Having announced the Samsung Galaxy S4 Active, the burly cousin of the Samsung Galaxy S4, last week, the South Korean tech giant announced on Thursday where and when you can get your hands on one in the United States. It's good news for people who want a tougher Galaxy S4, but only for those who have a certain single wireless carrier.
AT&T will be getting the Samsung Galaxy S4 Active in stores starting on June 21. The device will cost $200 with a two-year contract. It's bad news for active people with Sprint or Verizon, as AT&T is the only U.S. wireless provider where you'll be able to get the new device. The Galaxy S4 Active will run on AT&T's 4G LTE network.
You can pre-order the phone on AT&T's website on June 14 by going to att.com/galaxys4active, and the carrier is giving you two color options for the Galaxy S4 Active: Urban Gray and Dive Blue.
AT&T is clearly excited to be the exclusive carrier for the phone, seemingly built for summer. "Continuing AT&T's legacy as the first carrier to launch the Samsung Galaxy series, we're excited to offer the next evolution of the popular Galaxy S 4. The Galaxy S 4 Active is a high-performance smartphone with a stylish, protective design to keep up with the demands of everyday life. It's truly summer-proof," said AT&T's Jeff Bradley, the Senior Vice President of Devices and Developer Services.
We provided a rundown of the features and specifications of the new Samsung phone when it was announced on June 5, the most important of which is the Active's sealed, water and dust-resistant design. It's rated to be able to withstand a depth of about three feet underwater for up to 30 minutes without any problem. The only trade-offs for that rugged feature are a lower powered 8-megapixel camera and no option for the higher capacity 32 and 64GB storage drives, though you can still expand the Active up to 64GB with a microSD card.
The Active comes with all of the goodies of the Samsung Galaxy S4, including gestural control, eye tracking, and the Galaxy S4's new photography software, plus little extras like Glove Touch, allowing you to use your phone in the cold, and the other high-powered specs of the Galaxy S4, like the 1.9GHz quad-core processor, 2GB RAM, Bluetooth 4.0, a 2,600 mAh battery, and a screen packing 443 pixels per inch. It will run Android 4.2.2.
Check out AT&T's rundown of the Active, including a demonstration at the end of why this phone is perfect for surviving the summer.