Mobile Doctors.co: phablets

Xolo Launched Q2500 PocketPad with 6.1'' Display

Xolo Launched Q2500 PocketPad with 6.1'' Display

Xolo has announced new phablet under its Q-series called as Q2500 PocketPad. The device sports a 6-inch display and run on Google's...

Smartphones prices would decrease sharply till 2018

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Growth in global smartphone shipments would fall sharply this year and keep slowing through 2018, warns research. 
 
Growth in worldwide smartphone shipments could drop from 39.2 percent last year to 19.3 percent this year, 8.3 percent in 2017, and 6.2 percent in 2018,â€ said global market firm International Data Corporation (IDC) in its latest 'Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker' report. 
 
Average prices would drop significantly as demand shifts to China and other developing countries, IDC added. 
 
Android would maintain its reign as the leading operating system while Apple's iOS would remain the number 2 platform behind Android in 2018. 
 
2014 will be an enormous transition year for the smartphone market. 
 
Not only would growth decline more than ever before, but the driving forces behind smartphone adoption would change too. 
 
New markets for growth bring different rules to play by and 'premium' will not be a major factor in the regions driving overall market growth,â€ informed IDC programme director Ryan Reit in a statement. 
 
IDC forecasts a rise in Windows Phone's global market share from 3.9 percent this year to 7 percent in 2018. 
That may not seem like a huge leap, but such growth will outshine the market share declines predicted for the other major mobile platforms, it added. 
 
BlackBerry would be under constant attack from the competition. Its higher-than-average prices compared to other platforms could inhibit its growth potential. 
 
Manufacturers are increasingly focusing on China where many consumers are upgrading from basic cellphones to smartphones selling cheap. 
 
IDC expects the overall smartphone market to become more saturated over the next few years. 
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Smartphones prices would decrease sharply till 2018

Growth in global smartphone shipments would fall sharply this year and keep slowing through 2018, warns research. Growth in worldwide ...

Sony Announced Xperia T2 Ultra Phablets With 6'' Display

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Sony has announce yet another mid-range phablets called Xperia T2 Ultra and Xperia T2 Ultra Dual. The pricing of these phablets would be less and will mainly target markets like India and China. 
 
 
“Xperia T2 Ultra will lead the category through its combination of advanced display and camera technologies, it will bring large-screen entertainment in an amazingly portable form factor and it will do it all whilst providing incredible value for money,” said Calum MacDougall, Director, Xperia Marketing at Sony Mobile Communications. 
 
Key Features of Xperia T2 Ultra / Ultra Dual :- 
 
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>6-inch HD (720p) Triluminous display </li>
<li>Mobile BRAVIA Engine 2 technology</li>
<li>1.4 GHz Quad-core processor</li>
<li>1GB of RAM </li>
<li>Dual Sim ( Only In Xperia T2 Ultra Dual )</li>
<li>8GB of internal storage ; Expandable upto 32 GB </li>
<li>13-megapixel rear camera </li>
<li>Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, NFC & LTE support,</li>
<li>3,000mAh battery</li>
</ul>
 
Sony has not revealed the pricing and the launch date. </div>

Sony Announced Xperia T2 Ultra Phablets With 6'' Display

Sony has announce yet another mid-range phablets called Xperia T2 Ultra and Xperia T2 Ultra Dual. The pricing of these phablets would be...

Nokia Launched Lumia 1320 & Lumia 525 in India

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Nokia today added two new Lumia's to its smartphone portfolio in India. Nokia today launched <a href="http://www.mobiledoctors.co/2013/10/nokia-lumia-1320-phablets-top-5-features.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Lumia 1320</a> phablet for Rs. 23,999 and <a href="http://www.mobiledoctors.co/2013/11/nokia-lumia-525-budget-windows-phone.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Lumia 525</a> for Rs.10,399 in India. 
 
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Take a look at the Key features of Lumia 1320 :-  
 
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>6-inch display with 720p resolution</li>
<li>Windows Phone 8 with Lumia Black update </li>
<li>1.7 GHz Qualcomm’s Snapdragon S4 dual-core processor </li>
<li>1GB of RAM</li>
<li>8GB of internal storage ; Expandable up to 64GB </li>
<li>5-megapixel rear camera </li>
<li>Price :- Rs. 23,999</li>
</ul>
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Take a look at the Key features of Lumia 525 :- </div>
<ul style="background-color: white; line-height: 20px; outline: none;">
<li style="outline: none;">4-inch WVGA (480x800) IPS LCD display</li>
<li style="outline: none;">1GHz dual-core Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 processor</li>
<li style="outline: none;">1GB of RAM</li>
<li style="outline: none;">8GB inbuilt storage, expandable up to 64GB via microSD card</li>
<li style="outline: none;">5-megapixel rear camera</li>
<li style="outline: none;">Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, A-GPS, A-GLONASS 3G</li>
<li style="outline: none;">Windows Phone 8 with Lumia Black</li>
<li style="outline: none;">1430mAh</li>
<li>Price :- Rs. 10,399</li>
</ul>
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Nokia Launched Lumia 1320 & Lumia 525 in India

Nokia today added two new Lumia's to its smartphone portfolio in India. Nokia today launched Lumia 1320 phablet for Rs. 23,999 and Lu...

Nokia Lumia 1520 Phablet Launched In India For Rs. 46,999

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As we <a href="http://www.mobiledoctors.co/2013/12/nokia-to-launch-lumia-1520-1320-in.html" target="_blank">reported last week</a> about Nokia sending invites for Lumia 1520 phablet launching event in India. Today, Nokia has officially launched the Nokia Lumia 1520 phablet in India for Rs. 46,999.  

To remind you, the phablets Lumia 1520 was announced at Nokia World 2013 in October this year. It is the Nokia's first phablets sporting 6-inch display and Windows 8. 
 


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Here are the Key Specs Of Lumia 1520:- </div>
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<ul style="background-color: white;">
<li style="line-height: 19.190340042114258px;">6-inch 1920 x 1080 screen</li>
<li style="line-height: 19.190340042114258px;">20MP PureView camera ; 1.2MP Front Camera </li>
<li style="line-height: 19.190340042114258px;">Windows Phone 8</li>
<li style="line-height: 19.190340042114258px;">2.3 GHz Snapdragon 800</li>
<li style="line-height: 19.190340042114258px;">2GB RAM</li>
<li>32 GB internal memory; Expandable using microSD</li>
<li style="line-height: 19.190340042114258px;">NFC ,802.11n Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.0</li>
<li style="line-height: 19.190340042114258px;">3,200 mAh battery</li>
</ul>
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Nokia Lumia 1520 Promo Video :-</div>
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/GyN5hU24PFo?feature=player_embedded" width="640"></iframe> 
 
Also Read :- 
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<a href="http://www.mobiledoctors.co/2013/12/nokia-lumia-1520-vs-samsung-galaxy-note.html" itemprop="url" style="color: #999999; display: inline !important; text-decoration: none;">Nokia Lumia 1520 Vs Samsung Galaxy Note 3</a></div>
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Nokia Lumia 1520 Phablet Launched In India For Rs. 46,999

As we reported last week about Nokia sending invites for Lumia 1520 phablet launching event in India. Today, Nokia has officially laun...

Xolo Q2000 Review

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Indian handset brand, Xolo, recently launched its new smartphone or rather phablet, the Xolo Q2000, which features the company's biggest screen on a smartphone, yet. The phone boasts of decent hardware specifications and promises to offer all the features of a modern phablet at an economy price point. Is it good enough to take on the likes of Samsung's phablets? We try to find out in our review.</div>
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Build/ Design 
When you first look at the Xolo Q2000, you realise it's a big black slab with a utilitarian design, not evoking any emotions. The phone's front features its massive 5.5-inch IPS display, the three capacitive touch buttons for navigating around the phone's interface placed below it, and the sensor array and the front-camera lens, placed above it. Enclosed in a plastic frame, the bottom edges out, creating a small chin-like extension. 
 
The Q2000 is rectangular with corners that are not rounded, giving it a sharp look. 
 
The left edge of the Xolo Q2000 features the Power/ Screen lock key, while the left edge houses the volume rocker. Both the keys are made of plastic and offer decent tactile feedback. The top edge sports the Micro-USB port and the 3.5mm headset jack. The edges feature a sturdy frame which appears to be made from polycarbonate, bearing a glossy finish. 
 
The back of the Xolo Q2000 features a thin plastic cover that hides the battery compartment holding a 2600mAh battery, apart from the SIM card and microSD card slots.  The cover sports a matte finish, and felt very flimsy in contrast to the otherwise sturdy-build of the phone. A rectangular strip, made from the same material that we've seen on the edges protrudes out, right at the top, featuring the rear camera lens. 
 
Overall, barring the back cover, the Xolo Q2000 looks and feels solid, though it's not really optimised for one-handed usage. 
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Display 
The Xolo Q2000 features a 5.5-inch IPS display with a 720x1280 pixel resolution and pixel density of 267ppi. The panel supports 5-point multi-touch. 
 
The viewing angles of the Xolo Q2000's display looked good, and the brightness of the phone was optimum. Outdoor visibility was above average though the screen was a bit reflective. While the display sports a decent resolution, at times it looked pixelated, probably due to the bigger screen size resulting in less number of pixels per inch. 
 
One issue that we encountered with the phone was its inconsistent touch sensitivity. A number of times, the onscreen keyboard failed to register key-strokes. This issue makes using the phone frustrating. We're not sure if it was limited to our review unit. 
 
Camera 
The Xolo Q2000 features an 13-megapixel autofocus shooter that takes great images in daylight. Even in low-light conditions, apart from some noise, we felt that the rear shooter does a nice job of capturing stills. 
 
We were also satisfied with the quality of pictures taken by the Xolo Q2000 indoors, though we did find them to be a little grainy occasionally. 
 
<img alt="xoloq2000-cam1.jpg" class="mt-image-center" height="476" src="http://cdn.ndtv.com/tech/images/xoloq2000-cam1.jpg" style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 20px; outline: none; text-align: center;" width="635" />Xolo Q2000 can record full-HD videos and we found that the quality of videos captured through the back camera was good. It also offers EIS or Electronic Image Stabilisation to minimise distortions caused by shaking of hands while shooting a video. Unfortunately, the camera saves videos in the archaic .3GP file format. 
 
The 2-megapixel front facing camera on the Xolo Q2000 also takes decent quality shots with good lighting conditions and is great for video calls. Overall, the phone is pretty good for casual photography. 
 
The Xolo Q2000 comes with a customised Camera app, and allows you to capture photos in HDR, 'face beauty' mode, Panorama modes, 'auto-scene detection', and 'best shot' modes in addition to an EV bracket mode for taking multiple exposure photos. 
 
<img alt="xoloq2000-cam2.jpg" class="mt-image-center" height="476" src="http://cdn.ndtv.com/tech/images/xoloq2000-cam2.jpg" style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 20px; outline: none; text-align: center;" width="635" />The Q2000's camera app also comes with the usual controls including settings for Exposure, Colour effect, White balance, Scene Modes and ISO, among others. The phone's camera also supports continuous shots taking up to 40 shots in that mode, smile detection and face detection. Some of the options in the camera app's interface are not self-descriptive which makes it a little unintuitive for new smartphone users. 
 
Software/ User Interface 
The Xolo Q2000 runs Android 4.2.1, and the company has not customised the user interface much, except for offering four preloaded themes, namely Mint, Mocha, Raspberry and the default theme that bring minor changes in the phone's colour scheme. 
 
The notification tray on the Xolo Q2000 features a settings shortcut and a clear-all notifications button, along with expandable notifications (expanded with the two-finger pull gesture). It features the same setting toggles shortcut that's found in stock Android and adds some of its own as well, for quick access to airplane mode, battery status, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, GPS, data connection, data usage, audio profiles, brightness, screen-backlight timeout and auto rotation. 
 
<img alt="xoloq2000-UI1.jpg" class="mt-image-center" height="373" src="http://cdn.ndtv.com/tech/images/xoloq2000-UI1.jpg" style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 20px; outline: none; text-align: center;" width="635" />Similar to most other Android devices, there are five customisable home screens on the Xolo Q2000's UI that can be filled with app shortcuts and widgets. The three capacitive buttons, Menu, Home and Back, help in navigating through the phone, with the Home button also doubling up as an app switcher on long press. One major gripe with these buttons is that they don't light-up in the dark even when the screen is on until you press one of them. 
 
You also get lock-screen widgets  on the Xolo Q2000 - an Android 4.2 feature. You can choose from the Clock, Camera, Gmail, Google Now and Messaging widgets in addition to widgets offered by third-party apps installed on your phone. These widgets offer 'glance-able' information from the apps and allow users to perform certain app actions even when the phone is locked. 
 
The phone also offers another Android 4.2 feature, Daydream, that displays photo albums or the clock while the phone's charging. The option to wirelessly mirror the phone's display with an HDMI-enabled device through a wireless display adapter is also present. 
 
<img alt="xoloq2000-UI2.jpg" class="mt-image-center" height="373" src="http://cdn.ndtv.com/tech/images/xoloq2000-UI2.jpg" style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 20px; outline: none; text-align: center;" width="635" />Xolo has also bundled some apps with the phone including NoteBook for creating colour coded notes and task lists; PlayApp - an app recommendation utility; a File manager; a video player app, and Xolo Power and Xolo Secure apps for power management and security. 
 
The Xolo Power app claims to allow you to track battery consumption by checking your usage pattern and making changes to settings to optimise it. The Xolo Secure app claims to allow you to protect, locate and wipe data in case your phone gets stolen. 
 
Performance/ Battery Life 
The Xolo Q2000 is powered by a 1.2GHz Mediatek MT6589 quad-core processor. It has 1GB RAM onboard, and PowerVR SGX 544MP chip for processing graphics. There is 8GB of internal storage, which is expandable up to 32GB via a microSD card. 
 
With Android 4.2.1 Jelly Bean, the overall experience of navigation through the interface was impressive, thanks to the phone's quad-core processor. We did not experience any lag while launching apps, scrolling web pages or switching between apps. 
 
We were able to play games like Temple Run 2 and Subway Surfers, without encountering any lag. However, graphics intensive games like Asphalt 7 did not run smoothly on the Q2000, dropping frames. 
 
We were able to play full-HD clips smoothly and the phone supported formats like .AVI and .MOV, natively. The speaker on the Xolo Q2000 delivers decent quality sound at high volume levels, but there's some muffle when the phone lies on its back, as the speaker grill is located on the back. The headphones that come with the phone offer average quality sound output. The phone also offers FM Radio. 
 
Call quality of the Xolo Q2000 was good during our testing process, and phone was also able to get a GPS lock rather easily while using the Maps app. 
 
The Xolo Q2000 comes with a 2600mAh battery, and based on our experience, it will last you a full day with medium to heavy usage, including 1-1.5 hours of phone calls, two e-mail accounts with push notifications, screen at maximum brightness, playing some music and video clips, Twitter notifications and WhatsApp chats. 
 
It's also worth pointing out that we had turned off Wi-Fi and auto-brightness, and the phone was hooked to a 3G network. Altering these settings might help in running the phone for a longer duration, depending on your usage pattern. 
 
Verdict 
At a price of Rs. 14,999, the Xolo Q2000 is a good budget phablet that delivers decent performance, without burning a hole in your pocket. However, the display, which is one of the major factors for choosing a large screen device, could have been better in terms of resolution, and definitely in terms of overall touch sensitivity. 
 
If you don't mind the non-expandable storage, and are ready to shell out more, you can also take a look at the Micromax Canvas Doodle 2. The Samsung Galaxy Mega 5.8 is also a similar device, though we weren't really satisfied with it in terms of hardware performance. If you can settle for a 5-inch screen, than the Zen Ultrafone 701 is our pick. 
 
Overall, the Xolo Q2000 just falls short of being the perfect economy phablet. 
 
Price: Rs.14,999 
 
Pros 
Good camera 
Decent battery backup 
 
Cons 
Low resolution screen 
Poor touch sensitivity 
Flimsy back cover 
 
Ratings (Out of 5) 
Design: 3 
Display: 2.5 
Performance: 3.5 
Software: 3.5 
Battery Life: 3 
Value for Money: 3.5 
Camera: 3.5 
Overall: 3</div>
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Xolo Q2000 Review

Indian handset brand, Xolo, recently launched its new smartphone or rather phablet, the Xolo Q2000, which features the company's bi...

Samsung Galaxy Grand 2 launched

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Samsung has announced the successor to the Galaxy Grand, the Galaxy Grand 2. The South Korean handset maker has not revealed the price for Galaxy Grand 2 and has also not announced the availability details for the smartphone.</div>
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The Samsung Galaxy Grand 2 runs Android 4.3 Jelly Bean out-of-the-box. The Galaxy Grand 2 is a dual-SIM device with support for GSM+GSM. It features a 5.2-inch HD TFT display with a resolution of 720x1280 pixels.</div>
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The Galaxy Grand 2 is powered by a 1.2GHz quad-core processor alongside 1.5GB of RAM. It sports an 8-megapixel autofocus rear camera accompanied by an LED flash. It also houses a 1.9-megapixel front-facing camera. It comes with 8GB inbuilt storage, which is further expandable up to 64GB via microSD card.</div>
<img alt="samsung-galaxy-grand-2-front-635.jpg" class="mt-image-center" height="394" src="http://cdn.ndtv.com/tech/images/gadgets/samsung-galaxy-grand-2-front-635.jpg" style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 20px; outline: none; text-align: center;" width="635" /> 
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Connectivity options on the Galaxy Grand 2 include Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, GPS/ AGPS, micro-USB and 3G (HSPA+).</div>
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The smartphone measures 146.8x75.3x8.9mm and weighs about 163 grams. The Galaxy Grand 2 packs a 2600mAh battery that can deliver up to 17 hours of talktime, although no standby time detailed.</div>
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The Samsung Galaxy Grand 2 will be available in Black, Pink and White colour variants in select regions.</div>
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Samsung has decided to pre-load the Galaxy Grand 2 with some some of the popular apps seen on flagship smartphones, Galaxy S4 and Galaxy Note 3, like Story Album, which can organise pictures by timelines; S Translator, company's proprietary translation service; S Travel, which offers guides and travel details; Samsung Hub, company's own content service that offers access to music, videos and games. The phone also comes with Group Play, a feature first seen on Galaxy S4, which lets users play music or games together, as well as share documents.</div>
<a href="http://gadgets.ndtv.com/photos/mobiles-launched-in-november-2013-16372" style="outline: none;"> </a>
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Samsung Galaxy Grand 2 key specifications</div>
<ul style="outline: none;">
<li style="outline: none;">5.2-inch HD TFT display with a resolution of 720x1280 pixels</li>
<li style="outline: none;">1.2GHz quad-core processor</li>
<li style="outline: none;">1.5GB of RAM</li>
<li style="outline: none;">Dual-SIM (GSM+GSM)</li>
<li style="outline: none;">8-megapixel autofocus rear camera with LED flash</li>
<li style="outline: none;">1.9-megapixel front-facing camera</li>
<li style="outline: none;">8GB inbuilt storage, which is further expandable up to 64GB via microSD card</li>
<li style="outline: none;">Android 4.3 Jelly Bean</li>
<li style="outline: none;">Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, GPS/ AGPS, micro-USB and 3G (HSPA+)</li>
<li style="outline: none;">2600mAh</li>
<li style="outline: none;">146.8x75.3x8.9mm</li>
<li style="outline: none;">163 grams</li>
</ul>
</div>
</div>
</div>

Samsung Galaxy Grand 2 launched

Samsung has announced the successor to the Galaxy Grand, the Galaxy Grand 2. The South Korean handset maker has not revealed the price ...

LG Vu 3 to launch this month, tipped for October release

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LG's flagship smartphone, the G2 
was announced in August and is barely out of the door as the device is yet to hit 
major markets. Now based on a report, it appears LG is working on the 
successor to its not so popular Optimus Vu, the Vu 3.A Korean 
report, 
first picked by Techkiddy 
notes that the South Korean major will officially announce the LG Vu 3
 at the end of September while the device will be released in October. 
The
 rumoured upcoming phablet from LG will reportedly offer 5.2-inch 
display with a resolution of 960x1280 pixels with an aspect ratio of 
4:3. The Vu 3 is said to be powered by a Snapdragon 800 processor and 
would likely sport a 13-megapixel rear camera. 
The site also notes
 three Korean variants of the device that include - f300k for KT 
Telecom, f300l for LGU+ telecom and f300s for SK telecom. 
Additionally,
 the company has teased
 few images of the QuickView cases for the yet to be announced LG Vu 3. 
The images reveal that the new cases for the LG Vu 3 will come in two 
colour variants- Black and Grey. However, there is no word about the 
possible roll out of the LG Vu 3 in other markets like India. 
Earlier,
 the company rolled out QuickWindow cases for the LG G2 ahead of its official launch. 
Meanwhile,
 LG had announced 
earlier that all its future smartphones with a 4:3 display will be 
rebranded as 'Vu', as the company got rid of the Optimus branding from 
its devices including smartphones and tablets.</div>

LG Vu 3 to launch this month, tipped for October release

LG's flagship smartphone, the G2 was announced in August and is barely out of the door as the device is yet to hit m...

HTC One Max leaked specifications reveal Android 4.3, Sense 5.5 UI

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A new set of specifications of what is allegedly HTC's upcoming One Max phablet has surfaced online.</div>
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According to a report in the Chinese media, the device is likely to run on Android 4.3 Jelly Bean with HTC's Sense 5.5 UI on top. Other specifications leaked include the TD-LTE connectivity, 5.9-inch full-HD display with 1080x1920 pixels resolution, 2.3GHz quad-core Snapdragon processor with 2GB of RAM and Wi-Fi. The site also reveals that the alleged HTC One Max will sport a 2.1-megapixel front-facing camera and the UltraPixel camera on the back, which was introduced on the HTC One.</div>
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However, the report does not mention the fingerprint scanner, which was claimed to be on the rear panel in earlier reports. The Chinese site also claims that HTC's phablet may be showcased next month at the earliest, hinting at a possible launch at IFA in Berlin.</div>
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Earlier, leaked specifications of the alleged HTC One Max mentioned 16GB of internal storage and a 3300mAh battery. The Taiwanese major is also expected to equip the phablet with a stylus.</div>
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Previously, renders of the HTC One Max (T6) appeared online, courtesy the notorious @evleaks. While the image was claimed to be the non final artwork of the HTC T6, it did give a good idea of what to expect from the upcoming phablet from HTC.</div>
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With the launch of the HTC One Max, the Taiwanese handset maker will join the phablet race with Samsung and Sony which already offer the Galaxy Mega 6.3 featuring a 6.3-inch display and Xperia Z Ultra sporting a 6.4-inch display.</div>
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HTC One Max leaked specifications reveal Android 4.3, Sense 5.5 UI

A new set of specifications of what is allegedly HTC's upcoming One Max phablet has surfaced online. According to a report ...

Bigger Than a Phone, Smaller Than a Tablet: What's the Future Hold for Phablets?

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Recent phablet sales have mobile device makers concerned the new smartphone-tablet hybrid poses a threat. This seemingly defies the skeptical reaction Gartner analysts expressed earlier this year, when it was reported that phablets had captured a 16.5 percent market share in India in 2012 and were expected to continue trending globally. Was Gartner wrong, or is the phablet fad the wave of the future? Manufacturers certainly haven't been deterred by naysayers. For instance,<a href="http://www.t-mobile.com/cell-phones/samsung-galaxy-note-ii.html" target="_blank"> T-Mobile has the Samsung Galaxy Note II </a>and just rolled out the larger 6.3-inch Galaxy Mega. There are several reasons to think the confident expectations of companies such as Samsung are well-founded. Versatile Viewing If you've ever strained your eyes squinting at a cell phone, you can appreciate the fact that phablets are easier on the eyes. Recent surveys show smartphone users prefer an average screen size of 4.5 inches, halfway between an iPhone 5 and a Galaxy S4, and the majority also express a preference for larger screens than their current phones. Phablets negotiate this demand with screen sizes in the range of five to seven inches. For the average consumer who doesn't care to decipher microscopic text and graphics and for markets such as senior citizens who require enhanced visibility, a phablet's bigger screen gives it an edge over smaller devices. Big Enough for Tablet Emulation While the phablet's larger screen gives it an advantage over smartphones, it simultaneously poses a threat to tablets by imparting the power to emulate most features of the larger devices. Just as tablets hurt sales of e-reader devices (such as the Kindle) by offering the same capability with additional features, phablets are presenting a similar challenge to their bigger competitors. As illustrated by the Mega's 1.7 GHz processor speed and 1.5 GB of RAM, phablets can rival tablets in functionality, making their practical difference negligible for many users. Still Small Enough for Portability Despite the power they pack, phablets are sized to rival smartphones for portability. While most models are currently a bit big to be considered pocket-sized, some will fit in men's business pants, and manufacturers such as Dockers are actually starting to make pockets bigger to adapt to the growing popularity of phablets. Entertainment on the Go The demand for devices that can stream entertainment programming on the go is also driving phablet sales, especially to those who like to watch movies, play games and read e-books on their mobile device. Accordingly, Amazon may be poised to recapture its e-reader market share from tablet rivals by releasing a phablet-sized Kindle smartphone. The Ideal Combination for BYOD Finally, phablets' combination of consumer-friendly features with computing functionality makes them ideal for users working in a BYOD (bring your own device) environment. The rising demand for BYOD is driving production of security-hardened phablets, fueling a hot market unlikely to cool off soon.</div>

Bigger Than a Phone, Smaller Than a Tablet: What's the Future Hold for Phablets?

Recent phablet sales have mobile device makers concerned the new smartphone-tablet hybrid poses a threat. This seemingly defies the skep...

Sony Xperia Z Ultra: First impressions

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<div id="HeadContent_FullstoryCtrl_fulldetails">
Smartphones
 are increasingly getting bigger, closing the gap with tablets. In fact,
 at a point where the smartphone screen crosses the 6-inch, it's 
difficult to call them smartphones. While not everyone likes to call 
them 'phablets', they clearly lie in hybrid territory, offering 
smartphone features in a near tablet form factor. 
 
Sony has also 
recently forayed into this segment, with its new device, the Xperia Z 
Ultra, which boasts of a 6.4-inch display. It's certainly not the first 
device to sport a large screen; we've seen the Samsung Galaxy Mega 6.3 and the Huawei Ascend Mate
 featuring 6-inch+ displays, but we'd have to say that it's the sleekest
 out of all of them, at this point in time. The Xperia Z Ultra is super 
slim with a thickness of just 6.5mm. 
 
We got a chance to play with
 the Xperia Z Ultra, and feel that it is one the sleekest devices, 
available. Although it weighs 212 grams, the overall weight to 
dimensions ratio is optimum and the phone doesn't feel very bulky. 
Having said that,  it doesn't easily fit the front pockets of your 
jeans, and you'd need to put it in a bag or hold it all the time. The 
Xperia Z Ultra follows the same design language that we've seen in the 
Xperia Z and looks more rectangular as the edges are just subtly 
rounded. 
 
The front of the device is dominated by its 6.4-inch 
display. The Xperia Z Ultra's screen has a resolution of 1080x1920 
pixels and is the first smartphone display that integrates Sony's 
Triluminos technology, which the company introduced at CES with its 
Bravia televisions. Sony claims that through the technology the display 
reproduces a greater range of rich, natural colours to deliver true, 
natural shades. It won't be wrong to say that the Xperia Z Ultra's 
screen is the most brightest and vivid display we've ever seen on a 
device of this size. Unlike the Sony Xperia Z,
 where we'd observed minor niggles with viewing angles, the Xperia Z 
Ultra's screen was flawless. Pictures and videos looked natural and 
colour reproduction was pretty accurate. The big screen and the full-HD 
resolution makes watching videos a joyful experience. Blacks had the 
perfect depth and the screen contrast was optimum. 
 
Another 
interesting feature of the Xperia Z Ultra is its handwriting recognition
 functionality. The phone's screen is compatible with any pencil and 
selected stylus or pen with tip diameter over 1mm. We tried using a lead
 pencil to input text on the phone's screen with the Notes app and found
 that it recognised our writing with mixed accuracy. It offers word 
predictions even in the handwriting recognition mode, so this should not
 be a major problem. 
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The device's 2-megapixel front facing camera
 and the sensor array are located above the display. There are no 
hardware buttons on the front and the Xperia Z Ultra features software 
controls for navigation. 
 
The front panel is surrounded by a thin frame which meets a thicker aluminium frame that separates the front and back panel. 
 
The
 right side of the device features the same round metal button for the 
Power/ Screen lock functions that resembles the crown of a watch. Below 
this button, you'd find the Volume rocker key, made of plastic. Both 
these keys are easily accessible. 
 
Since the Xperia Z Ultra is 
also dust and water proof and comes with IP55 and IP58 certification, 
the ports and slots are protected with plastic flaps. A flap that hides 
the microSD card and the micro-SIM card sits above the Power button at 
the right side. The 3.5mm headset jack is located just above this flap. 
 
The
 left side of the device features a flap that protects the micro-USB 
port. You'll also find contacts for docking the device to a dock 
accessory, which is sold separately. The top and bottom edges feature 
small speaker outlets. 
 
The back of the device is made of glass 
and sports a shiny, reflective finish. You'll see minimalist Sony and 
Xperia branding and the 8-megapixel rear camera lens at the back. The 
back is not removable. Unfortunately, the device doesn't offer an LED 
flash to shoot pictures in the dark. 
 
Under the hood, the Sony 
Xperia Z Ultra features a 2.2GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 processor with 
2GB of RAM. It's the first device in the market featuring the Snapdragon
 800 processor and in our short time with the device, the user 
experience delivered by the device was pretty snappy. The Xperia Z 
Ultra's interface which has been customised by Sony was responsive and 
smooth during our use. We also played the preloaded Asphalt 7 game and 
the gaming experience delivered by the phone was top notch. 
 
We 
used the device's camera to shoot pictures with decent amount of light 
but found that there was some noise when one zooms in 100 percent. 
 
Overall,
 the Xperia Z Ultra's USP is its big and bright screen, though we're not
 sure if everyone would be happy with its form factor, and the fact that
 it doesn't feature an LED flash with the camera. At an MRP of Rs. 
46,990, no one would like compromises. 
 
Watch out for our in-depth review of the Xperia Z Ultra. 
 
 
 
 
 
Sony Xperia Z Ultra key specifications 
<ul>
<li>6.4-inch TFT Triluminos display with a resolution of 1080x1920 pixels and Shatter proof sheet on scratch-resistant glass</li>
<li>2.2GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 quad-core processor</li>
<li>2GB RAM</li>
<li>8-megapixel rear camera with Exmor RS sensor</li>
<li>2-megapixel front facing camera</li>
<li>16GB internal storage expandable up to 64GB via microSD card</li>
<li>Android 4.2 Jelly Bean</li>
<li>4G LTE/ NFC/ Bluetooth 4.0/ Wi-Fi</li>
<li>3000mAh battery</li>
</ul>
</div>
</div>

Sony Xperia Z Ultra: First impressions

Smartphones are increasingly getting bigger, closing the gap with tablets. In fact, at a point where th...

LG optimus G pro Review

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Almost five months after launching the phone globally, LG has finally brought the Optimus G Pro to the Indian shores. Successor to the LG Optimus G, the phone is not just an incremental upgrade and brings with it a new design, a large 5.5-inch screen and upgraded hardware. 
 
While there are a number of phones that feature 5.5-inch or plus screens, the Optimus G Pro is among the first to feature a full-HD display. We try to find out if the phone meets all the expectations. 
 
Build/ Design 
With a 5.5-inch screen, the LG optimus g pro enters the phablet territory. However, when compared to a phone like the Samsung Galaxy Note II, it looks and feels more like a big smartphone, predominantly due to its less wider frame. Still, it's not a phone that would fit comfortably in your pocket. The phone is available in White and Black colour variants and we received the Black one as our review unit. 
 
The front of the phone, made of glass, is mainly dominated by its 5.5-inch HD display. The bezel on the sides of the screen is extremely narrow, though if you notice carefully it still has a small black border surrounding it. The front glass doesn't meet the edges directly but curves and bevels before it reaches there. 
 
There's a physical Home button and two capacitive touch buttons for Back and Menu functions just below the display. The Home button does't protrude out much, unlike Samsung's Galaxy S4 and Note II phones, and is almost flush with the phone. We had a hard time using the button as it's too small in height. It does light up in different colours to alert you whenever there's a notification, though. 
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The 2.1-megapixel front facing camera and the sensor array sit a hove the display along with an earpiece grill. 
 
The Power/ Screen-lock button is located at the right hand side of the phone, while a customisable 'Quick' key and the Volume rocker key are placed at the left hand side. We found the placement of the keys a bit awkward. For a phone this big, we wish the Power button could have been placed a little lower. Also, we ended up pressing the Quick shortcut button instead of the Volume rocker on several occasions. 
 
The 3.5mm headset jack, Infrared Blaster and a secondary microphone sit at the top. The Micro-USB port and the microphone are located at the bottom. 
 
An aluminium frame runs through the phone separating the back and front panels. The frame is visible as a thin line at the left and right sides, but widens at the top and bottom. 
 
Unlike the <a href="http://gadgets.ndtv.com/lg-optimus-g-311" style="color: #4e4e4e; outline: none;">LG Optimus G</a>, the Optimus G Pro has a removable back panel which covers the back of the phone and is not boxy, but curved along the edges. Made of plastic, it can be easily removed through a small gap at the right side of the phone. The back has a glossy finish but features a glass weave checkered pattern similar to the one seen in the <a href="http://gadgets.ndtv.com/lg-nexus-4-781" style="color: #4e4e4e; outline: none;">Nexus 4</a>. However, the cover is prone to smudges and is a little slippery and doesn't provide a good grip. 
 
The 13-megapixel camera lens, the LED flash and a tiny round speaker outlet are located towards the upper part of the back. The lens is surrounded by a raised, almost circular, enclosure which is also visible. 
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Removing the back cover, you'd see the battery compartment, with the Micro-SIM and microSD card slots located just below it. While you can replace the microSD card on the fly, you'll need to remove the battery if you want to insert or remove the Micro-SIM. 
 
Overall, the phone feels solid without giving an impression of being bulky but we wish it could offer a better grip, especially when it's as big as it is. 
 
Display 
The LG Optimus G Pro features a 5.5-inch IPS Plus LCD screen with a resolution of 1080x1920 pixels. It is one of the few full-HD 5.5-inch phones available in the market (the other one being <a href="http://gadgets.ndtv.com/lenovo-k900-785" style="color: #4e4e4e; outline: none;">Lenovo K900</a>), at this point in time. It comes with Corning 's Gorilla Glass 2 protection making it resistant to scratches. 
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The Optimus G pro's screen looks gorgeous with text and images looking crisp and sharp. Colours look vibrant and brightness was optimum. Viewing angles were also good, though we found the screen to be pretty reflective especially when used outdoors in bright sunlight. Having said that, we didn't experience problems reading text under sunlight. 
 
Since the phone's screen is large, the pixel density is a little less compared to phones like the <a href="http://gadgets.ndtv.com/htc-one-37" style="color: #4e4e4e; outline: none;">HTC One</a> or the <a href="http://gadgets.ndtv.com/samsung-galaxy-s4-542" style="color: #4e4e4e; outline: none;">Samsung Galaxy S4</a>, even though the Optimus G Pro has a full-HD display. This means there are less pixels per inch but you are unlikely to notice the difference. 
 
Software/ User Interface 
The LG Optimus G Pro runs Android 4.1.2 Jelly Bean, which is a disappointment as even some budget phones are now shipping with Android 4.2. LG has added its own Optimus UI layer on top, majorly changing the look and feel of the interface and enabling users to customise the phone according to their liking. 
 
LG also adds several tweaks including Smart Screen that keeps the screen on if the phone detects the user's eyes looking at it - a feature we first saw in the <a href="http://gadgets.ndtv.com/samsung-galaxy-s-iii-555" style="color: #4e4e4e; outline: none;">Samsung Galaxy S III</a>. It also adds Smart Video, automatically pausing videos when you look away. 
 
<img alt="LG-Optimus-G-Pro-UI1.jpg" class="mt-image-center" height="373" src="http://cdn.ndtv.com/tech/images/LG-Optimus-G-Pro-UI1.jpg" style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 20px; outline: none; text-align: center;" width="635" />LG also allows users to choose the phone's default font and font size, change how long the capacitive keys backlight stays on, choose the LED light on the Home button to glow with different alerts and correct the aspect ratio of downloaded apps. 
 
You can select from 4 different visual themes, each with a different icon set, home screen wallpaper and app drawer background. You can have up to 7 screens that can be populated with widgets and app shortcuts. LG even allows you to choose between various animation effects when you swipe from one home screen to another or when you unlock the phone. 
 
We're glad that LG has placed the Back button on the left side in line with the Nexus phones. The Home button doubles up as the task switcher on long press. The contextual Menu button offers various settings when pressed in the home screen mode. 
 
<img alt="LG-Optimus-G-Pro-UI2.jpg" class="mt-image-center" height="373" src="http://cdn.ndtv.com/tech/images/LG-Optimus-G-Pro-UI2.jpg" style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 20px; outline: none; text-align: center;" width="635" />LG has also skinned the notification tray including toggles for various settings including for sound, data, NFC, Quick remote, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, and Hotspot among others. It also features shortcuts for invoking QSlide apps, and a control for changing screen brightness. 
 
As we mentioned, the phone comes with a 5.5-inch display, and LG has included some additional features to make use of the screen real estate. There are special apps that LG likes to call QSlide apps. These include a web browser, Memo pad, Calendar, Calculator and a Video player. Users can run two of these QSlide apps simultaneously and there's a slider that allows you to focus on one of them. This is similar to what Samsung introduced with some of its devices including the <a href="http://gadgets.ndtv.com/samsung-galaxy-note-ii-538" style="color: #4e4e4e; outline: none;">Galaxy Note II</a>. 
 
<img alt="LG-Optimus-G-Pro-UI3.jpg" class="mt-image-center" height="373" src="http://cdn.ndtv.com/tech/images/LG-Optimus-G-Pro-UI3.jpg" style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 20px; outline: none; text-align: center;" width="635" />LG also offers a QuickMemo app that lets users scribble notes on a blank page or on top of a screen shot. The app also has an overlay mode allowing you to take notes while running another app. We're not sure if people with big hands will find it useful as LG doesn't offer a Stylus with the phone. 
 
The phone includes additional ones for Backup, File Manager, File sharing, a Dictionary, a Memo app, a Notebook app, Polaris Office 4, a Quick Translator app, LG's service related apps, LG's own app store (SmartWorld), a Task Manager, and apps for video editing. The phone also allows streaming content to other devices via the DLNA protocol in addition to offering wireless screen mirroring via Miracast to compatible devices. 
 
LG has customised nearly all stock-apps including the Gallery and Music apps, adding more functionality in addition to just bringing eye candy. Even the system settings menus have been skinned and are pleasant to look at. 
 
 
The home screen also features a landscape mode, and some of the apps, including LG's email app make use of it by offering a preview pane for emails in that mode. 
 
The Music player app, offers additional functionality of giving you access to your music library within the Now Playing screen in landscape mode. It can also display lyrics if embedded in the track and look for the video of the currently playing song on YouTube with the press of a button. It also offers Dolby sound enhancements when headphones are connected to the phone. 
 
Similarly, the Video Player offers a drawer on the right side for browsing videos while playing one. It also allows you to change the brightness by just swiping across the screen vertically, and scrub through it by swiping horizontally. The Video player app can run simultaneously with other apps similar to Samsung's pop-up play feature. The video player also comes with its own QSlide app. Pinch to zoom even works while playing videos to see more details. 
 
<img alt="LG-Optimus-G-Pro-UI5.jpg" class="mt-image-center" height="357" src="http://cdn.ndtv.com/tech/images/LG-Optimus-G-Pro-UI5.jpg" style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 20px; outline: none; text-align: center;" width="635" />The LG Optimus G Pro also offers a Quick Remote app to be used in conjunction with the phone's Infrared Blaster. It allows the phone to act as a universal remote to control audio, video and home appliances. It even offers remote controls for Indian satellite TV providers such as Tata Sky and Dish TV. We were able to easily configure the app and use the phone as our remote. Interestingly, the app can also be used without unlocking the phone's home screen by long pressing the Home button. It can also be used through a quick shortcut in the notifications panel through a dedicated toggle. 
 
LG has also included software features to enable one hand operation. You can set the phone's default keyboard and keypad to be displayed towards the right or left sides. 
 
In addition to all of these, the phone brings standard Jelly Bean functionality. Overall, LG has tried to make the phone as different from stock Android, as possible. While that may delight some, 'stock-Android' fans will be far from impressed. 
 
Camera 
The LG Optimus G Pro sports a 13-megapixel rear camera and a 1.9-megapixel front facing camera. We expected it to be a great shooter given the phone's price and high end specifications, but does it deliver? 
 
For starters, the phone features LG's own Camera app which is a bit similar to the app that comes with the LG Optimus G. The app includes a customisable quick menu on one of the sides, which features controls for switching between the front and rear cameras, enabling the Intelligent Auto mode, turning on the Time Catch shot mode, switching between Normal, HDR, Panorama, VR Panorama, Burst shot, Beauty shot and Dual camera photo modes and for accessing the camera settings. These buttons can however be customised by selecting any of the other buttons available in the 'Edit quick menu' option when you tap the Settings button. 
 
The app offers settings for voice activated shutter (take pictures with voice commands like 'cheese', 'kimchi', 'LG', 'Smile' and 'Whisky'), Focus, Zoom, brightness, image size, scene modes, ISO, white balance, colour effects, timer, geotagging, shutter sound, storage. 
 
The Time catch mode starts capturing shots even before you hit the shutter and offers the five best ones, in case you're afraid you'll miss some action. Similarly, the Burst photo mode takes up to 20 pictures in quick succession when you want to capture action. The Intelligent auto mode, which we usually see in Sony's phones, adjusts settings based on the ambient light conditions to enable the best shot. 
 
<img alt="LG-Optimus-G-Pro-camsample2.jpg" class="mt-image-center" height="476" src="http://cdn.ndtv.com/tech/images/LG-Optimus-G-Pro-camsample2.jpg" style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 20px; outline: none; text-align: center;" width="635" />In addition to the normal Panorama mode, the phone also adds a VR Panorama (VR stands for virtual reality). This mode is also known as Photosphere and is included in some other Android phones as well. It essentially stitches together different photos to create an almost 3D like view of the surroundings. 
 
The camera app also offers a shortcut to the gallery. It offers 8X zoom, which can be controlled by pinching in and out. The volume buttons also double up as shutter keys when you're in the app, although there is a virtual shutter key as well.  
 
Coming to the quality of images shot with the phone, we observed that images taken outdoors during daylight came out well except that colours were a little over-saturated, and at times white balance was skewed towards lighter shades. If you zoom in photos to their actual size, you'll also see some noise and missing details. Other than that, we found the quality of the photos taken in sufficient light to be satisfactory. 
 
Photos taken indoors in soft light also looked good. 
 
However, the phone had a hard time capturing images in low light even with night mode on if you don't use the LED flash. 
 
<img alt="LG-Optimus-G-Pro-camsample3.jpg" class="mt-image-center" height="476" src="http://cdn.ndtv.com/tech/images/LG-Optimus-G-Pro-camsample3.jpg" style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 20px; outline: none; text-align: center;" width="635" />The phone's rear camera also takes good quality videos, and the anti-shaking feature works as promised, unless you shake the phone vigorously. The video recording mode also offers the ability to pause recordings. 
 
The Optimus G Pro features a 2.1-megapixel front facing camera that can be used for self clicks and for video chats. We found videos captured indoors through this camera were a bit grainy. 
 
Performance/Battery Life 
The LG Optimus G Pro is powered by a 1.7GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 600 quad-core processor with 2GB RAM onboard, and an Adreno 320 chip (400 MHz) for processing graphics. There is 16GB of internal storage, out of which 10.5GB is available to the user. The phone also offers a microSD card slot for expanding storage up to 64GB.  
 
With Android 4.1.2 Jelly Bean, the overall experience of navigation through the interface was extremely impressive, thanks to Project Butter and all the power under the hood. We did not experience any lag at all while launching apps, scrolling web pages or switching between apps. At times we did experience some stutter while unlocking the screen but that's more likely to be due to all the fancy interface effects LG has added to the UI layer. 
 
Gaming experience was pretty good with games like Temple Run 2, Subway Surfers and Asphalt 7 running without any hiccups. 
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We were able to run all video formats including AVI and MOV through the native video player, though we experienced some issues with audio while playing an MKV format video. This was easily fixed by downloading a third-party video player. The phone plays full-HD videos without a hitch. The speaker on the phone delivers good quality sound at high volume levels but sound gets muffled when the phone lies on its back as the speaker is located on that side. The phone also supports Dolby audio when you plug-in the headphones, which offers a much richer sound.  
 
Unfortunately, the phone doesn't include FM radio functionality, similar to the Samsung Galaxy S4. 
 
The Optimus G Pro offers Chrome in addition to the default browser. The default browser does not feature Adobe flash for viewing Flash content.  
 
Call quality was good and we were able to get cellular signals even in low signal areas.  
 
The phone comes with a 3140mAh battery, and in our usage, it lasted us a full day with medium usage, including 1-1.5 hours of phone calls, two e-mail accounts with push notifications, playing some music, Twitter notifications and WhatsApp chats. 
 
It's worth pointing out that we had turned off Wi-Fi and auto-brightness, and the phone was hooked to a 3G network with the screen brightness at the highest level. Altering these settings might help in running the phone for a longer duration, depending on your usage pattern. The phone also offers a Power Saver mode to optimise processor control to (theoretically) extend battery life. 
 
The phone also includes NFC capabilities, and we were able to transfer and receive files through Android Beam, which combines Bluetooth and NFC for sharing data. The phone also allows you to transfer files to other devices through Wi-Fi without being on the same Wi-Fi network.  
 
Verdict 
The LG Optimus G Pro is one of the best big screen phones available at this point in time. Leaving minor niggles, the phone offers a combination of good build, great software features and high-end hardware under the hood. However, at a price of Rs. 42,500 it faces tough competition from flagships like the <a href="http://gadgets.ndtv.com/samsung-galaxy-s4-542" style="color: #4e4e4e; outline: none;">Samsung Galaxy S4</a> and the <a href="http://gadgets.ndtv.com/htc-one-37" style="color: #4e4e4e; outline: none;">HTC One</a>. The only visible advantage that it offers over them is the bigger screen size. 
 
If you're looking for a premium full-HD screen smartphone and don't want to wait for the next Galaxy Note (which is likely still more than a month away), we have no qualms in recommending this phone. If screen size is not a major consideration, you can look at the HTC One, Samsung Galaxy S4 and the iPhone 5. 
 
 <a href="http://www.ndtv.com/photos/gadgets/lg-optimus-g-pro-15539" style="color: #4e4e4e; outline: none;"><img src="http://drop.ndtv.com/albums/GADGETS/lg-optimus-g-pro-02/lg-optimus-g-pro-start-screen-gallery-thumb_253x190.jpg" style="border: none; outline: none;" /> LG Optimus G Pro</a> 
 
Price: Rs. 42,500 
 
Pros 
<ul style="color: #4e4e4e; outline: none;">
<li style="outline: none;">Good build quality</li>
<li style="outline: none;">Good performance</li>
<li style="outline: none;">Decent battery back-up</li>
</ul>
 
Cons 
<ul style="color: #4e4e4e; outline: none;">
<li style="outline: none;">Camera could have been better</li>
<li style="outline: none;">Price</li>
</ul>
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LG optimus G pro Review

Almost five months after launching the phone globally, LG has finally brought the Optimus G Pro to the Indian shores. Successor to t...

Samsung Galaxy Mega 5.8 Review

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Samsung has been at the forefront when it comes to experimenting with different screen sizes for its devices. It ushered the 'phablet' segment with the launch of the galaxy note following it up with the Galaxy Note II. It even started offering voice calling with some of its Galaxy Tab tablets, which attained popularity due to the same reason, even though a number of tech evangelists and experts panned it for its unwieldy devices.</div>
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 With the Mega series, Samsung appears to be taking a step further by bringing a near-tablet sized display to a phone, but giving the device a more phone-like feel. What's interesting here is that unlike the flagship Note series, the Mega devices are targeted at the mid-range segment, as an evolution of the Galaxy Grand, Samsung's large screen offering. The phone also brings a new version of Samsung's software layer which was first seen in the Galaxy S4, and even includes a number of features from the flagship. So is the Mega 5.8 the ultimate mid-range phablet device available in the market? We try to find out in our review. Build/ Design As the phone's name suggests, the galaxy mega 5.8 is one big phone. In terms of design, it doesn't bring anything new to the table. To be honest, Samsung's designs are getting repetitive and boring. The Mega 5.8 brings with it the same design that we've seen on the Galaxy S III, Galaxy S4, the Note II and even on some mid-range offerings like the Galaxy Grand.  
 
Similar to the other Galaxy siblings, even the Mega 5.8 is built from polycarbonate (read plastic) materials. Having said that, the phone boasts of decent build quality and we didn't notice any wobbles or creaks. 
 
The phone comes in Black and White colour variants and we had a White phone as our review unit. 
 
The front of the phone is dominated by its 5.8-inch display. The physical Home button and capacitive touch buttons for Menu and Back, are placed below the display. The earpiece grill, sensor array and the front facing camera lens are located above the display. There's a big bezel on the sides, and the front sports a diamond pattern texture. 
 
The phone's front panel is surrounded by a chrome frame, which gives a premium feel to the otherwise staid form factor. 
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You'll see a power button on the right side of the phone, a volume rocker on the left, a 3.5mm headset jack on the top and a Micro-USB port at the bottom. We like the fact that Samsung has placed the power button on the side and not on the top, in line with other large screen phones.  
 
The back of the phone features the 8-megapixel-camera lens, with the LED flash and the speaker outlet right next to it. The camera lens protrudes out a bit and is surrounded by a chrome ring.  
 
The back also features the same pseudo diamond texture finish on the glossy plastic surface that attracts a lot of fingerprints. There's some Samsung branding below the camera. 
 
The back cover is removable and hides the two Micro-SIM card slots, microSD card slot, and battery.  
 
Display 
The Samsung Galaxy Mega 5.8 sports a 5.8-inch TFT screen with qHD (540x960 pixels) resolution with pixel density of 190PPI. Samsung has cut corners when it comes to the phone's display in an attempt to reduce costs, and it clearly shows. The display's low resolution is much more prominent due to the phone's big screen. Images and videos don't look very sharp. In fact they often looked pixelated and washed out.   
 
However, the display was not very reflective and under sun visibility was good. The viewing angles on the phone are also decent though we did notice that at times colours appear a little different from certain angles. 
 
Compared to the Galaxy S III, colours appeared to be less vibrant but that's also partly because of the Galaxy S III sporting a Super AMOLED screen which is known for over-saturated colours. 
 
Software/ User Interface 
The Samsung Galaxy Mega 5.8 runs Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean, the latest iteration of the OS and TouchWiz Nature UX, Samsung's own UI that includes custom apps in addition to a skinned interface. 
 
While some people prefer stock Android to any kind of skinning, Samsung's TouchWiz UI has been panned for employing big, glossy and cartoon-like icons and menus. The intent might be to make the UI user-friendly, but it ends up looking anything but pleasant. 
 
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With Android 4.2, the phone gets lock screen widgets. Although these are not enabled by default, users can place select third party widgets, in addition to a choice between access to their favourite apps and camera. Users can also enable lock screen shortcuts that allow them to unlock directly into their respective apps. The phone offers a choice between the familiar Ripple effect and the new Light effect for the unlock animation. 
 
The phone offers up to seven home screens that can be populated with widgets and app shortcuts or folders. The pinch-in gesture lets you add or remove home screens.  
 
The app plus widgets drawer lets you arrange app shortcuts as per your own preference or alphabetically.  
 
The drop down notification tray features a settings shortcut and a clear all notifications button, along with expandable notifications (expanded with the two finger pull gesture). Toggles for 14 settings are also located on the tray - which makes it look rather silly albeit very convenient - and you can choose to scroll through them horizontally or expand to get a grid of all the settings on one screen. 
 
One can navigate the phone through the Back and Menu capacitive touch buttons and the Home physical key. The Home button on long press takes you to the app switcher and you can fire up the task manager, kill all apps or access Google now through the shortcuts offered with the task switcher. Double pressing the Home key launches S-Voice, Samsung's voice assistant. Long pressing the Menu key also launches Google Now    . 
 
Samsung also offers some of its pre-loaded apps including S Planner, Voice Recorder, ChatOn messaging app, Samsung Apps app store, Samsung Hub content store, Paper Artist, Samsung Link for transferring and syncing content to other devices via cloud services like Dropbox, S Translator, S Memo, Story Album and Group Play.  
 
The S Translator supports speech to text and text-to-text translation for English, French, German, Chinese, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, Japanese and Korean. 
 
In our usage we found that Samsung's voice assistant app, S Voice, works well with Indian accents and offers good functionality. 
 
The Group Play feature allows you to create groups and share and instantly view or play documents, music files, photos, and other content to other compatible handsets through Wi-Fi Direct. All phones need to be connected to a mobile Wi-Fi hotspot which is created on the device where the group is created. The service also works with NFC but the Mega 5.8 doesn't offer NFC connectivity. 
 
<img alt="samsung-galaxy-mega5.8-ui2.jpg" class="mt-image-center" height="373" src="http://cdn.ndtv.com/tech/images/samsung-galaxy-mega5.8-ui2.jpg" style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 20px; outline: none; text-align: center;" width="635" />The Mega 5.8 brings a large number of software features seen on the Samsung Galaxy S4 to an economy price point. However, it misses on some 'smart' (and gimmicky) features including motion and hand gesture driven controls such as Air gestures that allow users to browse content and control the phone without touching it. It only offers the Smart Stay smart screen feature which keeps the screen on as long as you're looking at it, dropping smart pause and smart scroll. It does include Motion gestures including the one that allows you to tilt your phone to zoom in while looking at an image or turn over the phone to mute while receiving a call.  
 
The Galaxy Mega 5.8 also doesn't include voice commands which were present in the Galaxy S4, though you can set a voice command to unlock the phone from the lock-screen. 
 
The phone also offers multi-window and pop-up play modes for switching between apps and using more than one app at the same time time, similar to the Galaxy Note and Galaxy S4 phones. It also features options for one-handed operations letting users position the keypad and in-call buttons, calculator and screen unlock pattern on the left or right side, as per their convenience. 
 
Camera 
The Galaxy Mega 5.8 features an 8-megapixel rear camera that takes good quality shots in day light and artificial light. 
 
<img alt="samsung-galaxy-mega5.8-cam1.jpg" class="mt-image-center" height="472" src="http://cdn.ndtv.com/tech/images/samsung-galaxy-mega5.8-cam1.jpg" style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 20px; outline: none; text-align: center;" width="635" />We found that pictures clicked with the phone had decent amount of detail and looked very close to life with accurate colour reproduction. 
 
However, low-light shots did not come out that well. Also, as the amount of light decreases you'll find that indoor shots start getting grainy.  
 
The camera features shooting modes such as Best face that allows selecting the best face shot in group photos, Continuous mode that takes 3 continuous shots per second, Panorama mode, Sports mode to take pictures of fast moving objects,and Sound & Shot mode that adds a few seconds of audio with images. 
 
The camera doesn't come with all features of the Galaxy S4 and also doesn't include HDR mode. 
 
Performance/ Battery Life 
The Samsung Galaxy Mega 5.8 is powered by a 1.4GHz dual-core Broadcom processor. It has 1.5GB RAM, and a Broadcom VideoCore IV chip for processing graphics. Our review unit had 8GB of expandable internal storage out of which 5.34GB was available for our use. 
 
With Android 4.2 Jelly Bean, the overall experience of navigation through the interface was decent. However, we did experience occasional lag. For instance, launching the camera app and getting back to the home screen was a bit jerky. Similarly, if you're using some graphics heavy widgets, you'll find that they'll reload once you exit an app. At times, we also noticed minor lag in the form of dropped frames while playing games when we were running a few apps in the background. While most casual games including Temple Run 2 and Subway Surfers run fine, graphics heavy games like Asphalt 7 and Shadow Gun at times drop frames. 
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Other than that, we did not face issues while scrolling web pages or switching between apps.  
 
The Galaxy Mega 5.8 offers Chrome in addition to the default browser. The default browser does not offer Adobe flash. It also offers a reader mode for reading text heavy web pages.  
 
We were able to play full-HD clips, though some formats including .MOV, were not supported natively (this was easily fixed by the use of third party apps). The native video player also supports sub-title files and even lets you set a timer to turn off video, in case you like to fall asleep while watching a movie. 
 
The speaker outlet on the phone delivers good quality sound at average volume levels. 
 
Call quality was great and the phone is able to latch on to cellular networks even in weak signal areas. The Mega 5.8 is a dual-SIM phone and supports dual-active mode. You can choose to forward calls from one SIM to the other when the latter is in use. We tested this functionality and found that it worked as promised. You can set one SIM card as the data SIM and use the other one solely for calls. 
 
The phone also offers FM radio functionality with support for recording. 
 
The Samsung Galaxy Mega 5.8 comes with a 2600mAh battery, and in our usage, it lasted us a full workday. We charged the phone in the morning (at around 9am), and with medium to heavy usage, including 1-1.5 hours of phone calls, two email accounts with push notifications, playing some music, taking some photographs, Twitter notifications and WhatsApp chats, the phone lasted a good 10-11 hours. It's worth pointing out that we had turned off Wi-Fi and auto-brightness, and the phone was hooked to a 3G network with the screen brightness at the highest level. Altering these settings might help in running the phone for a longer duration, depending on your usage pattern.  
 
Verdict 
The Galaxy Mega 5.8 is a great large screen phone at this price point. Having said that, we wish it included a better screen as that's actually what one looks for when buying a phablet. Although multimedia content and text looks decent, it's not really pleasing to the eye.  
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Other than that, we also feel that the phone is a little under-powered but then at this price point, you can't expect a power-horse. Also, Samsung's TouchWiz UI is partly responsible for making the software experience bloated. 
 
We'd recommend this phone over the <a href="http://gadgets.ndtv.com/samsung-galaxy-grand-534" style="color: #4e4e4e; outline: none;">Galaxy Grand</a>, but if you can shell out more and want a big screen, you should go for the <a href="http://gadgets.ndtv.com/samsung-galaxy-note%20ii-538" style="color: #4e4e4e; outline: none;">Note II</a>. If you don't require a big screen phone, you'd be better off with last year's flagships including the <a href="http://gadgets.ndtv.com/samsung-galaxy-s%20iii-555" style="color: #4e4e4e; outline: none;">Galaxy S III</a> and <a href="http://gadgets.ndtv.com/htc-one-x+-41" style="color: #4e4e4e; outline: none;">HTC One X+</a>. 
 
Price: Rs.25,100  </div>
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Samsung Galaxy Mega 5.8 Review

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