Samsung Galaxy S4 Active is a Great Phone That Likes the Water

Unless we're talking about senior citizens, when the adjective "active" is applied, it's usually a synonym for "rugged" or "tough." In the case of gadgets, when I hear the word I think, "It takes a licking and keeps on ticking" (yes, I'm old enough to have seen the original Timex commercialsfeaturing John Cameron Swayze).

So when Samsung sent us its Galaxy S4 Active smartphone (AT&T, $199.99 with a two-year contract), a tougher version of its flagship Galaxy S4 phone, I figured my testing would include both dunking and dropping.

But when Samsung says active, it doesn't mean "rugged" or "tough." The GS4 Active is IP67 certified, which means it's dust- and water-resistant (it can spend 30 minutes in up to 3 feet of water), but not shock-resistant.

All of which means Active is resistant to around half the accidents most phones are prone to — dropping in the toilet (which happens more often than you think), having coffee or soda spilled on it, etc. — but not you fumbling it like a bar of soap only to experience time standing still as you watch it fall inexorably to the pavement below. Perhaps a more accurate moniker, then, would have been "Samsung Galaxy S4 Aqua."

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