Samsung Galaxy XCover 4

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Reviews for the Samsung Galaxy XCover 4

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Model: If there is one word to describe the Samsung Galaxy Xcover 4, it will be ‘x-treme’. It is definitely a far cry from the Korean chaebol’s flagship S or Note models; yet it is an ideal choice for those who require a rugged, no nonsense smartphone for use under intense conditions. Save for the row of physical buttons, the Xcover 4 easily passes off as one of Galaxy’s series of mid-range phones. It may be argued that mechanical buttons are pretty much a thing of the past. Nevertheless physical buttons allow users to manoeuvre around the device even when gloves are worn. This smartphone is definitely capable of withstanding mere accidental water spills and tumbles. Firstly, it is certified with IP68 water- and dust-resistant rating. Samsung claims that it can withstand immersion for up 30 minutes in up to 1 metre of water. Furthermore, it is guaranteed by US Military Standard MIL-STD 810G to withstand drops, high or low temperatures, mechanical shocks, intense sunlight and salt water mist. This makes the Xcover 4 suitable for use in the rigours of building sites, desert roads or ski slopes.

This smartphone maintains a slim and compact profile thus making it a practical device for carrying about. In terms of looks, it looks more like the older Samsung Galaxy S4 Active in many ways. That is not a bad thing as it's rugged look might interest some. It comes with a 4.99-inch touchscreen display with a resolution of 720x1280 pixels. This is a notable improvement from its predecessor, which is 4.5 inch in size. On top of that, the screen is usable even with gloves on, a feature Samsung has been implementing on its phones since the Galaxy S4 days. The Xcover 4 is powered by a 1.4 GHz Exynos 7570 quad core processor and it comes with 2 GB of RAM. The available storage is 16 GB and it can be expanded by up to 256 GB via a microSD card. For optics, Xcover 4 packs a better camera than the Xcover 3 as it comes with a 13 MP primary camera on the rear and a 5 MP front facing camera. Battery life has also improved substantially since the Xcover 4 is shipped with a non-removable 2800 mAh battery. Another key feature of the Xcover is that it comes pre-installed with Android 7.0 Nougat and not Android 6.0 Marshmallow. For now, this smartphone is being shipped in a single SIM format. The Xcover 4 in many ways seems to be put together by combining parts from Samsung's previous flagships. It may not be the phone for everyone, but it is idyllic to those who want a solid, robust and all-round device. This smartphone makes a good companion for mountain bikers, beach goers and mountain skiers. After all, an active person might need an active phone.

Hands-on article by Jagadisa Rajarathnam

ARM Mali-T720: Integrated graphics card in ARM based SoCs. Can be configured with up to 8 cores (T720 MP8) and 650 MHz core clock (at 28nm). Supports OpenGL ES 3.1, OpenCL 1.1, DirectX 11 FL9_3, and Renderscript.

These graphics cards are not suited for Windows 3D games. Office and Internet surfing however is possible.

» Further information can be found in our Comparison of Mobile Graphics Cards and the corresponding Benchmark List.

7570 Quad: Exynos-7-SoC with four ARM Cortex-A53 cores clocked at up to 1.4 GHz. It also integrates a GPU, LTE Cat.4 2CA modem, WiFi, GPS and video engine for H.265.» Further information can be found in our Comparison of Mobile Processsors.

5":

This is a typical smartphone diagonal.

» To find out how fine a display is, see our DPI List.

0.172 kg:

Only few smartphones are more lightweight than this.

Samsung: The Samsung Group is composed of numerous international businesses, all united under the Samsung brand in South Korea. The meaning of the Korean word Samsung is "tristar" or "three stars". The Samsung brand is one of the most important brands of South Korea. Samsung is an international notebook manufacturer of medium size according market shares and reviews.

In 2015 and 2016, Samsung had a market share of around 24-25% in the global smartphone market and was undisputed market leader. In the laptop sector, Samsung is on the 8th place in the global manufacturer rankings from 2014-2016 with 1.7-2.7%.

 

In 2016 Samsung slipped into a crisis due to exploding smartphone batteries and a failed recall action.

81.27%: This rating should be considered to be average. This is because the proportion of notebooks which have a higher rating is approximately equal to the proportion which have a lower rating.

» Further information can be found in our Notebook Purchase Guide.

 

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