FEBRUARY 2020 PCWorld 35case. You’re also getting something that
was long thought to be extinct. No, I’m not
talking about a headphone jack (though it
has one of those too). I’m talking about a
removable battery.
It’s been many years since Samsung
released a phone with a removable battery, but
when you run out of juice in the XCover Pro’s
4,050mAh battery, you’ll be able to pop off
the back cover and snap in a new one (which
are obviously sold separately). It also features
15W fast charging, which can be done over
USB-C or a pogo pin-compatible charger.
Since the Galaxy XCover Pro is a “field”
device, you won’t find a glass back or an
Infinity screen, and the bezels are quite large.
However, there’s more than meets the eye.
The 6.3-inch display has “an enhanced
touchscreen able to work in any condition,
including rain or snow,” as well as the ability
to work even when the user is wearing gloves.
The back of the phone features a grippable
plastic cover, while the rest of the specs are
fairly unremarkable:
Dimensions: 159.9 x 76.7 x 9.94mm
Display: 6.3-inch Full HD+
Processor: Exynos 9611
RAM: 4GB
Storage: 64GB
Front camera: 13MP. f/2.0
Rear camera: 25MP, f/1.7 + 8MP, f/2.2
Battery: 4,040mAh
On the side of the phone you’ll find a
power button with an embedded fingerprint
sensor, as well as
a pair of
programmable
keys that can boil
tasks down to
just a single click.
But Samsung
hopes one of
them will be
used as a walkie-
talkie. Just like
the canary-
colored
Motorola i530,
you can use your
XCover Pro as an
old-fashioned
walkie talkie thanks to integration with
Microsoft Teams. As announced last week
(go.pcworld.com/mstm), Microsoft is
building push-to-talk Walkie Talkie mode
into its Teams software, letting you push a
button to instantly contact a team member
or a group.
Additionally, Samsung is building a
point-of-sale system into the XCover Pro that
lets customers make payments by tapping
their contactless card, phone or watch to the
phone. It’s unclear how seamless Samsung’s
POS platform is, but it specifically spotlighted
approval by Visa’s Tap to Phone pilot program
(go.pcworld.com/vtap).
Samsung says the XCover Pro will ship in
the first half of 2020 for $499.