Samsung Unveils Rugged Galaxy XCover7 Pro And Tab Active5 Pro For Frontline Workers
If you fancy yourself a ruggedized Samsung Galaxy smartphone, look no further than the latest Galaxy XCover 7 Pro. It's been three years since the last model, so the new one sports some nice upgrades like a Qualcomm Snapdragon 7s Gen 3 chip (along with some prerequisite AI capabilities), increased battery capacity, and seven years of OS and security updates. At the same time, Samsung has also introduced its latest ruggedized tablet—the Galaxy Tab Active5 Pro, which adds the same processor, a nicer screen, plus eight years of software and security updates.
As kind of the spiritual successor to the beloved (but short-lived) Samsung Active series, XCover phones have proven themselves to be a fantastic enterprise-ready smartphones that can take a beating. While they never have the best specs—Samsung says that XCovers slot between the A- and S-series in terms of hardware—the phones are built to last.
This week, Samsung launched the XCover7 Pro that brings some welcomed upgrades over the three-year old XCover6. Inside, the XCover7 Pro now rocks a Snapdragon 7s Gen 3 (the same processor used in the Nothing Phone 3(a) series) paired with 6GB RAM and 128GB internal storage (upgradeable to 2TB via microSD). The battery has been bumped up from the XCover6 Pro's 4,050mAh to 4,300mAh. Sadly, Samsung has charging power locked at a glacial slow 15 watts, although on the plus side, the battery IS replaceable.Neat!
Even though the display has been upgrade with a 120Hz refresh rate, the panel is decidedly low-rent: 6.6-inch FHD+ LCD with 500 nits of brightness. At least it's protected by a layer of Gorilla Glass Victus Plus. The camera package consists of a 50-megapixel wide and 8MP ultrawide in the rear, plus a 13MP selfie in the front.
There's 5G/Wi-Fi 6E support, along with eSIM and NFC. The previous gen's dual programmable physical keys (located at the top and side of the device) are back. They can be assigned to launch apps, launch the camera, activate push-to-talk, etc.
Aside from the XCover7 Pro, Samsung also announced a similarly rugged Galaxy Tab Active5 Pro tablet. Both get MIL-STD-810H certification, IP68 dust-water resistance, durable materials, screens that can register touch through gloves up to 2mm thick, and plenty of high-grip surfaces. For the tablet, there's S Pen for inputting data, NFC at the front that works great for mobile payments, a larger 10,100mAh hot-swappable battery, and even a No Battery Mode that allows the tablet to be situated for kiosks or workstation duties.
The Samsung XCover7 Pro will be available starting May 8, while the Galaxy Tab Active5 Pro arrives in June. Prices will be announced at a later date.
