Thought the 5.5 inch Samsung Galaxy Note 2 smartphone had a big screen? Samsung’s not finished yet. Now the company is launching new Android phones with screens as large as 6.3 inches.
The Galaxy Mega 5.8 and Mega 6.3 are due out in Europe and Russia starting in May.
Both phones run Google Android 4.2 Jelly Bean, feature dual core processors, and large batteries. But Samsung’s not necessarily positioning the Galaxy Mega phones as top tier devices.
While the company’s 5 inch Galaxy S IV phones feature a quad-core processor and a 1080p display, the Mega phones have slower chips and lower resolution screens.
The Galaxy Mega 6.3 has a 1280 x 720 pixel display, up to 16GB of storage, and a 1.7 GHz dual core CPU, while the 5.8 inch model has a 960 x 540 pixel display, just 8GB of storage, and a 1.4 GHz dual core processor.
Both devices feature WiFi, Bluetooth, and the usual range of sensors as well as 8MP rear cameras, 1.9MP front-facing cameras, and 1.5 GB of RAM. The 6.3 inch model has a 3200mAh battery while the smaller version has a 2600mAh battery.
As usual, Samsung is emphasizing its custom software for its latest Galaxy phones. They’ll all com with Samsung’s ChatOn instant messaging platform, S Translator voice and text translation service, Samsung Link software for streaming content to a TV or PC, and more.
Prices for the new phones haven’t been released… and it’s not clear if we’ll ever see these models in the US.
While Samsung’s latest phones are also its biggest, they’re not even the largest smartphones we’ve seen recently. The Asus Fonepad is a 7 inch phone that looks like a tablet (or maybe it’s a tablet that looks like a phone). It’s scheduled to hit the UK on April 26th, but it’s another phone that might never see the light of day in the United States.
I think a bigger phone would be appreciated by those whose eyes are getting worse with the passage of time (like myself). With bluetooth headsets and corded headsets, one would not have to hold it to ones ear. With a bigger screen, it would make video calls better since the picture of the one being called would be bigger and easier to see. One could buy one instead of having both a tablet and a cell phone.
Perhaps another name could be phonlet? tabphone? 🙂
phoblet
that is a good one. 🙂
I think that’s a wise move: lots of 2nd and 3rd tier OEM are getting into 5.5″+ phablets (ZTE, Huawei, Acer, LG…). Samsung have the footprint to be able to release both a low/mid market *and* a high-end phablet, instead of leaving the entry level to others.
I’ll buy one towards the end of the year. Currently on a Note 1, not sure if I’ll stick with Samsung nor with Note… I love AMOLED and I like the pen… the high price and weak loudspeakers, I’m not so fond of ^^