Samsung Galaxy Mega: A 'Galaxy Fonblet' Spin-Off Related To the Galaxy Note 3?

The master of devices with gargantuan displays is at it again, as Samsung is reportedly set to release two devices with 5.8-inch and 6.3-inch displays in 2013, which will aptly be called the "Galaxy Mega" series.

Piggybacking off rumors from January that Samsung planned to release a media player-based smartphone called the "Galaxy Fonblet," SamMobile reports that the South Korean electronics giant has renamed it the Samsung Galaxy Mega, and it will be unveiled in the 22nd to 25th weeks of 2013, which span the end of May to mid-June.

Lots of speculation surrounds these devices, which are supposedly based on the Samsung Galaxy Player 5.8, a media player only available in South Korea that resembles the Galaxy S3; however, enthusiasts have pieced together considerable evidence that the devices are real.

Samsung notably trademarked the Galaxy Mega name in September 2012 along with the names Galaxy View and Galaxy Mega View. Android Authority proposes that Galaxy Mega View could be the name of the larger device, expected to have a 6.3-inch display. The company trademarked the name Galaxy Fonblet in December 2012, likely in an attempt to make its own version of the term “phablet,” a hybrid device with the properties of a smartphone and a tablet. We suspect Samsung eventually scrapped the Fonblet idea because it sounds just a bit corny. The Galaxy Mega easily falls into this category as the company’s other phablets, the Galaxy Note and Galaxy Note 2 have similar display sizes, at 5.3 and 5.55 inches respectively, and subsequent generations of any Samsung device only get bigger.

SamMobile learned in January that the model number for the Galaxy Fonblet was GT-I9152, which has also been reported as the code name of the 5.8-inch Galaxy Mega. The model number for the 6.3-inch Galaxy Mega is supposedly GT-I9200, which has also been reported as the code name of the Samsung Galaxy Note 3 phablet that has been expected to launch at the IFA Expo in September. A 5.9-inch display has also been suggested for that device.

Rumors get a little murky here in that these purported devices, the Galaxy Mega and Galaxy Note 3, have two different time lines, late May to mid-June and September. In addition, the model number GT-I9200 notably does not match the Galaxy Note series as those numbers tend to start with GT-N, while model numbers beginning in GT-I tend to coincide with high-end Galaxy smartphones, according to Digital Trends. The Galaxy Note, for example, has the model number N7000 and the Galaxy Note 2 has the model number N7100, while the Galaxy S4 has the model number GT-I9500. Several sources have considered that a GT-I model number on a large screen, phablet-like device could indicate that it will lack stylus functionality.

Other convincing evidence is that Samsung’s GamePad accessory that was introduced alongside the Galaxy S4 smartphone is reportedly compatible with displays up to 6.3 inches. Currently, the Galaxy Note 2 is Samsung’s largest phone, according to CNET, which leaves us to consider that a 6.3-inch device could be released in the future.

SamMobile reports that the Galaxy Mega 5.8 will only be available in white, while the Galaxy Mega 6.3 will be available in black and white. Initial reports of the Galaxy Fonblet suggested it would only be available in Europe.

Could the Galaxy Mega be a European variant and the Galaxy Note 3 a U.S. variant of the same device? International and U.S. versions of the same device do tend to have different, albeit similar model numbers. International versions also tend to be released earlier than U.S. versions. Additionally, devices do often carry different names on different carries and in different markets.

We look forward to more news on this puzzling device, as all news remains distinctly unofficial.