CES 2023 has been going on all week in Las Vegas, Nevada. This normally means we learn about the upcoming tech for the year and beyond. While Samsung typically waits for its own Unpacked events to announce its big hitters, the South Korean company has decided to give us a look at its next budget champion, the Galaxy A14 5G.
The Galaxy A14 5G, which takes over last year’s Galaxy A13 5G, certainly won’t be Samsung’s cheapest phone that is announced this year. However, if you are looking for a Galaxy device that maximizes performance, while still being pocket friendly, this is the one you should be looking at.
Taking a look at what the Galaxy A14 5G offers, you get a 6.6-inch Full HD+ display complete with a 90 Hz refresh rate, which is a nice addition at this price point. The device is powered by the MediaTek Dimensity 700 processor, and you get a choice of either 4 GB or 6 GB of RAM. The internal storage also has two options, 64 GB or 128 GB, but if you want more, you can expand it to 1 TB by means of a microSD card.
The camera set-up is also decent, comprising three shooters at the back, a 50 MP main camera and two 2 MP sensors for depth and macro shots. At the front, you get a single 13 MP sensor, which should do well for your selfie shots or video calls.
Interestingly, the Galaxy A14 5G becomes the first Samsung phone to run Android 13 and One UI 5 out of the box. Samsung also promises two years of OS upgrades and four years of security patches, which should be welcome news for those who stick to a single smartphone for an extended period.
The battery capacity of 5,000 mAh matches that of the Galaxy A13 5G, however, the charging speed at 15W still lags behind other competitors like Redmi whose devices at this price range support 30W fast charging. Speaking of price, the 4 GB + 64 GB variant starts at $199(Ksh 24,600) which is a competitive price for a 5G-enabled device in the Kenyan market.
If the Galaxy A14 5G seems like the one for you, you get four colour choices to choose from; black, silver, dark red, and light green. Samsung says the device will be sold to European markets starting in April. While they do not mention availability in other markets, April is still a good bet for the series to hit our Kenyan shores.