Samsung unveils and Galaxy Mega smartphones

Samsung already has the Galaxy Note line of mobile devices, with the Galaxy Note 2 sporting a 5.5-inch screen. However, whereas the Note doesn’t pretend to be a unique smartphone and tablet hybrid (essentially being a phablet before the term caught on) through the inclusion of a stylus, the Mega looks like it will be masquerading as a standard smartphone. The model does not seem to justify its size by hiding behind a stylus. The Mega will release in two versions, the aforementioned 5.8-inch and 6.3-inch iterations. Though the Mega is significantly larger than a standard smartphone — with the new Galaxy S4 sitting pretty at a 5-inch screen — it doesn’t bring more powerful hardware to the table, even though a device of its larger size could have an easier time fitting more powerful components under the hood.

The 5.8-inch Mega sports a 1.4GHz dual-core processor, 1.5GB of RAM, a meager 8GB of onboard storage, and a 960×540 display. The 6.3-inch model raises the specs a little to a 1.7GHz dual-core processor, 16GB of onboard storage, and a 720p display, but contains the same amount of RAM as its little sister. The processor is from an unknown manufacturer. Unfortunately for those of you who enjoy smaller phablets and LTE speeds, the 5.8-inch model only comes with HSPA support, so you’ll have to step up to the 6.3-inch model for that blazing-fast LTE. The differences between the phones end here, and the rest of the specs are the same. Both phones have an expandable microSD storage slot that can support up to a 64GB card, an 8-megapixel rear-facing camera, 802.11 a/b/g/n WiFi, and will ship with Android 4.2 Jelly Bean.

It seems a little odd that Samsung would announce two new large phones so soon after the company announced its flagship Galaxy S4, and it’s even stranger that the phones don’t stand up to the S4′s more powerful specs. The only real aspect of the Mega that stands above the S4 is that the screens are significantly larger, even though both Mega models have less pixel density. The lower specs and inability to reach 1080p would likely make the Mega cheaper than the S4, so it’s possible Samsung is simply looking to offer a cheaper alternative to the public, but still provide something special that consumers can’t get anywhere else, which in this case would be the larger screens. It’s also possible that Samsung is attempting to have a product in every screen size imaginable, adhering to some kind of ideology that the company should cover every single base possible.