Samsung Mega 6.3: Enter the PHONDLESLAB Some made-up words deserve a place in the popular lexicon. I’m thinking about “friscalating” or “omnishambles”. Others, like the wholly wretched term “phablet”, most certainly do not. So from now on I’ll be calling smartphones with screens between 5 and 7 inches VLPs, or Very Large Phones. Anyone using the word phablet in my …
Devices this size held up to the ear remind me of the old 'Brick' phones from around 20+ years ago.
Are they really anything more than a shout 'Hey look at me, I've got a BIG Phone. Ain't I great...'
Any inverse correlation to the size of their dangly bits is purely deliberate.
I am sure that those with devices this size will disagree and down-vote me accordingly but everyone is entitled to their opinion aren't we?
There are more clothes than just underpants you know. And surely only an idiot would put a phone in their trouser pockets -unless a) they want to sit on it and break it, or b) be unable to lift their leg due to the same.
Unless of course they wear cargo pants with the big pocket on the side which could contain a laptop.
Personally, if a device like this functions well as a phone and a tablet I would have it in a shoulder holster. Otherwise I'd like a bigger tablet/phone in a holster and a bluetooth headset.
I'm nearing 60 and certainly don't need to look like a pratt when using my phone. My eyes (with glasses) are perfectly good enough to use a 'standard/normal' size phone (viz, under 4 inches).
As has been said where are we going to put this device? Don't say that we have to carry in our hands all the time because no pockets are big enough...
Tablets are different. They can be put away and used when WE want. A phone needs to be accessible.
God knows how we all managed before monsters like this. This device fails not only on the size but the fact they didn't 1) put an IPS screen in it 2) have something with 'retina' like resolution.
I also find using an IPS screen is much easier on the eyes than TFT ones.
All very well if you wear a suit jacket all the time. I'm not sure I can remember ever wearing one except at an interview, wedding or funeral (all of which are good occasions to leave the phone in the car). A coat pocket is no good either, I tend not to wear a coat inside or in warm weather/ If a phone doesn't fit in a (front) trouser pocket its insuficiently portable to carry unless you're a woman with a handbag.
"Tablets... can be put away and used when WE want. A phone needs to be accessible."
You think these are mutually exclusive categories?
I hail from a time when the person chooses when to use the 'phone, not the 'phone choosing when to be used. Legend has it there are still an enlightened few who have retained that ability.
@Condiment
Hear hear! When my vision went, it went FAST too... Didn't even make it to 45, *sigh*. My SGSII was suddenly not working for me at all at any distance, along with a host of other problems. I ended up getting a LG Optimus G Pro for precisely that reason. The 5.5" 1080Pscreen was a nice big, and sharp godsend, and it still fits in my back pocket or shirt pocket just fine. Still no reading glasses, yet. :)
@ FredBloggsY
"Vanity of vanities; all is vanity."
Uhh, no. I've had glasses almost all my life, so why would I care now about bifocals or reading glasses? You tried screwing around with bifocals and reading glasses? In between my parents, much older siblings, and my wife, I've seen how much fun that is. They are a pain in the kiester and most inconvenient to deal with. The longer you can stave that part off, the better. Here's a beer, it may not improve vision, but at least you won't care as much. :)
And caring about how it looks when you hold a phone to your ear isn't vain?
I would have no problems holding a big phone or even a tablet against my ear. I would only have problems to carry a huge and heavy phone in my pocket every day, everywhere. So I prefer a nice handy phone in my pocket and a tablet that I can take or leave as I see fit.
Those cars are pointless in almost every way other than the Meridian Hi-Fi that you can get in some of them.
The engineering behind the way it works is similar to how they drown out the noise in the IMAX in Waterloo.
It is not worth it for me but it sounds divine. (I know someone with the 9000W variant of it).
I prefer travelling in it to what it replaced (Some type of Lutus).
He is a contractor with the make loads of money and then blow it all mentality.
@nigel 15
Well said.
Bigger phones have their uses. Those of us with eyesight issues for instance, or even folks who rarely if ever use the phone as a phone, but use it as a tablet all the time, or folks that want multiple day battery life. Figure out what the requirements are, and fill the requirement. If its smaller, its smaller, if its bigger its bigger, but at least there is choice and variety in the marketplace.
If you're going to criticise the size of such a device, at least go back to 2010 and criticise the 10" ipad. (And no, being a "phone" makes no difference - smartphones and "tablets" are the same kind of thing. At 6", this is middle-size in a range that goes from 4" to 10" or beyond.)
Well, I have a Galaxy Note 1 which I have made *even bigger* with an Otterbox case which fits to a lovely belt-holster. If I'm going to be in a situation where that might be difficult (wearing a suit with no belt loops or loops only for a narrow belt), it comes out of the case and then it fits in a shirt or jacket pocket. The only time it becomes a bit difficult to carry is when I'm out running, but I simply wear a money-belt for that. I hope your head* hasn't exploded at the sheer un-coolness of all that - no that's a lie; I sort of hope it has.
Please guys and gals, remember that different people have different requirements. For me, it is to have a phone that fits comfortably in my big hands (especially now it seems I'm getting arthritis in some of my knuckles), that I can comfortably read e-books on, and which has a pen. I have never been [what I regard as] silly enough to text or dial one-handed - a recipe for dropping a phone if ever there was one - and I always carried even chocolate-bar phones in a holster on my belt because it seems the most sensible place to keep a phone. Substance over style should be the keyword here, not what the idiot marketers make you think.
Oh, and the Mega 6.3 - if it had a pen, I'd be seriously considering it.
* and all the other fashion-police commentators on here.
"Then it would only need half the memory / CPU power for similar performance...."[citation needed]
...have a crap app store (including the crap substandard Youtube app), no way of sideloading, no way of getting rid of the shit UI overlay, be more expensive to pay for that lovely license, get dumped the moment the next Windows Phone comes out, be unable to do something as simple as lock screen rotation...
Well I may be on of the few people possibly interested. Have stopped carrying a tablet daily when commuting but my S3 isn't quite big enough for enjoyable video playback.
Once we get full specs and pricing for the note 3 I'll likely be getting one of the Samsung phablets just haven't decided which yet.
Here's a Nexus 4 with them, which is a 'normal' sized phone these days.
http://www.phonearena.com/phones/size/Samsung-GALAXY-Note-II-T-Mobile,Samsung-Galaxy-Mega-5.8,Samsung-Galaxy-Mega-6.3/phones/7502,7804,7805#/phones/size/Samsung-GALAXY-Note-II-T-Mobile,Samsung-Galaxy-Mega-5.8,Samsung-Galaxy-Mega-6.3,Google-Nexus-4/phones/7502,7804,7805,7531
Blimey!
I'm liking the larger phones for showing off photos and videos etc, but really I need some kind of killer app for them, so keeping tabs on the Note range as I think a stylus for note taking would be handy.
Shame the note range is so bloody pricey....
Steven R
To all those commenters who seem to dismiss a large phone out of vanity reasons (i.e. not wanting to "look like a knob" with a big phone held to their ear),
Have you tried a Note2 size phone for a day or two? Presumably you accept that watching movies or replying to emails is more productive on a small tablet than it is an GS3 sized phone? Shock horror- these things are also nicer on a 5.5-6 in screen than they are a 4.8-5.0 screen, and for millions of people this justifies a slight size increase.
Ive watched a youtube clip on how to remove the stator and rotor from my LG washing machine on my galaxy s2. I could have done with having a larger screen TBH. Ive also watched many clips to show me walkthroughs on various things that have been invaluable on site with customers.
OK I could have chosen my words better, but still- seminars? video tutorials? plenty of usage cases related to work/study and leisure which all benefit from having "the biggest screen which isn't a pain in the ass", a definition which varies from person to person,
"You can argue it all you like, but somewhere it has to stop. Or we'll be walking around with 10" phones soon."
If *some* people want to buy them, why is that a problem to you? It isn't as if phones at the small end of the market are vanishing, so you buy what you want, and let others choose according to their own needs.
But the resolution is too low for my liking. I love my Note 2 but resolution and slow GPU lets it down :(
Why do I need the resolution? I often log into remote desktops on my phone - an increased resolution and screen size would make life much easier. In normal phone use, the resolution of the Note 2 is just fine!
In desperation whilst away I once vpn'd in from a galaxy s2. It wasnt pretty but it worked! Sure you can hotspot a tablet too if you like but a one-stop-shop might suit other people. Same can be said for carting manuals around with you, again you could have a phone and tablet. Horses for courses, better to have a choice IMHO
Looks pretty good to me, for my uses anyway.
I do use Twitter, browse websites like the register/various news sites, Instagram, some online video clips, listen to music, google maps, browse ebay.
I don't make lots of phone calls, do much gaming, or watch full movies, iplayer, or need the latest quad core mega HD battery devouring tech, I would rather have a good size easy to read screen with a decent battery life.
I don't want to carry a tablet with me and need a seperate phone, so this pretty much meets my needs without actually costing £500+ for the latest flagship that eats batteries and in the case of some of them, can't have the battery swapped when it does run low.
No question it won't suit everyone but it's definitely one I will be considering.
Hardly, I have more android gear, the only Apple product I have is an iPhone 4S. I also have a San Francisco, a Galaxy S4, an Asus Transformer TF101 and a Nexus 7 so sorry, but fail on the iProduct fan. Anyway like I said, fragmentation is the biggest problem, which I personally experienced because I have several android devices. Phone apps end up looking like shit on tablets, and some apps work with one device and not another.
Some apps (that require a multicore CPU and 1GB RAM) won't run on some phones (that have a single core ARM11 and 256MB). Phone apps generally look the same on tablets but bigger. Whether that's "shit" is really in the eye of the beholder. There's usually a tablet version of the app if you want the buttons scaling down in size.
Funnily enough, there's plenty of iOS apps that won't support iOS5 or earlier.
I've had this phone for a month and its a cracker. You quickly get used to the size and I wouldn't want to go back to anything smaller. It fits into the pocket of every pair of pants I have, I don't have to squint at a tiny screen and my fat fingers hit the right key more often than not now. And I don't give a f*** about how I look making a call.
But if its too big for you there's plenty of smaller phones on the market. Choice is a good thing.
> But if its too big for you there's plenty of smaller phones on the market
Trouble is, app developers tend to test on bigger Android phones, so their wares aren't always the easiest to use on smaller screens. I currently have a 4" Android phone and whilst I like the form-factor, it is for apps that my next phone may well boast a larger screen.
Similarly, there are many console games that contain text unreadable on 'standard definition' CRT screens, again because the game developers are use high-definition screens (okay, I suspect that these days most game consoles are connected to HD TVs or monitors).
...do people feel the need to be either ecstatic or excoriating?
I think it looks like a nice bit of kit which will suit some people admirably, and others less so.
I have an iPhone5 and I'm very happy with it - but I wouldn't (metaphorically) ram it down someone else's throat: everyone has the right to choose whatever suits them, and by whatever criteria they consider important. That's their right:- it's their money & their choice.
So, could we please cool it on the "If it's different to mine it's crap" juvenile comments?
I use a Note now. The simple reason why is my eyesight has deteriorated markedly. it was never great to start off with, but now I have keratoconus, myopia, astigmatism and presbyopia. I loved the sharp screen on my old HTC Desire (though it had a crap allocation of space for apps) but it got to the stage that I couldn't read it
So yeah. I'd looked at this in the shops, and as a device that's a phone and hovering near the 7" tablets I could see others, with better eyesight, liking it. To be honest, I use email, text and browsing with my phone far more often that I use it for calls. I can't be the only one that does that
Seems to me that what's needed is a two-part system. A largish tablet, for internet access. A small and very light weight "phone" for one's shirt pocket. Link the two parts by bluetooth.
Even better if they standardise the interconnection protocols, so any tablet can support any bluetooth phone. (I'm dreaming).
Many guys around here seems extremely worried about what people may think about them, and profer all sorts of counsel about what is proper or not. Wearing a jacket is a nono, a large phone is a nono, Range Rovers are a nono... Was there any conclusion about 6-inch dangly bits?
Well, I do have a Note 2, and you can put it just fine in the front pocket of chinos or jeans that are not tight. The very prejudiced around here probably have somerhing freudian against wearing tight pants, so I think the Note 2 would suit their wardrobe just fine. Now, the part about being seen talking into them might be tougher to handle...
Shirt pockets are bad, unless for some other freudian misbalance you want to see your 6-inch thing sink in the toilet.
I have a 7-inch tablet that I used in combination with an iPhone 4, but the poor thing is not getting much use now. The Note 2 has usurped her place in my petty little heart. By the way, it has a 1280x720 pixel screen, which I always found very pleasurably clear. The same resolution in a smaller screen can only look better. Not "Retina" level, but who should give a fuck about Apple marketing when it looks so damn good.
Give me a normal sized phone with 2-3 days battery life like the Mega and I will buy it. For me this phone is too large but damn I wish my S2/3/4s would go for at least a couple of days of usage (I do mean full usage, never seen the point of a smartphone with all the good bits switched off)
Personally, I want a large phone because I use the internet on it almost constantly, and for me it's much more a portable media device that can also send texts and calls, as opposed to the other way around.
Having said that, I seem to be this 1% that Microsoft seem to be targetting with their full function tablets. I have no idea why the idea isn't taking off, because why would I just want to carry around a large gimped phone that can't do anything I want it to do?
Also, the Nexus 7 fits snugly into a suit trouser pocket. It's just a stupid place to put it because it will snap in two at the slightest provocation. I got it for chritmas and was excited before I sat down with it and realized I couldn't actually do anything on it bar browse the internet, and even then only when there was a wireless available. So I promptly went back to using my phone and computer and only crack out the Nexus 7 when I am going to take a truly cracking shit.
I worked in mobile tech in my company for a while I spent some serious time thinking about the pros and cons before buying a Note 2 - Its the absolute business and lives in the trouser pocket - usually wear a pair of Joseph Turner Chinos and despite getting in and out of the car it has never fallen out its really well designed and doesn't feel at all large or cumbersome also when some Apple sheep gets their iPhone out you can get your VLP out and say " thats not a phone , this is a phone mate !!!!! "
This looks like a really bad case of "Look at me" its a bit sad, I was in a well know supermarket waiting in a long que, and got my iPhone out and was watching an episode of "Mongrels" just then someone in the next row fished out what I could only call a white monster and began to do something on his, it was all i could do to stop laughing, god knows what happens when he puts it to his head to take a call. I understand the Galaxy S as it was everything the IPhone was not, however it did have some issues with stability. Since then, phones have gotten bigger and bigger. I hate to say but Apple has the size right with its version 5, but alas watch this space. Remember its a small computer which can make phone calls. I could get my old Filofax back out again.
I'll be honest, the fact you were watching a video in the supermarket queue makes you both saddos, but I'll let you off for watching Mongrels, which is a simply wonderful piece of broadcasting which the BBC should never have killed off.
Zai Bennet is an idiot - which incidentally, is the third result under google instant...I hope he googles himself every night, and cries himself to sleep, the numpty.
There is nothing here to suggest that you must use it as a *phone*. I use my Note 2 as a Multi-Media device and for general surfing - for which the phone connection is great when you're out and about ( I use a cheap data tariff). Therefore, consider this also as a small tablet which is good deal more portable than, say, a 10-inch tablet yet gives a similar viewing experience. I simply hold it closer to me than I would a larger tablet to get the same field of view. Having played with one in CPW I was mightily impressed with the screen quality and it was hard to make the dots out. I can kind of see Samsung's point of the machine!
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