Samsung Galaxy M14 5G quick review

Samsung’s aggressive smartphone moves are hard to ignore. From entry-level to flagship, Samsung has marked its presence everywhere. As 5G gains momentum, it’s only fitting to see its adoption on a mass scale. Samsung is doing its bit by bringing 5G to its budget phones. To that extent, yet another affordable 5G phone in Samsung’s portfolio is here to appease the masses.

Here’s a look at the key specs of the Samsung Galaxy M14 5G:

1. Display: 6.6-inch Full HD+ PLS LCD 90Hz panel
2. Rear camera: 50MP + 2MP + 2MP
3. Front camera: 13MP
4. CPU: Exynos 1330 5nm chipset
5. RAM: 4/6GB
6. Storage: 128GB, expandable up to 1TB
7. Battery: 6,000mAh
8. OS: Android 13-based OneUI Core 5.1
9. Weight: 206 grams
10. Dimensions: 166.8 x 77.2 x 9.4mm

Price: Rs 13,990/ Rs 14,990

First impressions

Samsung Galaxy M14 boasts a refreshing design in the budget space. We’ve seen Samsung bring its floating camera lens design to almost every other model, and now we’ve seen the S23-esque camera module in the affordable Galaxy M14. This is a welcoming move and a bold attempt by Samsung to establish a signature. But that’s as far as premium as it gets in the Galaxy M14.

The rear panel is made of plastic, which is a natural choice given the price range, but at least the build quality is not cheap. At first glance, the phone does have an appeal with its sober selection of colors. While we got the Icy Silver shade, which has a slight gradient tone, there are Smoky Teal and Berry Blue with a striking appeal.

The M14 5G has a USB Type-C port alongside a speaker and a 3.5mm jack at the bottom and the volume controls alongside the power/lock button on the right side. The buttons do offer good tactility. Instead of going with an under-display fingerprint scanner, Samsung chose the power button to house the biometric sensor, which works as intended.

The rounded edges offer a good grip. But the rear panel does pick up some smudges, which can be avoided with a clear phone case. Having chosen light materials, Samsung has managed to keep the phone’s weight in check despite housing a massive 6,000mAh battery.

As for the display, Samsung often delivers its best. For the price, we’d say the display is suitable, but the LCD panel falls short in case of outdoor use on a sunny day. Even the colors are not as punchy, but the 90Hz refresh rate seems to make up for these shortcomings. Finally, the display is protected by Gorilla Glass 5, a step up from Gorilla Glass 3 and a welcoming move. But the bezels are hard to miss and so is the water-drop notch.

Samsung’s bid to contribute towards suitability has meant that all phones come without an adapter and the packaging is done in a greener way. Samsung Galaxy M14 buyers won’t get an adaptor, which means they will have to spend extra if they already don’t own a compatible adapter. Not to mention the earphones are long gone from phones, so that’s an added expense too. Many may argue that it defeats the purpose of having aggressive pricing.

The highlight of the phone may be its triple camera setup at the back. The primary sensor is a 50MP shooter, while the other two are 2MP lenses – one for macro and the other for portraits. We don’t expect much action here, except we have some hopes with the primary lens.

A few shots we’ve taken from the phone show some good results. Photos taken during the day in well-lit scenes appear more detailed with natural colors and good dynamic range. Even in artificial lighting, the phone manages good results without overexposure or over-saturation issues. The low-light shots aren’t as great, but there’s night mode to the rescue, which makes some contribution to the betterment of photos. The lack of an ultra-wide sensor is a disappointment as it serves more than the macro in this phone’s case.

Interacting with the phone has been decent, complete with Samsung’s familiar One UI Core running the show. It’s actually a stripped-down version of One UI, which can be felt if you’re downgrading from a higher-end phone. With this, you get only two years of major Android OS updates and four years of security updates.

On the performance front, the phone does get a lot done, but it can be tardy sometimes. Given the price difference between the 4GB and 6GB is only Rs 1,000, it is better to go for the latter. It’s only slightly better. We don’t expect the phone to run high-end games, and if that’s your requirement, you’ll be disappointed.

Finally, the USP of the phone is its battery. The M14 can easily last two days and more if you’re not an avid user. Even heavy users will see the phone easily crossing a 24-hour threshold. But the real issue is with the charging, which takes a really long time. Even with a 25W charger, you’ll need to spare around 90 minutes for a full charge.

Key takeaways

Samsung Galaxy M14 5G is surely a good choice for the price it retails in, especially considering it offers 5G, excellent battery life, decent performance and a good enough camera. But there are some downsides too, like the display is not Samsung’s best work, the OS can be refined, and the overall camera setup is not the ideal one.

On the cost front, the fact that you don’t get an adaptor and earphones adds to the extra expense.