The current craze in the community is 5G. Even if you don’t want to use it to buy a phone, you might be tempted. Nowadays, it is safely included in many phones, particularly budget models. So, why didn’t Samsung produce one? Consequently, we purchased the Galaxy M42, which is also the first affordable 5G device offered by the company in India.
With regard to 5G, the phone that appears to be able to assist you is: The Samsung cameras and display, a large battery, and an ambitious Qualcomm Snapdragon 750G chip all attempt to demonstrate the point. So, has Samsung provided a respectable selection? Let’s investigate.
Design:
The Samsung Galaxy M42 5G is not a great phone! It sticks to a straightforward design rather than following Xiaomi and Realme’s lead. However, it attempts to make up for the drab design it introduced in 2021. Consequently, a rainbow-like dual-tone texture when positioned at an angle. a little sparkle to make us like the phone less. People who like their simplicity with a touch of whimsy will enjoy this.
The “glasstic” chassis of the device results in a light phone while maintaining a respectable build quality. Something like this is always likable.
But there is one thing that kind of puts people off. The phone is frequently seen to attract fingerprints, and the back panel frequently needs to be removed. A clean cloth might come in handy. Using a case, this can be resolved. Sadly, there is no freebie in the box, so you will have to buy one. Given that Xiaomi and Realme continue to follow this pattern, I wish Samsung would at least attempt to include the cases in its budget and midrange offerings.
The Galaxy M42 5G is a phone with decent build quality that might appeal to many buyers. However, a little “extraordinary” would have been nice!
Display:
Although the display’s 6.6-inch size allows for a comfortable viewing experience, the notch cannot help but stand out. The waterdrop notch applicants may not feel this way. The Super AMOLED screen, which Samsung has always done well, is the happy moment here.
Sadly, however, this is combined with an HD+ screen resolution, which detracts from the overall viewing experience. Given that Xiaomi and Realme are doing enough to beat Samsung at its own game, I’m not sure why Samsung chose this, but it’s a compromise it could have avoided. Additionally, the phone maintains the standard 60Hz refresh rate, which may leave gamers and other individuals seeking large numbers disappointed.
An in-display fingerprint scanner is supported by the display, which aims to keep the technology alive in low- to medium-priced options. The fingerprint sensor is reasonably responsive, but it cannot simply unlock the phone: Pressing it would be necessary. Because it feels more secure, this doesn’t seem like a problem.
Cameras:
The phone has four rear cameras, but rather than joining the current megapixel war, it sticks to a pattern we’ve seen before: a main camera with 48 megapixels, an 8 megapixel ultra-wide lens, a depth sensor with 5 megapixels, and a macro camera with 5 megapixels. The front camera has a 20-megapixel resolution.
The phone takes good pictures, especially when the light is good. The images are very specific. When this is topped off with a dash of vividness, you’ll get some pretty pictures, especially of the surrounding greenery! Although it can provide a fairly wide field of view, the ultra-wide lens frequently becomes stretched. The fact that the color and detail are as good as the main camera is positive. Zoom levels of up to 10X are supported. Be prepared for some graininess, which is directly proportional to the zoom level, although this helps capture a distant object.
If you’re still interested, the Portrait mode gives the image a nice bokeh effect and separates the subjects well. Most of the time, the macro camera tries to take pictures that are detailed and colorful. The levels of brightness can be changed by you. However, it still needs some work to compete with the amazing macro lens on the Xiaomi Note 10 Pro Max.
However, the 20-megapixel selfie camera is quite good. The photos that were taken try to be as close to the natural color space as possible and are very detailed. When choosing an image for your Instagram, these are the results that you would most likely choose—at least I would!
The phone can record videos in 4K at 30 frames per second. The output is vivid and rich in detail. You can use the ultra-wide lens and up to 10X zoom, but the details will be lost. The output is shaky due to the lack of OIS, especially when recording a video in a moving vehicle.
Battery life, performance, and OS:
The phone has a Qualcomm Snapdragon 750G processor, which is also found in the Xiaomi Mi 10i and Motorola Moto G 5G, both of which have shown promising performance. As a result, I expected the same thing from the Samsung phone. Also demonstrated was this. My usage, which included calling, messaging, watching videos, taking pictures, playing games, and looking for various answers on the internet, is well managed. The phone makes it possible to have a smooth ride. However, the phone stutters a little as a result of a few minor speed bumps along the way.
It was also okay to play games. I tried a few different games this time. From games like Who Is?, which are fun, Brain Test Towards Call of Duty: Bubble Shooter The phone ensures decent gameplay without draining the battery when running at high frame rates and with high graphics. A 5,000mAh battery is large enough to last a day of use, and there was no significant battery drop or heating in CoD. This can easily be increased to a day and a half if your usage scale decreases. However, yet another compromise! The phone can be fully charged in one hour and 45 minutes using the included 15W fast charging feature from Samsung. This is clearly not fast enough in comparison to rival phones from Realme and Xiaomi, which continue to excel in this area.
It has been simple to clean Samsung One UI 3.1, which is based on Android 11. However, a number of pre-installed applications that I haven’t seen on other Samsung devices make the operating system feel quite bloated. You get a number of Indian short video sharing, gaming, and other apps in addition to the Samsung apps. Despite the fact that Netflix and Facebook’s current presence feels appropriate, I moved the majority of the other applications to the “uninstall” list. However, this is always a matter of personal preference, and those who require Josh, Candy Crush Saga on their devices shouldn’t have any issues with it.
In addition, the audio quality is satisfactory. However, the volume of the audio output is limited by the single speaker.
Verdict:
The Samsung Galaxy M42 is yet another inexpensive 5G phone that increases the popularity of the 5G trend. This phone is a respectable alternative thanks to its design, performance, and camera. However, it lacks the future promise of phones like the Xiaomi Redmi Note 10 Pro Max, Realme 8 5G, and even the Xiaomi Mi 10i.
If the phone had had the Samsung-standard display and charged much faster, it would have had more life. Samsung must devise a strategy to differentiate itself in a market where competition has significantly increased. Try including water resistance as an additional feature that is currently unavailable on budget phones!
The phone is good, but if you’re willing to spend around Rs 20,000, there are better options on the menu.
