Samsung has been on a roll since the M-series of its smartphone lineup was announced and the recent Galaxy M30 was one of the best phones in the mid-range category, having a great set of specs along with the brand value of Samsung. The Galaxy M40 is now official, and it could really change the game. Or will it? The punch hole display, Snapdragon 675, triple-rear camera combination, and so much to offer in a device that is not touching the Rs. 20000 mark. Here’s our quick review of the Samsung Galaxy M40.
The Samsung Galaxy M40 has a punch-hole display with the display size being 6.3-inch and it is called the Infinity O display. Remember that being a part of only the high-end phones from Samsung and Honor so far? Now, it is not. Samsung has made sure to push it to the M series as well. The resolution is 2340 x 1080 pixels, i.e. Full HD+ and it is not an AMOLED display, which could be its only drawback in the display aspect as the predecessor Galaxy M30 had the colourful AMOLED panel but that is not the case here, though you might have to get used to it easily with the settings offered to make the display more vivid. But that display is surely a looker. Getting that in a mid-range pricing is quite a thing, and literally something unexpected from Samsung.
Internally, the phone is powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 675 processor, one that was well known already in the market, powering one of the well-sold devices in the market already, so there is no doubt on the performance aspect of it, and positively for the ones who didn’t really like the TouchWiz experience of Samsung phones, it is the new One UI based on Android 9 Pie on the Galaxy M40. The experience of OneUI is quite different and refreshing, though I won’t trust it to be the same on a longer-term basis.
Let’s get back to the design. The glossy back is not made of glass, but it still feels good to hold and comfortable, with the plastic back being shinny enough to make the phone look great in the hand. The back is curving towards the side and it the back plate meets the side frame and it isn’t a unibody finish, and when projected against the light, the edges shine up with a lighter hue. There’s a fingerprint sensor on the back of the device, towards the top centre, while there is a vertical camera setup on the left corner, with three cameras in that area, which we will get into, later in this review. Surely though, the camera bump on the back might annoy some, and it takes us back to the Redmi Note 5 Pro’s side camera bump that rocks the phone entirely when it was on the flat surface.
The triple rear camera combination on the phone has a 32-megapixel primary camera with the F/1.7 aperture and it seems like Samsung’s own sensor that they were offering even for some selfie camera phones. There is a 8-megapixel wide-angle camera and a 5-megapixel depth sensing camera as well. The flash rests outside of the module on the back, and there is a 16-megapixel front camera for selfies. There’s nothing much to express about the cameras offered on the Galaxy M40 but it is expected to do well, at least with that sensor, though how well would it challenge the Redmi Note 7 Pro will be interesting to see.
What Samsung has managed to do well here is the fact that there is 6GB of RAM and 128GB internal storage, on that single variant that is priced at Rs. 19990. The Galaxy A50 is what it directly competes, with the latest chipset as well as that being a Qualcomm-powered one, it creates a positive mindset in the consumers who are looking at Exynos as a forced option so far, and there is fast charge support for the 3500 mAh battery, which could be a little concern when compared to the likes of ASUS Max Pro M2, Xiaomi Redmi Note 7 Pro, and the Vivo Y17, all of which are great options when battery life is a major consideration.
Quick Review Overview of Samsung Galaxy M40
The Galaxy M40 is a super choice with the refreshing display with the punch-hole camera option. Not that it would be one of the best in terms of camera quality but that design and display itself keeps it premium enough in the mid-range segment, and the good Snapdragon 675 offering a smooth performance is a big plus for the phone, and it would be interesting to see if the Galaxy M40 will do well in the gaming reviews to offer a par performance with the Adreno 612 GPU that is given here. The price could have well been under Rs. 18000 but given that there is 6GB of RAM and 128GB storage might be something as a future-proof option for the users.
