Close to a month ago I did a review on a Ninetology phone vs a Samsung phone, and recently I did another review on phones made by the same companies. This time is more like a battle of the giants!
Ninetology U9 Z1 is the largest Android smartphone made by Ninetology to-date with 5.7 inch screen. One the other side of the ring is the Samsung Galaxy Mega with it's huge 6.3 inch screen. Both of these phones can be in the phablet category but the Z1 can still considered as a smartphone rather than a phablet.
As how I did the last time, I split the usage between the two phones as 3 days each. Both phones are good. The Z1 feels solid and the size is still manageable but the Galaxy Mega is too big for me to handle in one hand. Let's check out the brief specifications for both phones.
Ninetology U9 Z1
- Platform Chipset: MediaTek MT6589 Cortex-A7 CPU: Quad-core 1.2GHz GPU: PowerVR SGX544
- Operating System Android 4.2.1 Jelly Bean
- Memory Internal: 16GB ROM with 1GB RAM External: MicroSD Up to 64GB
- Display Size: 5.7 inch Resolution: 720 x 1280 HD Corning Gorilla Glass 2, Capacitive multi touch point, IPS Touch Screen.
- Camera Rear Camera: 12 MP Front Camera: 5 MP
- Camera Features f2.2 Aperture, 2nd Generation BSI, HDR, Zero Shutter Delay, Panorama shooting, Face Detection, Fast Burst Shot, HD video recording (Video Effect)
- Connectivity Dual SIM support on GSM/HSDPA network.
If you look at the spec above, one thing that stands out is the camera. Front camera is 5 megapixel. Where can you find that in any other phones? That I like.
For a large phone, we need a large box. Ninetology's standard sized box is suitable for this matter.
I really like the aluminium finish for the back cover of the Z1. It really gives that premium feel when handing this phone. To insert the SIM card(s), I just have to pop out the small cover at the rear top side of the phone. Simple as that. The battery cannot be removed though.
Inside the box, you will also get a plastic back casing and also a flip casing. This is good because you won't have to drive around town to look for a flip cover for this phone. Ninetology not only give you one, but two types of covers. Nice.
Samsung Galaxy Mega 6.3
- Platform Chipset: Qualcomm MSM8930 Snapdragon 400 CPU: Dual-core 1.7 GHz Krait GPU: Adreno 305
- Operating System Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean with TouchWiz UI
- Memory Internal: 8GB ROM (5GB user available) with 1.5GB RAM External: MicroSD Up to 64GB
- Display Size: 6.3 inch Resolution: 720 x 1280 SC-LCD Capacitive touchscreen 233ppi
- Camera Rear Camera: 8 MP Front Camera: 1.9 MP
- Camera Features 3264 x 2448 pixels, autofocus, LED flash, Geo-tagging, touch focus, face detection, HDR, panorama.
The Mega has 1.5GB of RAM. Trust me, that extra 0.5GB of RAM really helps, especially when the Mega only runs on dual core 1.7 GHz CPU.
I like the fact that Samsung is keeping everything so compact. A huge phone like the Mega can fit into a relatively small box.
The Mega is so huge to hold. But yet it is not too big that it is difficult to type on the keyboard. But someone with small hands such as the ladies may have a problem handling this phone from time to time.
For such a small box, Samsung can still managed to cramp all these stuffs inside it. Everything in the box is pretty standard, charger, manuals and handsfree kit/earphone.
User Interface
Both the Z1 and the Mega are running on Android 4.2 Jelly Bean. However, both are different in terms of UI (user interface). Samsung is using their standard TouchWiz UI while the Z1 is using the standard Android Vanilla interface. Both has its pros and cons. TouchWiz comes with lots of bundled "bloatware" in its system while the standard Android Vanilla is clean from any bloatwares.
Here are some screenshots of the UI for both phones.
Ninetology U9 Z1
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Samsung Galaxy Mega
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The clarity of the display for both phones are good. I personally think that both are equally good. But the Mega has a little bit more punchy and vibrant colour compared to the Z1. Still, I think both are on par with each other.
Let's take a look at the performance.
As I showed earlier, the Z1 is powered by a 1.2 GHz quad core CPU while the Mega is powered by a 1.7 GHz dual core CPU. But the Mega has about 512MB of extra RAM than the Z1. And I said earlier that the extra 0.5 GB of RAM does make a lot of difference.
Again, I used Antutu for this simple overall benchmark test.
Ninetology U9 Z1
The result for the Z1 is as above. The Z1 surpassed the Samsung Galaxy S2 but fell short against the HTC One X. However, while playing games on the Z1, it does not lag or slowed down at all. The performance for the games that I played are good. I installed two games on the Z1, Plants vs Zombie 2 and Badland. Both ran very well with no obvious lag.
Samsung Galaxy Mega 6.3
Surprised? A dual core powered smartphone beating a quad core smartphone. All thanks to the extra 0.5 GB RAM in the system. Not only that, apparently the Snapdragon inside the Mega is very stable and responsive. The result - just a tad slower than the awesome Sony Xperia Z and the Note 2, and beating the Google Nexus 10. So if you're looking for an alternative mega powered smartphone that won't burn a hole in your pocket, the Mega is a good option.
But of course I can't make a direct comparison for this. Both are powered by totally different chipsets. If you're looking for a mid-range large screen smartphone that is easy to use and has all the essentials of a phablet, the Z1 is a good buy. The Z1 is stable, running with less heat than the Mega. The screen is protected by Corning Gorilla Glass 2, so you won't have to worry about any accidental scratches.
Let's see some sample photos ->
Now, the final comparison that everyone is looking forward to, the photo quality.
The Z1's main shooter is 12 megapixels while the Mega's main shooter is 8 megapixels. However, the Z1's front camera is 5 megapixels, making it the most megapixel count among any mid-range smartphones. But, there's no autofocus on the front camera. Sad.
Sample Photos
This photo was taken during low light at about 7:20pm, just before it gets dark. I stood at the same place while avoiding incoming cars to take these two sample shots. In low light, the Mega performs better and the colour reading is spot on. But the Z1 tends to lose the colour balance and showing the extra tinge of red to the photo. Conclusion, the Mega is the obvious winner for this outdoor low light photo.
Moving indoors, the Mega still get the colour balance correct as compared to the Z1, still with slightly tinge of red but better result. The clarity on both phones are good. Pictures taken with the Mega is sharp while the picture taken with the Z1 is smooth.
Another indoor shot. Here's a surprise. Now in this lighting, the Mega tends to gain the yellow tinge in its picture. And now the Z1 produced a spot on colour balance reading. So with this, I made a conclusion. The Mega is good while taking an outdoor low light shots while the Z1 produced an excellent picture quality when there are good lights around. Outdoors during the day should be no problem with the Z1.
Conclusion
Both phones has its own pros and cons. I like the Mega because it's huge. When I used back my own phone after using the Mega, I felt like I'm using a tiny screened phone. The Mega really packs a punch as a gaming smartphone. With the large 6.3 inch screen, playing games on it is really fun.
As for the Z1, the look of the phone is really slick. The aluminium finish on the back cover really made the phone looked expensive. The size to me is just nice. Not too big and not too small. As for gaming, it handled quite well and I didn't feel any heat from it even after a long run.
The RRP price for the Samsung Galaxy Mega is about RM1,599 while the Ninetology U9 Z1 is selling at RM1,199. As a mid-range smartphone, the Z1 is a good buy. Large display, screen quality is good and the camera is fairly good as well. If only the RAM is higher, then I would buy one for myself.
What I like about the Z1
- Sleek design
- Easy to hold despite the size
- Clear display
- Dual SIM capability
- Comes with two casings
- Stable without any forced close issues
What I don't like about the Z1
- Camera can be better
- Non removable battery
- RAM is too low by today's standard
- 1.2 GHz for CPU is too low for the size
What I like about the Mega
- Large screen, best for gaming
- Camera quality is good
- Long lasting battery
- Display is clear
What I don't like about the Mega
- Too big for my jeans pocket
- Quad core would be better
- Back cover is a fingerprint magnet
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