It's time for a PhoneDog Snapshot Review, where we take our typical two-part review and condense it down into a tiny little video that's loaded with information! Today, the Samsung Galaxy Mega.
The Samsung Galaxy Mega makes the Galaxy Note II look small. With a 6.3-inch display, it's just under full tablet size, giving the impression that you're always happy to see everyone you meet. It's near-impossible to manage with one hand, though it offers a wealth of screen real estate for those that enjoy browsing the web, viewing pictures, and more.
Don't confuse the Galaxy Mega with the Galaxy Note series, which is one of the company's iconic brands. The Galaxy Mega, while larger, offers a different feature set that is mid-range in comparison to the Galaxy S 4 and Galaxy Note II. Otherwise, the Mega brings a few of the Galaxy S 4's features along for the ride, including the latest version of Android and TouchWiz.
Packing a 1.7 GHz dual-core CPU, the Galaxy Mega 6.3 isn't the company's fastest smartphone - in fact, it's decidedly mid-range. But it brings a solid feature set, including 1.5 GB of RAM, an 8-megapixel camera with 1080p HD recording, 3,200 mAh battery, and Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean with TouchWiz. The hardware design resembles that of the Galaxy Note and Galaxy S series, with a physical home button and two capacitive buttons on both sides.
Running Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean with TouchWiz, the Galaxy Mega 6.3 looks and feels a lot like the Samsung Galaxy S 4. It includes many of the popular software goodies like S Beam, Air View, and Smart Stay, though it's missing some of the hallmark flagship features like Smart Scroll and Smart Pause. Overall, it's very fluid, thanks to the dual-core processor and 1.5 GB of RAM.
While it's going to be way too big for many, choice is a good thing, and to that end, it's nice to see the Galaxy Mega filling a gap between the 5.5-inch Note II and the 7-inch tablet options that Samsung offers. 1.5 GB of RAM is a nice touch for a mid-range unit, and the camera takes a solid picture.
To have such a gigantic display, it would have been nice to have included a higher-resolution display. Offering 233 ppi, Galaxy Mega 6.3's display is a bit of an eyesore after working with 1080p HD displays like those found on the HTC One and Samsung Galaxy S 4. The highlight of this phone is the gargantuan display, and it should be the feature that truly shines. I would have preferred to see the Galaxy Mega as the Galaxy Note Mega, because I find the S Pen to be a great feature. And who wouldn't want an S Pen to go along with that big display?
The Galaxy Mega 6.3 is absolutely gigantic, and it makes me wonder how big we can actually go before we're all talking on tablets. While the Note II is large, it's still manageable. The Galaxy Mega 6.3 is certainly pushing it. That said, user trends change with time (hey, 3.5-inch displays were the norm at one point!) and within a few years, I could certainly see this becoming a mainstream item. Up the display resolution, and this could be a high-end smartphone on any carrier.
