While today’s smartphones may boast just as many pixels as your television and a faster processor than your PC, they’re not great at going outdoors. Drop any of them onto hard concrete without a case and you can almost guarantee you’re in for a pricey repair bill. That’s not the case with the new Samsung Xcover 2, however.

Announcing just this morning, the Xcover 2 is “the ideal smartphone for active explorers who are enjoying outdoor lifestyles and seeking a durable mobile device with essential smartphone capabilities.”

It almost looks like a regular Galaxy handset in a very sturdy case, but the Xcover 2 is much more than that. You can submerge it in water up to one meter deep and it won’t feel a thing, while dust and sand have no chance of penetrating its surface. Samsung has also added a dedicated camera key and encourages you to go and take pictures underwater with it.

The handset also offers a 1GHz dual-core processor, which powers the Android 4.1 Jelly Bean platform, and 1GB of RAM. There’s 4GB of internal storage, which is expandable via the microSD card slot; GPS, and a 4-inch WVGA 800×480 display. There’s a 5-megapixel camera on the back with auto-focus and an LED flash, a 2-megapixel camera on the front, and a 1,700 mAh battery that promises up to 570 hours of standby time.

As you’d expect, the Xcover 2 also comes with all of Samsung’s apps and services pre-installed, including ChatOn, AllShare Play, Game Hub, Readers Hub, Music Hub, Video Hub, and Kies Air. It also has the latest version of the TouchWiz user interface, with the Motion UI, Smart Stay, Best Shot, S Voice, and more.

While the Xcover 2 may not be a high-end smartphone with a quad-core processor and a 1080p display, those who need a smartphone for adventuring are likely to find that its specifications are more than enough. Besides, what good is an HD display if it shatters into tiny pieces when it falls out of a tree?

• SourceSamsung
• ViaThe Next Web