New Samsung Galaxy Active render emerges with AT&T branding

A new leak published by Android Headlines may once again spark the discussion about the re-instatement of the Samsung Galaxy Active line that has been going on and off all this year. It shows a phone that has decidedly rugged attributes with this OEM's design language. The phone in this render also appears to display AT&T branding on its rear panel.

In case you've forgotten, Galaxy Actives were versions of Samsung's flagship smartphones with demonstrably increased protections against environmental stress and shocks, mainly through protective doors for their ports and thicker cases reinforced with plastics or other polymers. However, advancements in original Galaxy S designs that could adhere to IPxx criteria on their own seemed to have put paid to the series in 2017.

However, it now seems that its last iteration, the Samsung Galaxy S8 Active, is now getting a successor after all. Then again, potential buyers may be put off by how the rumored AT&T device has been styled. If anything, with its physcial front-facing buttons, it looks older than the S8's Active variant.

In fact, it could be argued that the render is simply a re-edited photo of this phone; there are few differences between them. Their (single) rear camera and fingerprint arrangements are mirror-images of each other - otherwise the "AT&T Galaxy Active" has a large silver screw for a removable rear panel that does not really have a place in 2019.

Therefore, this phone should hope to have internals such as the Snapdragon 845 processor found in the S9 line, at least, to get its units off shelves. This putative new rugged Samsung phone is also now touted to launch alongside other upcoming new products such as the Galaxy Watch Active 2.