Samsung’s latest rugged smartphone,the Galaxy S7 Active is now available at AT&T, and the device is already proving to be one of the manufacturer's toughest yet. The guys at PhoneBuff recently put the device through a drop test against its high-end sibling, the Galaxy S7.
While S7’s glass-and-metal design is nice to look at, it didn’t hold up against numerous tosses and tumbles like the Galaxy S7 Active. Drops from the front back and sides saw the Galaxy S7 shatter from every angle. A final front drop damaged the internal display features of the Galaxy S7 and rendered the handset completely unuseable. Meanwhile, the Galaxy S7 Active was unscathed except for a few scratches.
In a bonus round test, PhoneBuff intended to drop the Galaxy S7 Active multiple times until it too was rendered unusable, but this time never came. The testers dropped the Galaxy S7 Active 50 times and the handset survived every drop.
Samsung claims the Galaxy S7 Active features a shatter-resistant screen. The display is made of a dual-layer system, in which the top layer is polycarbonate plastic and the bottom layer is Gorilla Glass 4. The entire outer casting of the Galaxy S7 Active is made of polycarbonate plastic, and Samsung claims the device’s design is military grade , meeting the MIL STD-810G standard. The Galaxy S7 Active is resistant to water, dust and drops and practically impervious to the elements. While the Galaxy S7 is water-resistant with an IP68 rating, it isn’t nearly as durable as the Active version.
The Samsung Galaxy S7 Active is now available at AT&T, 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.
