Samsung M13 5G review: The worthy budget 5G smartphone

Price: Rs 15,999

Specs: 6.5-inch HD+ display, 2.2Ghz Octa-core processor, 50MP camera + 2MP depth camera, 5MP selfie camera, 6GB RAM +128 GB, microSD, 5000 mAh battery

Colour: Blue, Brown, Green

In the Box: M13 5G, cable with adapter

Samsung is a quick learner. After it dethroned Nokia almost a decade ago, it wasn’t ready to accept the same fate from the Chinese competitors. It was quick to revise its strategy in 2019 by introducing value-for-money, affordable smartphones. The M13 5G is a testament to that.

Keeping things simple and affordable, Samsung has opted for a plastic unibody design with a soft finish that has a good hand feel and does attract finger impressions. The power button along with the volume controls are housed on the right panel, the SIM tray on the left, charging port at the bottom. The volume button doubles up as a fingerprint scanner which is quick to unlock the phone. The front has a 6.5-inch IPS LCD panel with 720×1,440p resolution with a small notch for the selfie camera. It also has a variable 90Hz refresh rate where the screen refresh rate switches to 60Hz depending on the nature of the app and even saves battery. Overall, with 400 nits of brightness, the screen is good to look at and consume content, both indoors and outdoors. And it is protected by Corning Gorilla Glass 3. The neat rear doesn’t have a dual camera setup with not-so-monstrous-looking lenses. Instead, the compact lenses are flushed very neatly with the rear, making it appear as a part of the chassis.

Of the dual camera setup, there is a 50MP primary sensor along with a 2MP depth sensor. The images shot using the primary camera were impressive - were sharp with natural-looking colours and fine details. However, in certain scenarios, the greens and red looked over-saturated. Portrait shots captured using the depth sensor came out just fine. It worked well on humans and pets but not on objects as the edges were distorted in some cases. There is an option to adjust the blur effect while capturing the image and even while editing. The low-light imaging isn’t a strong area for the M13 5G and that’s where night mode comes to the rescue. But you will have to hold still for a good 3-5 seconds for a clear image. For instance, shots captured indoors and even outdoors in low light had noise. Overall, the camera app is a simple, neat one with not many modes. The basics include pro (if you want to experiment with manual settings) along with panorama, food and night.

This entry-level 5G smartphone from Samsung is powered by a 2.2Ghz octa-core MediaTek Dimensity 700 chipset paired with 6GB RAM and 128 GB storage which performs well for daily usage including emails, web browsing, social media, video streaming and casual gaming. There is an option to assign an additional up to 6 GB of storage to RAM - just in case you need to have more power while playing games or do some basic video editing. And while this is a 5G enabled device, we were not able to test the same due to the lack of 5G network in India. However, the good news is that it houses dedicated slots for two SIM cards and a microSD (supporting up to 1TB expandable memory). There is also a Samsung feature – auto data switching – making sure the phone’s connected all the time. Other than the Samsung apps, there are some preinstalled ones too including Snapchat.

All this is backed with a 5000 battery which lasted me over a day and a half with average usage.  The phone’s accompanied by a 15W fast charging solution, which took close to three hours for a full charge.

Verdict: Investing in a new phone now? With 5G services to be rolled out soon, before the end of this year, it makes sense to be future-ready. Samsung’s M13 5G is an impressive budget phone with a decent camera and good performance, and above all is 5G ready, making it worth considering.

Also read: Samsung Galaxy Book2 Pro review: A stylish yet powerful machine