Samsung Galaxy XCover Pro | Rugged (IP68 Rated) Unlocked (Verizon and AT&T) | Dual Sim | 64GB of Storage | SM-G715UZKDXAA, Black

I've been going through a lot of phones lately. I live a rugged lifestyle: construction, farming, hunting, camping... I need a phone that can take a tumble or two. The last phone I had like that was a Samsung J7, a strong phone that lasted a long time, but is out dated because it only has 16 gig ROM—towards the end I was switching between apps by uninstalling one and reinstalling the other. This phone has 64, which is plenty for me, since I found the SD slot—the two SIM bays threw me off for a minute, those little things can be tough to see: the SD slot is on top of SIM 1, which is the SIM slot you want to use for the States. Anyway, ever since they started putting the fingerprint scanner under the screen, it seems the screen has become super fragile, and now when you break it, it doesn't just crack and you can still use it, it completely craps out and your phone is now useless. Mind you, every phone I purchase is bought with tempered glass screen protectors at the same time, which is installed immediately upon removing the phone from its packaging, the moment the protective film is removed from the screen a tempered glass screen cover is the next thing to touch it. The last time I didn't have the screen protector when the phone arrived, I left the protective film on the phone and used it like that until the protectors arrived. My old J7 would look a total shattered mess, and I'd peel off the screen protector and it'd look like a bran new phone underneath, and a new protector would be put right back on. I swore by them, but they don't protect the new phones like they did my J7, and I really think it's the stuff they put behind the screen now. This is probably why this phone has the fingerprint scanner on a side button, which I love, because it's way more accurate (probably due to the glass shields), and because it's more accessible: I can reach it with my left middle finger if I'm holding it in my left hand, or with my right thumb if I'm holding it in my right. The on screen readers often took me two hands to operate, this one I can easily work with one, making this phone so much easier for me to get into. Also, I love the two added programmable buttons, a great feature to have for people who frequently wear gloves, you can program these buttons for easy access to things like your phone dialer or camera, even if your phone is still locked, if you choose that option. Android 10 is incredibly customizable and full of features, and this is a standard Samsung phone in that it gives you full access to these features and runs the operating system well. I told you I've broken a lot of phones lately, some phones I can compare this to are the Samsung A20 and A51, and moto z4. The A20 had a power port failure on like day two, the rest were all broken screens. Those phones I think are designed more for office type workers or those in medical field and such, I think. They have a nice sleek design and their screens go to the edge of the phone or even wrap around. This phone's screen doesn't go to the edge, and is slightly recessed, which makes me feel it's better protected from a fall on its face. This makes the screen protector fit flush in the recess, but I'm disappointed that it does not fit snug. That's a separate review for the screen protector, I don't fault the phone for that. This phone is a little bit bulkier (thicker) and I suppose heavier than those sleeker designs, but I'm more comfortable with it in my hands and it definitely feels sturdier. I loved removing the cover and seeing the battery! I've missed being able to change batteries when I go on a long trip into the woods for a campout, and want to take photos or use Google Earth, or track a hike... I hope to be able to purchase a backup soon. It would be nice to have a phone again that outlasts it's specs. If this phone holds up for me as well as the J7 did, I'll be happy. If not, I will update my review.

TL;DR: If you want an S-Pen, iPhone, or a phone to play PUBG on this is not your phone. Everyone else should seriously consider it. If anyone asks you what phone they should buy, this should be #1 on the list. It's not for everyone - but it is for everyone that doesn't know enough about phones to know why they need the latest Galaxy S, Note, Asus ROG, or other specialty or flagship phones. This phone is rugged, yes. but it looks almost identical to most every black rectangle out there. Nobody is going to look at this phone and think it's for construction workers. It's got a little extra on the corners, and a slight lip around the screen to keep the screen safer. It doesn't affect usability in any way. Why else should this phone be at the top of lists? There's so many good reasons: * Durability. Yeah, no phone is invincible, but being able to survive getting knocked off a table onto a tile floor is great (and the reason I had to replace my wife's phone). * Headphone jack. Yep, their loss isn't mourned or protested anymore, but it's nice to have. * Waterproof. Every phone should be. * User replaceable battery. This phone proves that there is no valid argument about phone thickness, bulkiness, or loss of waterproofing by offering this. It takes 5 seconds to swap a battery. * Expandable memory slot. Still on most phones, but this phone does it without giving up a second SIM card slot. * Dual sim. A lot of phones give up the memory card slot to have this feature. Not this phone. Put two lines in it, and a memory card. * USB-C. It doesn't have the blazing fast charging rates that the Note 10 has, but it's still fast. * Fingerprint reader in the power button. In-screen readers are still terrible (nearly unusable at times in my Note 10), this one is fast and accurate. * Modern Processor. The Exynos 9611 isn't their flagship processor, but it's a huge step up from what is put in most of the rugged phones out there. It's about equivalent to a 2018 flagship chip (Snapdragon 665) in terms of speed. Plenty fast for anything that isn't "hardcore" phone gaming. * IPS screen. Not a flagship OLED screen, but it looks fantastic, and better than standard LCD. * Gorilla Glass 5. Scratch resistant and tough. * Notification LED. I miss this on newer phones, but it has an LED so you can see if there's active notifications. * Regular and wide angle lenses. * Half the price of a Galaxy S20. Nitpicks (or the only stuff I miss from a flagship device). Tap to wake is not enabled by default. The holepunch camera hole is bigger than flagship phones. Single speaker instead of stereo. It might be larger than some people want. No Samsung Pay means you can't use it with old magnetic-only card readers. No 5G. This is a stretch, since few phones do have it.

I liked this phone, for the most part. (After I turned off as much tracking and background apps as I could). Battery life has been great. Wifi calling works, and I use Verizon. The side/top buttons could be layed out better and configuring their functions could be better, but I liked it. HOWEVER, a couple weeks ago, the screen started flickering and not coming on. Currently, if I put it into my pocket, and then take it out, I will have to press around the middle of the screen a few dozen times to get it to power the screen. I have to handle it vary carefully to keep the screen functional. I have not dropped it in any serious way, and the screen is not cracked at all. 10/22/20:I'm still waiting on Samsung to "approve" my warranty information so I can open a support ticket.... 10/23/20: warranty approved. 3/04/21: finally got around to sending for warranty repair. 3/11/21: Facility received the phone. 3/16/21: got an email that repair wasn't covered. Called support to pay ~$82 charge. Was told the tech's system wasn't working and they would call me back. No missed calls from 800 numbers, or samsung. 3/23/21: ticket marked cancelled in website, no notification. 3/24/21: contacted support again, used chat since call said 30 minute wait time. Chat person to 16 minutes to look up ticket number. took 10-15 minutes to respond to each of my simple questions. Support claims they tried to call me 3 times and closed the ticket. During the chat session, I received an email about the ticket being cancelled. When I receive my phone again, I will start the whole support process again from the beginning. So far I am 3-4 hours in to troubleshooting and getting the phone repaired, and have made no progress. Downgraded to 1 star.

I bought this phone for many of the reasons B. Rodgers cited in his thorough review. The phone is bigger and much heavier than what I expected [ UPDATE: but I got used to the bigger size and weight]. Flagship phones are designed for obsolescence and cost twice as much. They have sealed-in batteries that typically fail after 2 years, and usually only promise 1-2 years of security updates. Since the Xcover Pro has Android 10 from the factory, it reportedly can support more thorough or lasting updates than Android 9 phones. The Xcover Pro guarantees 3-4 years of security updates, and has a 24-month warranty, whereas most phones offer only 12 month warranties and maybe 1 OS update. The battery can be swapped out before a new work shift, and swapped out at the end of its useful life, using only our bare hands. This phone is rugged, water resistant, and has good cameras; other phones with removable batteries have no water-resistance, low-end processors, and low-end cameras. I don't want to contribute to electronic waste, so I chose a phone that is designed to last. The ultra-wide-angle camera seems to cover about 135 degrees, so you can stand in a room corner and fit the whole room into the frame. It has a left-side button that can be assigned to any two apps via a long press or short press, and a top button that can be assigned to launch any two apps. The right-side power button can also be assigned, and I don't have to lift the phone off the desk to use the fingerprint reader that is built into the right-side power button. * Dictation without the cloud This phone can convert speech to text internally, without sending your voice to the cloud. I confirmed this by dictating text into apps while holding the right-side button, even when I had the phone in airplane mode. * Wi-Fi calling I need Wi-Fi calling so I can place and receive calls without paying exorbitant roaming fees when I travel, while using my regular phone number. Although Samsung reassured me that all their phones including this one support WI-Fi calling, after purchase Samsung support told me that Wi-Fi calling requires cell-carrier bloatware baked into the phone's firmware. Consequently, if you want this phone to have Wi-Fi calling, the only option is to get a carrier version. In the US it is only Verizon, so you will have to put up with the worst customer service I have experienced in years, or purchase the phone from Verizon then use it on another network. * Point Of Sale (POS) transactions: Samsung claims that this is the only phone with EMV Level-1 compatibility: "You can now accept payments without the need for additional hardware. The Galaxy XCover Pro has EMV Level-1 that makes it mPOS-ready." However, the Xcover Pro does NOT have MST (Magnetic Secure Transfer) hardware, and therefore does not support Samsung Pay for paying at point of sale (POS) locations. Samsung claims I can use Google Pay, but I have not tried that, as I do not want Google to log every transaction I make with my phone. Unlike other payment systems, Samsung Pay uses MST hardware on their most popular phones to make credit card transactions compatible with all POS magnetic strip readers. The phone does have NFC payment, which works only on POS systems that support NFC. So Ironically, the XCover Pro has more capabilities for accepting payments from other credit cards, but fewer capabilities for making payments with your own credit card due to lack of MST hardware. This unlocked Xcover Pro has powered down for no apparent reason, and self-reset numerous times. I don't know if that's due to any of my installed apps, though they were working fine on my older & slower Samsung phone. I'm returning this phone and trying my luck with the Verizon version because Wi-Fi calling is essential to me. The Verizon XCover Pro is not self-resetting, but I have not yet allowed it to install the latest OS update, so I don't know if that will cause the resets. *** UPDATE on 2020-07-25: *** I purchased the $500 Verizon XCover Pro with a $200 discount to be credited monthly over 24 months, and an additional $200 credit on my first Verizon bill for porting my phone number to a Verizon Enterprise account. Obtaining a new account from Verizon was so aggravating I'm not sure it will be worth the savings. 1) As far as I know my Verizon XCover Pro has not self-reset. I've had it for almost two months. I suppose I should restart the phone. 2) If anyone has conclusively been able to get this unlocked XCover Pro to work with Wi-Fi calling, please reply to this review and let us know. Samsung told me Wi-Fi calling is not possible on an unlocked phone. 3) If you have been able to get this phone at a discount from Verizon on a personal account, let us know. 4) Unsurprisingly, Verizon's custom bloatware on the Verizon version of the XCover Pro disabled the built-in FM radio. Carriers do this to push us into their data plan. So no emergency radio reception for when the towers are down or out of reach, and no radio feed without a data plan on the Verizon version. 5) The FM radio on this unlocked phone was not disabled. However, I could not get FM radio reception using the NextRadio app (all I heard was noise) even though reception was great on my nearby Android tablet using the same wired earphones as an antenna. Does the FM radio work on your XCover Pro? You you can install the NextRadio app and use wired earphones as an antenna.

Update 7/30: I've had this phone for over a month now. Here's a few things to either reinforce or introduce. Looking at the camera feed in the Ultra Wide mode while in motion/walking around to get shots makes me feel uneasy. Not sick, but it looks so off. It is IP68 rated. Still be cautious though. Get a case and screen protector. As someone who went from a thick rugged phone to this lighter weight but rugged phone, you want extra protection. I still use and abuse the other rugged phone, but I have found out very quickly that it wasn't as waterproof as the company claimed it be. (Don't get the Ulefone Armor 7, water will get in through the SIM card port even though it has a rubber gasket on it.) Still very strong on the gaming aspect having weird results from game to game. Even with the device up to date on updates, it still plays weird with some or runs smoothly on others. Your mileage will vary. Speakers... Still meh and disappointed about. Invest in wired earbuds (YES, it has a 3.5mm jack) or bluetooth ones. Bluetooth connects flawlessly, for me. No issues with connecting to numerous bluetooth earbuds, speakers, and car audio systems I've tested/daily use. Original: It's been since the Samsung Galaxy S5 that I've had a phone with a removable back and battery. Wow! Although it's IP68 rated, I'd still get a case and screen protector for this phone. As you should for most phones. I am very nit picky with phones. Over the past 3 years, I have gone through (either daily driven, tested and returned, or daily driven and broken) 7 Android phones and 1 Apple device (yuck BTW). I can say that I'm glad to be back with Samsung Galaxy line up, but there could be better options out there for the features I care about - especially the IP68 or IP69K dust and water resistant ratings. For what it's worth and in my tests/everyday use, this isn't a beefy rugged phone. However, it is an average joe type of rugged phone. (I define "average joe" as someone who daily drives this phone, keeps it turned on for months at a time unless they *somehow* install updates in that "once in a solar eclipse" moments, plays casual games or even as far as Pokemon Go, charges their phone without a care in the world, and rarely drops their phone but still want that sense of security it's not going to shatter on them if they drop it) Pros: +IP68 Rating. I love me a water resistant phone that I can take to the pool with me or get a bit wet in the rain. +Removable battery. I miss it. I still love it. If it happens to get a bit wet, do a unsafe shutdown by removing the battery. Put the phone in some moisture absorbing material or apparatus and check on it in 12-24hrs. (Not rice because the broken rice grains can get into spots it shouldn't) +Dual SIM and still have the microSD card? Yes please! Look... most phones have the dual SIM trays with one of the SIMs being a microSD card/SIM slot. Once you put a microSD card in, you only have 1 SIM slot. I hated that. But with this, you can have both SIM slots taken and still have the ability to put in a microSD card! (Nano SIMs are accepted on both SIM slots) +Speaking of Dual SIMs... Verizon and AT&T only, but it's great. I hate T-Mobile anyways. Verizon, minus their customer service and online registration, has been great. So when a phone has full Verizon capability, I'm in. +Cameras are decent. I like it, but I've had better phone cameras. Main cameras (25MP main, f/1.7, 26mm (wide), PDAF and 8MP wide, f/2.2, 123˚ (ultrawide), 1/4.0", 1.12µm) are ok. I wouldn't use the 8MP wide for anything other than Panoramic photos. Selfie camera (13MP, f/2.0, (wide), 1/3.1", 1.12µm) is good. I still look ugly, so there's that. Cons: -Playing games can be challenging. Some games like Shop Titans lag while Pokemon Go can run smoothly. Not sure why. Could be the ARM Mali-G72 MP3 GPU - which is integrated into the Exynos 9611 CPU. I've seen mixed reviews on the Exynos 9611 CPU. So your mileage can vary. -Single loudspeaker that isn't loud enough. I find myself having to put the phone closer to my ear, if I were to put my phone on speaker while I talk to someone. For music, it sounds more mono than a single speaker stereo output. Very disappointing. -Android 11... I am ok with it, but I hate it at the same time. It's got dark mode, which is nice. But Secure Folder isn't the best idea for locking apps. Android 9 had it better where you can lock apps with a code or password without having to sign into your profiles again. But it is easier to access your apps via the app drawer, unlike Android 10. -1 too many buttons for the same functions. There are 2 function keys, along with your fingerprint/lock button and 2 volume control buttons. The top key, which in default turned on your flashlight with 1 press. And the left side key, which turned on Bixby by default. I've gotten used to a phone where their function key was customizable for screenshots, without having to press the traditional Volume Down + Lock Button. So, it's disappointing that such function isn't accessible on the function keys. You can change the function keys to other actions like turning on and off a Flashlight, or launching your Settings, or anything app based. So you're not stuck with the defaults of Bixby and flashlight only. -Speaking of Bixby... I'm not a fan. I'm not a fan of Google Assistant either. But I would rather use Google and Bixby. I'm not sure if they'll upgrade to Samsung Sam at this point.

Yada yada yada, this phone, that phone, all kinds of phones everywhere you turn - you get so bombarded with cell phone ads and commercials it becomes obnoxious. What sold me on this phone is the incredibly easy to remove / replace battery which you just can't find much of anymore. All of these new phones do not particularly serviceable batteries, so what happens after a 1000 charge cycles? If you want to keep a phone for years to come, this is it. When they say BEAST, it truly is in everyway. While it is not a slim small phone that you could forget in your pants pocket and accidentally end up in the washing machine, it is not overbearingly large or heavy. This IS definitely a commercial heavy duty grade phone. I put what I considered to be an enormous 256gb micro SD card in it, so along with the 60GB it already has built into it, it now has more space available in it than my laptop PC does. Yes, there are no particular instructions that come with this phone, but it is truly rather intuitive to learn to use. Battery life has been amazing. Reception has been amazing, even in the metal building I work in that is usually dicey for reception at best under any carrier. There is such a dramatic leap in technology with this phone that I am actually stunned - Android 10 is very well done. It is not listed as 5G, but I wouldn't be one bit surprised if it gets a software update at some point and magically meets the new mark. As it is, it downloads things and plays HD videos so quickly and smoothly that I wouldn't likely even be able to tell the difference if it switched to 5G. So I receive the phone, a little anxious about whether I can just swap in my Verizon SIM card out of my old phone and go. Ooops... Apparently SIM cards got smaller when I wasn't looking - DOH! NANO SIM cards now? Ok, so I have apparently been living under a rock. My older SIM was too big to fit. I hopped online and researched it, and what do you know, you can actually see a ton of online tutorials as to how to simply trim your older / larger SIM card down to the new NANO size - interesting. I ordered a new replacement NANO SIM from Verizon at no charge, but it will take a few days to get here. Anxious to try this bad boy phone out, I nervously trimmed my SIM card down with scissors, sanded the plastic side down a bit, and popped it right in. Not sure if I had possibly wrecked the SIM card, and also not sure if Verizon would accept the phone without a fight, I powered it up, went through the initial on screen set up prompts, and BAM - up and running perfectly (standard personal Verizon account - not commercial or prepaid). I transferred all of my data from my old phone to the new phone using the Wondershare Mobile Trans software I have installed on my PC, and everything transferred over perfectly - hooray! Now what they aren't advertising much just yet is that this phone has a dual sim card capability - wow. I haven't tested it yet, but am going to yank the SIM card out of my wife's Verizon phone and pop it into the the slot labeled "SIM 2". There was some mention that this feature is coming soon via a software update, but who knows - maybe that day has already come? I am VERY curious to see what it does with two SIM cards in it, speculating that it will act like a "Line 1 or Line 2" phone. WAAAAAAAY back in the early days, I had a Sprint phone that ran two lines. I ran a business line and also a personal line on that phone - I sure have missed that capability since then. If this works and I have two lines, I may try one of those companies like Cricket to provide a low cost second line. Again, I haven't tested this yet, but I'll bet you it works, which will tickle me silly for my business and personal usages. It has only been a few days now, but I am beyond tickled with this phone. I took a bit of a gamble on it, seeing some reviews that ranged from soup to nuts. The outcome? Tickled silly :) BIG SCREEN, ultra fast processor, more capabilities than I ever imagined (still finding more and more cool features as I continue to use it further), outstanding battery life, incredible HD audio clarity on the phone (bizarre how clear actually), phenomenal camera and video with all kinds of different possible settings, and on and on and on. Rated for being immersed in water up to five feet for thirty minutes??? Military grade drop tested with a Gorilla glass screen? Can you tell how tickled I am with this phone? And to think I was just sold on the fact that you could pop in a spare fresh battery in ten seconds flat - this is an AMAZING SUPER PHONE PEOPLE !!! I occasionally get something that under promises and over delivers - rare, but it happens. This is most definitely one of the best purchases I have made in years - SERIOUSLY :) :) :)

I really wanted to like this phone, removal battery, flat screen, a couple remappable buttons... Sounds perfect right? Well this phone was intended as my everyday carry phone, as well as my main work phone in a sales job out in the field. The biggest weakness of this phone is the processor... Completely inadequate for a demanding business environment. This is not a power user's phone. I did understand going into this that it was a mid-range phone, but it's inability to multitask was exacerbated by the fact that Android 10 is great at multitasking operations. I tried this phone for 28 days and had to return it. I loved the ruggedness, the removable battery which I was unable to find in the US sadly, the potential for Pogo charging which I was unable to find in the US sadly.. The phone I had before this was a note 8 which is definitely a flagship phone of its day, so someone coming from an older non flagship phone would probably be happy with this. It also made me sad that Samsung pay wasn't available at all. Even for non MSG payment. Ultimately I ended up getting an s10e which is such an excellent phone and has a flat screen which was one of my biggest wants after spending so much on curved screen protectors of any kind of quality. Overall I would say pass it unless you expectations of multitasking and power using are set quite low.

This is an excellent smart phone at a reasonable price. My previous device was a Samsung "Active", which had an area fingerprint reader on the back surface that was nearly useless as it required the orientation and placement of my finger to be nearly perfect. This reader is essentially a linear array, and so well integrated into the inset-side-mounted on/off button that it is reliable, hence routinely useful. I purchased the phone through Amazon (good), and followed the on-line guide to transfer files and set it up (again, good). Transfering my activated AT&T account was another matter. The technical information that came with the phone made a point that a certain (specified) SIM card was required. To my eyes, that description did not match the SIM card in my Active. Calls to AT&T did not work. A visit to the local AT&T store at first was unsuccessful. The clerk shook his head and walked away, passing off my request to another agent. She pointed out that the SIM in my older Active was the correct variety, and in a few minutes had switched them out, tested, and verified that all was well. She told me that Samsung has used the same SIM card on all of their phones for the past several years. Easy peasy for the cognizenti :~) Other features...The back plate of this phone removes easily (without tools), allowing access to the innards. The battery may be removed (for security if required), replaced, or swapped out to be charged externally (extra equipment needed). There is an internal slot for another chip to increase storage. The screen is hardened glass, so that no screen protector should be required.