Samsung announces the Galaxy Mega, a 6.3″ or 5.8″ monster Android smartphone launching in May

Samsung has unveiled today what is undoubtedly its largest Android smartphone to date, the Galaxy Mega.

The new device will be sold as two different versions; one with a 6.3-inch touchscreen and another with a smaller 5.8-inch display. The former simply dwarfs the 5.5-inch Galaxy Note II, which is currently one of Samsung’s most popular high-end devices alongside the Galaxy SIII.

The 6.3-inch Galaxy Mega is powered by a 1.7GHz dual-core processor – no word yet on the chipset manufacturer – and houses 1.5GB of RAM. It also runs Android version 4.2 (Jelly Bean), albeit with Samsung’s usual TouchWiz skin slapped on top.

Both the 5.8-inch and 6.3-inch variant comes with an 8-megapixel rear-facing camera, which is fast becoming the industry standard, and a more modest 1.9-megapixel shooter on the front for video calls.

The 6.3-inch Galaxy Mega will be available as either an 8GB or 16GB variant, although power users will be pleased to know that there’s a microSD slot for up to 64GB of additional memory. Plenty of space for storing apps, music and movies, in other words.

The device is also LTE-enabled and comes with the usual array of Samsung apps and exclusive software, such as Samsung Link, S Travel and S Translator.

Some of the hardware specs on the 5.8-inch version are a fraction lower than its bigger brother, but the knock on performance shouldn’t be too noticeable. The dual-core processor is locked at 1.4GHz this time around and it’s only available with 8GB of internal memory. The battery has been trimmed from a 3,200 mAh battery to a 2,600 mAh version, but the handset itself should feel a little lighter (182g, rather than 199g) as a result.

Pricing and availability

There’s no word yet on pricing, but Samsung says both devices will be available from May, launching in Europe and Russia before a wider international rollout.

“We are aware of a great potential in the bigger screen for extensive viewing multimedia, web browsing, and more,” said JK Shin, CEO and Head of IT & Mobile Business, Samsung Electronics. “We are excited to provide another choice to meet our consumers’ varying lifestyles, all while maintaining the high-quality features of the award-winning GALAXY series.”

Is this the passing of the torch for the Galaxy Note II? Perhaps not, given the strength of the Note branding and also the absence of the stylus found on the Note II and new Note 8.0 tablet.