Update, November 17, 2020 (0:30 ET): The Samsung Galaxy XCover Pro is available now in the US for $ 509.99 from AT&T and $ 499.99 from Verizon. Check out both offers at the link below.
Samsung Galaxy XCover Pro
This is the latest in the line of rugged smartphones from Samsung. It advertises a replaceable battery, a modern design and a lot of robustness.
Original article, Jan. 8, 2020 (6:15 am ET): Samsung quietly launched a new Galaxy smartphone. Dubbed the Galaxy XCover Pro, the device is the latest addition to Samsung’s rugged smartphones. It follows the XCover 4, which was released in 2017.
In contrast to most smartphones in the XCover series, the new XCover Pro has a more modern design. It has a 6.3-inch LCD display with an aspect ratio of 20: 9 and a hole in the upper left corner. The screen can be operated with wet hands or with gloves.
The phone is powered by Samsung’s octa-core silicon Exynos 9611 with 4 GB of RAM and 64 GB of storage. It receives a 4,050mAh with 15W fast charge.
The Galaxy XCover Pro’s dual primary camera setup includes a 25-megapixel wide-angle lens and an 8-megapixel ultra-wide-angle sensor. There is a 13MP selfie snapper on the front.
The special thing about the XCover Pro is that, unlike the latest Samsung smartphones, it has a replaceable battery. That said, it’s also IP68 waterproof and dustproof, and carries US military standards certification (MIL-STD-810) for durability and ruggedness.
Also read: The best Samsung phones you can get: high-end, mid-range, and entry-level models
It has two programmable buttons that allow users to turn the flashlight on and off or create text messages with their voice. The volume buttons and the power button / fingerprint reader are separate.
Samsung also announced a partnership with Microsoft that claims the device can use these programmable buttons on Microsoft teams. This provides direct access to Teams’ new Walkie Talkie features. Samsung hopes this will help employees communicate faster in industries like retail, healthcare, logistics, and manufacturing.
The phone will run Android 10 out of the box, but it might be eligible for an Android 11 update in the future. Samsung’s Knox platform handles the security of the device.
The Samsung Galaxy XCover Pro will be available in Europe from February 2020. It is expected to cost just under 500 euros.
