Samsung will return to rugged phones in Australia with the XCover Pro

For the mobile office worker there’s not a lot on the market that will live up to the demanding lifestyle that the road often offers. Samsung has announced their latest ruggedised phone, the XCover Pro, aimed at the business user who needs a smartphone that can keep up.

The X Cover Pro will launch in Australia ‘imminently’ according to Danny Mandrides, Head of Enterprise & Government, Mobile Division, Samsung Electronics Australia.

Mr Mandrides further said that with the release of the XCover Pro ‘Samsung is further extending business ready mobility solutions in 2020 with the launch of Galaxy XCover Pro, a smartphone designed for the demanding conditions of business users who need to operate in a range of tough environments’.

The XCover Pro features all the big name specs you’d want from a smartphone, with a 6.3” FHD+ Infinity Display, Exynos 9611 CPU, 4GB RAM with 64GB storage (Expandable with microSD card) and dual rear cameras. The big note features though are the user replaceable 4,050 mAh battery and the ruggedised body which has been Mil-Spec tested and rated to survive drops of up to 1.5m and also includes an IP68 dust/waterproof rating. The lightly textured rear should also make it easier to hold.

Full Specs

Dimension	159.9 X 76.7 X 9.94mm (218g)
Display	6.3” FHD+, Wet Touch, Glove Mode
AP	Exynos 9611 (2GHz Octa-core)
Memory	4GB + 64GB, microSD up to 512GB
Camera	Single Front Camera: 13MP, FF, F2.0Dual Rear Camera: 25MP, AF, F1.7 + 8MP, FF, F2.2
Battery	4,050 mAh, user replaceable, Fast Charging (15W)
OS	Android 10.0
SIM	Dual SIM (EUR), Single SIM (NA)5
NFC	NFC (EMV L1)
Augmented Reality	Google AR Core
Design	Full Screen
Rugged	IP68, 1.5m drop (MIL-STD 810G certified)
Sensor	Accelerometer, Proximity, Compass, Gyroscope
Pogo Pin	Charging only
Biometric Security	Fingerprint (side)
mPOS	mPOS Ready
Hot Key	Two Programmable Keys
Service LED	Available

Samsung is pushing the XCover Pro as an enterprise focused device, and to ease IT administrators minds, software updates are guaranteed. Samsung starts the phone off with Android 10, the latest version of Android available, and is offering two years of feature updates and four years of security updates with the X Cover Pro, a decent guarantee in this mobile landscape.

It’s not just Android that’s up to date, Microsoft will feature heavily on the XCover Pro, with Mr Mandrides further saying ‘Microsoft and Samsung have a long history of bringing together the best possible hardware and software to help solve our customers’ challenges‘. As part of the announcement, Samsung and Microsoft have announced that the XCover Pro is the first phone to incorporate a new Microsoft Teams feature — Walkie Talkie.

There’s no launch dates for the XCover Pro in Australia, but with Samsung talking about imminently, we can bet we don’t have long to wait.