While Samsung makes some excitingflagship phones, the company has also produced ruggedized phones under the XCover series forover a decade. Separately,Tactical Edition versionsof its early-year flagships have been available for a handful of years now. The company is now launching a Tactical Edition version of the Galaxy XCover 6 Pro in the US while bringing theGalaxy S23 Tactical Editionto the region as well. The latter was announced at the Special Operations Forces Week 2023 in May this year. Meanwhile, thevanilla Galaxy XCover 6 Promade its debut in mid-2022, albeit in select markets.
Astatementby Samsung America’s Senior VP & GM of B2B, Brad Haczynski, makes it pretty clear that these two phones aren’t designed for everyday users but instead for officials and personnel from the Department of Defense. This also explains why the company doesn’t reveal a price tag for both the Tactical Edition smartphones. However, regular citizens have been able to buy the standard Galaxy XCover 6 Pro in the US through Samsung and retailers like Amazon for a while now.
Despite the secrecy around the price tag, we do get a glimpse into the Galaxy S23 Tactical Edition’s hardware specifications. Given the use of the Galaxy S23 name, Samsung is bundling the same powerful ‘For Galaxy’ version of the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 SoC underneath the device. Military customers will find a Dynamic AMOLED screen with a 120Hz refresh rate, though the display size isn’t specified.
The manufacturer also talks about the presence of apro-grade50MP camera sensor, supposedly enabling users to take high-res photos and videos in low light conditions “without giving away their position.” Samsung adds that it teamed up with Juggernaut Case and Kagwerks to develop military-grade cases for the Galaxy S23 Tactical Edition.
Samsung didn’t specify the chipset used on the Galaxy XCover 6 Pro Tactical Edition, but we presume it’s the same Snapdragon 778G 5G chipset used on the regular version. It is MIL-STD-810H compliant and can sustain drops from a height of up to 1.5 meters, plus handle high altitudes, temperatures, vibration, and humidity, per the company.
Other noteworthy features include a microSD card slot (up to 1TB supported) and Glove Mode, which we’ve seen inpast iterationsof the Galaxy XCover series, albeit under a different name. The removable battery is also mentioned here, with a special mention of its weight (under 8.5oz) and thickness of less than 1.5 inches, positioning these devices as a viable replacement for bulkier laptops usually carried by military personnel.
On-device security is another important aspect of these secure phones, with the reliable Samsung Knox handling these duties here as well. Both phones come with dual VPN chaining and Knox Dual Data at Rest (DualDAR) to provide an unparalleled level of security for sensitive documents.
Lastly, Samsung says it will support both Tactical Edition phones with a four-year cycle of “software maintenance,” ensuring the phone receives critical updates until January 2027. Eligible customers can register their interest in either of the two Tactical Edition devices by filling out a form onthe Samsung US page.
If you want a rugged phone like the Galaxy XCover 6 Pro without any of the military-grade stuff, we recommend picking up the standard version of the device, currently available for $600.
Samsung Galaxy XCover6 Pro
The Samsung Galaxy XCover 6 Pro was originally launched in June 2022, and comes packed with a ton of military-specific hardware and software features. Our favorite feature, however, is its removable battery, which is rare to find on a modern-day smartphone, even among budget and midrange phones. Since the Galaxy XCover 6 Pro is a relatively recent smartphone, customers can also expect to receive timely software and security updates.
