A Samsung Electronics-made smartphone bearing the model number SM-G892U was certified by the Wi-Fi Alliance (WFA) earlier this week, as evidenced by a set of documents which the standards agency published on Thursday. The handset was tested as running Android 7.0 Nougat and is seemingly related to the previously announced Galaxy S8 Active which AT&T debuted earlier this summer, with that particular flagship carrying the model number SM-G892A. The “U” in the SM-G892U’s model name may suggest that the newly certified device is an unlocked version of Samsung’s rugged Android flagship but even if it isn’t, this at the very least seems to be a new variant of the Galaxy S8 Active meant for another wireless carrier.
Like its name suggests, the Galaxy S8 Active is a revision of the original Galaxy S8, featuring a more durable design made in accordance with the MIL-STD-810G military durability standard, in addition to boasting a 5.8-inch Super AMOLED display panel with an 18.5:9 aspect ratio which is identical to the one found on the vanilla Galaxy S8, save for not having curved edges and being entirely flat. The handset is said to be extremely durable to mechanical damage and shocks while succeeding the IP68-certified resistance to dust and water from its predecessor. Unlike previous Active-branded revisions of the Galaxy S-series devices, the Galaxy S8 Active doesn’t come with a physical Active button which was replaced by a Bixby key for activating Samsung’s artificial intelligence (AI) assistant. Other than that, the handset is virtually identical to the U.S. variant of the Galaxy S8, being powered by the Snapdragon 835 and 4GB of RAM, in addition to featuring 64GB of expandable storage space, a 12-megapixel rear camera, and an 8-megapixel front sensor.
The possibility of Samsung launching an international, unlocked variant of the Galaxy S8 Active is still somewhat dubious, with this particular handset lineup having been an AT&T exclusive ever since its inception in mid-2013 with the I9295 Galaxy S4 Active. If the device ends up being released on an international level, there’s a possibility it becomes the first Galaxy S Active handset with an Exynos SoC ever, though it remains to be seen what plans Samsung has for it, if any.