Samsung has been on a release spree since the start of the year, rolling out smartphones across different categories and price points. While the flagship Galaxy S23 dominates all the headlines, Samsung’s budget offerings always mix things up and give us something new to talk about each year. Prices for the recently launched Samsung Galaxy A14 5G start at Rs 16,499 for the 4GB + 64GB variant. The 6GB + 128GB variant will cost you Rs 18,999, while the 8GB + 128GB variant fetches Rs 20,999. This is the price category where most of India buys its smartphones. We got our hands on the A14 and used it for over a week, here is our Samsung Galaxy A14 5G review.
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Samsung Galaxy A14 5G review: Design and Display
The Samsung Galaxy A14 5G ships in a compact rectangular box – much like a flagship. Inside the box, you will find the smartphone, a SIM ejector pin, a quick start guide, a regional lock guide, and a USB Type-C charging cable. There’s no power adapter inside the box, which is one part of the flagship experience that Samsung would have been better off not incorporating on the Galaxy A14. The smartphone is available in three colour options – Dark Red, Light Green, and Black.
Holding the Samsung Galaxy A14 gives off a study and rugged feel, even though the back panel and frame are made entirely out of plastic. The frame in particular is quite chunky and the rounded edges offer a good grip. The plastic back has a fine ridge texture that may not be everyone’s cup of tea but gives the smartphone a flair of its own. Samsung has updated the camera module to look like that of the Samsung Galaxy S23 series.
On the right side of the frame, you will find the volume rocker key and the power button that also doubles up as a fingerprint sensor. The keys are quite clicky and fun to fidget around with, and the fingerprint scanner is surprisingly fast. The hybrid SIM tray with a microSDXC slot has been housed on the left side of the frame. At the bottom, you will find the 3.5mm headphone jack, a USB Type-C charging slot, a microphone, and the speaker grille. The A14 does not have an IP rating.
Moving to the font, the 6.6-inch PLS LCD display is surrounded by thick bezels on all sides. The front camera is housed in a waterdrop notch, which feels a bit dated. With a refresh rate of 90Hz, the A14’s display offers a great touch response and elevates the browsing experience. The 1080p resolution is optimum for streaming OTT content as well. The screen-to-body ratio is just 80.2%. If it weren’t for the sizeable chin and the thick bezels, the Samsung Galaxy A14 could have set the design benchmark in this category.
Samsung Galaxy A14 5G review: Performance and Cameras
The Galaxy A14 is powered by Samsung’s own Exynos 1330 SoC while the Mali G-68 handles the graphics front. OS duties are carried out by the new Android 13 with One UI 5.0 on top. Samsung has promised two years of major OS updates along with four years of security patches with the A14. This means you will be able to run Android 15 on this device when it rolls out.
We used the 8GB + 128GB variant of the A14 for this review, and it was surprisingly fast. Everything down from the fingerprint scanner to the apps and browsing experience was snappy and quick. For a budget smartphone, the load time for the apps was minimal even where there were multiple tasks running in the background. CPU benchmark tests using Geekbench 6 returned a score of 922 points for single-core and 2,059 points for multi-core. Using this metric, the Samsung Galaxy A14 5G outperforms Redmi Note 12.
When it comes to the OS, One UI continues to be the best in the game, offering a clean look without a whole lot of bloatware. You can even access Android’s Material You themes on this device and personalise them according to your liking. Samsung’s One UI also offers some helpful features that are very easy to incorporate into your daily usage. Gestures like turn over to mute, double tap to turn the screen on/off, and pick up the phone to call make the phone all the more accessible to use. There’s also a one-handed mode on offer.
We played Call of Duty Mobile on A14 and the smartphone absolutely crushed it. We didn’t experience any stutters or lags during our gameplay. The phone got only slightly heated after playing COD for 30-40 minutes. More graphically demanding games like Apex Legends did experience a few frame drops occasionally but the overall experience was quite decent. At this price point, the Samsung Galaxy A14 may be one of the better gaming smartphones around.
The Galaxy A14 packs a 5,000mAh battery that Samsung claims can provide a 2-day backup. While the 2-day claim is definitely far-fetched, we got a decent performance out of the battery. After a day of above-average use with almost 5 hours of screen time, we were left with a 15-20% charge. The smartphone offers 15W wired charging, which shouldn’t come as a surprise since fast charging isn’t Samsung’s forte. It takes almost 2 hours to fully charge the phone.
The camera unit at the back features a 50MP primary shooter, 2MP macro lens, and another 2MP depth sensor. An ultrawide lens instead of the macro camera would have come in clutch for the A14. However, the 50MP shooter delivers a rock-solid performance.
In daylight conditions, the Samsung Galaxy A14 captures a good amount of detail, showcasing a versatile range of colours. The pictures feel rich and vibrant, without coming across as overprocessed. The portrait mode impressed us with its accurate edge detection and managed to capture the subject really well. The images take some time to process, but the overall results were quite satisfactory. A handful of flaws come up to the surface in limited lighting, but that is something you should expect from every smartphone in this price range.
We did not start out with high hopes while shooting images at night, but the 50MP primary lens exceeded our expectations. The images came out sharper than we expected, at the grain was ironed out while shooting in night mode. The 13MP selfie camera also performs decently and does not overcorrect the skin tone, which is good to see. The colour temperature is a bit cooler than other Samsung smartphones.
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Verdict
Starting at Rs 16,499, the Samsung Galaxy A14 is a good buy. We’d suggest going for one of the higher variants if you plan on gaming on this device. The smartphone covers most of the bases really well and even offers a good gaming performance. If it weren’t for the thick bezels on the display, the Galaxy A14 would be the easiest phone to recommend in this price range. Nevertheless, it is still a solid contender and we can see it enjoying a fair share of popularity this year.
Pros
Back panel design
Camera Performance
Surprisingly fast
Decent for gaming
Cons
Thick bezels
No ultrawide lens
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