Confirming previous rumors, Samsung has announced its largest smartphones to date, the Galaxy Mega 5.8 and 6.3. With the latter spanning nearly an inch larger than the company's 5.5-inch Galaxy Note 2, the oversized touch devices straddle the line between being smartphones and tablets – phablets if you can stomach the term.
Despite their grandiose stature, both are outfitted with midrange hardware that seems to be a notch below the higher-end Galaxy S and Note products. The 5.8-incher is powered by a 1.4GHz dual-core processor and a 960x540 display, while the 6.8-inch model boosts that to 1.7GHz and an "HD" display – presumably 720p.
The smaller Galaxy Mega also comes with less storage options, offering only 8GB of internal flash memory, whereas the larger version will be sold with 8GB or 16GB. The only remaining detail separating the devices appears to be their mobile network options: the Mega 5.8 is HSPA-only while the 6.3 supports LTE and HSPA.
Shared specifications include 1.5GB of RAM, an 8-megapixel rear camera, a microSD slot that supports up to 64GB cards, IR blasters for controlling televisions and the latest build of Android 4.2 Jelly Bean. It should also come as no surprise that both will have many (all?) of the new software features unveiled with the Galaxy S4.
Pricing is unknown and availability is still a little hazy. Given their hardware, it seems reasonable to expect the Galaxy Mega devices to cost less than Samsung's Galaxy S4 and Note 2, and the company has so far announced that the jumbo-sized handsets will launch sometime next month in Europe with other regions to follow.