We were assaulted with phones with notches for most of 2018, as every smartphone maker that matters (aside from Samsung) copied Apple’s design. Some people mistakenly believe that phones like the first Essential handset an unpopular Sharp phone that brought notches to prominence. But there’s no question that, without Apple, we wouldn’t have had this explosion of notch handsets from all sorts of Android vendors.
In the second half of 2018, we did see plenty of no-notch, all-screen alternatives, proving that some device makers do want to differentiate themselves from Apple, as well as new notch designs that looked nothing like the iPhone X. And, soon enough, we’ll see Samsung’s true answer to the iPhone X/XS design: The Galaxy S10 with its Infinity-O screen. But until that happens, we’ll have to settle for Samsung’s first phones with notches, which look a lot more like OnePlus 6T alternatives than iPhone XS rivals.
Announced on Friday and hitting Amazon India on February 5th, the Samsung Galaxy M20 and M10 seem to be specifically tailored for the Indian market, where Samsung is fighting a fierce battle for market share against a slew of Chinese smartphone makers, including Xiaomi, (which just dethroned Samsung), Vivo, Oppo, and OnePlus.
The Galaxy M20, as the name suggests, is the more powerful, more expensive model of the bunch. We’re looking at a 6.3-inch display with 2340 x 1080 resolution and 19.5:9 aspect ratio, an Exynos 7904 processor, 3GB or 4GB of RAM, 32GB or 64GB of storage, microSD support, 13-megapixel (f/1.9) and 5-megapixel (ultrawide f/2.2 lens) rear cameras, 8-megapixel (f/2.0) front camera, rear fingerprint sensor, 5,000 mAh battery with 15W fast charging, USB-C connectivity, and headphone jack.
The Galaxy M10, meanwhile, is less spectacular, and therefore, more affordable. While it does share many design details and specs with the bigger model, the M10 features a 6.22-inch screen with 1520 x 720 resolution, Exynos 7870 processor, and 3,400 mAh battery. The RAM and storage options are also downgraded to 2GB/16GB and 3GB/32GB. Yes, these devices may look a lot like the OnePlus 6T, but they’re not going to deliver the same speed. After all, these are supposed to be very affordable smartphones.
We have no idea whether the M20 and M10 will ever launch in international markets, but they certainly have attractive prices for India. The cheapest Galaxy M10 retails for 7,990 INR ($112), while the cheapest M20 will cost you 10,990 INR ($154).
