Samsung Galaxy S6 Active could be better than the Galaxy S6

Samsung Galaxy S6
Samsung's flagship is getting a rugged refresh

Until now little was known about the Samsung Galaxy S6 Active, other than the fact that it probably existed and is quite possibly codenamed SM-G890A.

But now full specifications for the handset have been leaked by Sam Mobile, quoting "insider sources" and it sounds pretty impressive.

For one thing it apparently includes most of the same goodness as the standard Samsung Galaxy S6, including a 5.1-inch QHD Super AMOLED screen, an octa-core Exynos 7420 processor, 3GB of RAM, a 16MP camera on the back and a 5MP snapper on the front.

Bigger and better?

But it goes further, because while the normal Galaxy S6 has a worryingly small 2550mAh battery, the Samsung Galaxy S6 Active supposedly bumps it up to 3500mAh. And of course it will also be water and dust resistant, though the exact level of protection hasn't yet been revealed.

So it looks like the Galaxy S6 Active could fix two of the Galaxy S6's main problems. In doing so though the dimensions will have to change, with Samsung's rugged new phone apparently coming in at 73.6 x 146.9 x 8.8mm, making it a little bigger and thicker than the 70.5 x 143.4 x 6.8mm Galaxy S6.

It may not look quite as nice as a result and there are still questions hanging over it, such as whether it will have the same metal and glass build as its sibling. The specs leak also includes a mention that the S6 Active has 32GB of built in storage, so it's not clear whether that's the only size available or whether there will be larger models like the Galaxy S6 offers.

Still, so far it sounds pretty good. Chuck in a microSD card slot and just about all the early criticisms of the Samsung Galaxy S6 will have been countered.

James Rogerson

James is a freelance phones, tablets and wearables writer and sub-editor at TechRadar. He has a love for everything ‘smart’, from watches to lights, and can often be found arguing with AI assistants or drowning in the latest apps. James also contributes to 3G.co.uk, 4G.co.uk and 5G.co.uk and has written for T3, Digital Camera World, Clarity Media and others, with work on the web, in print and on TV.

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