Samsung Announces 2 Galaxy S23 Tactical Edition Smartphones

Samsung has something new for the brave people in the military.

The popular tech giant recently revealed it would release military-ready editions of its Galaxy S23 smartphones, allowing soldiers to utilize Samsung's capabilities in the field.

Unfortunately, military enthusiasts, let alone the general public, possibly couldn't get their hands on this smartphone edition since they're specifically made for the military.

Samsung Galaxy S23 Military Edition Details

Samsung announced that its Tactical Edition Galaxy S23 smartphone would come in two variants: the base Galaxy S23 Tactical Edition smartphone and the Galaxy XCover 6 Pro Tactical Edition, per Android Authority.

Both variants offer extra features that their public-use counterparts wouldn't have due to them being suited for the military only. According to Sam Mobile, these features include the Android Team Awareness Kit (ATAK) and the Battlefield Assisted Trauma Distributed Observation Kit (BATDOK).

The former feature provides operators in the field enhanced real-time situational awareness such as precision targeting, surrounding land formation intelligence, navigation, and data sharing. Meanwhile, the latter collects and distributes real-time patient encounter information, such as vital signs using wired and wireless sensors.

Interestingly, the two features meet US military security requirements and are protected by Samsung's Knox and Knox Dual Data at Rest, which meets NSA requirements for protecting confidential data.

While the two variants share the same features, they do not share some hardware. Both have an IP68 rating that allows them to be submerged in nearly five feet of clear water for up to 30 minutes and is protected by Gorilla Glass Victus 2+ and an Armor Aluminum build with a rugged, wearable military-grade case on the chest or forearm.

However, only the XCover 6 Pro Tactical Edition variant has an IP68 rating and a case that meets MIL-STD-810H military specifications, meaning it can survive a fall up to five feet and continue to work under various temperatures.

Phone Arena mentioned that both variants support Samsung DeX and the on-device desktop platform that allows military law enforcement units to connect to a monitor, keyboard, and mouse to provide a desktop-like experience inside military vehicles without requiring a mounted laptop.

Another difference between the two variants is the replaceable battery the XCover 6 Pro Tactical Edition has; the base Tactical Edition variant only has an intelligent battery that optimizes app usage in the field to save battery life and extend smartphone use.

Samsung Galaxy S23 Military Edition Release Date

Samsung mentioned during SOF Week that its Tactical Edition Galaxy S23 smartphones would become available for purchase this summer, with the company assuring customers that the two new Tactical Edition smartphones "will be valuable tools that can help our warfighters achieve their missions."

However, it seems these phones would only be available for military personnel or the US military to purchase and use due to the specialized nature these phones have.