In the last few months, something interesting has been happening in Samsung’s galaxy of phones. Till early 2019, there was a gap in way of design and performance between the company’s affordable phones and its flagship numbers. Users came down like a ton of bricks on one segment while using the other made one feel as proud as punch. Then there was the issue of price points — too high or too cheap for comfort. Now what you get are devices across a wide price spectrum. Visit the company’s website and simply arrange the phones by pricing. You will be surprised by what’s available. Plus, some of the features that were once considered flagship have been brought to budget options. The product segmentation strategy with distinct sub-brands is helping to simplify buying decisions.

In the last few days, the likes of Angad Bedi, Sarah Jane Dias and Sayani Gupta have taken over social media promoting Samsung Galaxy M12. There’s a reason behind it.

There are three winning features for the phone — camera, battery and design. The quad camera set up on the back has a True 48MP main shooter, 5MP ultra-wide, 2MP each of depth and macro. The “true” part involves a lot of jargons around how a shot gets captured. The real-life experience with the camera has been surprisingly good, given the price point. Very good shutter speed and the colour reproduction are far better than what you will find on, say, the Nokia 3.4 or Poco M3. Wide-angle shots also shine. Agreed that the depth sensor helps but the macro shooter is as effective as a handbrake on a canoe. To take a macro shot, one has to hold the camera a few centimetres away from the object which results in slight shaking.

The second shining feature is the 6,000mAh battery, which surely “slays” two days on a single charge. It supports 15W fast-charging and though it takes more than an hour to fill the tank, it’s acceptable if you plan to charge the phone before you hit the bed.

The battery keeps running because of the Exynos 850 chipset, which, of course, is not the latest but a very competitive one if you don’t go heavy on gaming or video editing. The phone is not for heavy games and the company doesn’t make the claim. Good for streaming, good for daily use and definitely good for taking shots around the city.

On the design front, Samsung hasn’t cut corners, giving users a premium-looking rear panel that will remain free of smudges. Finally we are getting to see 90Hz screen refresh rate from Samsung at this price point. Scrolling is indeed easy on the eye while tap-tap gaming experience is also improved with this feature. I am fine with the 6.5-inch display keeping it HD+ because the phone includes Dolby Atmos support and Widevine L1 certification for HD content.

Let’s get into the muddy zone. It’s great that there is Android 11 out of the box and One UI 3.1 but there is a bit of bloatware. Dailyhunt, PhonePe, Snapchat… then there is a “discover” section where you can access more apps. Look, almost all Android phone manufacturers are taking this route but it doesn’t help the user experience.

It’s great to see Samsung fight it out against Redmi, Vivo, Oppo, Motorola and Nokia. The perception of using a phone from the South Korean company has changed a lot and for the better, be it the Galaxy A, M, S or Fold series. Like in the automobile sector, segmentation helps smartphone manufacturers to fine-tune every device to meet the needs of a maturing consumer base. Samsung Galaxy M12 feels just right, be it in way of features or pricing.

Picture: The Telegraph

High notes

Device: Samsung Galaxy M12 (introductory price: Rs 9,999, sale starts March 18, noon onwards)

• Good camera system

• Excellent battery life

• Well thought out design

• Android 11 out of the box

Muffled notes

• Bloatware can be reduced