Samsung Galaxy M14 5G review: Decent budget smartphone
Recently, Samsung unveiled the new budget smartphone Galaxy M14 5G in India.
It comes in three colours-- Icy Silver, Berry Blue and Smoky Teal. It is available in two configurations-- 4GB RAM + 64GB storage and 4GB RAM + 128GB storage-- for Rs 13,490 and Rs 14,490, respectively.
I have been testing the Galaxy M14 for the last several days, here are my thoughts on Samsung's brand-new phone.
Design, build quality and display
The Galaxy M14 5G flaunts a shiny back cover made of polycarbonate material. However, when you hold the device, it exudes a premium feel and is also sturdy too.
As you can see, our review unit is the icy silver variant. It has a snowy white hue, but when looked at from certain angles, it tends to reflect pinkish colour. It adds charm in terms of visual appeal.
Also, the smooth body and colour (icy silver model) a does decent job of repelling fingerprint smudges to an extent. It is not easily noticeable when looking straight, but when turned at certain angles, the finger impressions become visible.
At the base, you will find a single-grille speaker along with a Type-C charger, a mic and a 3.5mm audio-jack port, which has become a rare feature in smartphones. And, on the top, there is a lone mic.
On the left, there is a lone tray slot, which can accommodate two nano SIMs and a microSD card. And, on the right side, there is the volume rocker and power button, which also houses the fingerprint sensor. By the way, it works fine. I had no issues unlocking the screen. I believe this is the best biometric sensor to use on phones, as it is most efficient even if the finger is a little sweaty.
It features a 6.6-inch full HD+ (1080 x 2408p) Infinity-V LCD screen with a 90Hz refresh rate. The display is pretty good and bright enough to view multimedia and read content without any issues indoors. And, outdoors too, I didn't struggle much under the shade. If under direct sunlight, users have to increase the brightness to the max for better viewing experience.
There is an Eye comfort shield, which limits the blue light from the display. This comes particularly handy during the night and lessens the strain on the eyes and helps sleep faster.
With motion smoothness set to Adaptive, the screen depending on type of the apps and usage will dynamically change the refresh rate up to 90Hz. It delivers a smooth viewing experience while browsing through the internet, scrolling on social media platforms and playing compatible games.
Performance
The new Galaxy M14 5G is powered by 5nm class Samsung Exynos 1330 octa-core with Mali-G68 M2 GPU, 4GB LPDDR4x RAM with 64GB/128GB storage (expandable up to 1TB).
And, like other Samsung phones, the Galaxy M14 too, supports the RAM Plus feature. Users can expand base 4GB RAM by an additional 2GB or 6GB or 8GB. In total, you can extend the physical memory from 4GB to 12GB, provided there is enough left in the storage.
Our review unit comes with 4GB RAM +128GB storage configuration. It worked smoothly without any issues as such. Be it operating the camera or switching between multiple apps, the device doesn't show any lag-ness. Even while playing regular games such as Angry Birds or Temple Run, the device didn't show any sluggishness.
However, you cannot expect the same performance while playing big graphics-rich games.
The device runs Android 13-based One UI 5.1 OS and comes with quite a number of pre-loaded apps out-of-the-box. Thankfully, the company is offering a dedicated slot for microSD so the owners get an option to increase memory by up to 1TB.
Add to that, Samsung has promised to offer two major Android OS updates (up to 2025) and three years of security software support (up to 2026).
As far as the battery life is concerned, it is the best aspect of the device. The device can easily last two days with just normal usage of messaging, calling, and internet scrolling. Even if you stream live games such as IPL cricket or any live TV content on multimedia apps through cellular mobile data, the device will still be able to deliver a whole day. There is no scope for battery anxiety with the Galaxy M14.
It supports 25W charging speed, but owners have to buy the adaptor separately or rely on the older device's charger.
The Galaxy M14 supports multiple 5G bands (SA/NSA)-- 1, 3, 5, 7, 8, 20, 28, 38, 40, 41, 66, 77, 78.
Photography hardware
The new Samsung phone houses a triple camera module-- 50MP(f/1.8) + 2MP(f/2.4) depth + 2MP(f/2.4) macro sensor with LED flash.
It takes pretty good photos in the sunlight. It manages to capture the subject clearly with a tad warmer colour and most importantly, makes them more lively than they really are.
With portrait mode, it does a decent job of differentiating the edges around the subject and delivering the bokeh effect in the background.
Though it has no ultra-wide angle sensor, the normal mode shot manages to cover a good amount of area in the frame.
In the night mode, the picture quality is average. But, having said that, it is on par with any rival brand in its price segment.
As far as the macro mode is concerned, it does a decent job of capturing finer details of the subject up close.
On the front, the Galaxy M14 features a 13MP wide (f/2.0) camera. It does a great job smoothening the face's skin, but I am not complaining, as this is what consumers expect in phones nowadays. They are good enough to make it as Display Picture (DP) on social media platforms.
There are filters and editing tools with portrait mode to make the subject look photogenic and add fun elements such as stickers, texts or draw on selfies too.
Both the front and rear camera support full HD (1080p) video/30 fps (frames per second). The video quality is decent, on par with any budget phone in the market.
Final thoughts
The things I liked in the Galaxy M14 are the display, camera and battery life.
The Galaxy M14 has no outstanding attributes that make it stand apart from its peers in the budget segment. But, it just works fine and is worth the asking price.
It is best suited for senior citizens and salaried class who don't want to splurge big on smartphones, but get good features worth their investment.
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