In the last several months, there have been enquiries about what’s happening at Samsung… in a good way. These were calls from phone enthusiasts who feel that the South Korean company has lately been getting its pricing strategy correct across categories. Not just pricing, software updates are on time and many phones now support several years of Android version upgrades.

Yes, India’s smartphone sales have been great for the quarter covering January-March and though there are hesitations about the next quarter, which is being hit by a second wave of nightmarish proportions in way of the pandemic, demand for devices will continue as a new school academic session is underway. Given the situation, the smartphone is now an integral part of academics as well as work from home. Keeping this as backdrop, let’s focus on Samsung’s latest device, Galaxy M42 5G.

Instead of highlight any one feature, there are a few things the phone gets right. When “horsepower” is not on everybody’s mind, beefy processors have given way to getting-the-job-done chipsets. What you get here is Snapdragon 750G which offers bang for the buck when one’s budget can’t be forced to budge. Perfect for a few years of usage, it offers good graphics rendering performance, better AI performance for things like AI-driven camera tricks or voice translation features, decent battery performance and if having 5G makes you happy, you get that on the phone. While goofing around with a Galaxy S flagship phone you may have countless apps open in the background but here things may take a few milliseconds more, which is fine; I really don’t require super-fast app switching. Further, I can still play games with graphic settings left on high.

Sample shot take on Galaxy M42 5G shows colours that appear natural even under uneven lighting The Telegraph

Though I am not a big fan of getting a 5G-enabled phone at the moment, the number of bands offered on this device is more than what you will get, say, on OnePlus 9 Pro, which is a costlier device. But don’t make the mistake of buying a phone only for 5G because we simply don’t know when it’s going to arrive in India.

Lending 5G support to the phone hasn’t made Samsung cut corners in the camera department, which has as main camera a 48MP shooter and a GM2 sensor, which reproduces natural colours while pictures taken at night are sharper as well as brighter. Snaps taken in low-lit environment are less noisy and are more detailed and colourful in sunny situation. The ultra-wide camera has an 8MP sensor which is kept company by two 5MP sensors (depth and macro). Videos are restricted to UHD@30fps, which is sufficient while audio capture on the front microphone is respectable.

Two other features Samsung could have left out but thankfully hasn’t are NFC support and Knox, meaning you can use Samsung Pay as well as be rest assured that security will not be an issue.

Where you can nitpick is the screen. Not that it’s a bad panel... it’s a stunning 6.6-inch sAMOLED display but with HD+ support only. You still get vibrant colours and good viewing angles but FHD would have been better. Also, I would have liked stereo speakers.

What the phone offers is ample power — 5000mAh battery, which easily lasts a day even after playing Genshin Impact for long hours as well as watching quite a few videos. The 15W charger does take time to fuel up but it’s something I do overnight, so it doesn’t really matter.

Realme and Redmi are, of course, hot on the tail but here’s a phone that strikes the right balance of security features, excellent camera, long battery life and enough headspace for future updates. Samsung Galaxy M42 5G gets the work done minus any lag… even when you are in a huff.

Device: Samsung Galaxy M42 5G

Price: Rs 21,999 for 6GB+128GB and Rs 23,999 for 8GB+128GB (check your payment instrument for cashback offers)

High notes

• Good choice of chipset
• Camera performance is up to scratch
• Great battery life
• Muffled notes
• FHD display would have been better
• Lacks stereo speakers