Samsung added a new handset to its lineup of rugged smartphones, introducing the budget Galaxy Active Neo with mixed hardware specifications.
The new Samsung Galaxy Active Neo looks like the most compact handset in the lineup so far, as well as the most affordable one. Keeping the price tag low, however, means cutting a few corners, and the Galaxy Active Neo sacrificed screen resolution in favor of affordability.
The smartphone doesn't have bad specs overall, but it comes with a meager resolution of just 800 x 480 pixels on a 4.5-inch display. Otherwise, the rest of the specifications are quite decent for a cheap handset.
The Samsung Galaxy Active Neo packs a quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 410 processor, 2GB of RAM, an 8-megapixel rear camera, a 2-megapixel front shooter, and certification for both water- and dust-resistance. The smartphone can withstand being submerged for up to 30 minutes in water of up to 1-meter deep, which means it's less resistant than the Galaxy S6 Active.
The Galaxy Active Neo also comes with a rugged body that can easily handle the occasional drop even on the toughest surfaces with no problem. The handset also packs 16GB of internal storage, expandable via microSD, sports 4G LTE connectivity, and runs Android 5.1 Lollipop out of the box. A 2,200 mAh battery keeps things up and running and should deliver a good performance considering that it doesn't have a big, high-resolution display to juice up.
When it comes to price, the new Samsung Galaxy Active Neo really does come with affordability in mind. The smartphone launched in Japan at a price point of 20,000 Yen, which translates to roughly $165 based on conversion rates. At a sub-$200 price tag, the Galaxy Active Neo doesn't sound that bad except for that screen resolution.
Samsung announced the Galaxy Active Neo only in Japan at this point, and made no mention yet of the handset's availability in other markets. For now, the smartphone will hit commercial availability in November, launching through Japanese carrier NTT DoCoMo.
The company is expected to offer more details regarding the smartphone's release soon, but for the time being it remains unclear whether it plans a global release for the Galaxy Active Neo or it will keep it as a Japan exclusive.
