Samsung launched its new addition to the M series “Samsung Galaxy M02s” in January 2021. With its pricing under Rs. 10,000, it can be more than safe to say that it’s a cost-effective budget-friendly model that might find a stronger foothold with the younger generation. Competing with its rivals like the Redmi 9, Realme Narzo 20A, and Realme C15, it holds its own ground with a satisfactory Antutu score of 98025.
Table of Contents
Display and Build Quality
The phone has a dimension of 164.2 x 75.9 x 9.1 mm (6.46 x 2.99 x 0.36 in) and weighs around 196 gm which is relatively heavy. In a time where many people prefer lightweight phones, the phone might be heavy for some. It has a firm and good grip and fits right in your palm, the size of which shouldn’t be a big hindrance. The front is made of glass while the back and the rest of the body are made of plastic, which is nothing out of ordinary. It does not come with a case. The design is thus very plain and average but sturdy, full, and well-rounded.
It has a display of 6.5 inches (~81.8% screen-to-body ratio) and a HD+ resolution of 720 x 1600 pixels. It also owns an Infinity V display with a camera on the top. However, it is not waterproof.
It comes in black, blue, and red color shades and each one looks equally exquisite. It has a matte texture that isn’t realized before actually holding it in your hand, however, it prevents fingerprint smudging.
The model has two variants with 3GB RAM and 32 GB storage at Rs. 8999/- and 4GB RAM and 64 GB storage at Rs. 9999/-. With the SD card, it offers upto 512 GB space.
Cameras
It has a triple camera set up which is an upgrade from the MS01s which had a dual-camera setup. The main camera is 13 MP, f/2.2, (wide) and the two other cameras are of 2 MP, f/2.4, (macro) and 2 MP, f/2.4, (depth). It has a LED flash and video feature of 1080p@30fps.
The selfie camera is 5 MP, f/2.2 and has no flash feature.
The main camera being of 13MP proves to be worthy of its capacity. Pictures capture the original view but might be grainy at times. It takes a few seconds of time to focus properly and the situation worsens with the nighttime. Details are captured well with light and with almost apt color retention.
Unfortunately, there is no night mode so focus takes time and the picture thus captured is nothing high quality. It is decent enough but wouldn’t be known as a phone with excellent camera quality. To some, pictures might be over-saturated but it seemed fine to me which is often an issue with Samsung.
The macro camera is just there for namesake and is as good for looks. You can get better pictures with the main camera. The front camera might over sharpen your features but it gives a good quality selfie nonetheless.
Performance/Specs
For a phone under 10000, it performs alright. There isn’t usually too much lagging though one might face some lags when changing from one app to another, like YouTube and other streaming services. It works perfectly well with day-to-day activities. It comes with the inbuilt Amazon, Netflix, and other Samsung default apps.
There are customisation options like Brightness level, Blue Filter and Dark Mode available.
When it comes to gaming, small games like Temple Run, Candy Crush, or even Angry Birds can be played. Call of Duty, Asphalt can be played but with the lowest graphic settings. The phone may tend to heat up while playing heavy games. So needless to say, it is not exactly a gaming purpose phone.
Software
It runs on Android 10 Operating system One UI 2.0 and comes with chipset 14nm class 1.8GHz Octa-core Qualcomm SDM450 Snapdragon 450 processor, CPU Octa-core 1.8 GHz Cortex-A53 and Adreno 506 GPU. It does not consume much battery power as it is not a high power consuming SoC.
Battery
The Samsung Galaxy M02s comes with a 5000 mAh battery, a 7.5W charger but it supports 15W charging through the Type C port. One can easily last an entire day with the charge and may even push up to one and a half-day if light usage is prevalent. The phone usually takes around 2-2.5 hours to fully charge which is nothing special and is thus, quite lacking at fast charging.
Additional features
It has the sim slot on the left with a triple card tray of dual sim and micro SD card. The volume button is to the right. The mic is on the top with a 3.5 mm headphone jack, Type C port, and the loudspeaker. There is no fingerprint sensor so it is better to use face authentication. It does possess a light sensor, proximity sensor, accelerometer, and a sim ejector.
It is equipped with HTML 5 browser, 4G Volte, Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, Wi-Fi Direct, mobile hotspot, Bluetooth, GPS (A-GPS, GLONASS, GALILEO, BDS) Radio and USB.
Conclusion
It is a dream phone for youngsters who don’t want to spend too much on phones or adults looking for budget-friendly devices for basic functions. With a more or less adequately satisfactory camera, features, and a good build under five digits, it can be well recommended and quite economical.
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FAQs
Yes, it does support 4G.
No, it does not support 5G
No, NFC is not available in Samsung Galaxy M02s.
Black, Blue and Red.
The model has two variants with 3GB RAM and 32 GB storage at Rs. 8999/- and 4GB RAM and 64 GB storage at Rs. 9999/-.