Samsung announces new rugged camera phone and tablet

Samsung has announced a new rugged camera phone and tablet: the Galaxy XCover7 Pro, and Galaxy Tab Active5 Pro. Targeted at frontline workers in harsh environments, or anyone wanting a tougher alternative to a typical phone/tablet, they offer high levels of durability. Both the Galaxy XCover7 Pro and Galaxy Tab Active5 Pro are IP68 water- and dust-resistant, while also being MIL-STD-810H6 certified, ensuring protection against altitude, humidity, immersion, salt fog, dust, vibration, and drops from up to 1.5m.

Galaxy XCover7 Pro

The new Galaxy XCover7 Pro features a larger battery than the preceding XCover6 Pro (4,300mAh vs. 4,050mAh), but more notably, the battery is also user-replaceable - a real rarity among modern phones. The Galaxy XCover7 Pro packs Qualcomm's Snapdragon 7s Gen 3 processor, teamed with 6GB of RAM and 128GB of internal storage. This is expandable via microSD by up to 2TB.

The XCover7 Pro also showcases Samsung's array of AI features, such as Object Eraser and Edit Suggestion for photos, along with compatibility with Google's Circle to Search function for quickly finding information about on-screen content.

The dual-module camera array includes a 50MP, 1/2.76", f/1.8 primary wide-angle camera, plus an 8MP f/2.2 ultrawide snapper. With a sensor this small, we wouldn't expect the main camera to win many image quality accolades, but that's not the objective of such a phone. There's also a 13MP selfie camera.

Elsewhere, the 6.6-inch IPS LCD display runs at a resolution of 1080 x 2408 pixels and is protected by Gorilla Glass Victus+. There are stereo speakers, as well as eSIM support, plus Wi-Fi 6e and Bluetooth 5.4 wireless connectivity. Samsung also promises 7 years of software and security updates.

The Samsung Galaxy XCover7 Pro is due to go on sale on May 8th, though pricing has yet to be revealed.

Galaxy Tab Active5 Pro

This 10.1-inch rugged tablet runs the same Snapdragon 7s Gen 3 processor as the Galaxy XCover7 Pro, while also being tested to the same toughness standards. Battery life has also been improved compared to the Galaxy Tab Active4 Pro, with the new tablet packing a considerably larger 10,100-mAh battery. This is also removable and supports battery hot-swapping, as well as a No Battery Mode whereby the tablet can be powered exclusively from a mains outlet if it's to be used in a static commercial setting.

The screen of the Galaxy Tab Active5 Pro is capable of up to 600-nit brightness (a noticeable improvement over the 480-nit Galaxy Tab Active4 Pro), and like the Galaxy XCover7 Pro, it's protected by Gorilla Glass Victus+.

The new tablet also gets a 12MP camera on the back, plus an 8MP selfie camera. Two storage variants are available; 6GB RAM/128GB storage, or 8GB/256GB, though both can be expanded by up to 2TB with a microSD card. The Galaxy Tab Active5 Pro is expected to receive an impressive 8 years of software and update support.

Expect availability of the Galaxy Tab Active5 Pro in June. Pricing is still to be confirmed.