Samsung launches Galaxy Mega 5.8 and Mega 6.3 for Rs 25,100 and Rs 31,490, respectively

After promising the same last month, Samsung has gone ahead and launched Galaxy Mega 5.8 and Mega 6.3, the latest smartphone/phablet from the company, in the Indian market. Like their name states, the monster screened phablets come with 5.8- and 6.3-inch screens, and will be available for Rs 25,100 and Rs 31,490 respectively. Both the devices will be made available for purchase starting next month. Also, while Samsung has launched the dual-SIM version of Galaxy Mega 5.8 in the country, Mega 6.3 will only be available as a single-SIM device.

Bundled offers

Samsung has also partnered with telecom operators Reliance Communications and Vodafone and will provide data offers to customers who will purchase the Mega devices on these networks. Customers opting for RCOM will be offered 2GB of free data per month for three months, in addition to unlimited access to Bigflix (a video-on-demand service from Reliance), instant messaging app WhatsApp, as well as social networking and micro-blogging sites Facebook and Twitter. In contrast, Vodafone subscribers will be provided with free 2GB of data per month for two months.

According to the company, the Galaxy Mega series will offer its users a mix of popular smartphone and tablet features including split screens and multitasking between video and other apps. Here is a quick look at the specifications of the devices.

Galaxy Mega 6.3 for Rs 31,490

The device sports a 6.3 HD TFT touchscreen display (720×1280 pixel resolution) and runs on the Android 4.2 (Jelly Bean) operating system with Samsung's TouchWiz user interface. It is powered by a 1.7 GHz dual-core processor and has 1.5 GB of RAM. Users can choose from 8 and 16 GB of internal memory, which can be further expanded up to 64 GB with a microSD card.

The smartphone has an 8 mega pixel rear camera with LED Flash that can record full high definition videos (1080p) at 30 frames per second and a 1.9MP front-facing camera for video calling. On the connectivity front, the device has Bluetooth 4.0, Wi-Fi (with Wi-Fi Direct), 3G and 4G LTE, as well as a microSD card slot. The device has a 3,200 mAh battery and comes with GPS (with A-GPS support). Mega 6.3 measures 167.6mm x 88mm x 8mm and weighs 199 grams.

Galaxy Mega 5.8 for Rs 25,100

This one has a 5.8-inch QHD TFT touchscreen display (540×960 pixel resolution) and runs on the latest Android 4.2 (Jelly Bean) OS with Samsung's TouchWiz UI. It is powered by a 1.4 GHz dual-core processor (compared with Mega 6.3's 1.7 GHz processor) and has 1.5 GB of RAM. Unlike Mega 6.3, this one will only be available with 8 GB of internal memory, although it can be expanded an up to 64 GB with a microSD card.

Mega 5.8 also has an 8 MP rear camera with LED Flash that can record full HD videos (1080p) at 30 frames per second and a 1.9 MP front-facing camera for video calling. On the connectivity front, the device has Bluetooth 4.0, Wi-Fi (with Wi-Fi Direct) and 3G, as well as a microSD card slot. The device has a 2,600 mAh battery and comes with GPS (with A-GPS support). The device measures 162.6mm x 82.4mm x 9mm and weighs 182 grams. Read here for detailed specifications of the devices.

However, we feel that the devices are definitely over-priced. Why dish out over Rs 25,000 for these phablets when you can get your hands on the Google Nexus 7 (which is a very decent 7-inch tablet) for just Rs 15,999 or Galaxy S4 by spending a few more thousands of rupees. Some would argue that you cannot make calls from Nexus and it can't function as a smartphone; but let's ask this: Who wants to stick over a 6-inch device on his/her ear? We wouldn't want to, for sure.