Samsung Galaxy M40 is a powerful budget smartphone with unnecessary compromises

The Samsung Galaxy M series has just gotten a little larger with the arrival of the Galaxy M40. This is the most affordable Samsung smartphone to feature an Infinity-O display and it also gets the same powerful processor as the Galaxy A70.

For starters, it has a 6.3″ Full HD+ display that that comes with a punch-hole on the top left corner. The device runs on a Snapdragon 675 processor with 6GB of RAM and it has 128GB of storage. It also offers microSD card expansion via a hybrid SIM tray slot, which means you can’t expand storage while having two SIM cards at the same time.

The Galaxy M40 also gets a more upmarket look as it features a dual-tone finish that comes in either Midnight Blue and Seawater Blue.

Instead of a traditional earpiece at the top, the device uses a screen sound technology that emits audio through vibrations under the screen. This is similar to the Galaxy A80 that was launched two months ago.

For imaging, it has a 32MP f/1.7 main camera, an 8MP ultra-wide-angle camera and a 5MP shooter for live focus, which is quite similar to the more expensive A70. The M40 is capable of recording 4K videos as well as 240 fps slow-mo. Over at the front, there’s a 16MP selfie shooter that sits in the punch-hole.

For the device that comes with heavyweight specs, the Galaxy M40 surprisingly comes with a modest 3,500mAh battery. As a comparison, the Galaxy M20 and M30 are equipped with a larger 5,000mAh capacity and even the Galaxy A70 comes with a 4,500mAh unit.

Fortunately, it still charges via USB-C and it supports 15W fast charging. Another surprising omission is a 3.5mm headphone jack and out of the box, Samsung is bundling a pair of USB-C earphones. The Galaxy M40 is also running on Android 9.0 Pie out of the box with One UI skin on top.

It is mind-boggling that Samsung has decided to remove the headphone jack and to fit a smaller battery on its most capable M series smartphone yet. I would gladly trade the Infinity-O display for a bigger battery.

In India, the Galaxy M40 is priced at 19,990INR (about RM1,194) and the first sale is taking place on 18th June 2019. For the price, the direct competitor would be the Realme 3 Pro which is priced at 16,999INR for the equivalent 6GB RAM + 128GB storage model. The Realme device comes with a more powerful Snapdragon 710 processor, a larger 4,045mAh battery and it still retains a 3.5mm headphone jack,

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