Samsung Galaxy M13 vs Galaxy A12

Here we compared two budget smartphones: the 6.6-inch Samsung Galaxy M13 (with Exynos 850) that was released on May 27, 2022, against the Samsung Galaxy A12, which is powered by MediaTek Helio P35 and came out 18 months before. On this page, you will find tests, full specs, strengths, and weaknesses of each of the devices.

Key differences

An overview of the main advantages of each smartphone
Reasons to consider the Samsung Galaxy M13
  • 48% higher pixel density (400 vs 270 PPI)
  • Compatible with Wi-Fi 5 wireless networks
  • Uses a faster type of memory: LPDDR4X
  • 17% better performance in AnTuTu Benchmark (132K versus 113K)
  • More energy-efficient CPU – Exynos 850
  • The phone is 1-year and 6-months newer
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Review

Display
Screen quality, color accuracy, brightness
Performance
CPU/GPU performance in apps and games
Battery
Battery life, charging type and speed
Camera
Photo and video recording quality
Connectivity
Networks, ports, data transmission
NanoReview score
Final comparison evaluation

Value for money

You can enter your local price of these phones (in USD or any other currency) and click on the "Calculate" button to see which one has a better value for money.
Price

Tests and specifications

Comparison table of technical specifications and tests

Display

Type PLS TFT PLS TFT
Size 6.6 inches 6.5 inches
Resolution 1080 x 2408 pixels 720 x 1600 pixels
Aspect ratio 20:9 20:9
PPI 400 ppi 270 ppi
Refresh rate 60 Hz 60 Hz
Adaptive refresh rate No No
Max rated brightness 450 nits 450 nits
HDR support No No
Screen protection Tempered glass Tempered glass
Screen-to-body ratio 82.7% 82.1%
Display tests
RGB color space 99.9% 96.3%
PWM Not detected 337 Hz
Response time 20 ms 52 ms
Contrast 1119:1 864:1
Peak brightness test (auto)
445 nits
474 nits
Sources: NotebookCheck [3], [4]

Design and build

Height 165.4 mm (6.51 inches) 164 mm (6.46 inches)
Width 76.9 mm (3.03 inches) 75.8 mm (2.98 inches)
Thickness 8.4 mm (0.33 inches) 8.9 mm (0.35 inches)
Weight 192 g (6.77 oz) 205 g (7.23 oz)
Waterproof No No
Rear material Plastic Plastic
Frame material Plastic Plastic
Colors Blue, Green, Orange White, Black, Blue, Red
Fingerprint scanner Yes, in home button Yes, in home button
Screen-to-body ratio
82.7%
82.1%

Performance

Tests of Samsung Galaxy M13 and Samsung Galaxy A12 in the benchmarks
SoC
Chipset Samsung Exynos 850 MediaTek Helio P35
Max clock 2000 MHz 2300 MHz
CPU cores 8 (8) 8 (4 + 4)
Architecture - 8 cores at 2 GHz: Cortex-A55 - 4 cores at 1.8 GHz: Cortex-A53
- 4 cores at 2.3 GHz: Cortex-A53
Lithography process 8 nanometers 12 nanometers
Graphics Mali-G52 MP1 IMG PowerVR GE8320
GPU clock 820 MHz 680 MHz
FLOPS ~126 GFLOPS ~44.8 GFLOPS

Benchmarks

Geekbench 5 (Single-Core)
182
Geekbench 5 (Multi-Core)
1041
1035
AnTuTu Benchmark 9
Galaxy M13 +17%
132853
113092
CPU 36404 35357
GPU 25205 13133
Memory 34626 28597
UX 35901 35628
Total score 132853 113092
3DMark Wild Life Performance
Max surface temperature 42.1 °C 44.1 °C
Stability 97% -
Graphics test 3 FPS -
Graphics score 510 -
PCMark 3.0
Web score 4808 -
Video editing 4771 -
Photo editing 7616 -
Data manipulation 3269 -
Writing score 5053 -
Sources: 3DMark [3]

Memory

RAM
RAM size 4 GB 3, 4, 6 GB
Memory type LPDDR4X LPDDR4
Memory clock - 1866 MHz
Channels 2 2
Storage
Storage size 64, 128 GB 32, 64, 128 GB
Storage type eMMC 5.1 eMMC 5.1
Memory card MicroSD MicroSD
Memory card max size Up to 1024 GB Up to 1024 GB

Software

Operating system Android 12 Android 10.0 (Can be upgraded to Android 12)
ROM One UI Core 4.1 One UI Core 4.1
OS size 22.3 GB 13 GB

Battery

Specifications
Capacity 5000 mAh 5000 mAh
Charge power 15 W 15 W
Battery type Li-Ion Li-Po
Replaceable No No
Wireless charging No No
Reverse charging No No
Fast charging Yes (50% in 50 min) Yes (20% in 30 min)
Full charging time 2:00 hr 3:03 hr
Battery life tests
Web browsing - 16:07 hr
Watching video - 12:14 hr
Gaming - 06:09 hr
Standby - 153 hr
General battery life
41:01 hr

Camera

Specs and camera test of smartphones
Main camera
Matrix 50 megapixels 48 megapixels
Image resolution 8160 x 6120 8000 x 6000
Zoom Digital Digital
Flash LED LED
Stabilization Digital Digital
8K video recording No No
4K video recording No No
1080p video recording Up to 30FPS Up to 30FPS
Slow motion - No
Angle of widest lens 123° 123°
Lenses 3 (50 MP + 5 MP + 2 MP) 4 (48 MP + 5 MP + 2 MP + 2 MP)
Wide (main) lens - 50 MP
- Aperture: f/1.8
- Focal length: 26 mm
- Phase autofocus
- 48 MP
- Aperture: f/2.0
- Focal length: 26 mm
- Pixel size: 0.8 micron
- Sensor: 1/2", Samsung S5KGM2 (ISOCELL CMOS)
- Phase autofocus
Ultra-wide lens - 5 MP
- Aperture: f/2.2
- Pixel size: 1.12 micron
- Sensor: 1/5" (CMOS)
- 5 MP
- Aperture: f/2.2
Macro lens - - 2 MP
- Aperture: f/2.4
Depth lens - 2 MP
- Aperture: f/2.4
- 2 MP
- Aperture: f/2.2
Camera features - Bokeh mode
- Pro mode
- Bokeh mode
- Pro mode
Samples - Photo samples of Samsung Galaxy A12 from DxOMark
Selfie camera
Megapixels 8 megapixels 8 megapixels
Image resolution 3264 x 2448 3264 x 2448
Aperture f/2.2 f/2.0
Sensor type CMOS CMOS
Video resolution 1080p (Full HD) at 30 FPS 1080p (Full HD) at 30 FPS

DxOMark camera tests

Photo quality
Video quality
Generic camera score

Connectivity

Wi-Fi standard Wi-Fi 5 (802.11 a/b/g/n/ac) Wi-Fi 4 (802.11 b/g/n)
Wi-Fi features - Dual Band
- Wi-Fi Direct
- Wi-Fi Hotspot
- Wi-Fi Display
- Dual Band
- Wi-Fi Direct
- Wi-Fi Hotspot
Bluetooth version 5 5
Bluetooth features LE PBAP/PAB, PAN, OPP, MAP, HSP, HID, HFP, DIP, AVRCP, A2DP
USB type USB Type-C USB Type-C
USB version 2 2
USB features - Charging
- USB-Storage mode
- Charging
- USB-Storage mode
- OTG
GPS GPS, GLONASS, Beidou, Galileo, QZSS GPS, GLONASS, Beidou, Galileo
NFC* Depends on the region Yes
Infrared port No No
Network
Number of SIM* 2 2
Type of SIM card Nano Nano
Multi SIM mode Standby Standby
eSIM support* No No
Hybrid slot No No
LTE Cat* 7 7
5G support No No

Sound

Speakers Mono Mono
Headphone audio jack Yes Yes
FM radio Yes Yes
Dolby Atmos Yes Yes
Speakers test
Max loudness
81.4 dB
80.9 dB

Other

Category Budget Budget
Announced May 2022 November 2020
Release date June 2022 December 2020
SAR (head) - 0.67 W/kg
SAR (body) - 1.38 W/kg
Sensors - Accelerometer
- Compass
- Fingerprint
- Proximity sensor
- Accelerometer
- Ambient light sensor
- Fingerprint
*Disclaimer! NFC, GSM network support, and some other specs can be different depending on the country.

Conclusion

If the display, camera, connectivity, and design are more important to you, then choose the Samsung Galaxy M13. But if the performance and battery life are more of a priority – go for the Samsung Galaxy A12.

Cast your vote

So, which phone would you choose?
8 (72.7%)
3 (27.3%)
Total votes: 11

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