Samsung Galaxy M51 Review: One for the long haul

Samsung is playing its cards right and has managed to make itself revenant once again in the mid-range segment despite the rising competition from rivals. The Galaxy M51 is the most recent addition to Samsung's mid-range family and it's a thoughtful one at that. People are spending more time on their gadgets during the lockdown, and those extended hours spent on the phone must be justified and uninterrupted. That's where the Galaxy M51 with its 7,000mAh battery comes into play.

Samsung Galaxy M51 is priced at Rs 24,999 for the 6GB RAM model and Rs 26,999 is the going rate for the 8GB RAM variant. The difference between the two is on the performance scale, where the latter is for heavy users, gamers and serious multi-tasking. And that's the model we've been reviewing for little over a week.

Samsung Galaxy M51: Pros and Cons

There are a lot of things that are going for Galaxy M51. Be it lasting battery, fulfilling design, and more, the Galaxy M51 is out to get the masses' attention. Let's talk about the things that favour the Galaxy M51 first.

The highlight or the USP of the phone is the 7,000mAh battery and that number is as good in real-world as it sounds. Having that huge battery should ideally bump up the phone size, at least in thickness, but Samsung does a decent job at keeping the device's form-factor intact. But that's not what you wish to know right. The Galaxy M51 can easily last over two days with mixed to moderate use. With heavy use, doing things like IMs, calls, social media browsing, games, and more, the Galaxy M51 lasted one and a half day without draining the juice completely. For most users, a 2-days battery is going to be a standard.

But the biggest concern was with the charging speed and the Galaxy M51 comes with a 25W fast charger in the box, which can juice up the phone in less than two hours. Can be better, but it's not bad. For us, it was easier to leave the phone on charge overnight and forget about it for two days. Frequent travellers (once the COVID scene settles down) will appreciate the battery life.

The rest of the spec-sheet is more like getting things right. The design and display work in tandem to give users a gripping and satisfying experience. Samsung's displays are always class apart and the Super AMOLED Infinity-O display measuring 6.7 inches diagonally is perfect for multimedia consumptions, using split apps and playing games. The vibrant and vivid colours along with great viewing angles make for excellent viewing experience. The rear of the phone doesn't look too bad. It's plastic but has a glass-like glossy finish. The bad thing about it is it gets smudgy, so don't hesitate to slap on a silicone case.

Moving on, we have cameras. Quite impressed by what's there. Tested out the camera and its different lenses, macro, primary and wide-angle, and we loved what we saw. Colours come out a bit punchy and vibrant, which can be suitable to many people's taste. Outdoor shots have excellent dynamic range, low-light shots remained a challenge. But looking at the overall package, the cameras are more than capable of capturing the depth, colours, and subject with great details.

The 64MP, 12MP, 5MP, 5MP sensors are hard at work and they do a responsible job.

Check out a few samples below:

Final bit, overall performance. It's not something to be blown over by, but definitely a satisfactory experience. Handling everything we threw at the phone with ease was all that was expected and the Galaxy M51 sure lived up to the expectations. The Snapdragon 730G processor handled all tasks as it should and the 8GB RAM's influence was felt while multitasking and gaming. The overall performance of the phone is definitely better than other M-series phones. Also, the fingerprint scanner integrated within the power button works great for unlocking instantly.

While the Galaxy M51 checks most of the right boxes, it is not devoid of flaws. For instance, the OneUI 2.5 is not perfect, but that's coming from a stock Android or OxygenOS point of view. The low-light camera performance could be better, given that the M51 has some serious competition from the likes of OnePlus, Realme and other brands.

Should you buy?

Samsung played it safe with the pricing of the Galaxy M51 and the massive battery is a sure-shot advantage. Other great features include that beautiful display, modern design, reliable cameras and decent performance. One cannot go wrong with the Galaxy M51, especially if you want one for the long haul.