The Galaxy S Active line has long been a popular choice for those who need a rugged device but didn’t want to sacrifice on higher end specs. It seems a Redditor got their hands on one of the new Galaxy S8 Active devices and decided to do their own little AMA, what did we learn?
First let’s look at the eye candy, here are the images of the Galaxy S8 Active:
Subsequently to posting the above images the Redditor also released these:
The leaker originally posted a video, however that video has now been pulled down; perhaps at the request of his ex-best friend, who lent him the phone. The owner is unfortunately now likely to become an ex-Samsung employee if they ever figure out which of a narrow number of people with limited access to the Galaxy S8 Active in the San Francisco office gave this device out.
Specs wise we’re looking at an impressive list including:
- 5.8-inch (likely an AMOLED) display
- Qualcomm Snapdragon 835
- 4GB of RAM
- 64GB of internal storage
- MicroSD card (perhaps in a second tray as the SIM tray only has space for 1 card?)
- 12MP rear camera
- 8MP front facing camera
- a massive 4000mAh non removable battery
- Rear fingerprint sensor
- On screen controls (like the Galaxy S8 and S8+)
- USB Type C
- Headphone jack (it’s a shame we have to call this out these days)
- Qi charging
- MIL-STD (Mil Spec) durability
According to the leaker the Galaxy S8 Active also comes, unsurprisingly, with a non re-mappable Bixby button. Compared with previous models this years Galaxy S8 Active has a flatter screen and is apparently slightly thicker. I have to say that this is a striking device for something marketed as “active” or “rugged”. For all those tech-heads who also have jobs or hobbies that place their phones in peril I think Samsung has made a compelling device.
There’s no indication at this stage when it will launch, however with hardware this polished already in the wild and AT&T typically launching the Active line around this time, I’d expect it won’t be long. Unfortunately, for Australian consumers Samsung has not had a great track record of officially bringing the Active line down under. So if you want one you’re going to be in the unenviable position of having to import one from the grey market resellers.
