Related Articles
The rough, tough, physically fit Samsung Galaxy S4 Active is set to make its debut here in the UK as soon as next month, according to reports.
The waterproof smart phone will go on sale on 1 July, according to anonymous sources speaking to the reliable Samsung gossip blog SamMobile. It’s certain to be among the phones on show at the Korean company’s London event on 20 June, where we’ll get our first hands-on experience.
I’m excited about the Active because unlike the miserly S4 Mini it hardly skimps on the S4’s industry-beating specs while adding that extra rock-hard durability. It has the same 1.9GHz quad-core chip, 2GB of RAM and 16GB storage as the S4 — and will surely come with the ability to install apps to the microSD card.
The only real differences are a lower resolution camera (8 megapixels down from 13) and the type of screen tech it uses, opting for LCD over AMOLED. It’s still a whopping 5-inch Full HD 1080p beast, but using LCD might mean it’s a little less vivid.
That’s not much of a price to pay for waterproofing that lets you submerge it for up to 30 minutes down to 1m. The seals also keep dust out and the slightly chunkier case — complete with manly exposed screws — should protect a little better against drops and scuffs.
The only other thing I’d like to see on a tough phone is a harder screen, maybe made of sapphire. Perhaps next year’s S5 Active will have just that.
There’s no word on prices yet — I’m expecting it to be the same as the S4, if not more expensive (see update below) — but I’ve asked Samsung if it has anything to share and will update this story when I hear back.
In the meantime, let me know what you think of the S4 Active — will you be taking it to the beach this summer? Splash around in the comments, or clamber all over our rugged Facebook page.
Update: Apparently the S4 Active will go on sale in the Netherlands for €649, according to an unconfirmed report on Telecompaper. That would shake out to about £550 — the same as the S4.
