Samsung is working on a new device under its Galaxy Xcover lineup of rugged smartphones. The device, which bears the model number SM-G525F and will most likely arrive as the Galaxy Xcover 5, was spotted on Geekbench earlier this week. Now, it has picked up the FCC certification, hinting at an imminent launch.
The American regulatory body has certified the upcoming rugged Samsung smartphone with the same model number, SM-G525F. The FCC listing reveals that the Galaxy Xcover 5 will support 15W fast wired charging. It will also support NFC and will be available in both single-SIM as well as dual-SIM variants.
No other details about the handset were revealed in the FCC certification. However, the Geekbench entry earlier this week had let us know that the Galaxy Xcover 5 will be powered by the Exynos 850 SoC with 4GB of RAM. The device runs Android 11 out of the box.
The Exynos 850 is a budget chipset from Samsung. Based on the company’s 8nm LPP process, this octa-core processor has all its eight Cortex-A55 CPU cores running at 2.0GHz. It uses ARM’s Mali-G52 GPU but misses out on an on-chip NPU. The Exynos 850 lacks 5G support.
The Samsung Galaxy Xcover 5 is nearing its launch
Samsung’s last rugged smartphone was the Galaxy Xcover Pro that arrived in January last year. It was a mid-range offering that was fairly expensive at $499. The Galaxy Xcover 4s, which was launched in mid-June, was the last budget-friendly device in the lineup. So the company is long-due a new phone that offers the MIL-STD-810G military-grade durability and an IP68 rating for dust and water resistance without you having to break the bank.
The Galaxy Xcover 5 should now arrive as the affordable sequel to the Galaxy Xcover 4/4s. This device first appeared in the news back in November last year, when a report claimed that Samsung has started working on its next rugged smartphone with the model number SM-G501B. The device was said to offer 5G connectivity as well.
However, since the Exynos 850 lacks a 5G modem, the Galaxy Xcover 5 seemingly won’t support 5G connectivity. So perhaps the SM-G501B wasn’t likely a rugged smartphone. That said, there’s still a possibility that Samsung will offer its next rugged smartphone in both 4G-only and 5G variants. Since these phones are targeted towards the frontline workers or people who work on the field, 5G connectivity could really be a boon to them.
Now that the Galaxy Xcover 5 has picked up the FCC certification, it shouldn’t be too long before we get to hear more about this handset. We will keep you updated as and when Samsung officially unveils its upcoming rugged smartphone.
