Over the past two years, Samsung seems to be understanding the minds of its customers a lot better. The brand is very well placed in the top and mid segment but a good budget device was something which seemed to be missing so far. However, with the Galaxy M02s, Samsung has bridged that gap too.
SPEC CHECK
The Samsung Galaxy M02s sports a 6.5-inch IPS LCD display with an aspect ratio of 20:9. It is powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 450 processor, paired with 3 or 4GB of RAM and 32 or 64GB of onboard storage. Storage is further expandable with a microSD card slot. It runs on Android 10 based OneUI 2.5 out of the box. All of this is backed by a 5,000mAh battery.
The model also features a triple rear camera setup including a 13MP primary camera, an 2MP depth sensor and a 2MP macro sensor. At the front, there is a 5MP selfie snapper too.
DESIGN AND DISPLAY
The Galaxy M02s does not feel like a budget device once you unbox it. Samsung has clearly taken cues from its highly successful S series and A series while designing this device.
At the rear is the camera module and a plastic body with matte and gloss styling. While on the front, the Galaxy M02s sports a 6.5-inch IPS LCD panel with a U-shaped notch. It has thin bezels all along except the chin.
The Galaxy M02s sports a USB Type-C port on the bottom edge. The charging port is surrounded by a 3.5mm headphone jack, speaker grille and the primary microphone. The right edge houses the power button and volume buttons. On the left edge, there is a SIM tray which can accept two SIM cards and a dedicated microSD card.
PERFORMANCE AND SOFTWARE
The Samsung Galaxy M02s is powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 450 processor paired with 3 or 4GB of RAM. Basic multi-tasking on the device is easy, but you do feel a bit of a lag while switching between apps. Gaming is possible on the device but it will be not as much fun but that’s the best a budget device can offer.
The Galaxy M02s runs on Android 10 based One UI 2.5. The user interface feels like it could have been better. However, it does get a lot of new-age features like system-wide dark mode and face recognition.
CAMERAS
The Samsung Galaxy M02s sports a triple-camera setup at the back. The setup comprises a 13MP primary camera, a 2MP depth sensor and a 2MP macro sensor. It also gets Live Focus, Pro Mode and the company’s AR facial features. The phone misses out on a night mode though.
The images taken by the device are decent and in many ways the best you can expect from a budgeted device. It does fall short in low light. The front camera lets you take satisfactory images, which might be grainy sometimes, but you do have a beauty mode which you can switch off as required.
BATTERY
One of the biggest advantages of this device is its large battery. It comes with a 5000 mAh battery, which also makes the device a bit heavy. But a single charge runs the device for more than a day. It supports 15W fast charging, however, it comes with a standard 5W charger in the box
VERDICT
At the starting prices of Rs 8,999 and Rs 9,999 you get a device with a good design, decent display, great performance, but an average camera. If you are looking for a smartphone under Rs 10,000, the Galaxy M02s will not disappoint you.