Samsung has announced the Galaxy M14 5G smartphone for Bangladesh via its social media channels. The phone is already available, but we didn’t find any official release information. However, it is visible for purchase in some of the online stores via Samsung official sources. The 6/128 GB model is released for now and the price tag is ৳31,999.
Let us move back a little. The phone was first delivered on 8th March 2023. That’s over 8 months ago. So, it entered very late in Bangladesh. The phone is available in Samsung India store, Amazon India and in Flipkart with a release price tag of ₹18,990, which is roughly 25,200 Bangladeshi Taka. But then the phone is available at a discounted price, which is ₹15,990 in Samsung India and Amazon India online stores. That is 21,200 in Bangladeshi Taka as of today, 20th November 2023. The price is lower than that in Flipkart but even if we take the initial release price of ₹18,990 (BDT 25,200), look at the vast difference in official pricing in Bangladesh. Then there is also VAT (of course Samsung isn’t responsible for the VAT) on top of that. Samsung has a phone assembly factory in Bangladesh and they do not have to pay the huge amount of import tax. For flagship phones, it could be the case that the infrastructure doesn’t allow them to assemble high-range phones. But what about these lower-budget models? Do they have to import them as well? Why have an assembly factory at all then?
Even if they didn’t have an assembly factory for the sake of argument, the pricing might be fair given the ridiculous tax policy. But from a consumer point of view (which is our view), is it worth it? The answer is simply no. Firstly, because you can get an unofficial Indian import for about BDT 10,000 less price from any average seller who will give you 2 years of service warranty. Or you can just simply go to India and have a nice vacation for the extra BDT 10,000 and grab this device.
The second argument is its design. A V-notch front with a thick bezel, 9.4mm thickness, 206 grams weight and a plastic body like an under BDT 5,000 phone for 31,999 Taka? No, thank you. The performance is also nothing that impressive. Well, of course, there are a few strong positive sides in this phone as well and it will be unfair not to mention them. You’ll get 5G support and there are not too many official 5G phones around this budget right now. It has an amazing screen quality despite not having AMOLED and providing a PLS TFT screen. Then the camera quality is extremely impressive as you’d expect from a mid-range Samsung gadget. It is giving you a 6000 mAh huge battery. There is Android 13, and it is supposed to receive upgrades till Android 15 and provide 4 years of security patches. Now, these are some very fine configurations. If at least the design was tasteful and up to date, we could still recommend it. We in fact still very much recommend it but if you want the unofficial or the Indian variant.
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