Update (May 28 at 9:45 PM): The SM-G398FN variant of the Galaxy Xcover 4s has now been certified by the Wi-Fi Alliance as well. Unlike the Bluetooth certification, however, the Wi-Fi certification does not reveal anything new. It only confirms the device will have support for dual-band Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac and ship with the latest Android 9.0 Pie operating system out of the box.
Earlier:
Samsung’s unannounced SM-G398FN smartphone was spotted at the US FCC last week. While some were speculating that the smartphone could launch as the Xcover 5, a Dutch e-commerce website recently listed the device at EUR 249 (INR 19,500 approx.) as Xcover 4s. According to the retailer listing, the smartphone will go on sale in the Netherlands in early June. The Xcover 4s moniker has now been confirmed as the device has been granted Bluetooth certification. Samsung Galaxy Xcover 4s is expected to be a direct successor to the Xcover 4 launched in 2017.
Samsung Galaxy Xcover 4s Could be Launched in Europe Next Month
The Bluetooth Special Interest Group (SIG) has certified both the SM-G398FN and SM-G398FN_DS variants of the Galaxy Xcover 4s. As suggested by the letters “DS” at the end of the model number, SM-398FN_DS variant of the smartphone will have Dual SIM card slots. On the other hand, the SM-G398FN variant will come with a single SIM card slot.
Apart from confirming the marketing name of the smartphone, the Bluetooth certification reveals support for the Bluetooth 5.0 Low Energy standard. The Samsung Galaxy Xcover 4, which featured a quad-core Exynos 7570 chipset, supported the Bluetooth 4.2 Low Energy standard. Quite clearly, this means the Xcover 4s will run on a newer and more powerful chipset. Going by the smartphone’s recent appearances on the Geekbench database, Samsung Galaxy Xcover 4s may be powered by an Exynos 7904 chipset. The Geekbench listings also suggest the upcoming rugged smartphone from Samsung will have 3GB of RAM, 1GB more than its predecessor. On the software front, the Galaxy Xcover 4s is expected to debut with Samsung’s new One UI based on Android 9.0 Pie.
The smartphone’s FCC filings revealed it will have a 2800mAh capacity battery inside, which is identical to the Xcover 4. While the battery capacity may be identical, you can still expect the Xcover 4s to deliver slightly better battery life than its predecessor, all thanks to newer and more efficient internals. Aside from the upgraded hardware, the Xcover 4s is likely to have similar rugged credentials as the Xcover 4 with MIL-STD-810G certification and an IP68 rating for water as well as dust resistance.
