Review Verdict: The realme 14 5G proves that there’s a competitive 5G-ready Snapdragon chip that can go against MediaTek’s offerings in the under Php 20k segment in terms of both performance and power efficiency. We wished that realme went all in with the 14 5G by using faster storage and adding another useful camera. 

Pros

• Snapdragon 6 Gen 4 delivers great performance
• Great battery life
• Big improvement in display vs predecessor

Cons

• Could have used UFS 3.1 storage
• Only one useful camera

After bringing over the 14 Pro series last March, it is the standard 14 series’ turn to shine this month, with the realme 14 5G debuting the Snapdragon 6 Gen 4 in the Philippines. This new processor proves to be a decent offering in the under Php 20k segment, and we’ll explain why after using the realme 14 5G as our daily driver for 2 weeks:

realme 14 5G Review Philippines: Design

The realme 14 5G goes for a familiar design that reminds us of the realme 9 series from 2022. Key differences include a boxier frame, an IP68 rating, and a revamped camera module layout that has a circular LED flash that doubles as a notification light. You get stereo speakers and an in-display fingerprint scanner, but you miss out on MicroSD card expansion.

While the realme 14 5G is more known for its Mecha Silver colorway, we got the Brave Pink colorway that has a metallic pink hue for its satin back panel. This colorway is available in limited quantities, and we get it: it’s not every day you get your hands on a pink phone that looks this gorgeous.

The realme 14 5G is less than 7.97mm thick, which is around 0.2mm thicker than its predecessor. As a trade off, you get a bigger 6000mAh battery inside the realme 14 5G.

 

realme 14 5G Review Philippines: Display and Speakers

Compared to its predecessor, the realme 14 5G upgrades to a 120hz AMOLED display with 2000nits peak brightness, making it more serviceable when using the phone outdoors. The display quality is also much better, with more vibrant colors compared to the IPS panel used on its predecessor. Widevine L1 is present, so you can enjoy watching your favorite Netflix shows in Full HD.

The stereo speakers are decent for a midrange phone, but you need to be mindful of the volume, as audio tends to get distorted when you push it beyond 70%.

 

realme 14 5G Review Philippines: Cameras

You get a basic camera setup that consists of a 50-megapixel IMX882 sensor on the main camera and a depth sensor. To realme’s credit, you can do quite a lot with the main camera, which includes decent lossless zoom at 2x and 5x, and shooting stable 4K30 video with built-in OIS.

As for the image quality, the realme 14 5G has decent performance across most lighting conditions–which is not surprising since realme has used the IMX882 sensor on several models in the past. Detail is well preserved in low light situations, and noise is kept to a minimum.

We’re surprised to see a 5x Digital Zoom option on the realme 14 5G’s camera app, but manage your expectations with the image quality–there’s notable loss of detail when using 5x digital zoom, so you’re better off to limit yourself with 2x digital zoom.

 

 

realme 14 5G Review Philippines: Internals and Battery Life

The realme 14 5G has an unconventional setup, as it is the first phone in the Philippines to use a Snapdragon 6 Gen 4 processor. It is paired with 12GB RAM and 256GB UFS 2.2 internal storage, though we wish it came with the faster UFS 3.1 storage to further cement its cred as an affordable gaming phone.

Before you raise your pitchforks on the Snapdragon 6 Gen 4, this processor is a big upgrade over the Snapdragon 6 Gen that was used on several midrange phones in this price segment. We can confirm that the Snapdragon 6 Gen 4 is an underclocked version of the Snapdragon 7s Gen 3, and that’s a good thing. It offers around the same performance you’d expect on a Snapdragon 7 Gen 3, which is a popular chip option on midrange phones priced upwards of Php 20k, and performs better than the Dimensity 7300 that was used on the realme 13+.

To further support this, the realme 14 5G is a great performer for gaming. We didn’t run into lag or heating issues when playing Genshin Impact for hours with graphics set to high and 60FPS enabled. The realme 14 5G is a smooth performer for Mobile Legends, and it is deserving of being the official device for realme Mobile Legends Cup (RMC) Season 9 as you can run the popular MOBA game with both graphics and frame rate set to ultra.

You get a beefy 6000mAh battery on the realme 14 5G, and the Snapdragon 6 Gen 4’s power efficiency shines: we got a score of 17 hours and 4 minutes in PCMark’s battery benchmark, and we were able to use the realme 14 5G comfortably for the entire day even with 5G data on at all times. Topping up the battery is done via 45W charging. It may not be the fastest in the market, but it is fast enough for most needs.

 

realme 14 5G Review Philippines: Wrap-up and Conclusions

It’s nice to see a Snapdragon chip to be a competitive option in the under Php 20k segment, thanks to the realme 14 5G. realme’s midrange offering proved that Qualcomm is making a comeback with its midrange chip offerings after years of being dominated by MediaTek’s Dimensity 7000 series.

realme 14 5G Review Philippines: Price

The realme 14 5G is priced at Php 17,999.