Galaxy S6 Active review: A rugged S6 with a bigger battery, swapping glass for toughness.
A tougher S6 with more endurance.
The Galaxy S6 Active traded the standard S6's glass for a rugged IP68/MIL-STD body and a meaningfully bigger battery, while keeping the flagship Exynos 7420 and QHD AMOLED. It was arguably the most practical S6 for many users, even if carrier-locked.
01Display
86/100At 86/100 this is one of the strongest display showings among flagship phones of 2015 — 12 points above the cohort average.
02Camera
72/10072/100 puts it above the 67-point average for flagship phones of 2015.
03Performance
72/100At 72/100 this is one of the strongest performance showings among flagship phones of 2015 — 8 points above the cohort average.
04Battery
72/10072/100 puts it above the 66-point average for flagship phones of 2015.
05Build
82/100At 82/100 this is one of the strongest build showings among flagship phones of 2015 — 10 points above the cohort average.
06Value
62/10062/100 puts it above the 58-point average for flagship phones of 2015.
- Bigger 3,500 mAh battery than the S6.
- IP68 + MIL-STD-810G ruggedness.
- Same fast Exynos 7420 and QHD AMOLED.
- Active key + wireless charging.
- No microSD (followed the S6).
- Mono speaker.
- AT&T-exclusive in the US.
- Bulkier than the standard S6.
How this review is built: every section score, spec row and comparison on this page comes from SpecEagle's tracked catalogue — scores weight measured specs against the 100-phone cohort of flagship devices released around the same time. We don't publish invented lab anecdotes. Spot an error? .