In our last comparison article, we covered the presence of two of the major flagship of the year 2020 in the Nepali Market. You can check our article on Mi 10 5G vs Samsung Galaxy S20. Not only the flagship segment, but we can also even see tough competition in the mid-range devices.
Looking at the current scenario there are two devices that seem to clash at the 30,000 segments in Nepal. With some similar features, both the devices seem to target the millennials of the country. Yes both the devices are none other than Redmi Note 9 Pro from Xiaomi and Galaxy M31 from Samsung. In today’s article lets see what both the devices have to offer and compare their specs head to head.
Redmi Note 9 Pro vs Samsung Galaxy M31
| Redmi Note 9 Pro | Samsung Galaxy M31 | |
|---|---|---|
| Dimensions & Weight | 165.8x76.7x8.8mm, 209 g | 159.2x75.1x8.9 mm, 191 g |
| Display | 6.67 inches, FHD+, IPS display | 6.4 inches, FHD+, S.Amoled |
| Processor | Snapdragon 720G, 2.3Ghz Octa-core | Exynos 9611, 2.3Ghz Octa-core |
| Memory | 6+128, UFS 2.1 | 6+128 & 8+128 UFS 2.1 |
| Software | MIUI 11 on top of Android 10 | One UI 2.0 on top of Android 10 |
| Connectivity | Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/, Bluetooth 5.0, GPS | Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/, Bluetooth 5.0, GPS |
| Camera | Quad Camera (48MP+8MP+5MP+2MP) with f/1.8, f/2.2, f/2.4, f/2.4 respectively 16MP f/2.48 front camera | Quad camera (64MP+8MP+5MP+5MP) with f/1.8, f/2.2, f/2.4, f/2.4 respectively 32MP f/2.48 front camera |
| Battery | 5020mAh, 18W fast charging | 6000mAh, 10W charging |
| Additional Features | IR blaster, Gorilla glass 5 | 4K@30fps from the front camera |
Design
Nowadays devices even in the mid-range segment come with a look worthy design. Here the Note 9 Pro comes with a glass sandwich design at front and back with a Gorilla Glass 5 protection whereas M31 has a plastic build with the plastic frame. Even the display has an older Gorilla Glass 3 protection. At the front, Redmi has a punch-hole cutout for the camera but Samsung has the same old U shaped notch. Looking at the design Redmi Note 9 Pro looks better and more like a 2020 phone than the M31.
Display
 Though the M31 comes with a smaller display as compared to Redmi Note 9 Pro, here Samsung takes the crown for the better display. Samsung Galaxy M31 has a Super Amoled display to show those inky blacks and popping contrast with 403 PPI while the Redmi’s display is not a bad one with IPS panel and 395ppi. Talking about the protection of that display Redmi went with the much newer Gorilla Glass 5 whereas Samsung chose the older Gorilla Glass 3.
Performance & Software
Glass is not the only thing older in Samsung’s device. Samsung Galaxy M31 has Exynos 9611 SoC which was announced in September last year. The chip is manufactured on 10nm finfet technology. Comparing it with Redmi’s counterpart, Note 9 Pro comes with a much superior Qualcomm Snapdragon 720G, manufactured on 7nm tech. Even the Adreno GPU in Note 9 Pro is much more powerful than Mali G-72 MP3 on the Galaxy M31.
Also Read: Best Performance Mid-range Smartphone
While software in both is quite different. Redmi Note 9 Pro ships with MIUI 11 whereas Galaxy M31 has One UI 2.0. Both are based on Android 10. MIUI has ads here and there on their system apps whereas Samsung is filled with all of those Samsung and Microsoft junk which very few use. So Software is something which I let you decide. Let us know in the comment section below which Custom skin do you prefer MIUI or One UI.
Optics
Both of the devices come with a quad-camera setup and a similar set of Cameras. The primary lens on the Galaxy M31 is a 64MP Samsung sensor whereas the Note 9 Pro packs a 48MP Sony sensor. While the next two are 8MP Ultra wide and a 5MP macro in both the devices. The last one is a 5MP depth sensor in Samsung while the Note 9 Pro has a 2MP depth-sensing camera. Both the devices produce good images under good lighting conditions and can record up to 4k@30fps. While talking about the front camera Samsung has a better 32MP shooter which can also shoot 4K selfie videos at 30fps.
Battery
Here Samsung was going to make a perfect Battery beast with lightweight and 6000mAh battery but a 10W charging let it down. Whereas the Redmi comes with a 5020mAh battery and much faster 18W fast charging. Samsung has a 10nm chip which might also consume some more power but the Amoled display might help battery life. On the Redmi side of things, we have a power-efficient 7nm chip but a larger display. Both the devices will easily last a full day or even more in the case of Samsung.
Pricing
 Pricing of both the devices in the Nepali market is what made us compare both of these devices. The 6GB+128GB variant of Samsung Galaxy M31 is available at 30,999. You can even get an 8GB variant for 35,699 but I don’t think that makes sense with the Exynos 9611. Talking about the Redmi Note 9 Pro, you can get 6GB+128GB for 29,999. It’s the only variant launched in Nepal so far.
Redmi Note 9 Pro
Pros
-
Better CPU & GPU
-
Faster Charging
-
Premium Design
Cons
-
IPS LCD Display
-
Not so good front camera
Samsung Galaxy M31
Pros
-
Compact and Lightweight
-
Amoled display
- Better battery life
-
Better Selfie camera
Cons
-
Plastic build
-
Only 10W charging
So this was our comparison between Redmi Note 9 Pro & Samsung Galaxy M31. What are your thoughts about these devices? Is the Redmi Note 9 Pro a better choice even after being 1K cheaper or you are willing to pay that extra one thousand for that amoled display and a better front camera? Let us know in the comment section below and also tell us which two devices you want us to compare in our next article.
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