Samsung Galaxy A14 5G review 2023 - Campus News Gh

If you are looking for a smartphone that offers 5G connectivity, a large and sharp display, a decent camera, and a long-lasting battery, all for under GHS 2000.0, you might want to check out the Samsung Galaxy A14 5G. 

This phone is the latest addition to Samsung’s popular Galaxy A series, and it delivers a lot of value for its price. 

In this review, we will take a closer look at the features and performance of the Galaxy A14 5G, and see how it compares to other budget phones in the market.

Design and display

The Galaxy A14 5G has a sleek and modern design that resembles the flagship Galaxy S23 series. It has a plastic back with a matte finish that comes in four colors: black, white, blue, and red. The back also houses a rectangular camera module with three lenses and an LED flash. On the right side of the phone, you will find a volume rocker and a power button that doubles as a fingerprint reader. On the bottom edge, there is a USB-C port, a 3.5mm headphone jack, and a single speaker.

The front of the phone is dominated by a 6.6-inch LCD screen with a resolution of 2400 x 1080 pixels and a pixel density of 399 ppi. The screen also supports a 90Hz refresh rate, which makes scrolling and animations smoother and more responsive. The screen has thin bezels on the sides and top, and a slightly thicker chin at the bottom. There is also a small hole-punch cutout at the top center for the selfie camera.

The display quality of the Galaxy A14 5G is impressive for its price range. The colors are vibrant and accurate, the contrast is good and the brightness is sufficient for indoor use. However, the screen can be hard to see in direct sunlight, as it only reaches 500 nits of peak brightness. Also, the viewing angles are narrow enough, and the colors can shift when you tilt the phone.

Performance and battery

The Galaxy A14 5G is powered by a MediaTek Dimensity 700 chipset, an octa-core processor with two Cortex-A76 cores clocked at 2.2GHz and six Cortex-A55 cores clocked at 2GHz. The phone also has 4GB of RAM and 64GB of internal storage, which can be expanded up to 1TB via a microSD card slot.

The performance of the Galaxy A14 5G is smooth and reliable for most tasks. The phone can handle multitasking, web browsing, social media, streaming videos, and casual gaming without any lag or stutter. However, if you want to play more demanding games like PUBG Mobile or Asphalt 9, you might experience some frame drops and graphics degradation. Also, the phone can get warm after prolonged use.

The battery life of the Galaxy A14 5G is one of its strong points. The phone has a 5,000mAh battery that can easily last for a full day of moderate to heavy use. In our testing, we got around 9 hours and 40 minutes of screen-on time with mixed usage. The phone also supports 15W fast charging, which can replenish about 50% of the battery in an hour.

Camera and software

The Galaxy A14 5G has a triple camera setup on the back, consisting of a 50MP main camera with an f/1.8 aperture, a 2MP macro camera with an f/2.4 aperture, and a 2MP depth sensor with an f/2.4 aperture. On the front, there is a 13MP selfie camera with an f/2.2 aperture.

The main camera of the Galaxy A14 5G can capture good photos in daylight conditions. The images have plenty of detail, natural colors, and balanced exposure. However, in low-light situations, the quality drops significantly. The photos become noisy, blurry, and lose detail. 

The night mode can help improve the brightness and sharpness of the photos, but it also introduces some artificial colors and smudges.

The macro camera and the depth sensor are not very useful or impressive. The macro camera can only focus on objects that are very close to the lens (about 4cm), and the results are often grainy and dull. The depth sensor helps create some background blur for portrait shots, but the edge detection is not very accurate and the bokeh effect is not very natural.

The selfie camera of the Galaxy A14 5G can take decent selfies in good lighting. The photos have enough detail, skin tones, and exposure. However, in low-light scenarios, the selfies become noisy and soft. The phone also offers some beautification modes and filters that you can apply to your selfies, but they can look artificial and overdone.

The Galaxy A14 5G runs on Android 13 with Samsung’s One UI 5.0 on top. The software is smooth and user-friendly, with a lot of customization options and features. Some of the notable features include a dark mode, edge panel, game launcher, secure folder, Samsung Pay, and Bixby. 

The phone also comes with some pre-installed apps from Samsung and Google, as well as some third-party apps like Facebook, Netflix, and Spotify. You can uninstall or disable most of these apps if you don’t need them.

One of the best things about the Galaxy A14 5G is its software update policy. Samsung promises to provide three years of major Android updates and four years of security patches for this phone, which is rare for a budget device. 

This means that the phone will receive Android 14, 15, and 16 in the future, as well as regular security updates to keep it safe and secure.

Samsung Galaxy A14 5G Price in Ghana

The Galaxy A14 5G was launched in January 2023 with a starting price of about GHS 1,107 for the 4GB RAM and 64GB storage variant. The phone also comes in a 6GB RAM and 128GB storage variant, which costs about GHS 1,384. The phone is available in four colors: black, white, blue, and red.

Currently, the Samsung Galaxy A14 5G - 128GB HDD - 4GB RAM - 50MP/13MP Camera -Light Green is priced at GH₵ 1,739.00 at Samsung's official shops.

The Galaxy A14 5G can be purchased from various online and offline retailers in Ghana, such as Jiji.com.gh, PhoneAqua.com, Ghanawebshop.com, and others. The price may vary depending on the seller, the location, and the availability of the phone.

Is Samsung Galaxy A14 5G worth the price?

The Galaxy A14 5G is a great budget phone that offers a lot of value for its price. It has a sleek and modern design that resembles the flagship Galaxy S23 series. It has a large and sharp display that supports a 90Hz refresh rate for smooth scrolling and animations. 

It has a decent performance that can handle most tasks without any lag or stutter. It has a solid battery life that can last for a full day of moderate to heavy use. 

It has a good software update policy that promises three years of major Android updates and four years of security patches. And most importantly, it has 5G connectivity that allows you to enjoy faster and more reliable internet speeds.

However, the Galaxy A14 5G is not perfect. It has a plastic build that feels cheap and may not be very durable. It has a screen that is hard to see in sunlight and has narrow viewing angles. It has a mediocre camera system that struggles in low-light situations and does not offer much versatility. 

It has a poor speaker that sounds tinny and distorted. And it has a modest charging speed that takes about two hours to fully charge the phone.

So, is the Galaxy A14 5G worth the price? We think yes if you are looking for a budget phone that can do most things well without breaking the bank. The Galaxy A14 5G offers a lot of features and performance for its price range, and it is one of the best options for accessing 5G networks on a budget. 

However, if you want a better camera, a brighter screen, or a faster charging speed, you might want to look elsewhere or spend more money on a higher-end phone.

Verdict

The Samsung Galaxy A14 5G is a great budget phone that offers a lot of value for its price. It has a large, sharp display, decent performance, solid battery life, a good software update policy, and 5G connectivity. It also has a sleek and modern design that mimics the flagship Galaxy S23 series.

However, the phone is not perfect. It has a plastic build that feels cheap, a screen that is hard to see in sunlight, a mediocre camera system that struggles in low-light situations, a poor speaker, and a modest charging speed.

If you are looking for a budget phone that can do most things well without breaking the bank, the Galaxy A14 5G is a good option to consider. 

However, if you want a better camera, a brighter screen, or a faster charging speed, you might want to look elsewhere.

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