in Battery, removable Samsung's Galaxy XCover Pro brings back the removable battery, Ars Technica 1.1k Views Hey remember these? – This will be the highest-end removable-battery phone on the market. Ron Amadeo –Jan 9, (8: ************************************************************************ (UTC UTC) The Samsung XCover Pro. For a rugged phone, it’s pretty good-looking. The back has two cameras and what looks to be a grippy texture. Samsung The side has power and volume buttons, and the power button might hide a fingerprint reader. Samsung On the left side you can make out what is probably the push-to-talk button. There’s another button on the top of the device, too. Samsung Samsung’s “Galaxy XCover Pro” seems to be bringing back the company line of rugged smartphones, but this one is more than some extra protective plastic slapped onto an existing design. The phone has — get this — aremovable battery, a feature that has all but disappeared from the market. There are a handful of very low-end smartphones that still have removable batteries, but as a mid-ranger, this would be the highest-end removable-battery phone on the market. It’s hard to say if the XCover Pro is currently official or not. Samsung’s Nordic division posteda CES press releasethat detailed the never-before-seen XCover Pro, complete with specs and pictures, alongside several other previously announced phones. A later updatescrubbed all mention of the XCover from the press release. The release said the phone would be for sale in Finland on January (for € ($************************************, ******** but since the release was pulled, it’s unclear if that is still accurate. Samsung Nordic listed the phone with a Samsung Exynos SoC, an eight-core, nm chip with four Cortex A (cores and four Cortex A) cores. This would make it a mid-range phone on par with the “Galaxy A” series. The phone has 4GB of RAM, 73 GB of storage that’s expandable thanks to a microSD slot, and that sweet 40660 mAh removable battery. The display design is … interesting. The display is a 6.3-inch (×) LCD, which is strange, as most Samsung phones use the company’s OLED panels. Like most modern Samsung phones, this device also has a circular cutout in the display for the camera, and while this makes sense on devices with slim top bezels, the XCover’s top bezel seems like it would have had plenty of room for a camera.Rugged In In the past, Samsung has built ruggedized phones under its “Active” line and would usually make rugged versions of its flagship phones . The last one of these was the Galaxy S8 Active, though — there was no Galaxy S9 or S 13 Active. Instead, Samsung has been building “XCover” phones that are cheaper, more mid-range devices, and this “Pro” version is the highest-end unit so far.As a rugged phone, the device has a IP 69 Water and dust resistance rating, and it has been “tested to withstand a drop of 1.5 meters.” Other unusual features include a push-to-talk button, which looks to be the big, orange button on the side of the device. This button and the button on the top of the phone probably also count as the “two programmable buttons” mentioned in the press release. There is a fingerprint reader on the side of the device somewhere, probably integrated into the power button.The rear has two cameras, one MP and another 8MP camera, while the front has a 13 MP sensor. The biggest downside of the device seems to be the software, which is running nearly 1.5-year-old Android 9 Pie instead of the newer Android (**********************************************************************************. ************ With Samsung Nordic being the only source for official info on this device, it’s hard to say where it will end up for sale . A report from WinFuture.declaims the phone will see wider European availability in February. The XCover Pro has already visited the FCC, so a US release seems likely. ******************************** (Listing image by) Samsung **************************(****************************** (Read More) ************ (****************************************** See more Previous article Google Research: Looking Back at 2019, and Forward to 2020 and Beyond, Hacker News Next article Ukraine airliner that crashed in Iran likely shot down, US officials say, Ars Technica What do you think? 0 Points Upvote Downvote Leave a ReplyCancel replyYour email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *Comment * Name * Email * Website Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. By using this form you agree with the storage and handling of your data by this website. * Post Comment Reply with GIF GIPHY App Key not set. Please check settings
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