14 DAY TRIAL // Back in March, we told you we had indications that Samsung might have a rugged smartphone in the works called the Galaxy Xcover 3.
A few months went by and we failed to hear anything else related to the fate of the sturdy smartphone. In the meanwhile, Samsung and AT&T had a chance to launch the Galaxy S6 Active, which is also a handset designed to cater to the needs of demanding professionals. But there’s a caveat, the Galaxy S6 Active is highly expensive, as it is sold for a premium $649 / €580 off-contract.
Well, if you have been craving a rugged phone but you don’t have this kind of cash at your disposal, you might be interested to know that the Samsung Galaxy Xcover 3 has been made available for purchase in the US via Amazon for almost half the price, meaning $300 / €267, in its unlocked form.
Samsung Galaxy Xcover 3 is not stellar in terms of specs
For this amount of cash, Samsung will ship you an MIL-STD 810G-certified smartphone that’s both dust- and water-resistant (IP67 certified). The phone bundles a 4.5-inch display with 480 x 800 pixel resolution and nestles a quad-core Marvell Armada PXA1908 processor under the hood, working in combination with 1.5GB of RAM and 8GB of internal storage.
The phone arrives with Android 4.4 KitKat out of the box, and Samsung might even want to update it to Android 5.0 Lollipop, although its specs might prove to be a limitation.
Obviously, we’re not dealing with a premium device here but one from the lower-end sector. Still, the phone is very secure and can be used in risky environments without users having to worry about its safety. It’s certainly a lot cheaper than AT&T’s Galaxy S6 Active, which is also a bonus.
But bear in mind that even if the Galaxy Xcover 3 features LTE, it doesn’t offer support for the LTE networks of American carriers. However, it’s compatible with 3G bands from AT&T and T-Mobile.
The phone is a bit fatter than what we usually see on the market today, coming out with a frame of 9.95 mm / 0.35 inches. Still, Samsung did a good job and kept the weight in check, so the phone is only 154 g / 0.3 lbs heavy.
