Rugged smartphones are a niche category of mobile devices capable of withstanding environments your average model would struggle against. Samsung is a pioneer in this field, and recently, the company announced its latest tough phone – the Galaxy XCover7 Pro.
It is a 6.6-inch device “designed to meet the demands of… high-intensity work environments.” The XCover7 Pro boasts a MIL-STD-810H certified form factor, allowing it to survive “drops, extreme temperatures, and vibrations”. It even has a resistance rating of IP68, meaning the smartphone can handle brief submersion underwater and blasts of dust.
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These features are present in the previous generation, the Galaxy XCover6 Pro. What makes this upcoming model better comes down to several factors. Much like the older phone, the XCover7 Pro will have a FullHD+ display with Touch Sensitivity to increase input responsiveness even if a user is wearing leather gloves (so long as those gloves are 2mm or less thick). But it’ll have a refresh rate of up to 120Hz (not 60Hz) as well as Vision Booster.
Sunlight can make seeing a phone screen very difficult. Vision Booster enhances “screen readability”, bumping the maximum brightness up to 600 nits. Samsung also strived to improve call audio. The XCover7 Pro houses “upgraded stereo speakers” that output clearer calls at higher volumes. These same speakers come with “anti-feedback noise reduction” to minimize disruptions.
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Everything listed here runs on Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 7s Gen 3 Mobile Platform, a chipset often seen on midrange smartphones. It aims to strike a good balance by delivering fast processing speeds without being too demanding on the battery. The hardware enables support for modern AI features such as Google’s Circle to Search, Object Eraser, and Read Aloud.
Other notable features of the Galaxy XCover7 Pro include dual SIM support to hop between networks, a dual camera system led by a 50MP wide lens, plus 128GB of storage expandable up to 2TB.
Samsung revealed its rugged tablet alongside the phone: the Galaxy Tab Active5 Pro. It possesses many of the same features and hardware as the mobile device, with several differences. The Active5 Pro sports a Corning Gorilla Glass Victus+ display, providing extra protection against scratches. Regarding software, the tablet has No Battery Mode, “allowing it to function when connected to a dedicated power source” albeit at the cost of limited CPU performance.
Samsung’s Galaxy XCover7 Pro launches on May 8, while the Galaxy Tab Active5 Pro is set to be released sometime in early June. Prices for both devices have yet to be revealed.
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