Samsung brings back rugged Galaxy phones with new XCover Pro
A rugged new Galaxy designed for work.
Samsung's new XCover Pro is a rugged Galaxy designed for work.
All eyes may be on Samsung's upcoming Galaxy Unpacked event on Feb. 11, but that hasn't stopped the company from introducing new phones in the interim. After announcing the Galaxy S10 Lite and Note 10 Lite earlier this month, the South Korean giant has added a new rugged phone to its Galaxy lineup.
Called the Galaxy XCover Pro, the new phone looks like an updated version of the Galaxy S Active line from recent years. The phone is IP68 water and dust resistant and is MIL-STD 810G certified which Samsung says should provide "reliable protection against extreme altitude, humidity, and other severe environmental conditions" and support drops of up to 1.5 meters (just under five feet).
The XCover Pro has a 6.3-inch full HD Plus "infinity display" that is designed to be used in rain or snow with a cutout in the upper left corner for a 13-megapixel front camera. Around back are two rear cameras, one at 25-megapixels and F1.7 aperture and an 8-megapixel lens at F2.2.
The phone runs Android 10 and is powered by Samsung's own Exynos 9611 octa-core processor with 4GB of RAM and 64GB of built-in storage (which can be expanded through microSD).
In addition to expandable storage, the XCover Pro will also have a 4,050-mAh removable battery.
To further show that the phone means business, Samsung has worked with Microsoft to add push-to-talk walkie talkie functionality into the phone that supports Microsoft Teams and the phone can also function as a point-of-sale system having been approved for use in Visa's Tap to Phone pilot program. A fingerprint sensor is built-into the side of the phone to go along with facial recognition for extra security.
Verizon will offer the phone for $500 when it goes on sale later in the "first half of 2020."