Samsung Galaxy XCover7 Hands On Review Samsung introduced the Galaxy XCover7 rugged smartphone earlier this year and launched it across multiple markets, including India, marking the XCover series’ debut in the country. We spent several weeks with the Samsung Galaxy XCover7, and here’s our comprehensive review.
Design
The Samsung Galaxy XCover7 features a 6.6-inch FullHD+ PLS LCD display with a peak brightness of 600 nits and a V-shaped notch housing a 5MP selfie camera. The display is surrounded by thicker bezels, typical for rugged smartphones, emphasizing durability over sleek design.
On the rear, there’s a prominent 50MP camera with dual flash and a distinct red ring around it, complementing the phone’s black color scheme. The plastic back panel houses the camera flush, preventing wobbling on flat surfaces—a common issue with protruding camera designs.
Built to military-grade MIL-STD-810H standards, the Galaxy XCover7 withstands drops up to 1.5m and is IP68-rated for water resistance up to 1.5m depth for 30 minutes. The rear panel is user-removable without special tools, facilitating easy access to the user-replaceable battery—a rarity in rugged smartphones with IP68 ratings.
A programmable XCover Key on the left side offers tactile feedback and can be customized for quick access to apps or features like the Walkie Talkie mode. The right side houses the power button and volume rocker, while the bottom includes a USB-C port, POGO pins for charging, a speaker, and microphone. There’s also a 3.5mm headphone jack on the top alongside a secondary mic.
Display
The 6.6-inch FullHD+ PLS LCD display of the Galaxy XCover7 supports gloves up to 2mm thickness and wet touch input, catering to outdoor and industrial use cases. It lacks an in-display fingerprint scanner, opting instead for face recognition due to operational temperature constraints of AMOLED panels in rugged environments.
Software and Performance
Powered by the Dimensity 6100+ SoC with up to 6GB RAM and 128GB storage (expandable up to 1TB), the Galaxy XCover7 runs on Android 14-based One UI 6.1, with promised updates and quarterly security patches. The phone handles basic tasks adequately but isn’t designed for intensive use, evident in occasional stutters during usage.
Camera
The Galaxy XCover7’s 50MP rear camera captures decent daylight photos with good dynamic range and color accuracy. However, low-light performance is average, producing soft images with underdeveloped shadows. It supports features like eKYC, document scanning, and barcode scanning, tailored for business applications.
Battery
Equipped with a 4,050 mAh user-replaceable battery, the Galaxy XCover7 offers solid battery life, lasting a day on moderate usage with support for 15W charging via USB-C and POGO pins. Charging times are relatively slow compared to industry standards but compensate with the option to swap batteries quickly.
Conclusion
Priced at INR 27,208 ($325/€300) for the Standard version and INR 27,530 ($330/€300) for the Enterprise model, the Samsung Galaxy XCover7 targets enterprise users seeking durability, water resistance, and operational reliability in challenging environments. It excels in build quality, battery life, and rugged features but falls short in charging speed and lacks modern amenities like a high refresh rate screen and fingerprint scanner.
Despite these drawbacks, the Galaxy XCover7 stands out for its robust build, user-replaceable battery, and comprehensive software support, making it suitable for both business and casual users looking for a dependable rugged smartphone.