Sony and Samsung might have had the most to say during IFA 2014 yesterday, but that doesn’t mean they don’t have even more to say. Samsung is back onstage in Berlin and this time around, they’re announcing a new Active device, the 8-inch Galaxy Tab Active that’s both rugged and waterproof. Clearly, Samsung is both taking shots at Sony and their waterproof Xperia Z3 Tablet Compact and expanding their Galaxy Active line of devices. Thankfully, this one you might actually be able to get if you’re not on AT&T in the States.
At 8-inches, the Galaxy Tab Active is more designed for the enterprise sector than it is to prevent your Angry Birds obsessed kids spilling juice over it. The specs sort of say as much, too. With a 1280 x 800 display and a 1.2 Ghz Quad-Core CPU of unknown name, it’s hardly the most exciting tablet. Still, it features 1.5GB of RAM, has 16GB of expandable storage, a 3.1-megapixel rear-facing camera and a 1.2-megapixel front-facing camera. In the 126.2 x 213.1 x 9.75mm frame, Samsung have squeezed in a 4,450 mAh battery and it all weighs 393g.
The specs aren’t what Samsung wants you talking about though, and instead would like you to focus on the IP67 water and dust resistance rating, and the fact that it can withstand a 1.2 meter drop. Plus, there’s an even more rugged case included in the box as well as a “C-Pen”, which is essentially a slightly better capacitive stylus. Design wise, this is much like the Galaxy S5 Active and it’s a pretty chunky device, but then protection isn’t always slimming as we know. Samsung is to offer this is only a Titanium Green color option and WiFi and 4G variants will be shipping later on this year.
