Introduction

The rugged smartphone is, by all accounts, a form factor of interest to a tiny consumer niche, and as such isn’t a popular choice with manufacturers. Among the big players, Samsung has been the most supportive of the idea, with the best-known example being the “Active” spins on its mainline flagships.But one might consider its Xcover line, in this case represented by the latest Xcover 4, to be in an even tighter niche: where the Active series offers top-of-the-line specs if a sturdier body, the Xcover family is firmly and unashamedly planted into the low end. Thus, when taking into consideration whether such a phone is “good”, one has to shift their expectations and judge it more based on whether it meets its own, offbeat set of goals, over whether it suits the everyday consumer’s needs.So with that in mind, let’s take a closer look at this quirky beast.

Design and display

Durability entails some sacrifices in the looks department

You couldn’t call the Xcover 4 pretty if your life depended on it – every design decision on this phone simply screams “function over form”. Visually, this is a classic Samsung but with a couple of necessary changes due to its form factor, such as the all-plastic back and the three physical buttons on the front.

This, however, quickly proves itself to be a quite nice little package: the grippy outer shell feels amazingly comfortable in the hand while also doing its job quite well. And somewhat surprisingly, the Xcover 4 carries a US military MIL-STD-810G rating (as well as the more standard IP68), which means it’s resistant to extreme environmental conditions: these include water, dust, shocks, low and high pressure, and extreme temperatures.

The display is nothing to write home about with its 720 x 1280 px resolution spread across a 5-inch screen, but is, on the other hand, more than bright enough for outdoor use. However, the auto brightness rarely works particularly well in certain conditions, so you might be better off disabling it if it doesn't feel particularly good for you too.

Display measurements and quality

Software, functionality, and performance

Pretty much the standard Samsung entry-level fare

The Xcover 4 comes with Android 7.0 Nougat right out of the box, which is refreshing for a device at this price point; and since this is Samsung, expect to see the latest Samsung Experience UX laid on top of that as well.In simple terms, this means you get the full suite of Samsung’s home-grown apps, including Health, Secret Folder, and Internet, as well as six bonus Microsoft apps. In typical Samsung fashion, however, the first-party apps cannot be disabled, so if you don’t like them – tough luck.

As previously mentioned, the Xcover 4 is very much low-end in terms of specs: its Exynos 7570 SoC and 2 GB of RAM work out to a somewhat underwhelming experience, with frequently dropped background apps and the occasional stutter. Also, the phone only comes with 16 GB of storage, making the use of an SD card a necessity.

Camera

Most certainly not the best, but surprisingly good nonetheless

The Xcover 4 comes equipped with a 13 MP rear-mounted shooter, as well as a 5 MP front-facing one. And considering the device they’re attached to, they take pretty good photos in the right conditions. Of course, there are the usual problems you’d expect, such as the less-than-ideal dynamic range and the somewhat lacking details, but overall, the camera is more than good enough for the occasional shot.

The Camera app is the standard one you’ll find on every Samsung Android device, and offers most everyday features, including a pro mode, panorama, burst shot, a sports and a night mode, and others. However, you won’t find the Galaxy S8’s stickers and face filters, but we imagine the target audience for this device will be okay with such an omission.

Video quality is okay, but the camera lacks stabilization and the autofocus is hit-or-miss, which can be a problem if there’s too much movement in the shot.

Call quality & battery life

A rugged phone often requires some compromises – in this case, call quality is what suffers most. The earpiece is loud but not really clear, while the microphone is a bit on the quiet side.

On the other hand, battery life is particularly impressive: the removable 2,800 mAh battery can last very long, thanks to the small-resolution screen and the low-power CPU: in our own benchmark, the Xcover 4 lasted an impressive 10 hours and 43 minutes. However, charging took more than 2 hours (132 minutes, to be exact), which is far from ideal.

Conclusion

So the big question that remains is: whom is this phone designed for? Essentially, it’s people who need a basic device that can withstand a ton of abuse – a tiny niche, but apparently still large enough for Samsung to want to fill it every other year.

And for what it is – an entry-level device with rugged exterior – the Xcover 4 is amazing: it’s comfortable to hold, sturdy, and thanks to the progress of Android, entirely usable even with its weak specs. So if you’re the target audience for such a phone, its asking price of €259 (about $290) may well be worth the experience you’re getting in return.

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