Samsung Galaxy A14 5G review

Android 13 and One UI 5.0 Core

The Galaxy A14 5G we have for review runs Android 13 with One UI Core 5.0 on top - so it's on the latest OS version and on the 'basic' branch of Samsung's in-house customized overlay, also in a current version. You'd be getting the same looks as higher-end Galaxy models, minus some of the more niche features.

The list of things that didn't make the cut includes Samsung Pay service (GPay is available), Easy Mode, the Bixby assistant, Secure Folder, Windows Link service, and the Good Lock app for advanced customizations.

The Android experience with One UI 5.0 Core is rather straightforward and familiar, though. The app drawer, notification shade, recent apps, lock screen and home screen, are all business as usual, as is the general Settings menu.

The accent color palette is automatically generated based on your wallpaper, but this time around, the system gives you a wider choice of color combinations and that palette can also be applied to app icons.

There's no Always-on display on the Galaxy A14 5G.

One UI 5.0 Core basics

Widgets can now be stacked, and you can switch between stacked widgets with a simple swipe. Keep in mind that not all widgets support stacking, so app developers might have to get around that pretty soon.

Stacked widgets

Modes and routines, a feature similar to Apple's Focus, is present on the Galaxy A14 5G's Core build too. You can choose a mode based on what you are doing right now and execute certain actions, change sound profiles, display settings, notifications, etc. For instance, the driving Routines profile can be set up to turn on DnD mode and launch Spotify automatically, for example. You can even trigger certain Routines with actions of your choice, such as turning on the hotspot or airplane mode.

Routines

The side-mounted fingerprint reader will likely be the primary method of unlocking for most, but you can still use face unlock either instead of or alongside it. It can be more convenient in certain situations, but it generally is less secure since it's just using the selfie camera. The phone can be set to require a press on the button instead of the default touch-to-unlock operation. A swipe-down gesture can be enabled for pulling the notification shade from the fingerprint reader.

Security options • Biometrics • Fingerprint settings • Fingerprint enrollment • Swipe down gesture

Familiar proprietary Samsung features present in One UI 5.0, even in this Core variant, include the Edge panels - the panes that show up when you swipe in from the side and provide tools and shortcuts to apps and contacts. Game launcher, the hub for all your games, which also provides options for limiting distraction when gaming is here to stay as well.

Otherwise, the software package is similar to other Samsung phones, with an in-house Gallery app and a proprietary file manager, as well as Samsung's Internet web browser. Split-screen multi-tasking is also an option.

Edge panel • Game Launcher • Gallery • File manager • Split-screen

Performance and benchmarks

The Samsung Galaxy A14 5G we have here runs on the Dimensity 700, a low-end 5G-capable platform that dates a while back. The Galaxy A22 5G used it, and that's a two-year-old handset, plus it was also on the Galaxy A13 5G from last year. So there's no change in the core of the A14 5G.

That said, just like last year there were multiple A13s, this year there's another version of the Galaxy A14 5G - it's packing the Exynos 1330, Samsung's own 5G chipset for more affordable devices. That one has a slightly beefier CPU - the two powerful cores are the newer Cortex-A78 ones and are clocked higher at 2.4GHz (2x Cortex-A76 at 2.2GHz in the Dimensity). There's also the matter of the GPU, which is a Mali-G68 MC4 on the Exynos and Mali-G57 MC2 on the Dimensity, and that reads like a thorough improvement. Overall, you can expect higher performance out of the Exynos-equipped Galaxy A14 5G.

Unfortunately, we haven't tested an Exynos 1330 handset to include here for comparison, so we'll do the next best thing. We'll throw in a Galaxy M53 - its Dimensity 900 has the same CPU and GPU configuration as the Exynos 1330 so numbers should be fairly similar.

The Exynos version is the one sold in India, while the US gets the Dimensity. For other regions, you'd best check with your retailer, carrier, or local Samsung website. While Samsung doesn't normally list specific chipsets, they do usually quote the clock rates, and the 2.4GHz vs. 2.2GHz difference should be a dead giveaway.

With that preamble behind us, let's look at some benchmark numbers from the US-bound Dimensity 700-equipped Galaxy A14 5G.

GeekBench 5 (single-core)

Higher is better

• Galaxy M53
  730
• Realme 10 Pro
  698
• Galaxy A23 5G
  676
• OnePlus Nord N20 5G
  676
• Poco M4 Pro 5G
  597
• Poco M4 Pro 5G
  597
• Realme 10
  567
• Galaxy A22 5G
  560
• Moto G62
  543
• Galaxy A14
  530
• Redmi Note 11 Pro
  511
• Redmi Note 11
  376
• Galaxy A13
  153

GeekBench 5 (multi-core)

Higher is better

• Galaxy M53
  2037
• Realme 10 Pro
  2021
• OnePlus Nord N20 5G
  1945
• Galaxy A23 5G
  1940
• Poco M4 Pro 5G
  1797
• Poco M4 Pro 5G
  1797
• Realme 10
  1762
• Redmi Note 11 Pro
  1729
• Galaxy A14
  1727
• Galaxy A22 5G
  1719
• Moto G62
  1697
• Redmi Note 11
  1662
• Galaxy A13
  588

AnTuTu 9

Higher is better

• Galaxy M53
  436197
• Realme 10 Pro
  401860
• Realme 10
  385829
• OnePlus Nord N20 5G
  380672
• Poco M4 Pro 5G
  353663
• Poco M4 Pro 5G
  353663
• Redmi Note 11 Pro
  319093
• Galaxy A23 5G
  318821
• Galaxy A14
  307886
• Moto G62
  303072
• Redmi Note 11
  244526
• Galaxy A22 5G
  223188
• Galaxy A13
  136286

GFX Aztek ES 3.1 High (onscreen)

Higher is better

• Galaxy M53
  16
• Galaxy A23 5G
  12
• OnePlus Nord N20 5G
  12
• Realme 10 Pro
  11
• Realme 10
  10
• Moto G62
  9.7
• Galaxy A22 5G
  8.4
• Galaxy A14
  8.3
• Redmi Note 11
  4.6
• Galaxy A13
  3.3

GFX Aztek ES 3.1 High (offscreen 1440p)

Higher is better

• Galaxy M53
  10
• Realme 10 Pro
  7.8
• OnePlus Nord N20 5G
  7.8
• Galaxy A23 5G
  7.6
• Realme 10
  6.5
• Moto G62
  6.5
• Galaxy A14
  5.5
• Galaxy A22 5G
  5.5
• Redmi Note 11
  3.1
• Galaxy A13
  2.2

GFX Aztek Vulkan High (onscreen)

Higher is better

• Galaxy M53
  15
• Galaxy A23 5G
  12
• Realme 10 Pro
  12
• OnePlus Nord N20 5G
  12
• Moto G62
  10
• Realme 10
  9.3
• Galaxy A14
  7.9
• Galaxy A22 5G
  7.8
• Redmi Note 11
  4.8
• Galaxy A13
  3.4

GFX Aztek Vulkan High (offscreen 1440p)

Higher is better

• Galaxy M53
  9.8
• Realme 10 Pro
  8.3
• OnePlus Nord N20 5G
  8.2
• Galaxy A23 5G
  8
• Moto G62
  6.7
• Realme 10
  6.1
• Galaxy A14
  5.3
• Galaxy A22 5G
  5.1
• Redmi Note 11
  3.1
• Galaxy A13
  2.3

GFX Car Chase ES 3.1 (onscreen)

Higher is better

• Galaxy M53
  21
• Realme 10
  17
• Galaxy A23 5G
  16
• Realme 10 Pro
  16
• OnePlus Nord N20 5G
  16
• Moto G62
  14
• Poco M4 Pro 5G
  13
• Poco M4 Pro 5G
  13
• Galaxy A14
  12
• Galaxy A22 5G
  12
• Redmi Note 11 Pro
  12
• Redmi Note 11
  6.8
• Galaxy A13
  5.2

GFX Car Chase ES 3.1 (offscreen 1080p)

Higher is better

• Galaxy M53
  26
• OnePlus Nord N20 5G
  20
• Galaxy A23 5G
  19
• Realme 10 Pro
  19
• Poco M4 Pro 5G
  16
• Moto G62
  16
• Poco M4 Pro 5G
  16
• Galaxy A14
  15
• Galaxy A22 5G
  14
• Realme 10
  14
• Redmi Note 11 Pro
  14
• Redmi Note 11
  8
• Galaxy A13
  6.2

GFX Manhattan ES 3.1 (onscreen)

Higher is better

• Galaxy M53
  38
• Galaxy A23 5G
  29
• Realme 10 Pro
  29
• OnePlus Nord N20 5G
  29
• Realme 10
  28
• Moto G62
  26
• Poco M4 Pro 5G
  23
• Poco M4 Pro 5G
  23
• Redmi Note 11 Pro
  22
• Galaxy A14
  21
• Galaxy A22 5G
  21
• Redmi Note 11
  12
• Galaxy A13
  8.3

GFX Manhattan ES 3.1 (offscreen 1080p)

Higher is better

• Galaxy M53
  42
• Realme 10 Pro
  35
• OnePlus Nord N20 5G
  35
• Galaxy A23 5G
  33
• Moto G62
  28
• Poco M4 Pro 5G
  26
• Poco M4 Pro 5G
  26
• Galaxy A14
  25
• Realme 10
  25
• Galaxy A22 5G
  24
• Redmi Note 11 Pro
  24
• Redmi Note 11
  15
• Galaxy A13
  9.4

3DMark SSE ES 3.1 (offscreen 1440p)

Higher is better

• Realme 10 Pro
  2940
• OnePlus Nord N20 5G
  2917
• Moto G62
  2457
• Galaxy A14
  2452
• Galaxy A22 5G
  2391
• Redmi Note 11
  1316
• Galaxy A13
  886

3DMark SSE Vulkan 1.0 (offscreen 1440p)

Higher is better

• Realme 10 Pro
  2775
• OnePlus Nord N20 5G
  2744
• Galaxy A14
  2416
• Moto G62
  2287
• Galaxy A22 5G
  2257
• Redmi Note 11
  1267
• Galaxy A13
  931

You'll note from the above numbers that the Galaxy's implementation of the Dimensity 700 is on par with other handsets with the same chipset and delivers about average performance for the class. That applies to the US version, however, while the one for India should deliver scores in line with the Galaxy M53's above and that one is more of front-runner. So, the Indian version is looking a lot more appealing from a performance standpoint.

What's good about chipsets of the Dimensity 700 caliber is that they can maintain their initial level of performance under prolonged load. That's what we observed on the Galaxy A14 too, for the most part - other than a small dip in CPU results almost an hour into the test. The GPU stress test scores were solid, though.

CPU Throttling test