Samsung Galaxy M32 first impressions: Dons "XL" attire, defies slim trend

Samsung Galaxy M-series welcomes a new budget-focused smartphone to the market, targeting a specific set of consumers with its offering. The company launched the Galaxy M32 smartphone in India on Thursday targeting budget shoppers who demand more from the phone. With a massive 6,000mAh battery, the M32 is not shying away from keeping things bulky, even if it is being the odd one out per the current trends.

Samsung Galaxy M32 starts at Rs 14,999 for 4GB+64GB variant and Rs 16,999 for 6GB+128GB configuration. Consumers get to choose from Light Blue and Black colours. We were shipped the Light Blue, base model for review and here's our initial take.

Design and display

Right after getting the Galaxy M32 out of the box, the first impression is how bulky it is, which is expected given the sizeable 6,000mAh battery chunk. Measuring 9.3mm in thickness and weighing just under 200g, the M32 looks bulkier but it is not equally heavy. This is possible due to the plastic construction of the device. The curved frame tries to mask the bulkiness while offering an easy grip.

The back panel has a striped pattern with prominent lines giving away gradience when light reflects on it. The glossy rear panel picks up fingerprint smudges easily. At the bottom, there's a USB Type-C port, a 3.5mm jack along with the speaker. The physical buttons are on the right and the SIM tray with a dedicated microSD card slot can be found on the left.

Samsung has traded the in-display fingerprint scanner with a side-mounted sensor, which works efficiently, but it will require retraining your muscle memory. The quad-camera module takes its regular spot on the top left corner of the back panel.

The M32 sports a 6.4-inch AMOLED Infinity-U display with Full HD+ resolution. The chin at the bottom of the display is hard to miss. The 90Hz refresh rate, which is set as standard is surely a welcoming addition. The dewdrop notch houses the front camera.

Performance

Samsung Galaxy M32 is powered by MediaTek Helio G80 processor and runs One UI 3.1 based on Android 11, which gives a familiar software experience. Right after setting up the phone, we noticed slight lags while doing basic tasks like pulling down the notification panel or launching Settings app. But after caching the apps in the background, we did not notice a similar issue, something we will be sure to keep an eye out in our full review.

The Galaxy M32 is not a high-performing smartphone, definitely not for core gamers. But it will likely handle daily tasks, binge-watching sessions with ease. More on this later.

Cameras

Samsung Galaxy M32 sports a rear quad camera, which combines a 64-megapixel primary camera, an 8-megapixel ultra-wide-angle camera, a 2-megapixel macro camera, and a 2-megapixel depth sensor. On the front is a 20MP selfie snapper. The cameras seem to be working as expected, delivering satisfying results and the selfies come out good too. This is in indoor settings, stay tuned for a detailed camera review.

Battery

Samsung Galaxy M32's USP has to be its 6,000mAh battery, which we are guessing can last two days between charges. The smartphone supports 25W fast charging, but the handset ships with a 15W charger, which can take its sweet time to fully juice up the phone and surprising given the M31s came with a faster 25W adapter. To prolong the battery life, one can also switch to standard 60Hz if long-lasting battery trumps the need for smooth user experience.

Stay tuned for our full review.