by Large screen smartphones have become all the rage these days. This is largely thanks to the rise in popularity of Samsung’s Note series which first debuted in October 2011.
Big-Screen Alternatives to the Galaxy Note 7
The Galaxy Note 7, Samsung’s latest iteration of its incredibly popular phablet is due to go on sale in South Africa in November 2016. If you can’t wait until then for a large screen phone, or you’re feeling a bit hesitant to get one after the exploding battery issue, then here are a few locally available alternatives to the Galaxy Note 7.
1. Huawei Mate 8
Huawei’s Mate series is the Chinese company’s answer to the Note series.
The current flagship device is the Mate 8. The Mate 9 is rumoured to be unveiled in November for it’s global release. With the handset only expected to reach local shores in 2017.
The Mate 8 comes with a 6-inch full HD 1080p touchscreen display. It utilises the company’s own Kirin 950 octa-core chipset and comes with either 3GB or 4GB RAM. Depending on the configuration that you select, you get either 32GB or 64GB on-board storage which is expandable thanks to the SD card slot.
Carrying on Huawei’s tradition of great cameras, the Mate 8 has an 8MP front facing camera (which takes great selfies) and a 16MP rear-facing camera with OIS.
Due to the metal back, the battery is not removable but thanks to the 4000mAh battery, you shouldn’t need to be swapping out the battery in order to get through a day (or more) on a single charge.
Price begins at R9 848.
CLICK to find the best deal for the Huawei Mate 8.
2. LG Stylus 2
LG Stylus 2 comes with a 5.70-inch touchscreen display with a resolution of 720 pixels by 1280 pixels. It’s powered by 1.2GHz quad-core and it comes with 1.5GB of RAM. The phone has 16GB of internal storage that can be expanded via a microSD card. The LG Stylus 2 has a 13-megapixel primary camera on the rear and an 8-megapixel front shooter for selfies.
The Stylus 2 runs Android 6.0 and is powered by a 3000mAh removable battery. It also comes with a titular pen. This long, 107mm wand is incredibly slim and gives users a semi-soft rounded nib, great for jotting stuff down quickly.
Price is R3 899.
CLICK BELOW to find the best deal for the LG Stylus 2.
3. Xiaomi Mi Max
Xiaomi is a Chinese force to be reckoned with. Available in South Africa through Mobile In Africa (a division of the Core Group, the same people who bring iPhone to the country), Xiaomi is looking to make as big a splash here as they have overseas.
The Mi Max is the company’s latest, and largest, handset available in the country.
Coming in with a whopping 6.4 inch display, the Mi Max is anything but small.
It has a full HD touchscreen display and a hybrid dual-SIM slot. This means you can either have two SIM cards in it or one SIM card and an SD card.
It features a metal back and a fast fingerprint scanner and is VR ready, according to Xiaomi.
Camera-wise, it has a 16MP rear facing camera and a 5MP front facing camera.
The phone is powered by a Snapdragon 650 chipset with 3GB RAM.
All of this is kept going thanks to the massive 4850mAh battery.
Price begins at R4 699.
