Samsung Galaxy Mega 5.8 Review

Introduction:

The Samsung Galaxy Mega 5.8 is a member of a rare breed. While it has the specs of a mid-range device, its appearance might make an unassuming buyer think that it's one beast of a phone. That's because its front is occupied by a massive, 5.8-inch touchscreen, which happens to be the smartphone's stand-out feature. However, the panel's resolution is rather low, and the rest of the phone's hardware doesn't look impressive either. Is a trade-off like this worth it? Well, it is time to find out if the Samsung Galaxy Mega 5.8 will manage to impress us.

Note that our review is based on the Samsung Galaxy Mega 5.8 Duos. This is the dual-SIM variant of the smartphone, which is identical to the single-SIM version in terms of design and hardware specs.

In the box:

• Wired stereo headset (model EHS64AVFWE)
• microUSB cable
• Wall charger (Power output of 2A)

Design:

To say that the Samsung Galaxy Mega 5.8 is big would be an understatement. Instead, adjectives like gigantic, enormous, and colossal would be a lot more fitting. Even the 5-inch high-ends that are so popular today seem average-sized when placed next to this device, which is only dwarfed by the even bigger, 6.3-inch Galaxy Mega model. As anyone would expect, using the Samsung Galaxy Mega 5.8 with a single hand is pretty much out of the question, unless you play for the NBA, and it barely fits in even the largest of pockets. But hey, being huge is the smartphone's main selling point – with this device, Samsung is catering to the needs of people who want to know what it is to have a large-screened phone without spending an astronomical price on one. Not that the Mega 5.8 will be cheap, but it will be cheaper than its high-end 5-inch siblings.


Anyway, here are a few more things you should know about the phone's design. The Samsung Galaxy Mega 5.8 looks a lot like a bigger Galaxy S4 – with corners curved in the same manner and glossy plastic housing that has an identical diamond-like pattern covering its surface. However, it doesn't quite give us that premium feel we get from holding the company's flagship. Maybe it's because the plastic back cover flexes inwards when given a slight push, or perhaps the not so thin bezel surrounding the screen is to blame. Either way, the Samsung Galaxy Mega 5.8 feels okay in the hand, but its design is nothing out of this world.


True to its traditions, Samsung has applied the usual button layout to the Galaxy Mega 5.8, with a physical home key underneath the screen, while the menu and back keys are on the left and right side respectively. The power button is on the right while the volume rocker is on the left side of the device. However, pressing any of these keys is anything but comfortable. Even something as simple as bringing forth the home screen requires too much effort, and by effort we mean resorting to your other hand to do all the pressing. On top of that, the volume rocker is shallow and with little travel.


Display:

We know what you're thinking – a resolution of 540 by 960 pixels looks pretty terrible on a 5.8-inch screen. Well, that's true for the most part and anyone who has ever tried a smartphone with a high-res screen before will be underwhelmed by the 190ppi pixel density of the Mega's display. The screen is usable, of course. Eventually, our eyes got used to all the pixelation so it wasn't as bothering as it was at first. Yet still, fine text can be difficult to read while details in graphics are mediocre.

While the LCD screen on the Samsung Galaxy Mega 5.8 exhibits accurate and punchy colors, the response time appears to be rather low. As a result, there is a slight motion blur going on when there are fast-moving objects being rendered. That isn't too annoying, but it's a flaw nonetheless.

When it is at full brightness, the screen is usable outdoors. It isn't flawless, of course, but you'll be able to at least see who is calling and read text as long as it is displayed on a contrasting background. The viewing angles are okay – not too wide, but not bad either.



Interface:

Well, what do you know! We have Samsung's TouchWiz Nature UX loaded on the Galaxy Mega 5.8. The custom interface is running on top of Android 4.2.2, which is the most up-to-date version of the platform. There's a whole bunch of minor, yet useful tweaks sprinkled all over the UI, but the major modifications are the ones a user would truly appreciate.

Among these additional features is Smart Stay, which prevents the screen from turning itself off if the user is still looking at it. Blocking mode is another handy addition. When enabled, it blocks specific notifications, including those for incoming calls and text messages, at certain times of the day – at night, or when the user is at work, for example. Both of these features are very useful and the latter is easy to set up.

But the list of UI alterations does not end here. The Multi Window mode lets you have two different apps opened and displayed simultaneously. A feature like this can come in handy on a smartphone with such a large screen, but it does take a toll on the device's performance with some apps, so it is up to the user to decide whether they will be using the feature often or not.


To make the Samsung Galaxy Mega 5.8 at least somewhat less difficult to operate with a single hand, its maker has added the option to have the keypad and on-screen keyboard positioned on the left or right side of the screen. But even with these enabled, single-handed use of the device is still extremely uncomfortable. On the other hand, typing on the virtual keyboard with both hands is convenient as the keys are well spaced apart from each other.



Dual SIM functionality

As the name implies, the Samsung Galaxy Mega 5.8 Duos can work with two SIM cards simultaneously. One of them is set as the main SIM card – that's the one that will be used when you place a call. The user can quickly switch over to the other SIM cards with the tap of a button in the notification panel. However, it is worth pointing out that both microSIM cards work in an “always on” manner, meaning that even when one of them is in use during a phone call, the other is still active and will register an incoming call – something that not all dual-SIM phones can do. The user has the option to set mobile data traffic to be handled by only one of the two cards, while the other may be dedicated to receiving and placing phone calls. That way, one can still have a data connection even during a phone call, which may come in handy in some rare instances.



Processor and memory:

As we mentioned earlier, the Samsung Galaxy Mega 5.8 has a hardware configuration fitting it in the mid-range device category. The SoC running the whole show is made by Broadcom and sports a dual-core processor clocked at 1.4GHz, a VideoCore IV GPU, and it is paired with not one, not two, but... 1.5GB of RAM. The interface of the device is fluid and responsive most of the time, but slowdowns and dropped frames are way too common. Returning back to the home screen from an opened app often forces widgets to reload, which results in further lagging. Overall, the smartphone's performance won't make you want to throw it against the wall, but we were expecting more in terms of responsiveness. As for its gaming capabilities, casual titles work perfectly. Those more demanding games with 3D graphics and all that eye candy are also playable, but they can be choppy at times.

	Quadrant Standard	AnTuTu	GLBenchmark 2.5 (Egypt HD)	Vellamo (HTML5 / Metal)
Samsung Galaxy Mega 5.8	3856	7999	2026	FAIL / 386
Samsung Galaxy S II Plus	3833	8228	2142	1558 / 425
Sony Xperia SP	7866	16413	4970 / 44 fps	2013 / 755
LG Optimus L7 II	2823	6674

Camera:

Samsung has always been a good performer in the camera department, and the Galaxy Mega 5.8 is no exception. The smartphone has an 8MP auto-focus camera with a built-in LED light. But before we tell you about the quality of its photos, let us take a look at the camera interface first.

The UI is clean and simple, which makes it pretty straightforward to use, but we wouldn't really call it rich in terms of features. There are built-in filters and shooting modes, including Burst Shot, Panorama, Beauty face, but no HDR and none of the fancy modes we saw on the Galaxy S4. A mode for shooting at night is also absent for some reason, which is odd.


Daytime photos taken with the Samsung Galaxy Mega 5.8 are sharp and detailed, with colors that are pleasant to the eye, but not overly saturated. We did notice, however, that the snapper has a hard time capturing accurately bright shades of red, but overall, the camera's performance is above the average. Videos captured in daylight at 1080p resolution look very detailed as well and run smoothly at 30 frames per second. Naturally, indoor photos and videos are less detailed and have more noise, but as a whole, we're very content with their quality as well.



Samsung Galaxy Mega 5.8 Sample Video:



Samsung Galaxy Mega 5.8 Indoor Sample Video:



Multimedia:

The stock music player that has been provided with the Samsung Galaxy Mega 5.8 gets the job done and you probably won't have to search for a substitute. It comes with a home screen widget, controls on the lock screen, and built-in equalizer and audio effects. The mono loudspeaker positioned on the back of the device is of average quality and loudness, but at least it does not crackle at high volume levels.


Watching videos on the Samsung Galaxy Mega 5.8 and its large display is a pleasant experience. Sure, the resolution is far from worthy being called HD, but the bigger screen does make a difference. . S The stock video player can handle 1080p videos in many file formats, but DivX is not one of them. As other Samsung smartphones, the Mega 5.8 supports Popup Play, which lets one watch video in a window hovering above the UI – a feature that actually makes sense having on a large-screened smartphone. Subtitle files are also supported by the stock video player application.



Call quality:

The earpiece on the Samsung Galaxy Mega 5.8 sounds slightly muffled during phone calls, but it is loud enough for us to understand the other party without much effort. The microphone captures clear and distinct audio, and even though there is no secondary microphone for noise cancellation present on the device, our voice is still recognizable on the other side of the line even in noisy environments.

Battery life:

Samsung has yet to disclose any specific figures as to how long the Galaxy Mega 5.8's battery lasts on a single charge. But based on our experience with the device, its 2600mAh removable battery should last through at least one day of regular usage. The screen is what draws most of the battery's juice, so keeping its brightness low would extend the time between charges.

Conclusion:

No, the Samsung Galaxy Mega 5.8 isn't ridiculous despite its gargantuan proportions. It is simply not a smartphone for the mainstream market. Rather, it is meant to be used by a very specific demographic – those few who want their smartphone to have a large display above all. Without a doubt, having such a huge screen makes gaming a lot more comfortable and it is great for watching video or photos. Overall, the Samsung Galaxy Mega 5.8 is meant to be used as a multimedia device first and as a (dual-SIM) phone second.

However, bigger isn't always better. Owning the Samsung Galaxy Mega 5.8 does come with a number of trade-offs, one of them being that it is simply uncomfortable to carry around for obvious reasons. We are also a bit disappointed by the occasional performance issues, and the low resolution of the screen is another thing that we have a hard time getting over. If a large screen is what you need and if you don't demand on having dual-SIM functionality, it would be worth going for the Samsung Galaxy Note II, which might be more expensive, but will provide you with a much better user experience overall.

Software version of the reviewed unit:
Android 4.2.2
Build number: JDQ39.I9152XXUAMD8

Samsung Galaxy Mega 5.8 Video Review: