Are you a frontline worker? Maybe you’re equipping employees with a communication device, which means the best smartphone isn’t necessarily the most powerful; more like the best rugged smartphone. One can argue it’s the Samsung Galaxy XCover Pro. While it looks like a typical Galaxy model, it’s built to handle so much more.
Why We Like It – Samsung Galaxy Xcover Pro
The Samsung Galaxy XCover Pro is the kind of buddy you want when you’re heading into dangerous settings. Thanks to its IP68 ingress rating and MIL-STD-810G certification, it’s built to handle damage.
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- IP68 + MIL-STD-810G compliant
- Can be used w/ gloves or when wet
- Battery can be removed
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- Average camera quality
- Niche purpose
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Overall Performance
The Galaxy XCover Pro Samsung isn’t the most powerful of Samsung’s; it’s quite average. This can be seen by its chipset, the Exynos 9611 and 4GB of RAM. It’s the equivalent to a Snapdragon 712, but goes toe-to-toe with the Doogee S95 Pro’s Helio P90. It’s mid-range for the sake of function, speed, and price. Being 25-megapixels, you’d think the main camera would pack more of a punch. However, you can get the Samsung Galaxy S10e if you wish to get a Samsung with better camera quality. Colors are fairly muted, like the life was sucked out of them, and contrast is lackluster. It’s good enough to capture moments, but nothing more.
Battery Life
The Ulefone Armor 7 is the king of battery life—but the XCover Pro does a swell job, too. With the right settings you can have an all-day charge. Most importantly, you can take the battery out. You might not have realized, but it’s something you rarely get to do with smartphones these days, which means you can always bring a spare.
Display
Like the pictures it takes, the XCover Pro doesn’t have a very vibrant display. It’s rocking a nice 6.3-inch display size and resolution of 2340×1080, so it’s at least FHD+. It comes with Android 10 and One UI, which is by far one of the cleanest versions of Android you can have. More importantly, if you’re wearing gloves or the screen is wet, Glove Mode keeps its functions working.
Durability
Here, above all else, is where the XCover excels the most. While the Unihertz Atom and XCover Pro are both IP68, the Samsung can take more of a beating thanks to its MIL-STD-810G certification. It’s also fitted with Corning Gorilla Glass 5, just behind Gorilla Glass 6 in durability.
Value
With a mid-range chipset and average camera, who exactly is the Samsung Galaxy XCover Pro for? Employees, of course. There’s plenty of power here for it to be a functioning device, but more importantly it can withstand a lot of damage. And that’s where the value is. This is especially true considering one of its buttons can be used to map a walkie talkie function.
Samsung Galaxy Xcover Pro Wrap Up
For the average person, the Samsung Galaxy XCover Pro isn’t going to be appealing. Its performance is too gimped. IP68 and MIL-STD-810G compliant, it’s one tough phone though, and can be used when wet or wearing gloves. That alone should tell you who the XCover Pro is for: frontline workers in construction or other dangerous professions.
