The realme 14 5G is a compelling mid-range smartphone that combines robust performance, impressive battery life, and a distinctive design.
Design & Build
The realme 14 5G comes in three colors. Namely, Warrior Pink (which is the color of the device I’ve done the review with), Storm Titanium, and Mecha Silver. The metallic finish of the Warrior Pink variant while not totally preventing fingerprint marks on the backplate, makes it look like that you don’t leave a mark. The 50MP camera, 2MP Bokeh lens, and the pulse light is perched a few millimeters higher than the main body.
The phone also comes with a fingerprint scanner found in the screen with the 16MP front camera. You have the down facing speakers found on the bottom of the unit where you can also find the sim and SD Card slot.
Performance
Moving on to the realme 14 5G‘s performance. realme positions the 14 5G as a phone that focuses on performance beyond limits. Providing solutions to mobile performance pain points specifically laggy gameplay, quick battery drain, overheating and unstable performance. And based on the short time I’ve had with the device, it was able to at least answer three out of the four pain points wonderfully. With overheating still a noticeable problem but at extreme cases of pushing the unit to it’s limits.
Laggy Gameplay
The realme 14 5G sports a 6.67-inch AMOLED display with an option of setting the max refresh rate of 60Hz or 120Hz. The screen has a peak brightness of 2000 nits. You can actually feel that the screen itself runs smoothly when you play fast-paced games like League of Legends: Wild Rift or shooter games like PUBG Mobile. There is little lag even at the most intense clashes even if the colors for Wild Rift just jump at you, or when you jump into shootouts with PUBG Mobile.
Furthermore, the included GT Boost feature allows the phone to perform better with the Boost providing a ton of features to make your extended gaming sessions more fun.
Unstable Performance
At it’s core, the 14 5G runs with a Qualcomm Snapdragon 6 Gen 4 5G. This allows the phone to perform multiple tasks and have multiple apps open simultaneously. I was unable to hit 40 apps (as realme‘s promise with the 14 5G), but I was able to test to at least around 20 – 30 apps open without any performance hitch whatsoever. I didn’t notice any performance drop during the stress test even if the phone kind of heated up for a bit.
Overheating
I noticed that the phone starting to heat up by the third hour of my stress test. However, this observation comes with a huge caveat. The amount of stress I’ve pushed the phone through goes beyond the normal activities you would normally expect a daily driver to experience. So while the phone does heat up. realme’s Bionic Cooling System works with the 14 5G under normal day to day use. Also, as another caveat to the heating situation, I never really felt the heat rising when I was using the device without the included free silicone case for the 14 5G. But, it’s different when you have it on the device however. Since it does get a bit warm with the protective case on for extended use.
Battery & Charging
Another standout feature of the realme 14 5G is its massive 6,000mAh battery. The device also comes with the 45W SUPERVOOC Charge for fast charging that allowed me to charge the device to a 100% in less that an hour and 30 minutes.
Camera Capabilities
On the rear, the device houses a dual-camera setup, highlighted by a 50MP primary sensor. The front-facing 16MP camera caters to selfies and video calls. The camera system is enhanced with AI features like AI Eraser, AI Clear Face, and AI Snap Mode, providing users with intelligent photography tools.
The device does take solid shots even at low light, which is to be expected for a mid-range phone like the realme 14 5G. However, the main crux for the 14 5G is that it focuses mostly as a gaming device above everything else. So expect other phones in the price range will provide better quality photos than the 14 5G.
Sample Shots
Verdict
The realme 14 5G is a phone that’s clearly made for those looking to have a little more oomph in their gaming focused device. The design on the surface provides a clean and sophisticated look without betraying that the phone is meant for a gamer. It’s a good daily driver that is not only able to cover most pain points for phones, but with a little bit extra for gaming with the GT Boost technology and it’s waterproof rating of IP69, IP68, and IP66.
This means that the phone is fully dust-proof and can withstand high-temp and high-pressure water jets [15L/min, 80±5°C, sprayed from four angles (0°, 30°, 60°, 90°) at 5 rotations per minute and each angle for 30 seconds, totaling 2 minutes. It is also capable of long-term immersion (1.5 meters deep for 30 minutes) it is also resistant to powerful water jets from any direction (100±5 liters per minute, 100 kPa pressure, with a nozzle distance of 2.5-3 meters, for a total of 3 minutes).
Priced at ₱17,999, the realme is a solid contender for your best bang for your buck gaming phone.
You can find more details on how to get the device here.
Specs
| Colors | • Mecha Silver • Storm Titanium • Warrior Pink (Limited Edition) |
| Processor | • Qualcomm Snapdragon 6 Gen 4 5G Processor |
| Memory | • RAM：12GB (Up to 14GB DRE for 26GB Total RAM) • ROM：256GB (2TB Expandable via microSD Card) |
| Display | • Size：6.67” (Diagonal) • Panel Material: AMOLED • Refresh Rate: 60Hz / 120Hz Resolution: 1080*2400 (FHD+) |
| Charging & Battery | • Charging Power: 45W (Max) • Supports SUPERVOOC, PD2.0, PPS Fast Charging Protocols • 6,000 mAh |
| Cameras | Main Camera: • 50MP OIS AI Camera; 2MP Bokeh Front Camera: • 16MP Selfie Camera (Sony IMX480) |
| Network | • Supports 2.4GHz/5GHz; Wi-Fi 4, 5, 6 • Supports 2/3/4G/5G • Bluetooth 5.2 |
| Dimensions & Weight | • Size: 163.15mm × 75.65mm × 7.97mm • Weight: 196g |
| Buttons & Ports | • Supports Dual Nano-SIM / Nano-SIM + microSD • USB Type-C Port |
| Operating System | • realme UI 6.0 Based on Android 15 |
| Package Inclusions | • 45W SUPERVOOC Charging Adapter x1 • Type A to Type C USB Cable *1 • Warranty Card x1 • Safety Guide x1 • Quick Guide x1 • SIM Ejector Pin x1 • Protect Case x1 |
