Update 1 (02/17/2020 @ 01:42 AM ET): Samsung will launch the Samsung Galaxy M31 in India on February 25, 2020. Scroll to the bottom for more information. The article as published on February 4, 2020, is preserved as below.

After years of cheapening out its budget phones with sub-standard specifications and an absence of basic sensors, Samsung finally woke up in 2019. The company upgraded the Galaxy A series with better specifications to make them more competitive in the upper mid-range segments of the smartphone market. More importantly, it took the fight to Xiaomi and Realme by releasing the online-only Galaxy M series in the lower mid-range segment. The Galaxy M30, Galaxy M20, and Galaxy M10 were launched in early 2019. While the phones couldn't beat Xiaomi and Realme's competitors in every respect, they were at least in the same league. Samsung became respectable in the lower mid-range segment after a long time. In September, the company upgraded the Galaxy M30 by launching the Galaxy M30s (review), its highlight features being its massive 6,000mAh battery and a 48MP primary camera. Despite the improvement in specifications, Samsung's market share has continued to decrease in India, allowing Vivo to sneak past into second position in the Indian smartphone market. Something more needs to be done.

To that end, Samsung has kept launching new phones in the mid-range market. The company launched the Galaxy A51 earlier this month, a phone that was a mild refresh of its predecessor, the Galaxy A50s (review). Now, two prominent Indian YouTubers, GeekyRanjit and Technical Guruji respectively, have released exclusive teasers of the upcoming Samsung Galaxy M31, which will be the successor of the Galaxy M30s. The teaser reveals the phone's name and proclaims a 64MP camera with the tagline "Mega Monster". The "mega monster" tagline suggests that it will probably have the same 6,000mAh battery capacity as its predecessor---beating all of its competitors in this respect. No other details were provided, but we can expect Samsung to announce the phone's launch date soon. The 64MP primary camera is expected to use Samsung's own 64MP ISOCELL GW1 sensor.

The upcoming Galaxy M31 recently received Bluetooth SIG and Wi-Fi certifications, which revealed that it would come out of the box with Android 10, feature dual-band Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 5.0 connectivity. Earlier unverified rumors suggested that it could have a quad camera setup consisting of a 64MP primary camera, an ultra-wide-angle camera, a depth sensor, and a macro camera---imitating the camera setups of the Redmi Note 8 Pro (review), Realme XT (review) and the Realme X2 (review). It was also said to be powered by the same Exynos 9611 SoC that powered both its predecessor and the Galaxy A50s/Galaxy A51. It could be paired with up to 6GB RAM and up to 128GB of expandable storage. It should be noted these details haven't been confirmed.

The Galaxy M30s recently received a price cut in India, with the 4GB RAM/64GB storage variant now available at ₹12,999, down from its launch price of ₹13,999. The 6GB RAM/128GB storage variant received a ₹2,000 price cut from ₹16,999 to ₹14,999. These prices are now applicable across retailers. This is another indication that Samsung is gearing up to launch the Galaxy M31 soon.

Via: 91mobiles

Update: Samsung Galaxy M31 launching in India on 25th February

Samsung is launching the new Galaxy M31 in India on 25th February, according to product promotional pages on Amazon.in. The page not only confirms the release date for the upcoming phone, but also the product design, camera setup, some display specifications, and battery size.

The highlight of the Galaxy M31 will be its 6,000 mAh battery as well as the 64MP Quad Camera setup that focuses on scene optimization, macro mode, and night mode according to the details on the promotional page. The phone will also come with a FHD+ sAMOLED Infinity-U display with thin bezels. Samsung is also sticking with a conventional fingerprint scanner which can be spotted on the back of the device. Other specifications and differences from its predecessors have not been mentioned, so we'll have to wait for the phone to be launched to find out more.

Source: Amazon.in