Rumours that Samsung would launch a Galaxy S5 Active variant looked to have proven incorrect when the manufacturer announced that its Galaxy S5 flagship would be dust and water resistant (with an IP67 certification). Suddenly the question became, why release an Active variant if its key characteristic is shared with the flagship model? Last year, when Samsung released the dust and water resistant (IP67 certification) Galaxy S4 Active, the Galaxy S4 was neither dust or waterproof. But a UAProf file on Samsung’s website suggests that there will be a Galaxy S5 Active variant, the SM-G870A, after all.
The UAProf file reveals little except to indicate that the SM-G870A will come with a Full HD (1080×1920) display. Nowhere does it explicitly specify that it will be either dust or waterproof either. It’s unlikely that we will see a FHD resolution on the Samsung Galaxy S5 mini, another variant that is expected, leaving the S5 Active or S5 Zoom as likely candidates. The latter looks to launch as the SM-C115 (with an HD display rather than FHD), leaving the former as the only likely candidate.
Assuming for a moment that our hypothesis is correct, what could Samsung have in mind for the Galaxy S5 Active? It will likely be dust and waterproof like its successor, perhaps with a higher tolerance as well (IP68?), and sport a more rugged construction make it more suitable for more active individuals.
With little else to go on, it may as plausibly turn out that this device has nothing to do with the Active family. Hopefully more information will come to light soon to clarify this.
The Samsung SM-G870A will likely be headed to AT&T much as its predecessor was last year.