Samsung was expected to make the Galaxy S4 Active official at its June 20 event in London, but after multiple leaks it seems the company has chosen to take matters into its own hands and announce the smartphone today.
The Galaxy S4 Active is considered to be the ruggedized version of the recently released Galaxy S4. The smartphone earns its name by being both waterproof and dust-resistant and is geared towards people with an active lifestyle. The smartphone shares a similar design and feature found on the flagship Galaxy S4, but its sealed IP67 case provides the protection it needs to withstand harsh conditions that most smartphones can't.
"The GALAXY S4 Active is the newest addition to the GALAXY series and is purposefully designed for active users who love the outdoors," said JK Shin, CEO and President of IT & Mobile Communications Division at Samsung Electronics. "Samsung has taken the innovative features of the GALAXY S4 and added breakthrough protective design elements to create a device that thrives in an active environment and is built for a lifestyle of travel and exploration."
Samsung has taken some of the best features from the Galaxy S4 and has added them to the S4 Active. The smartphone features a 5-inch 1080p Full HD TFT display with 443 ppi (pixels per inch), is powered by a 1.9GHz quad-core processor, will ship with Android 4.2.2, include 16GB of internal storage, 2GB of RAM, an 8-megapixel rear camera with LED flash that can take photos and video under water, a 2-megapixel front facing camera, a 4G LTE radio, Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.0, NFC, an IR blaster, a microSD expansion slot with support for up to 64GB microSD cards, and a 2600 mAh battery.
Some of the Samsung-specific software found on the Galaxy S4 have also been included with the S4 Active. For instance, it comes with Samsung's latest version of its TouchWiz Nature UX interface. galaxy S4 Active also features WatchOn or the Peel-based TV controller software, which uses the S4 Active's IR blaster to turn the smartphone into a universal remote control and program guide. The handset also comes with S Travel (Trip Advisor), that will offer users travel assistance, local information, and recommendations while traveling, as well as S Translator, which will make communicating in foreign lands a snap by providing instant text and voice translation.
The 8-megapixel camera's software will add some new features, like the new "Aqua Mode" that will allow users to take pictures and videos underwater in up to three feet of water for 30 minutes and provide increased visual quality for enhanced underwater images and video. Samsung has also added another feature that most smartphone manufacturers should follow - the S4 Active's new "Glove Touch" technology that allows users to fully interact with the screen while wearing gloves (though several Nokia Lumia handsets already do that).
Samsung has not announced pricing for the Galaxy S4 Active but will be giving hands-on demonstrations of the device at its June 20 event. The company has also confirmed that the smartphone will initially be available in the U.S. and Europe this summer. We recently reported spotting the S4 Active with AT&T branding, so it seems AT&T will be at least one U.S. carrier to offer its customers the S4 Active when it becomes available. Of course we'll have to wait until June 20 to see if any other U.S. carriers will also offer the S4 Active.
