The Galaxy S6 was one impressive piece of smartphone, but not everyone was stoked on some of the features Samsung sacrificed for a more eye candy design — chief among them being waterproofing. That’s why the new Galaxy S6 Active exists.
Jointly launched by Samsung and AT&T, the S6 Active is just like the normal Galaxy flagship but designed to entice your inner Bear Grylls. It’s got the same 5.1 Quad HD Super AMOLED display, the super great 16-megapixel camera, and a 3500mAh battery with both wireless charging standards included. But the S6 Active’s most prominent feature is its IP68 water-resistance, meaning this phone can be dunked into 1.5m of water for 30 minutes and still keep ticking. That especially great considering if the normal S6 were put through a similar dunk test, all that would remain would be your tears.
For the most part, Samsung stuck with the similar formula it used for the Galaxy S5 Active last year — camo colouring (this time with white, blue, and grey), physical navigation buttons, more Samsung apps like Activity Zone, and a big honkin’ exterior. When we tested the S5 Active, we ran into a few frustrating accidental presses while using its physical keys and the Active-specific apps — built to include functionality like calorie-counting, exercise-tracking, a basic barometer and compass — were a little hollow. Hopefully, Samsung’s perfected the formula this time around.