Samsung Galaxy M32 5G Review: Buy This Only For 5G Nothing Else!

Samsung understands the average Indian consumer very well and therefore all their devices shine in three areas like display, camera, and battery. Samsung Galaxy M-series became very popular in India with its early model thanks to good specifications and aggressive pricing.

This Value-For-Money package provided the consumers, bang for the buck that helped them compete with Xiaomi’s Redmi series or the Realme smartphones. Samsung launched the Samsung Galaxy M32 in the month of June this year now the company has released its 5G variant. Here’s my Samsung Galaxy M32 5G Review and let’s find out how the device performs.

Samsung Galaxy M32 carries a price tag of Rs. 20,999 in India for its 6GB RAM and 128GB storage variant. It also has another variant that offers 8GB of RAM and 128GB storage that is priced at around Rs. 22,999 in India. The Samsung M32 comes in Sky Blue and Slate Black color variants. The phone is sold via Amazon, Samsung.com and other online and offline stores.

As a budget phone the Samsung Galaxy M32 5G comes with a charging adapter inbox and all the necessary accessories:

• Samsung Galaxy M32 5G handset
• Charging Adapter 15W
• USB-A to USB-C cable
• Documentation

Let’s talk about the on-paper specifications of the Samsung Galaxy M32 5G at first:

• Display: 6.5 inches HD TFT display, 720 x 1600 pixels, 20:9 ratio, 60Hz screen refresh rate 
• Camera: 48MP + 8MP + 2MP + 2MP | 13MP Front Camera
• Battery: 5000mAh Battery with 15W fast-charging
• Chipset: MediaTek Dimensity 720 
• RAM & ROM: 6 GB/8 GB RAM | 128 GB ROM
• Dimensions: 164.2 x 76.1 x 9.1 mm
• Weight: 205 grams

The design of the Samsung Galaxy M32 5G is pretty good despite being a bulky device due to its plastic back and frame it manages to look quite premium. The glossy back includes a smooth finish and attracts a lot of fingerprints. Unlike Oppo and Vivo that feature innovative gradient design with their plastic back makes it appear like glass while the Samsung Galaxy M32 5G looks a bit dull in terms of design.

The phone comes with a side-mounted fingerprint scanner and also supports a 3.5 mm headphone jack. The camera module seems flushed in the back panel and the device doesn’t make any wobble if you place it on a flat surface. The device is comfortable to hold and use with one hand but the back panel does attract a lot of fingerprints. The power button and fingerprint scanner are located on the right while the SIM card tray sits on the left side of the device. At the bottom, the phone has a type-C USB port, speaker grill, and 3.5 mm headphone jack.

If I talk about the display Samsung Galaxy M32 5G comes with a 6.5 inch HD TFT display that supports a 60 Hz refresh rate. Samsung calls the ‘Infinity V display’ as it has a waterdrop notch in front. The display is protected with a layer of Corning Gorilla Glass 5 on top.

At this price point, the display is a bit let down because of its lower resolution and lower refresh rate. The discipline does not support Widevine L1 which means you won’t be able to watch full HD+ content on your favorite streaming platforms like Netflix and Amazon Prime Video. The smartphones at this price point from companies like Xiaomi and Realme provide FHD displays with a high refresh rate up to 120Hz and at this price the Samsung M32 fails to impress.

Read more: Samsung Galaxy A22 5G Review – Future ready 5G came with few downgrades

Samsung Galaxy M32 5G fails to live up to the expectation a user has from Samsung-made displays. Even Motorola Edge 20 Fusion has an AMOLED display with a 90Hz refresh rate and that phone has the same price tag. Even the 2-year-old Samsung M30s comes with an AMOLED display that provides better color reproduction.

Considering that Samsung has used a TFT HD display on the M32 5G, the phone should have launched under a 10k price tag and not 20k. In short, while most of us have gotten used to the AMOLED displays switching to a TFT panel, you will see a huge difference and feel like you have been cheated by Samsung for a 21k price tag.

Also Read: AMOLED vs LCD: Detailed Comparison, Which One Is Better?

Samsung Galaxy M32 5G is powered by an octa-core MediaTek dimensional 720 processor. You get an option of 6GB or 8GB of RAM and 128 GB of internal storage. Samsung also provides the option of adding a micro SD card if you want to further expand the storage in the future.  

The processor provided here is made with 7nm chipset technology therefore during long gaming sessions the temperature remains low and the phone remains cool to touch. The overall performance of the chipset is average; it is not on par with the price tag of the device. Gaming on this device is surely possible but due to the lower resolution display, you won’t be able to enjoy it much. So if you are looking for a performance-oriented phone, you might have to look further. 

The Galaxy M32 5G can play light games such as Clash of Clans, Subway Surfer, Pokemon Go very easily but due to not so capable chipset when you try to play graphic intensive games like Call of Duty and Battleground Mobile India (BGMI) on high graphics settings you can see frame drops.

The Galaxy M32 5G runs Samsung’s OneUI 3.1 which is based on Android 11 with. Samsung has promised 2 years of software updates, which means it will receive Android 12 as well as Android 13 updates. In my experience, the OneUI 3.1 is smooth when running day-to-day tasks but when you turn to gaming the performance Samsung Galaxy M32 5Gs and the phone starts lagging in operation.

The OneUI 3.1 is a feature-rich skin from Samsung and includes features such as secure folder, Knox security, blue light filter, dark mode, and a lot many features.

Read more: Samsung Galaxy M21 2021 Review -Your Next Daily Driver

When it comes to cameras, Samsung Galaxy M32 5G includes a quad-camera setup at the rear that includes a 48MP main camera, 8MP ultra-wide camera, 5MP macro camera, and 2MP depth sensor for your portrait mode photos. The performance of the camera is decent, not too good, and not too bad. I was able to capture some good-quality photos in natural daylight and some good portrait mode photos with background blur. In terms of video recording, you can capture 4K videos at 30fps from the primary cameras. The selfie camera comes with a 13MP sensor and captures videos up to 1080p resolution only.

The phone’s camera can’t hold its own weight in the low light. Compared to other smartphones in this price range from companies like Realme and Xiaomi the Samsung Galaxy M32 5G’s 48MP camera produces excessively grainy and dull shots. The images lack dynamic range and are not just vibrant enough. The dedicated night mode provided in the camera app also appears to be slow. It takes a couple of seconds to capture an image but the result barely improves.

Check out: iQOO 7 Full Camera Review 

Now talking about the selfie cameras the 13MP front-facing camera is just average and gets the job done. In my experience, the selfie camera provides a lot of details with accurate colours. The inbuilt camera app is also equipped with a portrait mode that works very well in daylight conditions. It also has a beauty mode that can trim the fat from your chubby lockdown face.

If I talk about the video recording capabilities of the phone it maxes out at 4K with a 30fps. In terms of detail, the video is just fine but if you turn on the electronic image stabilization (EIS) it looks a bit jittery. More annoying is their phone’s jumpy focus mechanism that fails to provide you with a good resolution video.

Let’s talk about the battery life a bit more in detail. The Galaxy M32 5G has a 5000mAh battery which supports 15W fast charging. In my testing period, the battery easily lasted around 2 days. This exceptional battery life is because of the TFT HD display that Samsung has used which uses less power compared to full HD plus displays.

Also right now there is no 5G connectivity in any of the states in India, and once the 5G rollout is done and the device starts using the 5G antennas, the battery life is expected to drop as 5G bands are power-hungry.

Also Read: 10 Tips To Keep Your Smartphone Battery Healthy

Most of the smartphones at this price point support fast charging of 30W, 50W or even 65W but Samsung decided to use just 15W fast charging which shows how little thought Samsung has given in designing the phone.

There are no complaints in the battery department, but due to the dull HD TFT display, you won’t be able to enjoy any of the multimedia experience or gaming sessions that you expect from an Rs. 21,000 smartphone.

Overall the battery life is not an issue in the phone, it will easily last for two days if you are a moderate user and if you are a heavy user it might last a full day. This is one of the aspects of the phone that is good and can be considered while buying the phone.

At this price point, it is amazing to see that the phone packs a 3.5 mm headphone jack which can often come in handy when you are gaming or watching movies on the phone. The speaker quality of the phone is adequate. It is loud enough but the sound is not clear and it rattles a bit when the volume is very high. The bottom-firing speaker grill can be easily covered with your hand when you are watching movies or playing games in landscape mode.

One of the major selling points of this phone is its 5G support and the 12 5G bands that the Gaalxy M32 5G comes with. So whenever 5G is launched in India you will have no issue using the phone. The 5G bands are one of the reasons why the phone carries such a high price tag.

Read more: Realme GT 5G Review – This is the New Flagship Killer Contender

In terms of biometrics, the phone does have a fingerprint scanner that is embedded in the power button. This is one of the most convenient placements for fingerprint scanners that a manufacturer can think of. The performance of the scanner is quite a bit average, it is not too fast and not too slow also. You also have the option to unlock your phone using face ID which is not a good recommendation for security.

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