Last month, Samsung unveiled a new mid-range phone in India, aimed at the sub-25K segment. At a starting price of Rs 23,999, the Galaxy F62 targeted the high-performance mid-range segment, setting its sights on the likes of the OnePlus Nord, Mi 10i, Realme X7, and Vivo V20, among other devices in this price range. For Samsung, this spot was previously occupied by the Galaxy M51, which delivered on several fronts, but still fell short of some of the competitors.
However, with the Galaxy F62, Samsung is looking to bridge the gap in gaming performance with its very own 7nm Exynos chipset. But given the track record of Exynos chips, there was definitely cause for concern. So, can the Exynos 9825 overcome the shortcomings of previous Exynos chips and go head-to-head with the best mid-range Qualcomm chips; stick around and let’s find out.
Design and Build
Straight off the bat, the first thing you notice about the F62 is its almost-glass finish, which Samsung calls “Glasstic”. The back may not be glass, but certainly gives the impression of glass. The Galaxy F62 is available in Laser Blue, Laser Green, and Laser Grey colour options, our review unit had the blue finish. The glossy finish looks pretty neat, although it attracts fingerprints way too easily. The camera module on the back blends into the design, while the bump is almost non-existent.
On the front, the F62 opts for a hole-punch camera cutout in the centre, with slim bezels on all sides. There’s a USB-C port, speaker grille, and most importantly, a headphone jack on the bottom. The SIM/MicroSD tray is located on the left, while the volume and power buttons are shifted to the right. The power button also doubles as a competent fingerprint reader. Overall, the design and build quality are solid, although the slick finish is ruined by its susceptibility to fingerprints.
Display
The Galaxy F62’s 6.7-inch Super AMOLED display features a Full HD+ resolution and a 20:9 aspect ratio. The screen isn’t the brightest around but does look sharp, outputting vibrant colours with just the right level of saturation. However, the lack of a high-refresh-rate does feel like a letdown. The F62 also loses out on the in-display fingerprint reader. On balance, the Galaxy F62 has a good display, but it’s nothing to write home about.
Performance
Samsung has equipped the Galaxy F62 with a 7nm Exynos 9825 SoC, which Samsung claims have been optimised for gaming. The Exynos 9825 is paired with a Mali-G76 GPU, up to 8GB of RAM, and 128GB of expandable storage. The model Samsung sent us had 6GB of RAM. The Exynos chip may not be the fastest but is a big step up from previous Exynos SoC’s used on past Samsung mid-rangers.
Call of Duty: Mobile and Raid: Shadow Legends ran without much effort. Other games like Asphalt 9 and Shadow Fight 3 also ran without much effort. The Exynos 9825 allowed me to completely max out the graphics and frame rates in Call of Duty: Mobile, something I couldn’t do on the Realme X7 Pro, which uses the Dimensity 1000+. Now, this is not to say the Exynos 9825 is faster than the MediaTek Dimensity 1000+, because it isn’t, but it just goes to show the gains Samsung has made in this area.
In Geekbench 5.0, the Exynos 9825 managed a single-core score of 743 points and a multi-core score of 1933 points. While the Exynos 985 was marginally behind the Dimensity 1000+ in single-core performance, the gap in multi-core performance was much larger. However, the Exynos 9825 did manage to outperform the Snapdragon 750G on the Mi 10i, the Snapdragon 765G on the OnePlus Nord, and the MediaTek Dimensity 800U on the Realme X7. The same trend continued in AnTuTu, where the F62’s 439252 points were well ahead of the Mi 10i, OnePlus Nord, and Realme X7.
So, what does this all mean? Firstly, Samsung has a competent mid-range smartphone backed by an Exynos chip than can run games better than the competition. Secondly, “lights out for the Galaxy M51”. The only disappointment with the Galaxy F62 is the lack of 5G connectivity. However, 5G is far from ready for Indian markets, so there’s nothing to complain about. Overall, I was rather impressed with the F62’s performance, especially considering its price.
Cameras
For optics, the Galaxy F62 packs a quad-camera setup on the back with a 64 MP Sony IMX682 sensor at the helm. The other three camera sensors include a 12 MP ultrawide shooter, a 5 MP depth sensor, and a 5 MP macro camera. On the front, you get a 32 MP selfie shooter. The Galaxy F62’s rear camera can record videos in 4K resolution, while camera features include a Pro Mode, Single Take, AR Doodle Mode, and more.
The Galaxy F62’s main camera sensor takes 16-megapixel shots by default with the aid of pixel binning, although you can capture photos in the full 64-megapixel resolution. However, pixel binned shots tend to offer better exposure and dynamic range, while shots taken in the full 64-megapixel resolution tend to capture better details. Additionally, HDR is well represented, while the AF works quickly, although HDR doesn’t work when taking photos in full 64-megapixel resolution.
When switching to the ultrawide camera, there is a noticeable dip in quality. Samsung does its best to deliver consistent photos across both lenses, and it does do a good job in the daylight but tends to fall apart in more complex lighting scenarios. The depth sensor also helps with edge detection in portrait mode, but it tends to fall apart in lowlight. I am not a big fan of macro cameras on devices, but the macro shooter here delivers respectable performance in a good light.
The Samsung Galaxy F62 has a decent night mode that retains sharpness and detail with less noise. However, pinching into the image tends to reveal noticeable noise and a dip in sharpness. Capturing photos with the night mode takes a bit too long on the F62 as processing the photo is a little slow. If you have good ambient light, then the night mode helps with noise reduction, but it isn’t too different from taking shots in regular mode. There wasn’t much consistency in lowlight, oftentimes resulting in blurry images. Night mode is also available on the ultrawide shooter, but I wouldn’t bother using it without enough streetlights.
The Galaxy F62 can record 4K video at 30fps on both the front and main rear camera. However, it isn’t all good as video recording maxes out at 30fps, irrespective of the resolution, which is quite strange. Stabilisation and image quality are decent on both the main and ultrawide shooters, although using the Super Steady mode results in a loss of image quality and noticeable noise. Low light video recording is pretty weak for the most part. Photos and videos taken on the front camera are decent for the most part, given you have natural light. Portrait mode is quite good as well with overall shots looking detailed with an accurate representation of skin colours.
Battery
Another big highlight of the Galaxy F62 is its massive 7,000 mAh battery. You are looking at two whole days of battery life for an average user. There were times that it felt like the battery on the F62 simply wasn’t going to die out. It was also good to see that Samsung included a fast-charging adapter in the box, which takes around 90 minutes to get a 90-plus percent charge. The Galaxy F62 will undoubtedly be a contender for the smartphone with the best battery life in 2021'.
Software
The Galaxy F62 runs on Android 11 with Samsung’s One UI 3.1 on top, which has a slick look and feel. The UI is relatively clean and works smoothly without any lag, although ads seem to pop up with the weather app and Game Launcher. The software is pretty much the same as with any Galaxy phone, bringing a dark mode, tons of customisations, and more. You can also delete third party software, while the device also comes with Samsung Pay. Overall, the software experience was good, and just what you would expect from a Samsung device.
Verdict
At a starting price of Rs 23,999, the Galaxy F62 is definitely worth every penny. In the sub-25K segment, the F62 delivers best-in-class battery life and performance. The display, despite lacking a high-refresh-rate, looks sharp and vibrant. And you have to give Samsung full marks for software as well. The main camera could certainly use some fine-tuning in low light but work very well during the day. However, the lack of consistency between the primary and ultrawide cameras was evident here. Selfies also look decent for the most part in natural light, but fall apart in artificial light, while I wasn’t too pleased with the overall video recording prowess of the F62.
Samsung’s 'Glasstic' back may not be glass, but it does give the impression of glass. The build quality doesn’t seem cheap, leaning more on the side of the premium than affordable. And after missing out on the microSD card slot on the Galaxy S21 Ultra, I was pleased to see one here. To answer the question of ‘should you buy the Galaxy F62’? In my opinion, ‘yes’. On balance, the Samsung Galaxy F62 is one of the best, if not the best smartphone, under Rs 25,000. For the first time in a long time, Samsung has delivered a value-oriented mid-ranger that outshines the competition.
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