The Galaxy M40 has been launched in India priced at Rs 19,990. For its price, the phone touts a punch-hole display, which is a first in this segment, along with a triple camera setup and a Snapdragon 675 chipset. Given the specs, the biggest competitor to the Galaxy M40 is a phone that costs much cheaper, namely the Redmi Note 7 Pro.
Design and display:
The USP of the Galaxy M40 is its Infinity-O display. This is the first time we are seeing a phone with a hole-punch display in the sub Rs 20,000 segment, which is pretty exciting. The Galaxy M40 offers a large 6.3-inch FHD+ screen and minimal bezels all around for a high screen ratio. While not an AMOLED panel like the Galaxy M30, the LCD display on the M40 still looks great with rich colour reproduction and excellent viewing angles.
The rear panel on the Galaxy M40 is not glass but rather curved plastic with a glossy finish to make it look like glass. It comes in two attractive colours - Midnight Blue and Seawater Blue.
The Redmi Note 7 Pro is easily a more premium-feeling phone as it comes with Gorilla Glass 5 on the front and back.The glass back panel is also offered in an attractive Aurora gradient finish. It also gets a 6.3-inch FHD+ display with a waterdrop notch, but in terms of display quality it looks like the Galaxy M40 has the edge.
Headphone jack:
Samsung has made a pretty questionable decision to axe the headphone jack from the Galaxy M40. There is no official reason behind the move and it is quite surprising considering the company retained the 3.5mm port even on its flagship Galaxy S10 line. Moreover, the affordable segment is still very much attached to the headphone jack, so consumers might not take to this positively. The Redmi Note 7 Pro, meanwhile, does offer a headphone jack.
The Galaxy M40 offers a triple camera setup that includes a 32MP main camera, an 8MP ultra wide-angle camera and a 5MP depth camera. Clearly, Samsung wants to offer more versatility here by allowing users to quickly switch between different shooting mode.
If the Galaxy M40 is about versatility, the Redmi Note 7 Pro is about raw performance. It's highlight is that it sports a 48MP Sony IMX 586 main camera, which is currently the biggest trend in the market. The Redmi Note 7 Pro also gets a secondary 5MP depth camera, but the main camera is what makes it the camera phone.
Software:
Both the Galaxy M40 and Redmi Note 7 Pro run on Snapdragon 675, which means you are likely to find similar performance between the two when it comes to loading apps, using multiple apps during the day and playing games. But the performance also depends on the software and the Samsung phone gets an edge by offering Android Pie with an optimised One UI on top.
One UI is a great new custom software by Samsung as it brings some neat features like system-wide dark mode and a redesigned interface for easier one-handed usage, both of which are not found with MIUI. Samsung's One UI also offers far less bloatware and ads compared to MIUI.
Battery:
The Galaxy M40 houses a 3,500mAh battery, which is noticeably smaller compared to the Galaxy M30 and Galaxy M20, both of which offer 5,000mAh capacities. It is also smaller compared to the Redmi Note 7 Pro, which packs a 4,000mAh battery. The Redmi Note 7 Pro has already proved that it offers a great battery life, but we are yet to test the performance of the Galaxy M40. Suffice it to say that the 3,500mAh battery does not instill any confidence.
The Samsung Galaxy M40 as a standalone product looks great. It's offers an attractive punch-hole display and a versatile triple camera setup. It also comes in a sleek and appealing form factor and a cleaner software experience.
But the Redmi Note 7 Pro offers a lot of bang for the buck by offering a disruptive 48MP camera and a large 4,000mAh battery along with a premium Gorilla Glass rear panel. All of this at prices more affordable than the Galaxy M40. We will be out with our Galaxy M40 review in a few days where we will tell you whether the Galaxy M40 is worth buying for its price.
- General
Sim Type Dual Sim, GSM+GSM (Hybrid Slot) Dual Sim, GSM+GSM (Hybrid Slot) Dual Sim Yes Yes Sim Size Nano SIM Nano+Nano SIM Device Type Smartphone Smartphone Release Date June 12, 2019 February, 2019 - Design
Dimensions 155.3 x 73.9 x 7.9 mm 159.2 x 75.2 x 8.1 mm Weight 168 g 186 g - Display
Type Color IPS LCD screen (16M) Color IPS LCD screen (16M) Touch Yes, with Multitouch Yes, with Multitouch Size 6.3 inches, 1080 x 2340 pixels 6.3 inches, 1080 x 2340 pixels Aspect Ratio 19.5:9 19.5:9 PPI ~409 PPI ~409 PPI Screen to Body Ratio ~ 91.8% ~ 81.4% Notch Yes, Punch Hole Yes, Water Drop Notch - Memory
RAM 6 GB 6 GB Storage 128 GB 128 GB Card Slot Yes, (Hybrid Slot), upto 512 GB Yes, (Hybrid Slot), upto 256 GB - Connectivity
GPRS Yes Yes EDGE Yes Yes 3G Yes Yes 4G Yes Yes VoLTE Yes Yes Wifi Yes, with wifi-hotspot Yes, with wifi-hotspot Bluetooth Yes, v5.0 Yes, v5.0 USB Yes, USB-C v2.0 Yes, USB-C v2.0 USB Features USB Charging USB on-the-go IR Blaster Yes - Extra
- Camera
Rear Camera 32 MP f/1.7
8 MP f/2.2 (Ultra Wide)
5 MP f/2.2 (Depth Sensor) with autofocus48 MP + 5 MP with autofocus Features Panorama, HDR HDR, Panorama Video Recording 2160p @ 30fps UHD, 1080p @ 30fps FHD 4K @ 30fps UHD Flash Yes, LED Yes, Dual LED Front Camera 16 MP f/2 13 MP Front Video Recording 1080p @ 30fps FHD - Technical
OS Android v9.0 (Pie) Android v9.0 (Pie) Chipset Qualcomm Snapdragon 675 Qualcomm Snapdragon 675 CPU 2 GHz, Octa Core Processor 2 GHz, Octa Core Processor Core Details 2x2.0 GHz Kryo 460 Gold & 6x1.7 GHz Kryo 460 Silver GPU Adreno 612 Adreno 612 Java No No Browser Yes, supports HTML5 Yes, supports HTML5 - Multimedia
Email Yes Yes Music MP3/WAV/WMA/eAAC+/FLAC Yes Video MP4/WMV/H.265 Yes FM Radio Yes Yes, with FM Recording Document Reader Yes Yes - Battery
Type Non-Removable Battery Non-Removable Battery Size 3500 mAh, Li-Po Battery 4000 mAh, Li-Po Battery Fast Charging 15W Fast Charging Quick Charge 4