With over 23% singular market share across all mobile devices, Samsung is undoubtedly the largest mobile brand in the world. But this title didn’t limit their innovations in mid-range A-series or the flagship S-series . The strategic and inclusive approach of Samsung saw them producing smartphones and feature phones in every budget range. The company even has a dedicated line like the F-series for the ever-growing South Asian market. The latest from this line, the Samsung Galaxy F13 is slated to be launched in India on 29th June 2022. Here goes a detailed overview of this latest Samsung phone.
Key Specifications of Samsung Galaxy F13
Design and Build Quality
Unlike their upper mid-range and flagship devices, Samsung doesn’t hold onto a specific design set for their F series. In fact, it’s a complete overhaul each year bringing design and internal refresh.
The F13 also looks drastically different from the F12. The vertical frosting on the back has been replaced with brushed plastic. The camera housing is now rectangular with a vertical lens arrangement, much like their big brother, the S22.
Read Tecno Camon 19 Neo Review: Know its advantages, disadvantages
However, both devices share similarity in all the other physical attributes. The display is 0.1 inches larger than the last generation. All the ports and buttons reprise their position including the 3.5 mm headphone jack. The physical fingerprint sensor is yet again side-mounted on the power button.
The device is on the heavier side at 207 grams. It's kind of baffling as to why a plastic-built phone would cross the 200 gm mark. But much of it has to do with the large battery packed inside. Overall, the design is much less flashy compared to the previous generation all the while bringing a sense of unison across Samsung’s different lineup.
Display
The display tech used on the Samsung Galaxy F13 is PLS LCD. The 6.5-inch panel has a 1080P resolution with a Gorilla Glass 5 protection on the front. Usually, it's uncommon to see rated protection on the front glass in this price range. But it's definitely a welcomed addition from Samsung.
Read Walton Primo R9 Review: Competitive in entry-level budget segment
PLS LCD panels aren’t exactly known for the best resolution or viewing angles. especially if compared with AMOLED panels. However, Samsung did an excellent job of calibrating the panel. The colors look deep and punchy with a warmer hue. The viewing angles are also much better than the previous generation. It's almost similar to the IPS LCD panel and anyone would be hard-pressed to tell them apart.
To wrap things up, this is definitely a passable display in this budget range. But there are some Chinese brands like Vivo with their Z1x which already provide AMOLED panels in the same price bracket.
Camera
In hindsight, the camera tech seems to be a downgrade from the F12. The quad-camera setup from last year has been replaced with a triple camera setup. However, that’s not necessarily a bad thing.
Read Infinix Note 12 G96 Review: A Budget Phone With Top-Notch Features
Most of the complementing lenses are just gimmicks in a budget device. Companies add these lenses simply to use them as a marketing tool rather than for practical usage. Here Samsung has removed a 2 MP macro shooter and increased the main sensor size.
The F13 has a 50 MP main shooter with an f/1.8 aperture. The remaining two sensors are a 5 MP ultrawide shooter and a 2 MP depth sensor. This sensor setup is much more practical and useful in different shooting scenarios.
As always, the main sensor steals the show here. Images look crisp and sharp in well-lit environments. The dedicated night mode from Samsung ensures equal performance in dark conditions as well. The performance isn’t up to par with the flagships or midrange phones, but users will definitely get more than what they’re paying for here.
Read Home Audio Speaker Buying Guide, Price Ranges in Bangladesh
The videography is limited to 1080P at 30 fps. The lower processor is why Samsung couldn’t push it up to 4K. There’s also an 8 MP selfie camera. It’s a generic sensor that gets the job done with nothing out of the ordinary.
Processor and Performance
Perhaps the only complaint can be made about the processor. Samsung is known to market its phones with both Snapdragon and their own in-house Exynos processors. But the F series exclusively ships with the Exynos variants worldwide. But that’s not the problem here.
The problem is the same chipset that was used in the F12. While Samsung made some subtle changes in the design and the cameras, it used the same processor and GPU from last year.
Read Samsung Galaxy A04s: The coming soon budget killer phone
The Galaxy F13 sports Exynos 850 processor built on the 8 Nm architecture. It has an octa-core base with 4 2.0 GHz Cortex-A55 and 4 2.0 GHz Cortex-A55 chip layouts.
Now the all-important question is, will there be a performance dip since the processor is a year old? It's both a yes and no. Yes in a sense that graphics-intensive games will see some stutters and frame drops. But the Android 12 and the OneUI 4.1 optimizations will increase the overall lightweight task performance of the device. So, the device will dip in performance in certain areas but also increase in others.
Battery and Charge Time
The Samsung Galaxy F13 will feature a 6000 mAh battery. This is part of the reason why a plastic-built phone crossed the 200 gm weight class. The high battery capacity should be able to power the device for up to 10 hours with moderate usage. There’s also a 15W fast charger included in the box. But there’s no charge time data yet.
Read Xiaomi 12 Pro Review: Is it a value for money flagship?
Price of Samsung Galaxy F13
The official price of the Samsung Galaxy F13 in India will be 11,999 Rs. on release. That roughly amounts to 14,179 BDT (1 INR = 1.18 BDT). But that’s just speculation. The price might differ depending on various factors when it becomes official in Bangladesh.
Verdict
Samsung took a safe bet with the galaxy F13. In fact, they played it so safe that they used a chip from 2021 to 2022. Other than this obvious striking issue, the device performs well in the design, camera, and display front.
Samsung Galaxy F13 isn’t really suited for gaming and neither Samsung is marketing it as such. The device will work best as a daily driver with casual to moderately intensive use.
Read Vivo T2x Review: Should you consider this midrange gaming phone?