With almost a 33% bigger battery than the Galaxy S6 with its 3,500 mAh battery, you can extend your use, consume more content and remain more productive on the road with little downtime. The increase in battery on the Active alone is a source of contention, even among Samsung fans who have adopted the Galaxy S6.
"Since the moment the phone was announced, I've almost been seething with anger," Abhijeet Mishra, SamMobile's Editor-in-Chief, said. "It's nothing less than an insult to the millions that have bought the Galaxy S6 and S6 edge."
Whether that 33% increase in charge will make Galaxy S6 owners trade-in their shiny phones for a camo-inspired plastic Active is anyone's guess, but if you're upgrading from an older Samsung model, the Active should be high on your list. The Galaxy S6 Active shares the same battery capacity as Motorola's Droid Maxx on Verizon, a handset with a stated two full days of battery life.
Since the Active doesn't require a flimsy flap over the micro USB port to keep water out, like on the Galaxy S5, thanks to improved waterproofing techniques, you won't have to fiddle with any covers when you need to plug in.
4. Mobile archiving
Even though you may not be a top secret government spy and the name on your business card doesn't read James Bond, there may be times when you need to take a photo to document something for work.
The Galaxy S6 Active has the same stellar camera from the regular model, meaning you can take clear scans of documents without having to walk to your shared office scanner.
In addition to scanning documents, I've also found the camera on AT&T's variant of the Galaxy S6 useful for scanning business cards with Samsung's Optical Scanner and Intsig's CamCard apps when I attend conferences and networking events, saving me time from manually inputting new contacts into my Google Contacts list.
5. Push-to-app
Samsung giveth and Samsung taketh, at least when it comes to hardware features. Gone is the fingerprint reader on the regular Galaxy S6, but users will gain a programmable hardware Active button.
Similar to the dedicated "Can you hear me now?" push-to-talk hardware buttons, users now have a push-to-app button to quickly launch into their favorite apps. By default, the Active key will open a menu to sports-oriented features – like the digital compass – but you can have it launch your favorite work app like Slack, Yammer or Hipchat. That way, when you're climbing a 40-story skyscraper on an adventure to your cubicle and find yourself trapped in a malfunctioning elevator, you should be able to at least ping your coworkers for help.
In the US, the plastic makeover on the Active costs $10 more contract-free on AT&T than the non-sporty model. The Galaxy S6 Active is priced at $694 compared to the $684 contract-free Galaxy S6. Both models are equipped with 32GB of storage, but AT&T offers the Galaxy S6 in additional 64GB and 128GB capacities.
- Read our picks for the best Android phones for business
