Samsung Galaxy Xcover Preview

Available now
10th August 2011 (corrected 11/8/11)

Samsung's Xcover range of toughened handsets have a pretty legendary reputation for robustness, and Samsung's Galaxy range of Android smartphones are among the best selling in their class. So when you put the two together into the Samsung Galaxy Xcover, then the result is bound to be something interesting.

The Samsung Galaxy Xcover is an Android 2.3 smartphone with a 3.6" display and a 3.2 megapixel camera plus all the usual Android features. The key selling proposition here is the IP67 certification which means that it is dustproof and can be immersed in up to 1 metre of water for 30 minutes without letting any in.

There are other toughened Android phones on the market, notably the Motorola DEFY plus the rumoured forthcoming DEFY+, and also the Sony Ericsson Xperia Active which should be available soon. The advantage that the Galaxy Xcover has over the DEFY is a later version of Android (and possibly a faster processor, we don't know yet), and the Samsung has a much larger display than the very compact Xperia Active.

At present, we don't have much in the way of hard technical specifications or a price for the Galaxy Xcover (although the rival DEFY currently retails for about €260 SIM-free). Samsung Germany say that the Galaxy Xcover should be available from October onwards.