If you get this, but a screen protector IMMEDIATELY! In less than a week just carrying it in my pocket, the screen has some pretty significant scratches in it. The "shatterproof" plastic layer over the glass screen scratches extremely easy!
I'll be exchanging mine and applying a screen protector to the new one immediately, that being said... does anyone have any real life pictures of the gold? I'm debating exchanging my grey one for a gold one.
Other than that, I LOVE THE PHONE and wouldn't hesitate to pay the $100 premium over the standard S7 and definitely prefer it over the S7 Edge! Battery life is BEAST!
I've taken mine swimming, taken underwater videos/pics and no issues!
https://vimeo.com/172735022
Ditto to the Screen Protector comment. If you have an Active, get a glass screen protector ASAP. Polycarbonate is great for durability, but NOT scuff or scratch resistance whatsoever.
Heres my S7 Active in Gold, with an $8 Supershieldz (2 pack) glass screen protector and an $8 Cimo TPU clear cover... Also a brief synopsis and review...
Samsung Galaxy S7 Active; brief 2 week review...
Camera
The camera is excellent, has approximately 11-11.5 stops of dynamic range (in RAW, obviously), and the OIS is fantastic. Very sharp (again in RAW) optics as well; about up there with my ancient Nikon D300 ($1700 new) with the excellent 18-200VR ($700 new) lens attached in terms of sharpness, BARELY less dynamic range, and the OIS works just as well as the Nikon VR lenses i own; highly impressed actually. VERY good low light, very low noise and no discernable noise pattern. I have not shot anything in JPEG; I usually drag a BlackMagic Pocket Cinema Camera with a Panasonic Lumix OIS 12-35 f2.8 lens around as well as my Nikon D300 with assorted stabilized zooms and prime optics as well, as i shoot and film everything in RAW (i filmed and shot ads, corp videos, music videos, etc professionally for several years). The S7 Active does NOT shoot RAW video, but one might be able to downsample 4k footage to a decent bitrate 1080p with very good results and much higher bitrates to play with. Dynamic range is limited in JPEG from what i've seen, although HDR more works pretty darn decently, in both video and photo modes. OIS is ALWAYS on, and AF tracking works pretty good; about the same as 3D Tracking on the Nikon D300, just a hair slower. AF is fast and accurate, nowhere near DSLR's, but WAY faster than most phones, and WAY faster and more accurate than 'Focus' push on the Blackmagic Pocket camera ($1,000 camera with an $800 stabilized lens), but that is to be expected from a camera you usually rig up and manually pull focus on anyways. Granted, both the BMD Pocket Camera and Nikon D300 are semi-professional cameras, aimed at professional/semi pro uses, designed to shoot RAW reliably, but the comparison came to mind and its worthwhile, as the quality is on par with them within reasonable use and expectations. Oh, and neither is water resistant, and the lenses certainly are not! Background pic i shot with the S7 Active; water condensation over a backlit chilled display case.
Apps/Carrier Bloatware
I have disabled all bloatware via paid app Package Disabler Pro (Samsung), tweaked and tested it out since launch day; it really does easily last about 30 hours with moderate use once tweaked; with most useful options enabled (even S-voice, NFC, Always-On Display and GPS). I have access to a totally vanilla, unmodified/untweaked S7 Active that i bought for my parents to compare with; GSAM battery stats etc, for a wholistic 'Out Of Box' vs tweaked comparison.
Ideally, and mostly for app/settings backup/misc tweaks, id like to see the S7 Active rooted, but i dont feel its entirely needed, all things considered. Mine is now SIM unlocked via AT&T and i have all bloatware disabled, greenified, and tweaked for even better battery life as well as a simple, smooth, one page launcher/one page dock to keep things nice, neat and clean. I travel a lot for work, sport, and vacations.
This appears to be the first fully featured, ruggedized flagship with no compromises (aside from locked to GSM and initially via AT&T only), but otherwise i have found no real faults. I prefer plastics and rubber over glass and metal; they tend to last longer and survive far better than pretty/elegant/unique metal/glass designs. I paid for it outright, and AT&T kindly sent me the SIM unlock code 2 days after i requested it, for free, as i am travelling to France, Greece, and Russia shortly to visit family and friends. I had a few friends who have had S4, S5, and S6 Actives and loved them, although 2 friends did manage to crack the screens on previous Active devices dropping them. Based on recent youtube stuff, i cant see that happening as frequently with the S7 Active due to the plastic laminated screen, though it will scratch easier.
just to clarify some specs, the screen is actually a laminate of polycarbonate plastic on top of Gorilla Glass 4, so while it is much improved in terms of shatter resistance, it is MUCH more prone to scratches, i highly recommend a glass screen protector so you dont scratch up the polycarb screen. I bought a SuperShieldz 2 pack for $8 that works great. the laminate plastic is NOT removable, so once scratched, its there permanently. A cheap case isnt a bad idea either, i bought a clear Cimo TPU cover for $8 for the hell of it.
I have never broken a screen yet, but i had dropped my phones a few times, never used screen protectors or cases/covers either, but figured for a few bucks, considering im much more into kayaking, hiking, biking, and skiing now, why the hell not? its a big device as is, and the battery actually holds up great; i have been consistently seeing 30 hours of battery life between charges, which is enough to get me through 2 days of moderate to heavy use in areas with terrible signal and no wi-fi.
Advanced tweaks, accessories
Adoptable storage really isnt needed; it CAN be done, but there's no going back besides a factory reset if you want things to work properly. I tried it for 3 days, and eventually reset and went back to external portable storage, and transferred all apps, data, pics, etc to ExtSD as well as scripted an auto transfer of all videos, pics, downloads, etc from internal to external storage nightly onto the 200GB microSD card i bought with Tasker. Also, im paranoid about wearing out the micro USB port as i did (twice) with my S4, so i bought a Samsung Fast Wireless Charger. Its just as fast as the regular, wired fast charger you get in the box, plus its basically just a tilted disc cradle with a Fast Charger plugged into it; same cable and power brick as the S7 Active charger you get in the box, so if, for whatever reason, you prefer wired charging (it does warm up a bit), or need a USB data transfer cable, the Fast Wireless Charger is the same thing, with the added wireless disc/cradle
The cheap clear TPU case and equally cheap (2 pack) glass screen protectors i bought are completely worth it. I prefer TPU for covers (i dont do cases; too bulky, and have typically been a nudist when it comes to phones); rubber collects every spec of dust and lint, silicone stretches too much and also collects lint, plastic transfers too much shock and is not flexible, TPU is JUST RIGHT for a phone cover, and with the S7 Active, you don't need a case, but just as added protection, a TPU cover is perfect. Do, however, get a glass screen cover; sensitivity/feedback is identical, zero bubbles/issues if applied properly, and your screen will stay perfect, again within reason. TPU also is rather slip resistant, which is nice, considering the metal parts of the frame are rather slippery, and the rubberized plastic is not that grippy, whereas TPU provides almost the same coefficient of friction as proper rubber cases, in wider temperatures, as well as being less prone to UV degradation and tearing over time.
Active exclusive features
The Active key is probably the best feature aside from durability (after you put on a screen protector, and maybe a cover/case), as its fully programmable to whatever app you like, which in my case is keyed to Camera on single press for normal or quick shots, and A-Light on long press, as i have the Active/S-Health setup elsewhere, and use Camera FV-5 for more natural control over shooting in RAW. The 4000Mah battery is also a huge bonus; zero complaints; with proper power management app settings and some tweaks, i haven't seen under 30 hours of medium to heavy usage, in areas with no wifi and low signal as well.
Tested Durability
While i dont like needlessly subjecting perfectly good electronics wastefully to redundant durability tests, i have washed the phone, with and without a screen protector (before it came), and TPU case (before and after it came), with windex, water, as well as shampoo, soap and water. I don't like to stress the micro USB port (S4 micro USB port died on me twice, though it was easy to get to and replace), so i bought a wireless charger. I am pretty careful with my electronics, but bumps, falls, etc happen; and i travel, bike, hike, kayak, etc as much as i can, and im glad i dont have to worry or baby this device.
Overall Impressions
Aside from being AT&T carrier locked (meaning you'd have to buy it outright and ask AT&T to unlock it, which they always have for me, or get it unlocked elsewhere), the bloatware is easily disabled, the features are on par with the S7/S7 Edge (minus Edge features), the battery is larger, the Active key (again, totally reprogrammable) is solid gold, and both the screen and camera are protected by a tiny lip, as well as rubberized corners, so damage is less likely, although the screen is polycarbonate covered, so prone to scuffs and scratches, however with a cheap screen protector and a cheap cover, these issues are totally mitigated.
Images are from a Galaxy S4, and the S7 Active shown has the aforementioned screen protector and TPU cover attached. Apologies for any linguistic discrepancies or errors; English is not my native tongue.
