Which budget for is right for you?

• 

  Samsung Galaxy A53

  Worth the extra

  The Samsung Galaxy A53 is a midrange phone, so you’ll pay more than the A14 5G; however, that extra money comes with great perks like a better camera system, more power and RAM, and a better display.

  Pros

  • Better display
  • More powerful
  • Better cameras

  Cons

  • More expensive
  • No headphone jack

• 

  Samsung Galaxy A14 5G

  Good budget option

  A great value, but less power

  The A14 5G is a little worse in every category than Samsung’s midrange lineup. Still, if you have a tight budget and want to get a phone that doesn’t completely suck, we like the value the Galaxy A14 5G brings to the table.

  Pros

  • Headphone jack
  • Less expensive
  • Still does all the basics really well

  Cons

  • Worse display
  • Lesser camera performance
  • Not as powerful

Buying a new phone and saving money don’t always go hand in hand; however, that doesn’t have to be the case if you don’t mind sacrificing those premium features for something more affordable. There’s a wide range of phones that are much more affordable than your modern-day flagships, and Samsung makes some of the best budget Android phones in the market.

The Samsung Galaxy A53 and the Galaxy A14 5G offer great value to those looking to save money; however, comparing these two phones directly is an apparent mismatch (as you see in the spec sheet above) since they are two very different price points. Still, you may wonder if the A53 is worth the extra money or if you can get away with the new A14.

Price, availability, and connectivity

Samsung does a pretty good job at making its phones available to most people here in the U.S., so you shouldn’t have too much of an issue regardless of which network you’re with. If you get an unlocked version of the Samsung Galaxy A53 or A14 5G, you’ll also have dual-SIM support, making traveling much more manageable.

Although the A14 has 5G in the name, both phones can take advantage of sub-6 and some mmWave 5G bands, making the devices pretty excellent 5G phones to have if you’re on a budget.

The starting price for the A14 5G is $200 (cheaper than its predecessor), which makes it $250 less than the A53; however, you usually can find the A53 for less than its launch price of $450, so the price difference can be a bit smaller.

Hardware and design

Source: Samsung

Looking at the two phones, you can tell there’s a pretty big difference in design. On the Galaxy A14 5G, you’ll see bigger bezels around the display, a teardrop notch for the selfie came at the top, and a completely flat back with no real camera bump except for the lenses themselves. It’s certainly a less modern-looking design, but still a leap forward from the A13 5G that came before it.

The A53 looks a little more like Samsung’s top-tier flagship Galaxy S-Series devices, with a near edge-to-edge display and a tiny little cutout for the selfie cam at the top of the screen. It does have a camera bump that sticks out of its plastic back.

In terms of peripherals on the two devices, both have USB-C ports, which you’ll use to charge up the device as no wireless charging is available. But the Galaxy A53 will charge up that 5,000mAh battery a little faster since it can charge at 25W, whereas the A14 5G tops out at 15W. However, the A14 5G still features a headphone jack, which is somewhat rare among phones today, so you don’t need to worry about having wireless headphones to listen to your favorite tunes. The cheaper phone also features a fingerprint sensor in the power button on the side of the device rather than under the display like the A53 does.

While both phones are made of plastic, the Galaxy A53 does have an IP rating, meaning it’s been tested for water and dust resistance. The IP67 rating means the A53 can handle a bit of rain; if you accidentally drop it in a little water, it should come out unscathed. Plus, it’s protection against dust and solids is pretty good, so your pocket lint shouldn’t be a problem. The A14 5G has no rating at all; make sure you’re careful with it.

Cameras

On paper, the Samsung Galaxy has better cameras, as the primary shooter is a 64MP f/1.8 over the 50 f/1.8 on the A14 5G. However, in reality, the cameras are pretty similar when it comes to performance.

In adequate light, both the primary shooters will snap a pretty decent pic, with the Galaxy A53 being able to capture a bit more sharpness thanks to the optical stabilization of the lens as opposed to the digital stabilization offered on the A14 5G. Still, these aren’t the cameras that get phone photographers very excited, but they will serve you well if you’re just trying to capture some social media-worthy shots.

In low light, both phones struggle to maintain picture quality, especially when any movement is involved. And, while both devices have additional cameras for depth and macro — 5MP ones on the A53 and 2MP sensors on the A14 5G — we don’t think the pictures from either are particularly good. The front-facing camera is way better on the Galaxy A53, so if you love taking selfies, the A14 isn’t the phone for you.

The video recording capabilities of the two devices are pretty different, with the A53 being able to record in 4K at 30fps or 1080p at 60fps. The A14 5G can only record 1080p at 30FPS, which is pretty subpar for video recording these days.

Software and performance

Fitting into the theme of this comparison, there’s no doubt the Samsung Exynos 1280 inside the Galaxy A53 beats out the MediaTek Dimensity 700 powering the A14 5G. How much you will notice that difference depends on how much you push your device to its limit. With lots of gaming and productivity work, you’ll likely notice better performance on the A53, but you usually won’t notice too much of a difference for day-to-day tasks. The odd stutter here and there or slightly longer app loading times on the A14 5G are to be expected.

When it comes to software support long term, the devices are pretty close thanks to Samsung’s commitment to supporting its devices. Of course, since the A14 5G is a bit newer (launched in 2023 as opposed to 2022), it technically has longer support as it will get two major OS updates and four years of security updates. That’s the same treatment the A53 also gets, but because it’s older, its support will run out slightly before the A14 5G, but for most people that’s likely not a huge dealbreaker.

Which one is for you?

With the Samsung Galaxy A53 being a midrange phone and the Galaxy A14 5G being a budget phone, it shouldn’t come as a surprise when we say the A53 is the better phone out of the two. It performs better in nearly every category, and its hardware and design are much more modern, giving it an edge in durability.

Even with sales on the A53 you can find right now, the A14 5G can be much cheaper, making it a compelling option for people who really want to save the most money they can. Plus, with the inclusion of a headphone jack, it may mean you don’t have to get new headphones to use with your Galaxy A53.

Samsung Galaxy A53

Being a midrange phone, the Galaxy A53 beats out the A14 5G in almost every metric; however, you do have to pay a couple hundred more for its added benefits.

Samsung Galaxy A14 5G

Samsung’s Galaxy A14 5G isn’t as durable or capable as the A53, but its inclusion of a headphone jack and much cheaper price makes it a worthy contender if saving money is paramount.