Samsung Galaxy Mega 6.3 Unboxing: 6.3-inch Phablet with LTE Connectivity

Are you prepared for 6.3 inches of awesomeness?

Unboxing the Samsung Galaxy Mega 6.3

The Samsung Galaxy Mega 6.3 dangerously hovers above the thin line between Phablets and Tablets. You just can’t ignore the massive size of the device when it has a 6.3-inch display. While we’ve always said that the Galaxy Note is a polarizing product line, this one just takes the cake. The only people who will buy this are probably those who find the 7-inch tablets with phone capabilities too big as their one device on-the-go. It’s definitely going to be a very niche market.

The 6.3-inch display though was a unique proposition that we found too intriguing to just shrug off. Because of our massively low EQs, we ended up getting a unit at the Samsung store in SM Megamall, hehe.

Before we get to the unboxing and initial impressions, let’s have a quick refresher on the specifications.

Galaxy Mega 6.3 Spec Sheet

1.7GHz Dual-core CPU
1.5GB RAM
16GB expandable via microSD up to 64GB
6.3-inch HD screen
8.0-megapixels rear-facing camera
1.9-megapixels front-facing camera
4G/LTE Connectivity
WiFi, WiFi Hotspot, Bluetooth, GPS/aGPS
Android 4.2 Jelly Bean
3,200mAh Battery

As you can see it only runs on a dual-core processor. However it does have other major features like LTE connectivity, 3200mAH battery, and the 16GB on-board storage expandable up to 64GB via microSD Card. This potentially can be the grandmaster of all portable media players!

Packaging: Samsung is loving the faux wood theme

We asked some help from our Minion friends for this unboxing :D — We asked some help from our Minion friends for this unboxing 😀

It looks like the faux wood style of boxes is the new standard packaging for Samsung. This actually started with the Samsung Galaxy S4 and then we saw it again with the Samsung Galaxy Note 8.0. Now we have it for the Samsung Galaxy Mega 6.3.

You can tell already from the moment you get the box that this is a huge device. In fact you might even think you’re getting a tablet instead of a phone. That’s okay though since this is really just 0.7-inches less than a full sized tablet so you can expect the box to be quite big, lol.

Unboxing was standard fare. We removed the plastic and then popped the lid open. We were immediately greeted by 6.3-inches of awesomeness.

The moment we saw the Mega 6.3 in the “flesh” we couldn’t help but let out a “whoa”. Even the sales ladies in the Samsung store started giggling and chuckling, one of them saying “Ang laki naman” (it’s so big). Anyway, we picked the unit up from the box and we were pleasantly surprised that it was still quite slim and light considering the massive size. Samsung definitely applied all the learnings they’ve had with the plastic construction and design of the Galaxy S4 and the Note 2 on the Mega 6.3.

That's a huge ass screen hahaha — That’s a huge ass screen hahaha

Moving on to the rest of the box… we found the usual set of accessories and peripherals in the bottom compartment. There was the earphones, extra silicone earphone tips, USB to micro USB cable, wall charger, and a bunch of manuals. The battery, which is rated at 3,200mAh, was ridiculously big, lol.

After unboxing we removed the back plate, popped in the 3,200mAh battery, and fired the device up.

Samsung Galaxy Mega 6.3 Initial Impressions

In terms of chassis and body design, the Samsung Galaxy Mega 6.3 takes after the Samsung Galaxy S4. In fact the over-all form factor and design looks exactly like the Galaxy S4 except much bigger. At the front we have the massive 6.3-inch display and below that the physical home button and two accompanying capacitive buttons. At the back we have the 8-megapixel shooter, the Samsung logo, and speakers. All the ports and buttons are on the sides, bottom, and top of the device.

Since the Mega has a 6.3-inch, we thought it would be great as a portable media player. As such we got a 64GB microSD card and stuffed it into the device, lol. The slot, including the one for the micro SIM and the battery, was at the back of the Mega 6.3. The giant battery though takes up most of the space in the back.

That's a lot of storage — That’s a lot of storage

We turned on the Galaxy Mega 6.3 and we were initially greeted by a little lag which had us worried. Fortunately things became much smoother as we started installing more apps and optimizing the settings of the Mega 6.3. We put in Nova Prime Launcher, activated a cool Nova theme, fired up our favorite Live Wallpaper, Paperland, and started playing around with it. After a few minutes of tinkering with the Mega 6.3 we noticed that the H+ signal changed to 4G. LTE connectivity FTW babeh! That said, we can confirm 100% that the Samsung Galaxy Mega 6.3 is compatible with Smart’s LTE network. Woot.

Loving the theme we got for Nova Launcher Prime.

We’ve been using the Mega 6.3 for the last two days now and we’ve noticed that the weakness of the dual-core processor only shows when you’re doing a lot of multi-tasking and when you’re trying to search or add contacts (we have over 3,000 though but we never had any lag with the HTC One or the GS4 with the same number of contacts). Other than that we did encounter any more issues. Basic apps and functions loaded fast and were quite fluid and smooth.

Initial Verdict: Massive Size, Massive Potential

So far we don’t have anything overly bad to say about the Galaxy Mega 6.3. We’re going to put this through the paces in the next few days to see if it does well as a daily driver (hopefully can be the one mobile device we carry so no more tablet). Based on our initial time with it though we can definitely say that it has huge potential, especially since it can connect to LTE and has respectably long battery life (plus the gorgeous 6.3-inch display is awesome for displaying content).

The Samsung Galaxy Mega 6.3 SRP is Php23,990. Be warned though that not all Samsung stores follow this pricing. In fact the one in SM Megamall sells it for over Php25,000. Kinda annoying if you ask me but that’s life, hehe.

Watch out for our full review soon!