Samsung's hardy Galaxy S8 Active comes to Sprint and T-Mobile
You're not limited to AT&T if you want Samsung's latest rugged phone.
It used to be that getting one of Samsung's toughened-up Active phones meant signing up with AT&T. What if you'd rather not switch carriers just to make sure your phone can survive a hiking trip without a case? As of now, you (probably) won't have to make that choice. Samsung has confirmed that the Galaxy S8 Active will be available through Sprint and T-Mobile later in November, with the latter network selling it online as of November 17th (in stores on the 22nd). You won't get the desert-themed titanium gold color (just meteor gray), but you're getting everything else that your AT&T friends have had since August.
The S8 Active shares much in common with the standard S8, including the processor, cameras and 64GB of expandable storage. Really, it's all about a design that can take a bruising: the bumper-clad design can take falls from up to 5 feet high, and the flat 5.8-inch screen is designed to be shatter-resistant. Naturally, dust and water resistance are part of the package. There's only one internal change, but it's a big one -- the S8 Active touts a hefty 4,000mAh battery (versus 3,000mAh on the regular S8) that should last through day-long adventures.
Sprint hasn't detailed pricing as of this writing, but T-Mobile will sell the S8 Active for $30 per month over 2 years (plus $100 down), or $820 outright. That's not a trivial outlay, especially when the base S8 is several months old, but it could be justifiable if you can't stand the thought of your phone breaking mid-expedition.
