Let’s get away from the Twitter and YouTube tech bubble. All that many people want in a budget smartphone is excellent battery life, above average camera performance, latest software and two years of ease of use. The argument can be that people also want AMOLED display, wireless charging, fastest processor…. Frankly, these terms don’t mean anything to many customers. If a smartphone user is running a garment shop, chances are they will care about connectivity, smooth UI and battery more than anything else. Samsung has worked around these factors while coming up with the Galaxy M33 5G, which costs less than Rs 20,000 and cuts corners that don’t compromise on experience.
Let’s address the elephant in the M33 box — display. You get a 6.6-inch FHD+ TFT display that supports 120Hz. No, it’s not an AMOLED display but that doesn’t make TFT displays useless. Samsung has phones in the same category which comes with AMOLED and if this particular technology interests a customer, there are options. Samsung is looking at people who are on the move, working most of the day and look at a smartphone simply as a connectivity tool. I managed to enjoy YouTube without any issue, turning up the brightness to beat the sun. There is even a very loud but well-tuned speaker for audio needs. Sure AMOLED makes things more crystal clear but offering that technology would have made Samsung cut down on features that matter.
One of those important features is camera. Shooting on the 50MP main camera is a joy. Colours are bright, pictures are contrast-y, good HDR details and night photos are not too dark. It’s far better than what the competition is offering. Ultra-wide is restricted to 5MP but most casual users don’t like to use the ultra-wide mode often. At least the feature is there because many rival brands are leaving it out. Speaking of rival brands, many are not offering 4K@30fps video recording, which this machine does. Plus, all the fun tools — Single Take (several picture options with one click), Fun Mode (with plenty of filters) and Object Eraser (allows you to delete things from a picture).
Under uneven lighting the main camera punches above its weight
The ultra-wide mode can capture good pictures even though it doesn’t have too many megapixels
Details are in plenty in pictures taken during the day
Ensuring the camera functions well and there is good AI support is the Exynos 1280 chipset which can take on Dimensity 900 or Snapdragon 695. It’s built on 5nm process, meaning it’s energy efficient. Though most gaming titles will run on the smartphone on medium and high graphics settings, don’t expect it to take on Rs 30K devices.
Where compromises haven’t been made on is software support. There is Android 12 out of the box with promise for two Android versions (so Android 13 and 14) along with four years of security patches, which outperforms rival devices. There is even One UI and Knox support, so there are plenty of features to keep the phone going for a couple of years. The same goes for 5G support — 12 5G bands that should work when the tech arrives sometime later this year.
The final feature is the biggest one — 6,000mAh battery (supports fast-charging). That’s massive. Enough to last you two days but there is no charging brick in the box. I like Samsung’s environment-friendly move but it would be great if there were a variant available with charger in the box for those who don’t have a 25W charger at home.
Perhaps the only thing that one can complain about is bloatware but all of it can be deleted. It’s good to see Samsung handling the under 20K segment well by delivering features that matter for most customers. Reviewers using flagship phones forget what most users need. Basically, Samsung Galaxy M33 5G is about fulfilling needs rather than wants. We will always want a million things but it is about having those five-six needs fulfilled. It’s a phone that will not run out of battery no matter how hard you push it.
At a glance
Device: Samsung Galaxy M33 5G
Price: Upwards of Rs 17,999
High notes
• Excellent battery life
• Good camera performance
• Smooth UI and software
• Enough support for Android
Muffled notes
• Bloatware (can be deleted)