Some owners of the Galaxy S8 Active are complaining about the device’s display panel, i.e. its tendency to scratch rather easily, as suggested by the user review page of the smartphone on Samsung’s official website. The rugged revision of the company’s Galaxy S8 flagship which was released as an AT&T exclusive earlier this summer is advertised as being “shatter-resistant,” but it seems that its softness causes problems of a different kind, as this design approach seemingly results in a panel that’s not entirely resistant to common scratching.
The South Korean original equipment manufacturer has yet to detail the exact technology which allows the display found on the Galaxy S8 Active to survive drops from up to five feet on a hard and flat surface without shattering, though its solution presumably entails some kind of a cushioning mechanism which is meant to soften any impacts it might experience. Just like it was the case with the Moto Z2 Force and its ShatterShield module, this approach results in a screen that’s relatively soft compared to traditional smartphone panels and is hence more prone to being scratched. Scratches aren’t covered by any regular warranty so (future) owners of the Galaxy S8 Active are advised to purchase a screen protector if they want to avoid this type of damage. The device itself is advertised as one of the most capable rugged smartphones in the world, boasting a military-level durability certification and being resistant to both dust particles and water in accordance with the IP68 standard.
Under its rugged exterior, the Galaxy S8 Active still comes with all components of the regular Galaxy S8, boasting the Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 SoC, 4GB of RAM, and 64GB of internal flash memory expandable by up to 256GB via a microSD card. The handset sports a 5.8-inch Super AMOLED panel with a resolution of 2,960 by 1,440 pixels and a 12-megapixel (f/1.7) rear camera, whereas its slim top bezel houses an 8-megapixel (f/1.7) sensor. The Galaxy S8 Active runs Android 7.0 Nougat out of the box and its operating system is reskinned with the Samsung Experience software suite. While the device is currently an AT&T exclusive, some recently uncovered information suggested that the Seoul-based tech giant may also launch an unlocked variant of the Galaxy S8 Active in the near future.