Samsung Galaxy M12 review: a surprisingly good budget phone – SamMobile

The Galaxy M12 is one of the more affordable phones in the Galaxy M series, but unlike two years ago when the line was first introduced, being one of the most affordable doesn’t mean having totally boring datasheets. The Galaxy M12 comes with a huge battery like pretty much every other Galaxy M smartphone, but it’s also unique for sporting a 90Hz display, which took everyone completely by surprise when the phone was announced.

The rest of the datasheet isn’t too special, however. This 90Hz refresh rate is linked to an LCD display with HD resolution and the battery charging speed reaches 15W. The 48MP main rear camera comes with ultra-wide, macro and low-resolution depth sensors, the software is the Core version of One UI 3.1 (which means most of Samsung’s good features have been removed), and it’s powered by the low-end Exynos 850 chipset.

But does that mean the Galaxy M12 shouldn’t be on your list when you’re in the market for a new phone? Not really, and this review will tell you why.

Galaxy M12 design

With Samsung’s M-series phones, the beauty of the design is often inversely proportional to the quality of the spec sheet. For devices with impressive specs, like the M31 or M51, Samsung chooses to go for a simple and boring design. For devices that don’t have too many attractive specs, the company is focusing more on design, and the Galaxy M12 is another example.

The back panel of the M12 is very sleek, with a multitude of diagonal lines across most of the back and the rest having a simple untextured look, where the Samsung logo resides. The phone could easily pass for something more premium than it actually is thanks to this design, and the texture on the back panel also provides great grip.

The rear panel of the M12 is very stylish.

As you might expect, the Galaxy M12 is a rather heavy phone, tipping the scales at 221g, but you get two days of battery life in exchange. The bezels on the front are also quite large, at least compared to the more expensive M-series and A-series phones. Again, nothing you wouldn’t expect at this price from a Samsung device, although ‘it is getting very outdated at this point and I would like the business to change.

The fingerprint sensor is integrated into the power button, and like all capacitive fingerprint readers, this one reacts instantly and has very high precision. And, for those wondering what you get in the box, there’s only a 15W charger and a USB-A to USB-C cable. No case, no headphones.

Galaxy M12 Screen

The 90Hz refresh rate is the only saving grace of the Galaxy M12’s display. The screen isn’t very sharp, the colors are dull, and the brightness levels aren’t too warm either. But I’m surprised at how well the high refresh rate works here, despite the Exynos 850 being a very humble low-end processor focused only on efficiency. It works better on the M12 than on the A32, which costs almost twice as much.

With the exception of the occasional lag when switching between apps or when accessing the home screen, the M12 is capable of delivering smooth scrolling and animations in most apps. . However, like the Galaxy A32, which also has a 90Hz display, the notification shade and quick-switch zone are permanently locked at 60Hz for some reason. 90Hz mode is also disabled when using apps like YouTube in picture-in-picture mode and browsing UI and other apps at the same time.

The M12 is able to offer smooth scrolling and animations in most applications

Yet in most apps you’ll find a smoother scrolling experience 70-80% of the time. Chances are, the low screen resolution means the GPU doesn’t have to work as hard to get things to run at maximum refresh rate, and, again, it was surprising to see the Exynos 850 on the handle so well. Too bad the display is otherwise quite poor – an AMOLED display would have made the experience considerably better. Not that I’m complaining, given the starting price of the M12 (Rs 10,999/150 $).

Galaxy M12 cameras

For a cheap phone, the M12 takes pretty solid photos with its 48 MP main camera outdoors during the day and even at night when there is a fair amount of artificial lighting. With very little artificial lighting, photos are loud and dark, and there’s no Night mode to get around that. In fact, the camera app has very few modes – you only have a choice of Pro, Panorama, Portrait, and Power modes.

The 8MP ultra-wide camera barely gets the job done. There is a watercolor effect in photos taken even in daylight, and color reproduction is not very accurate. Ultra-wide images at night have a lot of noise and very poor dynamic range. When it comes to 2MP and macro depth cameras, the less said, the better. Bokeh photos look good enough, but the macro camera’s megapixel count is too low for meaningful results.

Selfies are often very gentle, although the skin tones are mostly precise. Video recording, on the other hand, is a very basic affair. It peaks at 30 frames per second in Full HD, and videos are choppy with just a little movement thanks to the lack of optical image stabilization, which is standard fare for mid-range and small phones. Samsung’s budget, or it was until the Galaxy A52 and Galaxy A72 arrived.

Galaxy M12’s Performances

You probably got an idea from the display section of this review that the Galaxy M12 performs pretty well, at least for the asking price. There is lag and stuttering every now and then as you navigate the interface or switch between apps, but the phone generally tends to make things run smoothly. This is in stark contrast to last year’s Galaxy A21s, which had a 60Hz display and the same processor and still had a lot more lag.

The Galaxy M12 performs pretty well, at least for the asking price.

Gaming performance is a bit less exciting: you can only have a smooth experience in graphics-rich titles like Call of Duty and Asphalt 9 at their lowest settings. That’s pretty good for a chipset like the Exynos 850, however, and at this price point, you can’t really expect much more from a Galaxy device. It’s not a gamer phone, in short.

Galaxy M12 software

The Galaxy M12 runs One UI Core 3.1 on Android 11 and the feature set is extremely limited. No permanent display, no integrated screen recorder, no Samsung Pay, no Bixby, no secure folder… the list goes on. You get basic features like one-handed mode, Dual Messenger, theme support, game launcher, as well as motions and gestures like Lift up to wake up and Double tap to turn on the screen. Quick Share to quickly transfer files to other Galaxy devices via Wi-Fi Direct and Music Share to share Bluetooth audio devices with others are also present.

The Galaxy M12 will likely get two major operating system updates, the same as previous devices such as the Galaxy M10, but don’t expect to see these updates bring many new features considering that the software is so simple.

Galaxy M12 battery life

Thanks to the efficient Exynos 850 chipset and 6000mAh battery, the Galaxy M12 can last two days on a single charge with light to moderate use. And a full day is possible even with heavy use. If battery life is one of your biggest concerns, the Galaxy M12 will make you very happy. Don’t expect super fast charging. It supports 15W charging (a 15W charger comes in the box), which takes two and a half hours to fill the battery from 0 to 100.

Galaxy M12 audio, call quality

The Galaxy M12, like all recent mid-range and budget phones from Samsung, has very quiet speakers that can be inaudible with even a little ambient noise. Also, there are no headphones in the box, so you will have to buy your own, although having Dolby Atmos means you can have a good wired and Bluetooth audio experience. Calls, which must be answered on the earpiece to be able to listen to the other person properly, work properly, as does network reception. However, like other M series phones, you don’t get carrier aggregation support, so you can only connect to 4G / LTE networks, not 4G + / or LTE networks. -AT.

Galaxy M12 verdict

The Galaxy M12 took me by surprise, as you’ve probably guessed by now after reading the title of this review. The display quality is rather poor, but the 90Hz refresh rate works well most of the time and allows for smooth animation and scrolling.

Battery life is splendid, performance is good despite the low-end Exynos chipset, and the main camera performs well when there is a fair amount of natural or artificial light. You also get the latest Android and Samsung software, although it’s not the most feature-rich implementation.

If you buy a smartphone for under $ 150, the Galaxy M12 is a great option that offers a user experience that exceeds its weight. Buy it.

PS Want to know something about the Galaxy M12 that is not mentioned in the review? Ask me the question in the comments section and I’ll do my best to answer.

Advantages	The inconvenients
90Hz refresh rate works surprisingly well	Display quality is poor
Splendid battery life	Basic camera app, poor photos in low light
The main camera takes good photos in daylight	2MP macro camera is unnecessary
Performance is good despite a weak processor	Loudspeaker too quiet
Elegant design	Software stripped of most Samsung features
Android 11 and One UI Core 3.1 out of the box