Hot 30 Play and Galaxy A14 are the latest entry-level devices from Infinix and Samsung. They both launched this year in the 20K range in Kenya and they are some of the company’s most affordable devices in the Hot series and the A series.
We’ve already taken a tour of the new Hot 30 series devices including the Hot 30[Full Review] and the Hot 30 Play[Full Review] and now we pit it against the Samsung Galaxy A14 in our in-depth comparison review.
UNBOXING
The Hot 30 Play is more generous in its package as besides getting the phone, you get a case, type-c cable, a sim ejector pin, an 18W charger, and a pair of earphones.
The A14 comes in a white box and inside is the phone, sim ejector tool, and a sim ejector tool. This means you’ll need to fork out more cash to get the necessary accessories. It’s worth noting that the cable has type-c to type-c ends so you’d need to get a charger with a type-c port as well.
DESIGN
Both phones sport glass fronts, plastic frames and plastic backs. They both come with Type-c charging ports.
The A14 comes with two microphones – one at the top and one at the bottom.
Both phones have headphone jack and bottom-facing speakers. To the left side of both is the dual sim card slot with additional slot for expandable storage. To the right side are the power buttons and volume rockers.
Side-mounted fingerprint readers are embedded in the power button. You have face unlock as well as additional biometrics for both phones.
Both are incredibly designed phones. The A14 comes in silver, dark red, light green and black(our unit)
Hot 30 Play comes in mirage black, blade white and bora purple. And as I said in my full review, we need more purple phones because it’s beautiful.
Overall, it’ll all come down to your preference especially since the A14 has an extra microphone which comes through for better call quality and video recording.
Coming to the front is the 6.6″ Infinity V display on the A14 rocking 1080p resolution. Sadly, it comes with standard 60Hz refresh rate and brightness peaking at 400 nits.
Instead of a notch, we have a punch-hole cutout for the Hot 30 Play. It is a 6.8-inch screen at 720p resolution. It is brighter at 500 nits and 90Hz refresh rate.
Both are beautiful screens and you’ll enjoy consuming multimedia content on either of them. They’re bright and provide a delightful experience when watching videos or movies.
The high refresh rate on the Hot 30 Play gives it an edge especially as you get buttery smooth scrolling when interacting with the phone’s user interface. Gamers will love it too.
PERFORMANCE
Under the hood, the A14 is powered by the Helio G80 chipset paired with 4GB of RAM and 64GB storage. There’s RAM Plus feature that adds up to 4GB of virtual RAM. It comes with Android 13 and OneUI Core 5.
Hot 30 Play has Helio G37 chipset coupled with 8GB RAM and 128GB of storage. You get up to 8GB virtual RAM thanks to XOS 12.6. Like its rival, you get Android 13 as well.
Both phones go toe to toe in terms of performance. The A14 is tad bit faster when it comes to synthetic benchmarks but in real world performance, the difference is not that significant.
Hot 30 Play has a more RAM and storage than the A14 but Samsung has promised that their phone will get Android 14 and Android 15 upgrades with four years of monthly security patches.
BATTERY LIFE
Infinix Hot 30 Play ships with a 6000mAh battery with support for 18W fast type-C charging. The charger is included.
The A14 has a 5000mAh battery with support for 15W fast type-C charging.
Both phones have long battery life. Hot 30 Play takes the crown here – its bigger battery and relatively faster charging plus the included charger.
CAMERAS
The A14 has a 50MP triple rear setup and a 13MP selfie camera while the Hot 30 Play with a 16MP double rear setup and an 8MP selfie camera. Samsung has a 5MP ultrawide and a 2MP macro while Infinix has an additional QVGA lens.
Both record 1080p video at 30fps for both front and main cameras.
They both take really good pictures.
Infinix opts for a a brighter and a relatively colourful profile. Samsung handles dynamic range better especially for bokeh shots. Photos taken from the main camera are a bit dull with the A14.
Samsung has a shaper selfie camera and even takes better selfie portraits including in challenging light situations.
They both take decent pictures i lowlight even though they don’t have dedicated night modes.
They both tie when it comes to camera performance. The A14 is a better selfie camera smartphone while the Hot 30 Play takes the lead when it comes to shooting from the main camera.
VERDICT
Phones in the 20K range can get pretty competitive. Infinix is offering more for less with the Hot 30 Play while Samsung goes the opposite route as you get less for more. The Hot 30 Play is feature packed which can means price-conscious buyers will prefer it to the Galaxy A14.
Samsung’s software and its upgrade program will definitely convince users already in its ecosystem. But if you have no brand loyalty, then the Infinix Hot 30 Play holds more sway especially when you consider how much it goes for.
Pricing and Availibility
The Galaxy A14 goes for Ksh 24,499 at Samsung’s online store, official retail stores and on partner e-commerce platforms.
Infinix Hot 30 Play is available for Ksh 18,399 at the company’s retail stores countrywide and online too at XPARK – their official online store.
- Hot 30i: Ksh 15,499
- Hot 30 Play: Ksh 18,399[Full Review]
- Hot 30: Ksh 22,899[Full Review]
