Holding the device to your head is also a bit of a chore when you consider it’s quite a weight and generally awkward to hold in one hand. As with most Samsung devices, the Galaxy Mega is encased with a rigid plastic, with a metallic looking silver rim.
Despite its size, the device does feel well made and there’s no notable flex. Unlike the majority of the group, the Mega’s backplate is removable, with access to a micro SD slot laying within. All the usual selection of ports are included around the edge of the port, but with a device of its size, we would have liked to have seen the inclusion of a micro HDMI port for streaming.
The Galaxy Mega runs Android 4.2.2 out of the box, although its many features are overshadowed by the slightly overbearing TouchWiz custom skin. Compared to previous iterations, this version of TouchWiz is arguably the best, but it still lacks the usability of stock Android. For a device of its size, you really need a powerful processor to keep it going with the tasks you throw at it, but unfortunately the 1.7GHz dual-core offering here could do with a boost. Lag is noticeable when multitasking, but copes with demanding apps well. Thanks to the giant screen, reading and enjoying media is great, but the 233ppi leaves icons and colours looking less than impressive.
Once you get past the sheer size of the Samsung Galaxy Mega, there’s a solid enough device underneath. As with any Samsung device, you get a great feature list, but the inclusion of an average processor for a device of this size is a big mistake. We applaud Samsung for trying something different with the Mega, but only a small niche market of users are going to want to lap this giant up.
