Samsung announced its Galaxy S7 Active smartphone Monday, which will be an exclusive on AT&T, similar to older S Active models. Much as it has done with many recent devices in the Galaxy line, Samsung aims to market the Galaxy S7 Active for enterprise, hoping to appeal to businesses such as police work, construction and others.
Specs for the Galaxy S7 Active are largely on par with its high-end counterparts, the Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 Edge, with the exception of the polycarbonate plastic casing and its 4,000mAh battery, which is the largest cell features in a Samsung device to date.
Samsung is also marketing the Galaxy S7 Active as having a military grade design, which meets the MIL STD-810G standard. The standard tests against a host of environmental factors, including altitude, temperature, rain, humidity, fungus, salt fog and sand and dust exposure, among many others. The Galaxy S7 Active includes a shatter resistant screen, which allows the device to be dropped from five feet onto a flat surface; as well as an IP68 water and dust resistance rating.
Galaxy S7 Active hardware includes a 5.1-inch Quad HD display, a Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 chip, 4GB of RAM and 32GB of internal storage with microSD expansion up to 200GB, a 12-megapixel rear camera and 5-megapixel front camera, both with f/1.7 aperture and the Android 6.0 Marshmallow operating system. Like the Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 Edge, the Active includes wireless charging and fast charging and an Always On display.
The Galaxy S7 will be available in Green Camo, Titanium Grey and Sand Gold color options. It also features a fingerprint sensor and a customizable active key on its side, which responds to different pressure cues to activate different functions.
The Galaxy S6 Active also has an active key feature, where a long press and a short press activated different functions. However, on the Galaxy S7 Active, Samsung has also introduced a double press. Samsung intends to cater to enterprise with the customizable active key; allowing businesses to set their own functions for the key. Standard functions on the active key include launching a Direct TV application with a long press. A short press will launch an Activity Zone application, which includes widgets for an active lifestyle, such as compass, flashlight and stopwatch. A double press will launch an Emergency Zone, which includes a one click 911 dial and a preset emergency that sends vital information to said contact when pressed.
The Samsung Galaxy S7 Active will be available at AT&T starting June 10, selling for $26.50 per month for 30 months under AT&T Next and for $33.13 per month for 24 months under AT&T Next Every Year.
