By: iPadfanzz Editor on April 12, 2013
Samsung has announced a new pair of smartphones that blurs the line between phone and tablet even further. The Samsung Galaxy Mega line, which will hit Europe in May, will come with a monstrous 6.3-inch phone — the biggest smartphone yet.
The Mega series beat Huawei’s 6.1-inch phone launched earlier this year. These mid-range phablets will provide a more affordable option to the high-end Note phablet.
Samsung Galaxy Mega 6.3
The Mega line is led by the gargantuan 6.3-inch Galaxy Mega 6.3. The smartphone packs a 6.3" LCD of 720p resolution and is powered by a an Exynos 5250 chipset with a dual-core Cortex-A15 CPU clocked at 1.7GHz and 1.5GB of RAM. It runs Android 4.2 with Sasmung’s TouchWiz modifications like Multi-window (split-screen multitasking) and Air View (detecting your finger an inch from the screen). The Mega 6.3 doesn’t come with S Pen. It'll be available with either 8 or 16GB of onboard storage, and you can supplement that with a microSD card.
The 6.3 comes with an 8-megapixel camera on the rear with a 1.9-megapixel camera up front. The phone supports microSD cards up to 64GB and is equipped with 1.5GB of RAM. On the connectivity side the Samsung Galaxy Mega 6.3 enjoys LTE, Wi-Fi a/b/g/n/ac, NFC and packs an IR emitter so it can work as a remote control. It can also connect to Galaxy S4s and Grands with Group Play.
The Mega 6.3 measures 167.6 x 88 x 8.0 mm in size and weighs 199g. The battery has 3,200mAh capacity.
Samsung Galaxy Mega 5.8
The "little brother" in the series is the Galaxy Mega 5.8, which has a lower resolution at 960 x 540. Its processor clock speed is also slightly lower at 1.4GHz and is augmented by 1.5GB RAM. It also runs on Android 4.2 Jelly Bean. The Galaxy Mega 5.8 measures 162.6 mm tall by 82.4 mm wide by 9 mm thick and weighs 182g.
The phone comes with a 1.4GHz dual-core processor and has the same 8-megapixel camera. Its imaging specs are similar to the Mega 6.3, but it comes with lesser onboard storage capacity at 8GB. The device also lacks LTE support and has a 2,600mAh battery.
"We are aware of a great potential in the bigger screen for extensive viewing multimedia, web browsing, and more," said JK Shin, CEO and Head of IT & Mobile Business, Samsung Electronics. "We are excited to provide another choice to meet our consumers' varying lifestyles, all while maintaining the high-quality features of the award-winning GALAXY series."
According to Samsung, the Galaxy Mega series will be ideal for customers who want a great-value-for-money phone. The Mega series enables an exceptional widescreen view for various applications including web browsing, video, and SNS, it says.
Samsung says it providing the following features with Mega series of smartphones:
• 'Group Play': Enables easy content sharing for up to 8 devices on the same Wi-Fi network.
• 'Samsung WatchON': Transforms into an IR remote controller for a richer TV experience. Connect the device to your home entertainment system, and it will provide program recommendations, schedules, and even remotely control your TV.
• 'Samsung Link': Easily streams photos, videos, notes, or music to your television, tablet or computer.
• 'S Translator': Say or text what you need translated into the GALAXY Mega, and it will provide instant translation, using text or voice translation on applications including email, and ChatON.
• 'ChatON': Share what's on your screen with friends to stay more connected.
The Mega series will come with camera modes including 'Drama Shot' (merging continuous shots of a moving object), 'Sound & Shot' (captures 9 seconds of sound and voice together as the picture is taken to capture moments), 'Rich tone,' 'Sports' and more. The device also packs various newly-introduced features for endless entertainment, including:
• 'S Travel': Provides trip information, local guides and resources and more
• 'Story Album': Allows customers to create albums of daily events, keep special moments in one place using a timeline, geo-tag information and publish digital albums in hard copy
The GALAXY Mega will be available globally beginning May from Europe and Russia. The product availability varies by market and will be rolled out gradually.
