Samsung Galaxy M51 review

GSMArena Team, 11 December 2020.

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.

Samsung Galaxy M51 review

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 - Samsung Galaxy M51 review Always-on display - Samsung Galaxy M51 review Biometrics - Samsung Galaxy M51 review Biometrics - Samsung Galaxy M51 review Biometrics - Samsung Galaxy M51 review Biometrics - Samsung Galaxy M51 review
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.

Samsung Galaxy M51 review

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 - Samsung Galaxy M51 review Folder view - Samsung Galaxy M51 review App drawer - Samsung Galaxy M51 review Notification shade - Samsung Galaxy M51 review Quick toggles - Samsung Galaxy M51 review Task switcher - Samsung Galaxy M51 review
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 - Samsung Galaxy M51 review Dark mode - Samsung Galaxy M51 review Dark mode - Samsung Galaxy M51 review Dark mode - Samsung Galaxy M51 review Dark mode - Samsung Galaxy M51 review
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 - Samsung Galaxy M51 review Files - Samsung Galaxy M51 review Samsung Browser - Samsung Galaxy M51 review FM radio - Samsung Galaxy M51 review
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.

Samsung Galaxy M51 review

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.

Reader comments

  • NTIQ PANCHAL
  • 29 Jan 2024
  • CbJ

>i'm getting some display issues in my galaxy m51; >first of all it has stopped showing me actual pitch black, it shows some sort of redish black instead of pitch black. >when i dim the brightness it gets a bit yellow...

  • Anonymous
  • 01 Oct 2023
  • gwE

I've been using M51 since 3 years, which costed me arround 24k ( including offers ). It's a great piece of engineering. Till date not having any major issues. Battery till date is excellent, like a monster, which gives me more than 1 day ba...

  • Zulu mia
  • 11 Aug 2023
  • U{W

I'm like only 1 brand it's samsjng