Samsung Galaxy M30s review: One for the long road ahead

If someone told you that Samsung has launched a phone with a Super AMOLED display, 4GB RAM and 64GB stor, 48MP triple rear cameras, and a girmous 6,000mAh battery with USB -C fast charging, plus every sensor you’ll ever need, for Rs 13,999 a couple of years ago, you’d most definitely t believe what you just heard. And for a good reason. A couple of years ago, specs I mentioned above would easily qualify for a Samsung flagship – or at most, a value Samsung flagship. But n Xiaomi happened. 

2019 Samsung is different from 2017 Samsung in many ways – because well, competition. And that’s a good thing. Because w we kw what Samsung’s capable of when it’s focused. It’s capable of change and it’s capable of making products that appeal to a wider audience, one’s than in it for quality and experience, rar than just brand name. 

So, in 2019, when someone tells you that Samsung has launched a phone with a Super AMOLED display, 4GB RAM and 64GB stor, 48MP triple rear cameras, and a girmous 6,000mAh battery with USB -C fast charging, plus every sensor you’ll ever need, for Rs 13,999, you better believe it because it’s true. phone in question is called Galaxy M30s and w that I've used it for a bit, here’s what I think about it.  

Design and build quality 

Galaxy M30s is an all-plastic phone like its or M-series siblings, but re’s one thing that sets it apart from rest – rar, re are two things. One is size itself. Remember, this is a phone that packs a 6,000mAh battery inside – that's most for any smartphone in and around its price point. But it doesn’t feel like it does. It’s rar slim and handy – a t slippery, but you get used to it eventually. It’s kind of remarkable that Galaxy M30s weighs just 188 grams. For some perspective, Xiaomi Redmi te 8 Pro weighs 200 grams and it has a smaller 4,500mAh battery inside. 

Samsung is using an all-familiar glossy plastic here but Galaxy M30s brings in new colour choices – phone’s available in Opal Black, Pearl White, and teal-ish Sapphire Blue that I have for review. It’s t going to blow your mind or anything, but that’s all you got. At least, Galaxy M30s is a good-looking phone. Since Samsung is using a unibody design, phone’s back grually wraps around sides in one continuous free-flowing motion. It feels good too. But yes, re’s a lot of glass action happening in affordable segment w so Galaxy M30s feels t out of place, so that’s something to think about. 

While I don’t mind plastic, I do mind that power button and volume rocker sit rar flush – on right – and offer aver at best tactile feedback.  

Just like its or Galaxy M-series siblings, Galaxy M30s also has a fingerprint scanner on back – that's right, fancy in-display scanner here. But that’s alright. Galaxy M30s unlocks fast and physical reer is accurate – so that’s nice. 

Display 

On front, Galaxy M30s has a 6.4-inch 1080p+ Super AMOLED display with Samsung’s Infinity U-style tch. In typical Samsung style, display here is very colourful and offers good viewing angles - watching content on it is a pleasing experience across board. phone has Widevine L1 support which means it can stream HD content from OTT services like Netflix and Amazon Prime Video and from YouTube. 

I like that display here is more colour accurate than something like say Realme XT’s where every colour looks as if it’s on steroids or something – but, if you like that sort of thing, Samsung also offers a ‘vivid’ mode in settings that outputs more over-saturated colours than by default. re’s also a very effective blue light filter for comfortable nighttime reing.  

Galaxy M30s could do with a little more brightness though. It can get bright, but t bright eugh so reing text and viewing content on it in outdoor sunny environment can get a little cumbersome at times.  

Samsung doesn’t mention if it’s using any sort of protective coating on Galaxy M30s. 

Performance and battery life 

Galaxy M30s is powered by Samsung’s in-house Exys 9611 processor which is a step up from Galaxy M30’s Exys 7904 – so you can say that it’s a nice upgre. But that’s when you consider Galaxy M30s in isolation. When put next to competition, it’s t most powerful piece of hardware we’ve seen in this price range. This is only area where Galaxy M30s feels like it’s lacking somewhat – at least on paper. 

Specs don’t always tell complete story though and that’s right to some extent in case of Galaxy M30s. I have been using phone for over 10 days w, and t once has this thing hung up on me – at least t until time I was really stress-testing it. And even n, performance was bearable. That’s t something you could say about past Samsung budget phones. Unlike past Samsung budget phones, Galaxy M30s is a reliable performer and that’s one of its biggest USP. For purpose of full disclosure, I have been using higher end 6GB RAM and 128GB stor variant that sells for Rs 16,999. But I don’t expect base 4GB RAM and 64GB variant to be too far off. 

Galaxy M30s can play graphical games like PUBG at high settings most of time but yes, performance is t consistent. Toning things down helps get better results, but this is something that you should keep in mind in case you’re looking for a ‘pro’ gamer-friendly phone. In that case, you should rar look at phones like Xiaomi Redmi te 8 Pro or even Realme 5 Pro.  

Samsung doesn’t mention if Galaxy M30s packs any sort of extra cooling – beyond usual or at all – but phone does tend to get warm, even toasty at times, when pushed to edge.   

Samsung is really touting Galaxy M30s’ massive 6,000mAh battery as its main USP – phone is claimed to offer 29 hours of video playback, 49 hours of voice calls, and over 131 hours of music playback on single charge. re’s also 15W fast charging (fast charger bundled in box) and USB C. 

Yes, long-lasting battery life is indeed Galaxy M30s’ main selling point. This one’s me specifically for long ro where you can forget your charger at home and t be bored about losing out on connectivity. For good. Galaxy M30s will easily last about one and a half days (even two days in some cases) for even most demanding users. But here’s thing - I was expecting more. Maybe it has something to do with that huge capacity, maybe it has something to do with fact that nearly every budget phone today is at least a one full day phone without breaking a sweat. Galaxy M30s did t wow me – even though sheer size of battery here is a major ‘wow.’ In our battery loop test, Galaxy M30s lasted for almost 19 hours. 

15W fast charging is good and fact that Samsung bundles a 15W fast charger in box is even better, but while Xiaomi Redmi te 8 Pro supports 18W fast charging, Realme 5 Pro has 20W fast charging – both ship with fast chargers in box. So, that’s something to think about as well. Galaxy M30s charges completely in about two and a half hours with bundled fast charger. 

Quick pointers on Galaxy M30s as an everyday phone -   

-- Galaxy M30s comes in 4GB RAM/64GB and 6GB/128GB configurations. Galaxy M30s also supports expandable stor via a hybrid micro-SD card slot.  

-- Software inside phone is Android 9 Pie-based One UI – which is same as software inside Samsung’s more premium Galaxy S and Galaxy te phones. focus is on reachability and one-handed use even though Galaxy M30s is t a small phone and One UI does well here to bring everything toger. software is still high on fancy animations and re are still way too many unwanted apps, but it’s best that Samsung’s take on Android has ever been, so I'll take that. What’s important is that whole UI feels fast and responsive and hopefully it holds up with time. 

-- Galaxy M30s has a mo speaker out at bottom that gets loud, but we’ve surely heard better. 

-- Phone calls me with Galaxy M30s are of good quality. re’s thing really to complain here. dual SIM phone supports dual 4G VoLTE. 

Cameras 

Galaxy M30s comes with three rear cameras consisting of one 48MP sensor, an 8MP ultra-wide sensor and a 5MP sensor for depth sensing aka portrait photography. Samsung is using its in-house GM1 sensor here that uses software interpolation to produce 48MP photos as and when required – by default it shoots 12MP photos. On front, Galaxy M30s has a 16MP camera. 

On paper, Galaxy M30s has what may seem like an unbeatable combination of cameras to beat. n again, specs don’t always tell complete story and that’s especially true about Galaxy M30s cameras. Cameras are phone’s weakest link, and this is where competition is miles ahe.  

Photos shot with Galaxy M30s come out decent at best, even in ideal lighting. Even though re’s a fair bit of post processing happening here, output simply doesn’t cut out as one that’s pleasing – and that’s across board. While re are inherent metering issues all-round detail and dynamic range in photos shot with Galaxy M30s leave a lot to be desired. level of ise or grain in photos increases as intensity of light goes down – night mode surely helps in taking brighter photos in low light, but we’ve seen better. 

Galaxy M30s cameras are t also fastest in business which means you’ll have to be patient with m – and don’t even think about shooting objects in any sort of motion. 

Selfies taken with Galaxy M30s’ front camera are passable, but quality takes a dip in tricky and low light. 

Should you buy Samsung Galaxy M30s? 

re’s denying that Galaxy M30s is pretty loed with specs – good specs. re’s also denying that Galaxy M30s can justify a lot of se specs. phone is built well, it has a nice screen, reliable performance, and excellent battery life. Plus, it’s a Samsung phone, so you can expect good after sales support. If you’re looking for a -nsense phone that lasts long, Galaxy M30s can be considered. 

That's t to say that it is perfect, or even best in class. It is t. It’s t as premium looking as competition and it has really disappointing cameras. If that’s what you’re after – including, better gaming performance – Galaxy M30s is out of equation. 

(Photos by Saurabh Singh)

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