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Samsung inadvertently confirmed the existence of the Samsung Galaxy S4 Active in a changelog slip-up earlier, and now the device might have broken cover in these latest leaked images. What you see above and below is said to be the rugged version of Samsung’s fastest selling phone ever. There are some interesting things to take away from this image.
Of immediate note is the bright, red chassis housing this device. We can’t tell if it’s metal (it’s rumored to have metal workings) or some other kind of material, but it doesn’t appear to be the slippery plastic that Samsung is known for.
Turning the device around, you can also notice some hardware buttons for home, back and menu arranged in Samsung’s favorite order. They’re not unlike the buttons we saw on the Samsung DROID Charge, the company’s first 4G LTE smartphone. We imagine all of the buttons had to be given the tactile treatment in order to be as rugged as this device is supposed to be.
As for how rugged it’s supposed to be, we’re still not entirely clear on that. Earlier rumors suggest the device will be engineered to at least low-grade military spec, which would be sturdy enough for mostly anyone working in the field.
Samsung will want to keep this device sleek and slim to stay true to the Galaxy S name, and we’re not sure how that sort of balance will be achieved by the company. Whatever happens, though, this is just one of many steps the company will take to break into enterprise, military and government, and if this image is an accurate representation of what’s to come then we couldn’t be more excited.
[via GSMArena]
Nexus edition anyone?
I actually prefer this over the regular S4 besides the flashy red. But now that there is a nexus s4 I assume it would be fairly easy to find this stock ROM and flash it to this phone.
I really wish they would announce these things at the same time so you could decide which one you want. The original in an Otterbox will be just fine, but bulky. This looks like it could survive with much less case. But at the same time, Verizon will probably wait another few months to approve this if they even get it at all, so not choice but to stare enviously anyway.
The phone looks better than the normal S4 but the third picture showing the benchmark shows a 1080p screen at 480dpi, that would make the display 4.5894″ which is too small for me.
What’s that piece of &%&$% hanging off it?
It’s a security device. And why must it be a PoS? LOL. For what it’s worth, it’s one of the nicer security devices I’ve seen. :)
Yeah it’s way better looking than the massive ones Best Buy uses that adhere to the front and back of the phone and make it impossible to actually demo.
Have you ever been outside? It’s how they secure phones in pretty much any store.
It’s not a security device, it’s the connection to the big external battery so the phone can last for days on a single charge.
Well, it’s both, really.
judging solely by the photo, I think we’re looking at a softish rubberized exterior to absorb impact, with weather sealing akin to the Xperia Z. Waterproof to an extent, but don’t go swimming with it… Just my estimation…
I like the soft touch plastic instead of the shiny stuff, it’s tough to scratch and feels smooth. I’ve had a motorola phone like that and never thought of putting it in a case, lasted over a year with a few drops and the thing looks good still.
“They’re not unlike the buttons we saw on the Samsung DROID Charge”… Why the double negative sentence lol… why not just write, “They’re like the buttons….”??
“like” implies a slightly closer resemblance than “not unlike”
So now samsung is afraid ppl whining about plastic?
Nice! Too bad they don’t release both versions at the same time.
Getting a Note 3 active would be kickass!
I would so buy that
The display has bigger bezels than original S4 , so it’s not the same.
That… is surprisingly cool looking.
i read that it uses s4 chips instead of the s600 snapdragon; which would make it a no go for me. Other than that, water proof phones are awesome.
this shouldve been the original
I actually like the smooth flowing form of the original. But this one is cool too.
all my friends with s3’s have had their bsck crack atleast once requiring a new cover. that back cover won’t be so smooth after a year of developing cracks hahaha
ty for proving to be a dumba$# lol
I have had my S3 since launch and it doesn’t have any cracks, scratches, etc. It has been dropped several times. I think your friends need to not abuse their highly expensive electronic devices so much. That or your exaggerating.
same here, no cracks on mine or my wife’s S3.
I hope they make a note 3 like this! Really nice looking phone.
Ya I agree this is a pretty bad-ass release from Samsung. If this ends up being the last STOCK Android GS4 released i would absolutley consider picking it up BUt I’m still hoping/waiting for the “Nexus” version of the GS4. It’s true that once you go NEXUS you never go back to waiting months for your carrier to finally decide that they’re “skin’d” up the most recent version of Android enough to send out to the masses…I just can’t do that and i WON’T do that ever again. So currenly I’m runng a ROOT’d GSM Galaxy Nexus w/ CM10.1 and I could not be ahppier with my day to day phone experiance. The only reason I’d leave my GNexus behind would be to pick up a much higher spec’d deice like the Galaxy S4. I just can’t even imagine how awesome stock JellyBean would be on the GS4, bet it’s super smooth oh and 1 last thing and let me know if anyone agrees with me; as for the 3 physical button..I actually really like seeing all 3 back on the Galaxy line. I’ve used a friend’s GS3 before I it just feels strange going back & forth between the PHYSICAL Home button and the TACTILE Menu & Back buttons. Either have all 3 physical buttons present OR 0 physial buttons…don’t try to mix it up.
If you’re rooting your phone you don’t really need to wait for a nexus device. Many non-stock devices (like the S3) have roms available that give a close to stock experience. I say close to stock because often times the rom will have a few tweaks that improve performance or usability.
No offense…. this is ugly but better than the original.
Peace
Looks like the back doesn’t come off, so maybe nonremovable battery.
Please Verizon, carry this!
will it have a removable battery ?
Probably the nicest looking rugged phone I have seen. My opinion of course.
i love htc quality inside and out and phones. but i must admit that this is the first Samsung phone
that i would buy. that is the best Samsung phone to date. all other
Samsung phones in the past are like a 99 cent calculator from the 99
cent store..
You’ve obviously never owned a Samsung phone. If you had, you’d know they are amazing devices that are very well built despite having a light polycarbonate backcover.
i had the note 2 i switched to htc, the note 2 its like 99 cent calculator the screen tan all green and it has many problems and i couldnt see anything in the sun with it and it felt super cheap in the hand and it was laggy thats why made the switch to htc. i sworse i would never buy samsung again but this is the first samsung phone i would buy it seems different it looks like they took there time on this phone you can tell
No need for a case with this phone is a huge plus but samsung really screws over their fans by releasing phones a couple months apart I’m sure a lot of people who purchased the s4 would have prefered this one or atleast had the choice to. Samsung should stop flooding the market with “Galaxy” devices and leave the name only for the sseries and Note series the Galaxy name is being seriously dilluted.
If Verizon offered an S4 Active with the Google Edition software (I HATE BLOATWARE!), I’d probably go ahead and upgrade phones today instead of wait to see what the next Moto phone will offer. Even if the screen isn’t 5″, I would be fine with it. My Bionic’s 4.3″ screen is plenty of space.