Samsung Announces The Galaxy S7 Active
by Matt Humrick on June 6, 2016 9:30 AM EST
Today Samsung is following up the launch of its Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 edge smartphones with the introduction of the Galaxy S7 active, a ruggedized version of the flagship S7. Like previous active series phones, it uses the same internal hardware as the rest of its lineage, including the latest Snapdragon 820 SoC with a quad-core CPU utilizing Qualcomm's custom 64-bit Kryo cores and Adreno 530 GPU. This is paired with 4GB of LPDDR4 RAM and 32GB of UFS 2.0 NAND. Additional internal storage options are not available for the S7 active, but it still supports microSD cards for expansion.
The S7 active also uses the same 5.1-inch QHD SAMOLED display as the regular S7, which we found provides a well-calibrated sRGB mode along with additional modes for those who prefer more saturated colors. It also managed to hit about 500 nits peak brightness when using auto brightness mode at 100% APL.
Despite using the same screen size as the S7, the S7 active is larger and heavier because of the additional protection its outer shell provides. Replacing the sleek but fragile glass and metal construction is a larger but more durable plastic and metal chassis that increases the height and width by 6.4 mm and 5.4 mm, respectively. Thickness also increases by 2 mm to 9.9 mm, which helps make room for a larger 4000mAh battery.
| Samsung Galaxy S7 Family | ||||
| Samsung Galaxy S7 active | Samsung Galaxy S7 | Samsung Galaxy S7 edge | ||
| SoC | Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 (MSM8996) 2x Kryo @ 2.15GHz 2x Kryo @ 1.59GHz Adreno 530 @ 624MHz |
US, China, Japan: Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 (MSM8996) 2x Kryo @ 2.15GHz 2x Kryo @ 1.59GHz Adreno 530 @ 624MHz Rest of World: Samsung Exynos 8890 4x Cortex-A53 @ 1.58GHz 4x Exynos M1 @ 2.28-2.60GHz Mali T880MP12 @ 650MHz |
||
| RAM | 4GB LPDDR4-3600 | |||
| NAND | 32GB (UFS 2.0) + microSD |
32GB / 64GB (UFS 2.0) + microSD |
||
| Display | 5.1-inch 2560x1440 SAMOLED | 5.5-inch 2560x1440 SAMOLED Dual Edge |
||
| Dimensions | 148.8 x 75.0 x 9.9 mm 185 grams |
142.4 x 69.6 x 7.9 mm 152 grams |
150.9 x 72.6 x 7.7 mm 157 grams |
|
| Modem | Qualcomm X12 (Integrated) 2G / 3G / 4G LTE (Category 12/13) |
Snapdragon 820: Qualcomm X12 (Integrated) 2G / 3G / 4G LTE (Category 12/13) Exynos 8890: Samsung Shannon 935 2G / 3G / 4G LTE (Category 12/13) |
||
| SIM Size | NanoSIM | |||
| Front Camera | 5 MP, f/1.7, auto HDR | |||
| Rear Camera | 12 MP, Sony IMX260 Exmor RS, 1.4μm, f/1.7, PDAF, OIS, auto HDR, object tracking autofocus, LED flash | |||
| Battery | 4000mAh non-replaceable |
3000mAh (11.55 WHr) non-replaceable |
3600mAh (13.86 WHr) non-replaceable |
|
| Connectivity | 802.11a/b/g/n/ac 2x2 MU-MIMO, BT 4.2, NFC, GPS/GNSS, microUSB 2.0 | |||
| Launch OS | Android 6 with TouchWiz | |||
| Battery Charging | wireless charging (WPC 1.1 & PMA 1.0), Fast Charging | |||
| Fingerprint Sensor | Yes, touch | |||
| Launch Price (No Contract) |
$795 USD | $650+ USD | $750+ USD | |
What really sets the Galaxy S7 active apart from Samsung’s other phones, however, is its improved durability. It retains the S7’s IP68 rating that makes it dust tight and allows for immersion in water up to 5 feet for up to 30 minutes. There's an additional protective polycarbonate layer on top of the screen, which eliminates the stress concentrations that result from scratches, increasing the shatter resistance of the cover glass.
Samsung also claims the S7 active passes the U.S. Military Standard (MIL-STD) 810G tests for a ruggedized phone, including those for exposure to high and low temperatures, salt fog, humidity, and shock, which entails dropping the phone in different ways onto two inches of plywood over concrete from a height of at least four feet.
While discussing the Galaxy S7 active, Samsung stressed its emphasis on enterprise customers with the phone’s security and productivity features. It still has the same touch-based fingerprint sensor as the S7 for authentication and also includes Samsung's Knox security suite that allows for the separation of work and personal content, in addition to other security-focused features.
The larger 4000mAh battery should help the S7 active last longer than the regular version. The battery is not swappable, but it still supports Samsung's fast charging technology and wireless charging to help get the phone back into action more quickly.
Like previous active phones, the Galaxy S7 active will be an AT&T exclusive. It will be offered in three different colors—Cammo Green, Titanium Gray, Sandy Gold—and will be available for purchase online or in AT&T stores on June 10. Pricing is $26.50 for 30 months with an AT&T Next plan or $33.13 a month for 24 months with an AT&T Next Every Year plan.
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Meteor2 - Thursday, June 9, 2016 - link
Argh, my 'you're joking?' message was in reply to Tom, not Lau!Meteor2 - Tuesday, June 7, 2016 - link
I'm glad you said that, Lau, as that's exactly how I feel too.RaichuPls - Monday, June 6, 2016 - link
So Samsung has already announced the S7 active, 3 months after the S7 launch. Still no S7 review. Still no HTC 10 review. No full GTX 1080 review, and not even a preview for the GTX 1070.Cmon what's going on?
XZerg - Monday, June 6, 2016 - link
But any of the iCrap manages to get full review on launch... awesome, just awesome!i believe AT is losing their edge as there is really very little material it can review nowadays of worth. Especially since there are a lot of specialized sites that review the products which a lot more specific to the users need to know than a more general review sites like AT. I am not knocking on AT's reviews but really the trend of where a lot of users nowadays look for actual reviews on the products being launched of interest to the masses - phones, ssds - gsmarena/androidauthority/... and storagereviews are two sites come to mind. masses are no longer too enthusiastic about cpus, gpus, mobos, rams, monitors, servers, ... users looking for these reviews are a niche and to make matters worse, these items are not really being launched or innovated at the same pace as they used to be in the past.
Although I don't buy much pc parts I still like to read reviews posted here either for nostalgic reasons or for just interest in advances technologies make for things that work behind the scene for the masses nowadays.
name99 - Monday, June 6, 2016 - link
You do realize that in the age of Google you can't just get away with stating random BS, don't you?Every iPhone review is massively delayed. Eg, most recently,
iPhone SE is released on March 31,
Anandtech review is May 16
...
The Garden Variety - Monday, June 6, 2016 - link
You didn't properly read between the lines, name99. It isn't that AT reviews Apple products first, it's that they review them at all. Or mention them. Or in any capacity suggest that there be alternatives to whatever the nerd object du jour is. Choice is an anathema to a nerd—they talk about choice, but what they want is their choiceAnd just to be clear: I actually really like Samsung's phones, and Android in general. But then again, I like a lot of phones: Android, iOS... I even had a Lumia for a while, as a fun curiosity (hardware was meh, but it's a shame WindowsPhone crashed and burned. There was a lot really cool about it). All these different choices and options make it a great time to be an electronics consumer. But let's not kid ourselves. If AT pushed out that Galaxy 7 review right away, then some doughy neckbeard would be around post-haste to whine why some random LG phone wasn't reviewed first because *of course* AT is suckling at the teat of phat Samsung payola. People that don't have the self-awareness to realize how objectively *stupid* complaining about when they get reviews are don't deserve the dignity of having any of their ideas engaged. They're too busy defending their tribe to learn anything.
And so is the world round, and sun rises in the east. Amen.
Meteor2 - Monday, June 6, 2016 - link
I think the last Anandtech GPU review was last November. Maybe they've given up.zeeBomb - Monday, June 6, 2016 - link
A phone for the clumsy consumer, or the navy seal...I love it. Sadly only on AT&Tvortmax2 - Monday, June 6, 2016 - link
Yeah, exclusively on AT&T is the worst part...shadarlo - Monday, June 6, 2016 - link
Damn.... this is really the phone I wanted... I wish I could swap my S7 for this. I don't care about a phone being ultra thin, a bigger battery and more shock resistance is far more important to me.This is definitely the best phone on the market right now by a large margin, for my needs.