Samsung Galaxy Xcover deals & review

There are two kinds of people in the world; careful people and clumsy people. If you fall into the latter category then owning a smartphone might be a very expensive mistake, unless you invest in a phone specifically designed with clumsy people in mind. Like the Samsung Galaxy Xcover. Of course, being so hardy this phone must be exceptionally boring. Well, no. The Xcover is armed with the Android 2.3 Gingerbread OS, 3.65inch HVGA display and a reasonable 3.2MP camera. Not bad for a phone specifically made for withstanding damage.

The Samsung Galaxy Xcover is far from pretty, but then what would you expect from a phone that’s built for its brawn? Bulkier than other Samsung designs, the Xcover feels solid in your hand despite its plastic body. The battery panel has a special lock to stop the phone’s innards from being exposed needlessly; once taken off you’ll see the extra rubber panels used to protect the phone’s inner workings, should it end up immersed in water.

The main feature of the Samsung Xcover is obviously its ability to withstand the kind of knocks that reduce normal smartphones to a thousand tiny pieces. The Xcover claims to be able to survive bumps, dust and dirt, which is good to know, but its main lure is that the Xcover can be immersed in up to one metre of water for an astonishing 30 minutes. The Xcover also comes with a hefty 3.65 scratch-resistant display, perfect for browsing the net using the phone’s Wi-Fi connectivity.

Running on Android’s Gingerbread OS, the Samsung Galaxy Xcover is fully customisable to suit your preferences. Similarly impressive is the phone’s single-core Marvell MG2 800MHz processor, which ensures the Xcover will run efficiently and smoothly, unless you really overload it.

The Xcover comes with a perfectly adequate touchscreen that responds well to touch, making texts and emails easy to compose. The lack of a QWERTY keypad will make lengthier emails a little more challenging, though.

If you’re looking for something a little fancier than the Samsung Galaxy Xcover, it might be worth considering a phone that’s less hardy. Samsung’s other offerings such as the Galaxy S2 or the Galaxy Nexus will give you a far more attractive phone with loads of features. If it’s all about toughness however, the Motorola Defy+ JCB is also worth a look.

The Galaxy Xcover is a rugged Android smartphone from Samsung that offers some superb water, mud and shock resistance and an excellent user experience. Rugged phones had typically always been pretty basic handsets that were fine for dropping off a craggy ledge but not much good for anything else. This changed with the Motorola Defy, a phone that showed that you could be rugged and still offer some up to date phone features.

Like the Defy, the Xcover is perhaps not the most rugged of the rugged, but for people who enjoy outdoor activities where they are likely to encounter a lot of water and mud this is one of the best smartphones going. Samsung have made Xcover phones before and they have a reputation for being some of the most rugged phones going, but until now Samsung has not introduced a smartphone into this line up.

The Xcover is certified by IP67 standard making it safe against dust, drops and being held under water for 30 minutes at a depth of one metre. The screen is scratch proof and the phone also comes with an LED light that can be used as a torch.

One the smartphone side of things the Xcover runs on Android Gingerbread, the most complete and up to date version of the Google OS. It includes standard Android features like Google Maps, Android Market, YouTube and others making it comparable in terms of features with most other Samsung Android smartphones.

GPS is included along with Wi-Fi and 3G so you can keep track of your location and also enjoy great internet connectivity. The 3 megapixel camera is not the most fantastic but will suit most day to day needs and a secondary VGA camera is also present on the front. With 150MB storage for personal media the phone also includes support for 32GB microSD cards.

The Xcover offers an excellent smartphone experience and one of the most rugged one´s going, although similar phones are offered by the likes of the Sony Ericsson Xperia Active. There is a good range of software features and connectivity on offer although a better camera would have made this a more excellent phone to have in indoor situations as well.