<div content="X – LIST ITEM" superlative="Best phone for under $200" description="
The $200 Samsung Galaxy A14 5G is one of the most functional phones under $200 available right now. Even though it’s at a budget-friendly price, this Samsung phone includes 5G support for faster data and NFC for contactless payments using Google Wallet. While both of those inclusions are highlights for this price range, Samsung is also planning to support the Galaxy A14 with two years of software updates and five years of security updates, making it a phone that will be safe to use for several years.
You should still keep in mind that the phone does have trade-offs to hit its $200 price. It has a drab design, a slower processor and mixed photography performance.
Yet despite its issues, the features it does include make it an easy recommendation if you are buying the phone outright or if it’s offered for free with a carrier subsidy deal. Read our Galaxy A14 5G review.
Pros:
- NFC for contactless pay
- 90Hz refresh rate
- Good software and security update timeline
Cons:
- Sluggish performance
- Mixed photography
- Single audio speaker
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The Samsung Galaxy A14 5G streaming music on YouTube Music.
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The Samsung Galaxy A14 5G streaming music on YouTube Music.
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The Samsung Galaxy A14 5G streaming music on YouTube Music.
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We test every phone in real-world scenarios focusing on its features, design, performance, cameras, battery life and overall value. We document our findings in an initial review that is periodically updated when there are new software updates or to compare against new phones from competitors like Apple, Samsung, Google and OnePlus.
Photography is a major focus for most phones these days, so we take pictures and videos of various subjects in a variety of settings and lighting levels. We try out any new camera modes such as Action mode that debuted with the iPhone 14 line or the Unblur photo tool that launched with the Google Pixel 7 series.
Battery testing is conducted in a variety of ways. We assess how long a phone lasts during a typical day of use, and note how it performs during more focused sessions of video calls, media streaming and gaming. We also conduct a video playback test, which isn’t always included in the initial review and is added later in an update.
We use benchmarking apps to measure the performance, alongside our own anecdotal experiences using the phone for our review. Of particular note are how graphics and animations look. Are they smooth? Or do they lag or stutter? We also look at how quickly the phone switches between horizontal and vertical orientations and how fast the camera app opens and is ready to take a photo.
We perform processor-heavy tasks like editing photos, exporting videos and playing games. We evaluate whether a newer version of a particular phone includes enough features to make it worth upgrading from older models.
Andrew Lanxon Editor At Large, Lead Photographer, Europe
