SpecEagle
SpecEagle review · Samsung

Galaxy S8 Active review: 2017 rugged flagship.

SpecEagle Editorial·Aug 2017·$850
Overall
82/100
Class rank
#1 of 11
Tier
Rugged
Buy?
At the right price
The verdict, up front

Galaxy S8 Active.

S8 Active brought Infinity Display + 4,000 mAh + IP68/MIL-STD to AT&T's 2017 rugged flagship.

01Display

88/100

At 88/100 this is one of the strongest display showings among rugged phones of 2017 — 15 points above the cohort average.

TypeSuper AMOLED Infinity
Size5.8"
Resolution2960 x 1440

02Performance

80/100

At 80/100 this is one of the strongest performance showings among rugged phones of 2017 — 12 points above the cohort average.

ChipsetSnapdragon 835
RAM4 GB
Storage64 GB + microSDXC

03Camera

80/100

At 80/100 this is one of the strongest camera showings among rugged phones of 2017 — 9 points above the cohort average.

Main12 MP Dual Pixel OIS
Front8 MP

04Battery

88/100

88/100 puts it above the 82-point average for rugged phones of 2017.

Capacity4,000 mAh
Charging15 W + 9 W wireless

05Software

76/100

76/100 puts it above the 71-point average for rugged phones of 2017.

What works
  • Infinity QHD+ AMOLED on a rugged.
  • 4,000 mAh + wireless charging.
  • Programmable button.
  • IP68 + MIL-STD-810G.
What doesn't
  • AT&T-exclusive.
  • 208 g chunky.
  • No headphone jack rumor — kept it.
  • Limited resale.
Cross-shop it against
Cat S61
$999 · score 72/100

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 11-phone cohort of rugged devices released around the same time. We don't publish invented lab anecdotes. Spot an error? .