Samsung Galaxy M51 review

Android 10 and OneUI 2.1 2.5 on top

The Galaxy M51 boots Android 10, and our review unit arrived with Samsung's OneUI 2.1 on top, which got updated to 2.5 during the review process. Not that there are any noticeable differences in the look and feel between the two anyway.

The lockscreen is a familiar sight with a couple of shortcuts in the bottom corners and notification icons under a clock. The always-on display is, of course, available, and it can be shown all the time, according to a daily schedule, or when summoned with a tap.

Lockscreen • Always-on display • Biometrics

Unlocking the Galaxy M51 is best done with the side-mounted fingerprint sensor - a bit surprisingly, this model doesn't get an under-display unit despite having a compatible display. The side-mounted solution used here works similarly well with both the left index finger and the right thumb, and unlocking is quick and reliable. The button is placed a bit too high, but it's a matter of giving yourself enough time to get used to it.

As with other such implementations, you run the risk of triggering the sensor by any skin contact by simply holding the phone in your pocket, resulting in a locked phone and an inoperable sensor once you do pull it out to use it. If you happen to suffer from that more often than you'd like, you can have the sensor only engage with a press on the button - otherwise, a click isn't required.

If, for whatever reason, you're not thrilled about the M51's fingerprint reader, there's also face recognition. It's just camera-based, no 3D face scanning, but it still offers a convenient (if not as secure) way to access your homescreen.

As we mentioned, there's little to set the OneUI 2.5 on the M51 apart from other current Samsung phones, regardless of the OneUI version.

Homescreen • Folder view • App drawer • Notification shade • Quick toggles • Task switcher

Gesture navigation is available, and you can choose that in the initial setup process or later on. A system-wide dark mode is par for the course, too.

Navigation options • Dark mode

What is missing on the M51 that most other Galaxies have had is Edge panels - the M51 gets the budget treatment in this area. Otherwise, the software package is similar to other Samsung phones, with an in-house Gallery app, file manager, and Samsung browser. What you won't find on the Galaxy flagships, however, is an FM radio, and there is one here.

Gallery • Files • Samsung Browser • FM radio

Synthetic benchmarks

The Snapdragon 730G ticks inside the Galaxy M51, an upper midrange chipset from the pre-5G craze, the most powerful of those, in fact. The G at the end differentiates it from the global A71's SD730, and that G means a largely inconsequential bump in GPU clock rate. The M51 doesn't get axed for being part of the M-series and comes with a generous 128GB of storage and 6GB or 8GB of RAM.

The M51 puts out respectable numbers for CPU performance in GeekBench, on par with the Poco X3 NFC (Snapdragon 732G). The Galaxy is bested by a stablemate, the A51 5G (in-house Exynos 980), but that performance is worth some €350 extra. The OnePlus Nord is more expensive than the M51, but not by as much, and does offer performance benefits courtesy of the Snapdragon 765. Similarly, all SD765 devices have an edge, though as 730s go, the M51 is a top performer.

GeekBench 5 (multi-core)

Higher is better

• OnePlus Nord
  1953
• vivo X50 Pro
  1937
• Xiaomi Mi 10 Lite 5G
  1927
• Galaxy A51 5G
  1867
• vivo X50
  1827
• Realme 7 Pro
  1811
• Oppo Reno4 Pro 5G
  1805
• Realme 7 5G
  1794
• Poco X3 NFC
  1777
• Samsung Galaxy M51
  1774
• Realme X2
  1750
• Samsung Galaxy A71
  1733
• Motorola One Fusion+
  1705
• Xiaomi Mi Note 10 Lite
  1694
• Realme Narzo 20 Pro
  1666
• Google Pixel 5
  1647
• Google Pixel 4a
  1626

GeekBench 5 (single-core)

Higher is better

• Galaxy A51 5G
  677
• vivo X50 Pro
  636
• Xiaomi Mi 10 Lite 5G
  616
• Oppo Reno4 Pro 5G
  615
• OnePlus Nord
  610
• Realme 7 5G
  598
• Google Pixel 5
  594
• Realme 7 Pro
  576
• Poco X3 NFC
  568
• Google Pixel 4a
  553
• vivo X50
  552
• Samsung Galaxy M51
  546
• Realme X2
  545
• Samsung Galaxy A71
  542
• Motorola One Fusion+
  542
• Xiaomi Mi Note 10 Lite
  521
• Realme Narzo 20 Pro
  517

It's not quite so in Antutu, where the M51 is in the middle of the 730 pack when it's at its peak in the first benchmark run, but it doesn't maintain that 266K result for subsequent runs and quickly drops to 240Ks. It's not terrible, but it's not great either.

AnTuTu 8

Higher is better

• vivo X50 Pro
  323736
• Realme 7 5G
  318535
• Xiaomi Mi 10 Lite 5G
  318117
• Oppo Reno4 Pro 5G
  317139
• Galaxy A51 5G
  316007
• OnePlus Nord
  312794
• Realme Narzo 20 Pro
  291407
• Google Pixel 5
  289261
• Poco X3 NFC
  283750
• Realme 7 Pro
  278414
• Google Pixel 4a
  268714
• Motorola One Fusion+
  267980
• Samsung Galaxy M51
  266620
• Samsung Galaxy A71
  263396
• Realme X2
  257443
• Xiaomi Mi Note 10 Lite
  253271

In graphics benchmarks, the G in the Snapdragon 730G makes little difference, with maybe the odd frame per second between 730 and 730G devices, but not always, and not even necessarily in the G's favor. What does make a difference is a Snapdragon 765, and those with it do come with significant performance gains.

GFX Manhattan ES 3.1 (offscreen 1080p)

Higher is better

• Xiaomi Mi 10 Lite 5G
  38
• OnePlus Nord
  38
• Oppo Reno4 Pro 5G
  37
• vivo X50 Pro
  36
• Realme 7 5G
  35
• Realme Narzo 20 Pro
  34
• Poco X3 NFC
  33
• Galaxy A51 5G
  32
• Samsung Galaxy A71
  30
• Xiaomi Mi Note 10 Lite
  30
• Google Pixel 4a
  30
• Samsung Galaxy M51
  30
• Realme 7 Pro
  30
• Realme X2
  29
• Motorola One Fusion+
  27
• vivo X50
  27
• Google Pixel 5
  22

GFX Manhattan ES 3.1 (onscreen)

Higher is better

• OnePlus Nord
  34
• Xiaomi Mi 10 Lite 5G
  32
• vivo X50 Pro
  31
• Oppo Reno4 Pro 5G
  31
• Realme 7 5G
  31
• Realme Narzo 20 Pro
  28
• Galaxy A51 5G
  28
• Samsung Galaxy A71
  27
• Google Pixel 4a
  27
• Poco X3 NFC
  27
• Xiaomi Mi Note 10 Lite
  26
• Samsung Galaxy M51
  26
• Motorola One Fusion+
  25
• Realme 7 Pro
  25
• Realme X2
  24
• vivo X50
  24
• Google Pixel 5
  22

GFX Car Chase ES 3.1 (offscreen 1080p)

Higher is better

• Xiaomi Mi 10 Lite 5G
  21
• OnePlus Nord
  21
• Oppo Reno4 Pro 5G
  21
• vivo X50 Pro
  20
• Realme Narzo 20 Pro
  20
• Realme 7 5G
  20
• Galaxy A51 5G
  20
• Poco X3 NFC
  19
• Realme 7 Pro
  18
• Samsung Galaxy A71
  17
• Xiaomi Mi Note 10 Lite
  17
• Google Pixel 4a
  17
• Samsung Galaxy M51
  17
• Realme X2
  16
• Motorola One Fusion+
  16
• vivo X50
  16
• Google Pixel 5
  13

GFX Car Chase ES 3.1 (onscreen)

Higher is better

• OnePlus Nord
  19
• Oppo Reno4 Pro 5G
  18
• Xiaomi Mi 10 Lite 5G
  17
• vivo X50 Pro
  17
• Realme Narzo 20 Pro
  17
• Realme 7 5G
  17
• Galaxy A51 5G
  17
• Google Pixel 4a
  16
• Poco X3 NFC
  16
• Samsung Galaxy A71
  15
• Xiaomi Mi Note 10 Lite
  15
• Samsung Galaxy M51
  15
• Motorola One Fusion+
  14
• vivo X50
  14
• Realme 7 Pro
  14
• Realme X2
  13
• Google Pixel 5
  12

3DMark SSE ES 3.1 (offscreen 1440p)

Higher is better

• Xiaomi Mi 10 Lite 5G
  3294
• Oppo Reno4 Pro 5G
  3288
• OnePlus Nord
  3285
• vivo X50 Pro
  3214
• Realme 7 5G
  3163
• Galaxy A51 5G
  2837
• Poco X3 NFC
  2689
• Realme Narzo 20 Pro
  2683
• Realme 7 Pro
  2541
• Google Pixel 4a
  2487
• Samsung Galaxy M51
  2474
• Xiaomi Mi Note 10 Lite
  2467
• Samsung Galaxy A71
  2464
• Realme X2
  2402
• Google Pixel 5
  2318
• vivo X50
  2263

3DMark SSE Vulkan 1.0 (offscreen 1440p)

Higher is better

• Xiaomi Mi 10 Lite 5G
  3080
• OnePlus Nord
  3067
• Oppo Reno4 Pro 5G
  3062
• Realme 7 5G
  3028
• vivo X50 Pro
  2983
• Galaxy A51 5G
  2778
• Realme Narzo 20 Pro
  2735
• Poco X3 NFC
  2495
• Realme 7 Pro
  2358
• Samsung Galaxy M51
  2290
• Google Pixel 4a
  2275
• Google Pixel 5
  2267
• Realme X2
  2263
• Samsung Galaxy A71
  2253
• Xiaomi Mi Note 10 Lite
  2248
• vivo X50
  2082

Ultimately, the Galaxy M51 isn't remotely underpowered and has the performance to spare for what we imagine is its target audience. Still, if your priorities lie in high fps count in the latest games or comparing Antutu scores, you can get better results under demanding loads for the same price elsewhere.