Samsung recently unveiled the Galaxy M32, a successor to the Galaxy M31. Both phones are targeted towards those who want a big display and long battery life. Does the Galaxy M32 offer enough improvements to upgrade from the Galaxy M31 from last year? This comparison article should give you a clear answer to that question.
The Galaxy M32 does come with a few improvements in display quality, performance, and charging speeds, but it is a downgrade in terms of front and rear-facing cameras. You can read our Galaxy M31 review here and the Galaxy M32 review here. Let us check out all the differences between the Galaxy M31 and the Galaxy M32 in detail.
Galaxy M31 vs Galaxy M32: Design
The Galaxy M32 is still made out of plastic, but it does look quite attractive compared to the Galaxy M31. It has a more modern-looking camera layout. Both phones have roughly the same size (around 9mm) and weight (around 190g). The Galaxy M31 has a rear-mounted fingerprint reader, while the Galaxy M32 has a side-mounted fingerprint reader. It is easier to access the Galaxy M32's fingerprint reader.
Winner: Galaxy M32
Galaxy M31 vs Galaxy M32: Display
The Galaxy M32 comes with a significant improvement over the Galaxy M31 in terms of display quality. Both phones sport a 6.4-inch Super AMOLED Infinity-U display with Full HD+ resolution, but the Galaxy M32 has a 90Hz refresh rate and up to 800 nits brightness in outdoor mode. The Galaxy M32 offers smoother animations, scrolling, and transitions, offering you a more fluid UI.
Winner: Galaxy M32
Galaxy M31 vs Galaxy M32: Cameras
The Galaxy M31 features a quad-camera setup, featuring a 64MP primary camera, an 8MP ultrawide camera, a 5MP macro camera, and a 5MP depth camera. The Galaxy M32 features a quad-camera setup as well, and it uses a 64MP primary camera, an 8MP ultrawide camera, a 2MP macro camera, and a 2MP depth sensor. Not only does the newer phone drops the resolution of its depth and macro cameras, but it also drops the video recording resolution to just Full HD 1080p. The Galaxy M31 can record 4K 30fps videos using both front and rear cameras. So, the Galaxy M32 is a downgrade in terms of camera abilities.
Winner: Galaxy M31
Galaxy M31 vs Galaxy M32: Performance & Software
The Galaxy M31 comes equipped with the 10nm Exynos 9611 processor, 6GB/8GB RAM, 64GB/128GB internal storage, and a microSD card slot. The Galaxy M32 uses a 12nm MediaTek Helio G80 processor, 4GB/6GB RAM, 64GB/128GB internal storage, and a microSD card slot. In terms of performance, the Galaxy M32 offers a slight improvement in gaming and you can play AAA gaming titles (but not at 90fps to take advantage of the 90Hz refresh rate screen). And there are still some stutters and frame drops during day-to-day tasks and scrolling through the UI.
Both phones are currently running Android 11 with One UI 3.1, but the Galaxy M32 will get two more Android OS updates as it was launched recently. So, the Galaxy M32's last major OS update will be Android 13, while the Galaxy M31 will be limited to Android 12.
Winner: Galaxy M32
Galaxy M31 vs Galaxy M32: Connectivity
Both smartphones are exactly similar when it comes to connectivity features. The Galaxy M31 and the Galaxy M32 feature GPS, dual-SIM card slots, 4G LTE, Wi-Fi b/g/n/ac, Bluetooth 5.0, a USB 2.0 Type-C port, and a 3.5mm headphone jack.
Winner: Tie
Galaxy M31 vs Galaxy M32: Battery Life
Again, the Galaxy M31 and the Galaxy M32 are on par with each other. They are both powered by 6,000mAh batteries. However, the Galaxy M32 offers fast charging at 25W, while the Galaxy M31 uses a slower 15W charging mechanism. While both phones can last 1-1.5 days on a single charge, the Galaxy M32 takes the cake due to faster charging.
Winner: Galaxy M32
Galaxy M31 vs Galaxy M32: Conclusion
The Galaxy M32 offers an upgrade in design, display, performance, and battery charging speeds, but it is a letdown when it comes to camera performance. If you use your smartphone's camera a lot, you should not upgrade to the Galaxy M32 because the Galaxy M31 offers 4K video recording, while the Galaxy M32 lacks that feature.
Both phones are priced similarly, at least in India right now (INR 16,999 or $230). If you want a high-refresh-rate display but don't want to lose out on 4K video recording, there's no clear winner here. Instead, you need to spend a bit more and upgrade to the Galaxy A52, which offers both a 90Hz Full HD+ Super AMOLED display and 4K video recording. It even comes with OIS, stereo speakers, and a much faster processor.
Samsung
Galaxy M32
General Information
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Model Name
Galaxy M32
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Model type
Bar
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Colors
Black (Awesome Black)White (Awesome White)Blue (Awesome Blue)
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Announced
2021, June
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Released
2021, June
Physical specifications
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Dimensions
Bar: 158.9 x 73.6 x 8.4 mm
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Weights
184g
Operating system
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Operating system
Android 11
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One UI version
3.1
Networks
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SIM
Dual SIM model
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SIM card sizes
Nano-SIM (4FF)
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Networks
2G3G4G
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eSIM support
No
Display
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Kind
Main Display
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Name
Infinity-U Display
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Technology
Super AMOLED Display
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Size
6.4 inch / 162.56 mm
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Resolution
FHD+ / x pixels
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Refresh rate
90Hz
