A new Samsung showing the model designation SM-M305F has now been spotted on the Geekbench Browser, offering at least some insight into the long-rumored device. The model designation of the handset matches up with the model number expected for at least one device in the company’s newly revamped M-series dubbed the Samsung Galaxy M30. In the benchmark, the device shown running Android 8.1 Oreo with an in-house Samsung Exynos 7885 SoC underneath the hood backed by 4GB RAM. That’s an octa-core SoC that, according to the test results, features a base clock of 1.59GHz.
Budget-friendly with a less confusing naming convention
In terms of overall ranking, the new benchmark shows the suspected Samsung Galaxy M30 achieving marks comparable to the Exynos-driven global variant of the Korean tech giant’s Galaxy S6+ on the single-core side of the equation at 1321. On the multi-core side of things, its score of 4199 is very close to that seen with the 2018 version of Samsung’s Galaxy A8. Those are or were very different devices with regard to what’s expected from the lower mid-range Galaxy M family though. The marks are also actually only slightly higher than those seen with two other expected devices in the new series — the recently benchmarked Samsung Galaxy M20 and Galaxy M10. The slight boost in points seen from the Samsung Galaxy M30 is, in fact, negligible compared to the former of those two handsets. The scores achieved by Samsung’s SM-305F are not entirely surprising since the new Galaxy M family is intended to replace and consolidate on a huge range of smartphones including those in the Galaxy J’, ‘C’, Galaxy ‘ON’, ‘M” brands.
Efforts to rebrand will likely take some time but are arguably necessary if the company wants to compete with Chinese brands at the mid-range and budget ends of the Android spectrum. Prior to the rebranding, Samsung’s long list of budget-friendly handsets has been comprised of devices that are mostly the same in terms of performance. The primary differentiators for those have been a few minor feature exceptions and naming conventions. As a result, its offerings have been somewhat convoluted and distinguishing between smartphones when deciding on one to buy had become confusing for consumers. Under the new naming convention, the Samsung Galaxy M30 will more clearly be a device set just above the Galaxy M20 and Galaxy M10 but falling just short of the Galaxy M40 or higher numbers.
A solid budget offering
Aside from the specs found in the new benchmarks, there will also likely some differences in features once the smartphones go official from Samsung. But another quirk of its restructured device conventions means that most new features from Samsung will be making a first appearance via the Samsung Galaxy A lineup before any other device. So although there are plenty of specs that aren’t betrayed by this benchmark listing, there aren’t likely to be any really big surprises with the new series when it does finally launch. Instead, the benchmark seems to indicate this will be a device in between the budget and lower mid-range segments meant simply to offer a solid and predictable experience without the extra cost.