For a phone that's all screen, you'd expect the enormous 6.3-inch Samsung Galaxy Mega to dazzle. It certainly joins mammoth smartphones like the Galaxy Note 2, LG G2, Huawei Ascend Mate, and Sony Xperia Z Ultra as an option for people who would rather own one large device than a phone and a tablet. However, the Mega's only-720p HD resolution simply doesn't support its vast display.
Samsung Galaxy Mega 6.3
The Good
The Bad
The Bottom Line
Absurdly large and not very portable, the Android 4.2 Mega -- for AT&T, Sprint, and U.S. Cellular -- is nevertheless the right size and price for a bridge device; that is, a large smartphone that can also satisfy a tabletlike viewing experience. What's more, the Mega's lower price point ($149.99 with an AT&T contract) makes it a highly affordable option for people who can live with the handset's midgrade specs.
Phablet lovers seeking more productivity features, like a stylus, should hold out for Samsung's more advanced Galaxy Note 3, expected to debut September 4 with double the Mega's price tag.
Design and build
If you've seen Samsung's Galaxy S4, then you've seen the Mega, which simply looks like an overfed version of Samsung's marquee phone, down to the rounded corners, steeper metallic-styled sides, spines, patterned black/gray plastic finish, and rectangular home button. It's big, really big, and confusing the issue are the phone's two global sizes, the 5.8-inch version and the even larger 6.3-inch model I reviewed here.
Luckily, the Mega 6.3's total dimensions -- 6.6 inches tall by 3.5 inches wide by 0.3 inch (167.6mm x 88mm x 8mm) -- are proportional. Its slimness keeps it from being too thick and brutish, but it still looks comically large in my hands...for a phone. The curse of a bridge device like this is that a tablet would have to be inches larger to cross the line into mammoth territory, but by smartphone standards, the Mega is a gigantor that looks and feels ridiculous in the hand, on the ear, and in the pocket.
As large as it may be, the Mega's rounded corners and smooth surfaces make it easier to handle than Sony's 6.4-inch Xperia Z Ultra (not to be confused with T-Mobile's 5-inch Xperia Z.)
Like the S4, the Mega's glossy form helps it slide into pockets. Unfortunately, it only fits halfway into mine, awkwardly and uncomfortably protruding from the top. I passed it around to coworkers and friends for their consideration. Men and women both noted the Mega's overgrown size and tight pocket fit, though it really depends on how deep and tight your pockets are.
Screen size is this handset's major trade-off. The Mega's 6.3-inch Super Clear LCD display undeniably makes Web sites easier to read (less squinting and neck craning!), especially in full desktop view, and I found myself reaching for it more often than the competition when I wanted to read longer articles and watch videos like movie trailers.
Sometimes you'll even get the option to view apps' tablet versions, like the Google Maps and Amazon apps. Other times, titles don't scale at all, and you'll see small size programs bordered by a big black frame, which were clearly intended for smaller screens. Ditto some app icons, which appear slightly fuzzy. For reference, the Galaxy S4 flagship has a pixel density of 441 pixel per inch (ppi); the Mega, by contrast surfaces a 233 ppi. It makes a difference.
That lower screen resolution is a noticeable hit -- just 720p HD (1,280x720 pixels) versus the 1080p HD (1,920x1,080) we see on many premium phones with 5-inch screens and above. Most native icons scale to continue looking crisp on the Mega's display, and Web sites look fine, even better than OK since there's a lot of room to read full desktop and mobile Web pages alike. Yet hold the Mega next to a phone with a higher-resolution display (even another LCD like the HTC One or iPhone 5) and you'll see that the same streaming video has much more detail, richer color, and a lot less noise than on the Mega.
Moving on to exterior controls, the Mega has a physical home button sandwiched between capacitive controls for the menu and Back button. Menu and home buttons also control Google Now/Voice actions, recent apps, and S Voice.
Buttons and ports include standard microUSB charging and a headset jack, the power/lock button, a slim volume rocker, and an IR blaster for controlling the TV on the phone's four spines. You'll find the 8-megapixel camera lens on the back, coupled with an LED flash. Below the thin plastic backing is the phone's double decker SIM card/microSD card slot.
OS and features
Like its Galaxy brethren, the Mega runs on Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean with Samsung's newest custom Touch Wiz layer on top. With this you get Android's multiple home screens, and an expanded quick settings menu when you pull down the notifications tray (pro tip: pull down with two fingers to get directly to the toggles).
Samsung's customized interface also brings with it a raft of additional features integrated into the settings, like S Beam, Samsung's take on NFC sharing, and lots of tools to share data with other devices like your TV, laptop, and tablet.
You can while away some good time personalizing the lock screen and its short cuts, wallpaper, even LED indicator lights. There's a call-blocking mode that can turn off a range of notifications and ignore most contacts for certain stretches of time. You'll also find driving mode, air view (which previews photos, etc., when you hover your finger,) smart screen, voice controls, and a squadron of gestures.
The customizable browser bar contains shortcuts for sharing Web pages through social networks; it comes with the default browser, but can also add to others, say Chrome. I found that it often got in the way, even though you can swipe it closed.
In an effort to keep the Mega from being so unwieldy, certain controls for one-handed operation can shrink the keyboard, dialer, and calculator and shove them to one side to make the phone easier to operate with fewer digits, but people with smaller mitts will still find the Mega hard to handle even with these concessions -- I did, anyhow.
There's Wi-Fi on the Mega, plus Bluetooth, GPS, and essential personal tools like a calendar, a calculator, and all the rest, plus Google apps like Maps, search, and more. You also have unrestricted access to the entire Google Play library of apps and entertainment.
Carrier preloads are plentiful on the Mega; these will vary, but expect partner apps and account management tools. You will, however, see Samsung apps across the board like the Watch On app for controlling your TV, S Voice, S Memo, S Translator, some featured hubs, and Blurb's Story Album.
Cameras and video
The Mega's 8-megapixel camera has continuous autofocus, an LED flash, and Samsung's latest layout for more easily turning on features like voice dictation to take a snap ("Cheese!") and arrows in obvious places to switch camera modes and select filters. Deeper in the settings are resolution choices, white balance presets, the self-timer function, and all the rest.
You'll find fewer camera modes on the Mega than on the Galaxy S4 flagship, but my favorites are still there, including HDR, sport mode, panorama, and continuous shot. Conspicuously, there's no Macro mode in the list, but you can get fairly close as is. Generally, Samsung phones default to the highest-resolution photo available, but not so here. Instead, you'll get the wide angle 6-megapixel shots (16:9) versus the 4:3 aspect ratio for 8-megapixel snaps.
I was happiest with outdoor photos, which often looked vivid and rich, especially in sunlight. The phone won't capture every detail or shadow, but if you're mostly concerned with capturing the moment, the Mega's shooter should deliver. Indoor pictures, and some photos where I was looking for finer details, were less successful. Some images weren't as sharp as I wanted, and others lacked richness. For the price, though, the Mega's camera is a solid performer.
As for video, the phablet's 1080p HD clips (shot at a 30fps frame rate) were smooth, focused, and captured color well. The phone performs best in abundantly lit scenarios and much poorer in low light and darkened conditions. The same goes with the 1.9-megapixel front-facing camera -- this shooter lacks all the sharpness, richness, and detail, and tends to gray out faces, but it is sufficient for casual snaps and for video chats.
The Mega has 16GB internal storage, which you an expand up to 64GB in all with an after-market microSD card.
Call quality
I tested the Mega's call quality in San Francisco using AT&T's GSM network (850/900/1800/1900MHz bands) and U.S. Cellular's CDMA network (850/1900). Call quality was pretty good overall to land lines and cell phones, though clarity can and will vary from phone to phone and even at different points throughout the day.
On the whole, I noticed that voices sounded better with Samsung's default noise cancellation turned on. Volume was strong at half its levels on AT&T's line, but much weaker with US Cellular's roaming network. I didn't hear any background noise with AT&T, but did hear a low, persistent hum with US Cellular. My main test partner's voice sounded warm and natural with both phones, though the US Cellular version occasionally distorted. Without noise cancellation, my caller's voice came across gauzier, and I heard a few distortion spikes. On his end, he said I sounded fine and natural, and he only noticed a tinge of white noise in the background when he listened for it. Likewise, he could identify a tiny bit of clipping and distortion if he thought about it.
AT&T call quality sampleListen now:
US Cellular call quality sampleListen now:
The AT&T version's speakerphone also put in a strong performance on both sides of the call, but grew more echoey the louder I turned up the volume. My test partner didn't sound too hollow, and was very intelligible indoors. I could carry on a longer conversation this way. On his end, he said I sounded a little tinny and echoey, but not more so than you'd expect for speakerphone.
With US Cellular, speakerphone came across a little quiet on both ends of the line. I needed to turn mine up to max volume. Voices were a little tinny and hollow, and also slightly muffled.
Performance: LTE, speed, battery life
Data speed ultimately depends on your provider's network strength in your area. I just so happened to test the Mega using AT&T's San Francisco network, where the carrier has done a tremendous amount of work beefing up coverage. As a result, data speeds were fast, in both diagnostic and real world tests.
The diagnostic Speedtest.net app consistently measured speed in the double digits on AT&T, peaking at 40Mbps downlink and 18Mbps uplink. Speed lows were still in the high single digits, though dead spots do sometimes happen. In the real world, Web sites and data-heavy apps loaded very quickly, photos uploaded fast, and music and videos streamed without delay.