Samsung has always been about pushing the design envelope, at least when it comes to the size of their devices. Samsung, being the constant innovators they are, have announced twin Android phablets in the form of the Samsung Galaxy Mega 5.8 and Mega 6.3. If you know your naming conventions, we’re pretty sure you know where this is going. The former has a large 5.8-inch screen, while the latter a massive 6.3 one. Our friends at Samsung were kind enough to send us one of each before the actual launch. You might want to step back a bit. There’s a lot to take in.
A quick look at the devices and it is immediately apparent that Samsung would rather not mess with a working formula. The phones are reminiscent of their typical galaxy phone design. As a matter of fact, one could not be faulted if, after looking at the photo above, one would think these were the SIII and S4 side-by-side. The build quality of both are typical of Samsung. Plastic, but not in a negative way.
Both feel very solid, and can probably take their fair share of bumps and knocks. I have always said that plastic is no hindrance to a premium feel. These phones, along with their flagship S-series galaxy devices are excellent examples of such build. The Mega 5.8 even has a similarly-designed back as the S4. While the previous photo did little to make the size of the devices apparent, this one here will erase all doubt about just how large these bad boys are.
Above is the Mega 6.3, against my favorite size reference, my favorite pen. There is no other way to describe the Galaxy 6.3 apart from “massive.” The phone itself is a whopping 6.60 x 3.46 x 0.31 inches, but is thankfully light at just a hair under 200 grams. It’s not something you can easily fit into the hip pocket of a standard pair of jeans (we tried). You can cram it in there, but once corner will inevitably stick out.
Here’s a quick look at just how large the screen is in relation to my hand. It’ll take a bit of a stretch to hit the far corner of the screen while it is in your hand. right off the bat, it seems the handiest way to run this device is with two hands, in landscape mode. Having said that, it’s always nicer to have too much screen rather than not enough, and this one has plenty. The display is a crisp 233-ppi deal which is pretty remarkable given that there is so much screen to cover. Even with the gigantic screen, the edges are sharp, and even fine text is readable.
The Galaxy Mega 5.8 is the littler brother of the 6.3. To make up for the lost screen real-estate, the Mega 5.8 has the ability to run two sim cards at once. It’s still a pretty large phablet, but as a solution that will remove the need to carry a spare phone and/or tablet, I say the trade-off is fair.
The 5.8 is a little easier to hold than its bigger brother, and has a profile of 6.40 x 3.24 x 0.35 inches. It’s a shade lighter at 182g, and sits just a little nicer in the hand, owing to the smaller overall size.
The screen is a little less saturated compared to the larger of the two devices, though it is more than satisfactory, even for movie watching and gaming. (we’ve done both.)
We’ll be going through the devices more intensely over the next few days, so watch this space! We’ve got high hopes for both devices, and I’m sure Samsung won’t disappoint.