Mega phablet joins Samsung's Galaxy line

Handset variants to have displays of 5.8 inch & 6.3 inch

Widening its portfolio of smartphones, Korean electronic major Samsung today announced a new addition to the Galaxy line - the Samsung Galaxy Mega.

To be available in two variants, the Mega comes with a display of 5.8 inch and 6.3 inch.

Based on the display size, the phablet variants are called the Galaxy Mega 5.8 and the Galaxy Mega 6.3. The phones are priced at ~25,100 and ~31,490, respectively.

The Mega 6.3 is powered by a 1.7 Ghz dual core processor with 1.5 GB of RAM and runs Android Jelly Bean 4.2. It has an 8 mega-pixel rear camera and a 1.9 megapixel front camera and comes with 16 GB of memory on board, which can be expanded via microSD cards, supported up to 64 GB.

The Mega 5.8 sports nearly identical specifications. But it is powered by a 1.4 Ghz processor and has 8 GB of memory on board.

The Mega 6.3 weighs in at 199 g while the 5.8 is lighter of the two at 182 g. The Mega 6.3 also supports near field communication (NFC), which its younger sibling lacks. The Mega 5.8 is a dual SIM device, and so sports Samsung's Duos logo near the earpiece. The Mega also features Samsung's specialised software such as S Translator and Group Play.

While the Mega 5.8 would be in stores next week onwards, the Mega 6.3 will hit the market in mid-June.

At the launch, Vineet Taneja, country head of Samsung Mobile and Digital Imaging business, was asked whether there would be cannibalisation of its other phablet offering - the Samsung Galaxy Grand. He said while the Grand was priced around ~20,000, the Mega was being offered in the ~25,000 price band.

Talking about after sales plans, Taneja said the company has been expanding its service network continuously. "We will upgrade lot of service centres in smaller towns as well."

Samsung India currently holds 47.4 per cent share in smartphone market while it has 47.3 per cent in the overall mobile phone market.

On sales of its latest handset, the Galaxy S4, Taneja said the company had sold 10 million units worldwide.

The company is also retailing the Mega with special offers from Reliance and Vodafone.