Galaxy M30 vs. ZenFone Max Pro M2 vs. Realme 2 Pro: Specifications, Prices & Features

Samsung has just announced the Galaxy M30 in India, and it seems a strong contender for its segment. Similar to the other two phones in the Galaxy M series, the Galaxy M30 also comes with a stylish body, impressive specifications, and an affordable price. The two prominent that the Galaxy M30 has to face should be the Asus ZenFone Max Pro 2, and the Realme 2 Pro as both of them have been getting quite a lot of positive feedback from the market. So, we thought it would be best to pit the Galaxy M30 against these two and see what the differences between them are.

The Galaxy M30 launches in India today while the other two have already been out for a while

Galaxy M30 vs. ZenFone Max Pro M2 vs. Realme 2 Pro: Price

The Galaxy M30 comes two variants in the Indian market with the 4GB RAM/64GB storage option priced at Rs. 14,990 and the 6GB RAM/128GB storage option priced at Rs. 17,990. On the other hand, the Asus ZenFone Max Pro M2 comes in three models with the 3GB RAM/32GB storage base variant priced at Rs. 11,999. The other two options with 4GB RAM/64GB storage and 6GB RAM/64GB storage are priced at Rs. 13,999 and Rs. 15,999, respectively.

The Realme 2 Pro also comes in a total of three variants. The base variant with 4GB RAM/64GB storage is priced at Rs. 12,990, while the other two options with 6GB RAM/64GB storage and 8GB RAM/128GB storage cost Rs. 14,990 and Rs. 16,990, respectively.

It seems like the Realme 2 Pro offers the highest RAM and storage for its price tag. With the 8GB RAM/128GB storage is priced at Rs. 16,990 while the top-end option of the Galaxy M30 offers less RAM for a higher price. However, that is just a comparison between the memory configuration, and we have to also look at other features and specifications that the phones offer. So let’s move to the next section.

Galaxy M30 vs. ZenFone Max Pro M2 vs. Realme 2 Pro: Specifications

Camera

The major difference between the Galaxy M30 and the other two Galaxy M phones is the triple rear camera system over a dual one. The ZenFone Max Pro M2 and Realme 2 Pro also only come with a dual rear camera setup.

The Galaxy M30’s camera setup includes a 13MP main sensor with an aperture of f/1.9, a 5MP secondary sensor for depth sensing, and a 5MP sensor with an ultra-wide angle lens. There is also a 16MP selfie camera on the front. On the other hand, the camera setup on the Realme 2 Pro comprises of a 16MP primary sensor and a 2MP depth sensor for portrait effects. For selfies and video calls, there is a 16MP sensor on the front. Lastly, the ZenFone Max Pro M2 sports a 12MP primary sensor, a 5MP depth sensor for portrait effects on the rear and a 13MP selfie camera on the front. With triple cameras, the Galaxy M30 should offer a better camera quality over the other two. However, we still have to wait for the full review to be sure.

Display

Moving to the display, The M30 packs a 6.4-inch Super AMOLED display with an Infinity-U water-drop notch on top. Its display has FHD+ (2,280 x 1,080 px) resolution. The Realme 2 Pro comes with a 6.3-inch LCD display with a 2,340 x 1,080 px resolution and a water-drop notch on top. The ZenFone Max Pro M2, on the other hand, has the smallest 6.26-inch LCD panel with a 2,280 x 1,080 px resolution with a wide notch similar to the one on the iPhone X.

All of these three smartphones have a plastic body with a fingerprint sensor mounted on the rear and an audio jack at the bottom. They also all have a microSD slot on the side with the Galaxy M30 having a USB-C port and the other two phones coming with a dated micro-USB one.

Hardware & Software

In terms of hardware, the Galaxy M30 is powered by a Samsung’s Exynos 7904 SoC, paired with a Mali-G71 MP2 GPU and 4GB/6GB RAM and 64GB/128GB of internal storage. On the other hand, both of the Realme and Asus handsets are powered by a Snapdragon 660 SoC under the hood, with an Adreno 512 GPU. While the Realme 2 Pro packs 4GB/6GB/8GB RAM and 64GB/128GB internal storage, the Asus device comes packed with 3GB/4GB/6GB of RAM and 32GB/64GB of internal storage. It is hard to tell which phone is better in the performance aspect alone as the Exynos 7904 SoC and Snapdragon 660 SoC are on the same level. The Realme 2 Pro is slightly ahead as it offers the highest amount of RAM.

In the software department, all of the three phones run custom UIs from their respective makers. The Galaxy M30 runs Samsung’s Experience UI which is said to be pretty close to the One UI offers. The UI is said to based on the dated Android 8.1 Oreo out of the box, but Samsung is expected to roll out an update to the latest Android 9 Pie in the upcoming months. Similar, the Realme 2 Pro runs Color OS 5.2 which is also based on the dated Android 8.1 Oreo with an update to Android 9 Pie is expected to come out soon. Lastly, the Asus already rolled out an update to Android 9 Pie for the ZenFone Max Pro M2 earlier, with the phone running a near-stock version of Android.

For the battery, the ZenFone Max Pro M2 and Galaxy M30 are both backed by a massive 5,000 mAh battery which should deliver a much better battery life compared to the 3,500 mAh cell on the Realme 2 Pro.

By announcing the Galaxy M series, the South Korean phone maker Samsung shows their ambition to compete in the mid-range segment which is already crowded with many smartphones from Chinese phone makers. The Galaxy M30 still has a small edge with a triple rear camera setup, a USB-C port, and slightly larger display but it is still hard to say which phone is the clear winner. It should still come down to personal preference and how much you want to spend on a phone as there is a slight difference in the prices of these three phones.