Samsung’s Galaxy A14 5G — the latest entry in the company’s A-series lineup — is a really interesting budget phone for 2023. It’s a $200 Android 13 smartphone with an expansive screen, 5G support, a new design, and a pretty solid camera array for the price.
While there’s enough going for the Galaxy A14 to make it a contender for anybody looking for a modern wallet-friendly smartphone, it’s impossible to build one at this price without making a few compromises. Some of these are to be expected: the panel is a 720p LCD, and it’s capped at 64GB of storage. However, the lower price tag may also have you wondering a very important question: Is the Samsung Galaxy A14 5G waterproof?
Unfortunately, this is one area where Samsung has cut a pretty big corner. The short answer is no, the Galaxy A14 5G is not waterproof. However, the reality is a bit more complicated.
Like the Galaxy A13 that came before, the Galaxy A14 5G has no IP rating, which means it has not been certified as waterproof, or even water-resistant, in any way. That’s a stark contrast to the company’s flagship S-series phones, nearly all of which carry an IP68 rating that allows them to survive extended dunks while also being completely dust-tight. Even the Galaxy A53 5G gets an IP67 rating, which is almost as good, while Samsung’s foldables — the Galaxy Z Fold 4 and Galaxy Z Flip 4 — come in with an IPX8 — highly resistant to water, but not tested against dust.
The lack of an IP rating doesn’t mean the Galaxy A14 5G may not offer some small amount of water resistance; it merely indicates that Samsung hasn’t had it tested and certified as such. Ingress Protection (IP) testing costs money, so avoiding it is an easy way to shave a few bucks off what it costs to develop a budget smartphone. A little rain isn’t likely to do any harm, but don’t expect it to survive immersion in water. In either case, though, you get it wet at your own risk — there are no guarantees it will survive any exposure to water or even dust, and it probably doesn’t help that the built-in 3.5mm headphone jack provides another way for water to get inside.
Water resistance isn’t the only area where the Samsung Galaxy A14 5G is lightweight. The phone is made entirely from plastic, and there’s no indication that it’s anything especially durable, like the Gorilla Glass 5 found on Samsung’s only slightly more expensive Galaxy A23 5G.
Instead, the screen has a layer of protective film and an oleophobic coating that should protect against light scratches and fingerprints. For anything beyond that, you’ll need to supply your own screen protector. Plan to add a case also, as there’s no indication that the Galaxy A14 5G offers any measure of drop resistance, and if you’re concerned about taking your smartphone out into the wild, you can always pick one up that’s waterproof too.
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