After a number of unofficial reveals, there’s nothing much left to the imagination when Samsung officially announced the Galaxy S4 Active (i9295). Targeted to the outdoorsy types (or people who are just can’t be bothered to take care of their phones), the Galaxy S4 Active is essentially an i9505 Galaxy S4 packed in a rugged aluminium IP67-rated shell, so you get a 1.9 GHz Quad-Core processor with 2GB RAM, 16GB of on-board storage, microSD slot for cards up to 64GB and a 2,600mAh battery along with an IR blaster and the whole host of Samsung Smart features like Smart Pause and Air View. And yes, there’s LTE support as well.
But unlike the S4, the S4 Active gets a 8MP rear camera instead of a 13MP unit on the S4 (2MP front remains the same) and a 5-inch TFT LCD display instead of a Super AMOLED unit like on the standard S4, both displays are full 1080p HD units. In line with its rugged nature, the display on the S4 Active is able to register touch inputs even if the user is wearing gloves.
The S4 Active’s IP67 dust and water protection means the device is sealed from dust and is capable of being submerged for 30 minutes at a depth of one meter. Speaking about being submerged underwater, the S4 Active features an ‘Aqua Mode’ for enhanced underwater images and video. When underwater, the volume key on the S4 Active can be used as a camera button.
This puts the Galaxy S4 Active firmly in the territory dominated by Sony with its line of IP rated phones like the Xperia Z and the Xperia ZR with its dedicated camera but. Considering how Samsung are marketing and advertising heavyweights, Sony should be worried because it’s easy to see how the Korean tech giant can very easily take over a niche that Sony created.
No specific date on a Malaysia release at the moment but word has it that the S4 Active could available within these couple of months. In terms of pricing, our guesstimate puts the S4 Active somewhere between the i9500 S4 and the i9505 unit.
Image gallery after the jump.
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