14 DAY TRIAL // When two popular series meet, devices like the new Galaxy Xcover from Samsung land in users' hands, bringing along the best of two worlds.
The Galaxy Xcover, unveiled in early August, brings along the ruggedness that all Xcover handsets from the South Korean mobile phone maker include, complemented by the capabilities that Galaxy smartphones include.
The mobile phone runs under Google's Android 2.3 Gingerbread operating system, sports a touch design, and made an appearance on the floor at the IFA 2011 show in Berlin, where Softpedia had the chance to put hands on it.
The new device is certified by IP67 standard, and can withstand harsh environmental conditions, including dust, accidental drops and one-meter water for up to 30 minutes.
But toughness is only one aspect of the new smartphone, as Samsung also packed it with features and capabilities that are present on other Android devices from the company too.
The handset sports a 3.65-inch touchscreen display that can deliver a 320 x 480 pixels resolution, a Gorilla Glass display with scratch-resistant tempered glass.
It is powered by an 800MHz application processor complemented by 512 MB of RAM and 150 MB of internal memory, which can be expanded by up to 32GB of additional storage space via a microSD memory card slot.
Samsung also packed the Galaxy Xcover with HSDPA 7.2 Mbps / HSUPA 5.76 Mbps connectivity, as well as with Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n and Bluetooth capabilities, and with Wi-Fi hotspot features, in addition to a microUSB port and built-in GPS receiver with A-GPS support.
On the back, the new mobile phone sports a 3.2-megapixel photo snapper with LED flash and support for video recording and geo-tagging. The new device is powered by a standard Li-Ion battery, measures 122 x 66 x 12 mm and weighs in at 116 grams.
It also sports the Samsung TouchWiz UI on top of that Android Gingerbread OS flavor that Samsung loaded on it, and can deliver access to various applications and games available for download via the Android Market, as well as support for Google Mobile Services.
Note: Fellow editors Cosmin Vasile and Sorin Nita are on the floor at the 2011 IFA Show and are keeping us posted with pictures and live reports on the latest product previews and launches.
