 cores for lighter tasks. For graphics, the chipset uses Mali-G71 MP2 GPU.
The Galaxy M30 has a significant performance bump compared to the older budget offerings from the brand. However, it still feels slightly sluggish as opposed to its competitors. Moreover, the performance is inconsistent. Sometimes the device feels quick, and sometimes it feels horribly slow. The Galaxy M30 also lags behind in the graphics section. The device is suitable only for lite games. The graphics-intensive games like PUBG and Modern Combat 5 stutter significantly on this device. If you are very keen on having fast performance, or if you game a lot on your smartphone, the Galaxy M30 shouldn’t be on your list. That being said, average users will find the Galaxy M30 decently fast.
Coming to the software, the Galaxy M30 has Android 8.1 Oreo operating system. The OS is customized with Samsung’s Experience UI. This customization from Samsung offers a ton of added functionalities, and the UI looks modern, polished, and beautiful. In my opinion, the Galaxy M30 has one of the best software experiences in the price range.
Samsung Galaxy M30 Battery Life
One of the highlights of the Galaxy M30 is that the device comes with a massive, 5000mAh battery. As a result, the device offers an excellent battery backup. In my usage, the Galaxy M30 usually lasted about 32 to 35 hours with 7 to 8 hours of screen-on time. This is on par with other smartphones equipped with similar battery capacity. If you are someone who needs a long battery backup, the Galaxy M30 will definitely fulfill your needs.
What’s even better is that the Galaxy M30 features 15W fast charging. Therefore, the device, in spite of a 5000mAh battery, charges from zero to hundred percent in just 2 hours and 50 minutes. Moreover, the device has a USB Type-C port, which makes plugging and unplugging the charging cable more convenient.
Galaxy M30 Connectivity, Audio, and Fingerprint Scanner Performance
The Galaxy M30 features dual-SIM connectivity with dual-4G and dual-VoLTE. Unlike most other smartphones in the market, which feature a hybrid SIM slot, the Galaxy M30 has a dedicated slot for two SIM cards and a micro SD card – this is an essential feature for Indian consumers, and it gives the M30 an edge over its competitors.
The Galaxy M30 has excellent network reception, the earpiece, and microphone work as they should, and therefore, people on either side of the call can hear properly. The smartphone has dual-band Wi-Fi b/g/n/ac, making sure that it offers fast data transfer speeds. There is also Bluetooth v5.0 for future-proof connectivity. And as mentioned earlier, there is a USB Type-C port.
The Galaxy M30 has a bottom-mounted loudspeaker. It has a decently high volume level, but the sound quality isn’t all that great. You don’t get enough bass (whatever is possible in smartphones), and moreover, there is a slight distortion when you crank up the volume levels. On the contrary, the sound quality from the 3.5mm headphone jack is excellent. It offers more than enough volume level and a balanced audio output (for a smartphone of this price).
The Galaxy M30 comes with a rear-mounted fingerprinted scanner, and it is one of the fastest fingerprint scanners I have ever used on a smartphone. Even the fingerprint registration process is blazing fast – it takes just two to three swipes over the scanner to get your fingerprint registered.
Should You Buy The Samsung Galaxy M30?
After using the Galaxy M30 for a week, I have to say, Samsung has finally made an impressive, affordable smartphone. This new device has a class-leading display, one of the best battery lives, and up-to-date connectivity options. The camera performance might not be the best in the segment, but it is for sure satisfactory. The device is noticeably slower than its competitors, but in my opinion, it is fast enough for most users out there. The only real drawback is that the device lacks behind in gaming performance. However, if you aren’t a gamer, this thing shouldn’t bother you much. All in all, the Galaxy M30 is a great smartphone.
That being said, the Galaxy M30 in spite of having so many positives, is not as good as the newly launched Xiaomi Redmi Note 7 Pro. The Xiaomi phone beats the Galaxy M30 in almost every aspect expect battery life. If you want the best smartphone at this end of the market, you should definitely go with the Redmi Note 7 Pro. However, if for some reason you don’t want to buy it or if you hate ad-filled MIUI software,the Galaxy M30 should be your next choice.
Be sure to check out our comparison video review of the Galaxy M30, Galaxy A30, and the Xiaomi Redmi Note 7 Pro below.
