Samsung Galaxy Mega 5.8 vs Samsung Galaxy Note II

Introduction:

The Samsung Galaxy Mega 5.8 and the Samsung Galaxy Note II have a lot in common, don't they? Both are massive, feature-rich smartphones that are made for multimedia consumption and large-screen entertainment. Both have Android running on them enhanced by Samsung with a dose of minor and major software tricks. But putting their specs sheets side by side shows that the Note II is superior to the Mega 5.8 in a number of ways. Does that translate into a better user experience in real life? Well, that's what we're here to find out, so let's fire up these behemoths and see which one's better!

Design:

All of Samsung's recent smartphones follow the same design principles, which is why the Galaxy Mega 5.8 and the Galaxy Note II look so similar to each other. The bodies of both are made of glossy plastic, with curved corners and a silvery trim around the sides. Given the materials used in their construction, neither of these two smartphones feels like a truly premium device, although they are solid and definitely well made.

The Samsung Galaxy Note II has the advantage of being physically smaller than the Mega 5.8, meaning that it is marginally easier to carry around, be it in a bag or in a large pocket. Neither of them is usable with a single hand, of course, but the Galaxy Note II, being less narrow, is more comfortable to get a hold of. In addition, the physical buttons on the latter are easier to reach.



Display:

It doesn't take a trained eye to notice that the Samsung Galaxy Note II has the better screen. Sure, at 5.5 inches it is slightly smaller than the 5.8-inch panel on the Galaxy Mega, but a difference like this is negligible. What truly makes the Super AMOLED display on the Note II stand out is the higher resolution and pixel density – 720 by 1280 pixels (256ppi) versus 540 by 960 pixels (190ppi) for the Mega and its LCD touchscreen. As a result, everything looks much better on the Samsung Galaxy Note II – from videos, photos and games, to web pages and their paragraphs of text. On top of that, the Samsung Galaxy Mega 5.8 and its screen fall behind in terms of color accuracy and viewing angles. We absolutely must point, however, that the Mega 5.8 is actually more usable under broad daylight than the Note II. The difference isn't tremendous by any means, but it definitely counts as an advantage for the Mega in our book.




Interface:

One of the few advantages that the Samsung Galaxy Mega 5.8 has over the Galaxy Note II is that it comes with a more recent OS version – Android 4.2.2 for the former vs Android 4.1.2 for the latter. The differences between the two, however, are mostly minor. In fact, both smartphones offer a very similar feature set since they come with Samsung's TouchWiz custom UI. Regardless of which one you pick, you'll get extras exclusive to Samsung devices, such as Smart Stay, S Voice, Multi Window, and more.



Yet the Samsung Galaxy Note II, has a trick up its sleeve called S Pen. This advanced stylus optimized for touchscreen use makes taking hand-drawn notes much easier, especially since it is sensitive to pressure. On top of that, the accessory lets you preview photos in the gallery and events in the calendar by just hovering over the item. Overall, the S Pen can come in handy in a number of situations, and having it on a device with a screen so large makes a lot of sense.

Processor and memory:

When it comes to raw processing power, the Samsung Galaxy Note II is superior both on paper and in real life. While it has a 1.6GHz quad-core Exynos SoC, the Samsung Galaxy Mega 5.8 relies solely on a dual-core Broadcom chip ticking at 1.4GHz. As a result, not only is the Galaxy Note II capable of getting much higher scores on synthetic benchmarks, but it also feels more responsive, especially when it has 2GB of RAM for studder-free multitasking. The Samsung Galaxy Mega 5.8 is not slow by any means, but it drops frames sometimes and might lag when switching between apps even though it has 1.5GB of RAM. When it comes to gaming, both smartphones can handle casual and advanced 3D games, although the Note II gets better framerates.

	Quadrant Standard	AnTuTu	GLBenchmark 2.5 (Egypt HD)	Vellamo (HTML5 / Metal)
Samsung Galaxy Mega 5.8	3856	7999	2026	FAIL / 386
Samsung Galaxy Note II	5806	18295

Storage space is very limited on the Samsung Galaxy Mega 5.8 as only 3.6 gigs are available to the user out of the box. The Note II, on the other hand, offers over 10 gigabytes of native storage, which is a lot more acceptable. Thankfully, both smartphones come with microSD cards for storage expansion and are bundled with 50GB of free Dropbox storage for 2 years.

Web browser:

As a rule of thumb, the bigger the screen is on a given device, the more comfortable it is to surf the web on it. This, however, does not apply in this case, and the reason for that is the low resolution of the Mega 5.8's display. Not that the experience with the Mega is seriously underwhelming, but it is just that we have to zoom in on pages a bit more often than we'd like to. With the Samsung Galaxy Note II, on the other hand, text is a lot more legible even at small font sizes. In terms of performance, the browsers on both smartphones are very fluid and responsive.




Camera:

An 8MP camera with auto-focus and LED flash – that is what each of these two smartphones has to offer. And to tell you the truth, we can't pick a clear winner in this category as both snappers are capable of taking really good photos given the right circumstances. Their daytime shots are very detailed and have a low amount of digital noise. Same can be said about the 1080p videos taken with these two handsets. We must highlight that the Galaxy Note II has the slight advantage of having more features packed in the camera interface.





Samsung Galaxy Mega 5.8 Sample Video:



Samsung Galaxy Note II Sample Video:



Samsung Galaxy Mega 5.8 Indoor Sample Video:



Samsung Galaxy Note II Indoor Sample Video:



Multimedia:

The Samsung Galaxy Mega 5.8 and the Galaxy Note II both come with the same music player application out of the box – packed with features like an equalizer, audio effects, home screen widget with album art, and support for all kinds of audio file formats. The only difference is that the Mega 5.8 has a lock screen widget as well, allowing one to control the music's playback without even having to unlock the smartphone.



Watching 1080p videos on either of these smartphones is a pleasure as they both come with huge, spacious screens, but the Galaxy Note II is a lot more fitting for the job. Again, that's because its display has a higher resolution, meaning that videos are noticeably more detailed on it. Besides, the Note II can play DivX videos as well.

Call quality:

Phone calls made with either of these devices sound very good, but the Note II beats the Mega 5.8 by a hair with its better-sounding earpiece. Their microphones perform great as well, delivering clean, undistorted sound to the other end of the line.

Battery:

While the Samsung Galaxy Mega 5.8 comes with a massive, 2600mAh battery, the cell in the Note II is even bigger, with a capacity of 3100mAh. Both smartphones have battery life that is well above average and will last through at least a full day of moderate usage.

Conclusion:

It goes without saying that the Samsung Galaxy Note II beats the Galaxy Mega 5.8 by a mile. The former is a high-end handset after all, while the latter is positioned in the mid-range tier. Unsurprisingly, the Note II delivers a much better user experience since it is faster, easier to operate, and outfitted with a screen of higher quality. On top of that, you get the S Pen digital stylus for doodling and taking down quick notes.

The Samsung Galaxy Mega 5.8, on the other hand, is inferior in a number of aspects, although it is still a decent device with very few alternatives. We must note that it is very similar to the Note II in terms of software, and it has a pretty capable camera as well. But what's likely to be the biggest advantage of the Galaxy Mega 5.8 over the Galaxy Note II (and many smartphones of 5-inches and beyond, for that matter) is that it will be cheaper once it is on the market, although we can't yet say by how much. Still, if pricing is not an issue, going with the Samsung Galaxy Note II instead would be a better choice.

Samsung Galaxy Mega 5.8 vs Samsung Galaxy Note II Video Comparison: