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Samsung has announced the Galaxy Xcover 2, a rugged IP67-certified Android phone. A follow up to the 2012 rugged handset, the Xcover 2 has better specs than its predecessor in nearly all departments. It comes with a 4-inch WVGA TFT screen and is powered by a dual-core 1GHz processor and 1GB of RAM.
Samsung’s rugged handset, the Galaxy Xcover 2
On the OS side of things, it runs Android 4.1 Jelly Bean with Samsung’s TouchWiz customisations. There’s a 5MP main camera on the back that can shoot 720p video, along with a dedicated shutter key and LED flash. In the front, there’s a VGA camera that should be sufficient for video calls.
The Galaxy Xcover 2 is slightly bigger than its predecessor. Measuring 130.5 x 67.7 x 12 mm and at 149 g, it’s no light Droid. It has a 1,700mAh battery that’s secured into place by a special lock on the backplate of the device.
On the connectivity side, the Xcover 2 comes with 3G (HSDPA and HSUPA), Wi-Fi b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.0 and GPS + GLONASS. It also has pre-downloaded Google Maps data, an enhanced GPS + GLONASS that shortens the time required for a location lock by up to 20 percent. The Galaxy Xcover 2 packs 4GB of built-in memory and has a microSD card slot for expansion up to 32GB.
Earlier, a leaked roadmap of the company’s 2013 products pointed to a February release for the rugged smartphone. Samsung’s press release does not reveal the pricing details of the handset, but Swedish site CDON has listed the Galaxy Xcover 2 as available via pre-order for 2,690 Swedish krona (approx Rs 22,000).
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