Samsung Launches Its Rugged Galaxy Tab Active3 Tablet In U.S.

‘The continued investment Samsung is doing around this product line is unique in the industry,’ one solution provider executive tells CRN.

Samsung Tuesday announced sales in the U.S. for its latest model in the rugged Tab Active series of tablets, the Galaxy Tab Active3, with a number of updates including enhanced services for IT administrators.

The Tab Active3 is the first U.S. tablet that is available out of the box with Samsung’s Enterprise Edition package, which offers mobile services for administrators for easier securing, deployment and management of devices across the workforce. The Enterprise Edition features a year of access to the Knox Suite, which provides tools for mobile enrollment, setup and endpoint management—as well as other benefits including five years worth of security updates.

“We are really excited about the Tab Active3 and the success the previous model had in several verticals,” said Marco Nielsen, principal for enterprise mobility solutions at Chicago-based solution provider Barcodes, in an email to CRN. “Bringing over the Enterprise Edition Knox Suite idea from other business regions (EMEA), will also enable more customers to quickly protect and manage the devices better.”

[Related: Samsung Launches Galaxy S21 Series: Here’s What To Know]

The Galaxy Tab Active3 features an 8-inch display with 1,920 x 1,200 resolution and special capabilities for use in challenging environments, such as a ruggedized S Pen stylus and the ability to use the screen while wearing some type of gloves.

Like on the predecessor Tab Active2, the Galaxy Tab Active3 also includes other key features such as a replaceable battery and military-grade ruggedness—with protection against conditions such as extreme temperature, dust, vibration, high altitude and submersion in water as deep as five feet.

Upgrades on the Tab Active3 model include a larger battery—with a capacity of 5,050 mAh compared with 4,450 mAh on the previous model—and a new “no battery mode” meant for in-vehicle use, which lets users operate the tablet without a battery when it’s connected to a power source.

Other new features include wireless connectivity to Samsung’s Android desktop, DeX, on a monitor or smart display; Wi-Fi 6 connectivity; the addition of a programmable key that enables users to quickly access push-to-talk, scanning or other business apps; and the Knox Capture app for using the tablet as a barcode scanner.

“The continued investment Samsung is doing around this product line is unique in the industry,” Nielsen said. “The larger battery, non-battery mode functionality, wireless DeX and programmable key will bring even further use cases to market.”

The Tab Active3 originally debuted this past fall in markets including Europe and Asia, and has joined several other rugged mobile devices for businesses in Samsung’s portfolio. Among them are the Galaxy Tab Active Pro, which includes a larger display at 10.1 inches and extended battery life, and the ruggedized Galaxy XCover Pro smartphone.

For the Galaxy Tab Active3, other key specs include an eight-core Samsung Exynos 9810 processor, 4 GB of RAM and optional support for LTE connectivity. The tablet offers choices between 64 GB and 128 GB of internal storage, and has an microSD slot that can enable up to 1 TB of additional storage.

Samsung’s Galaxy Tab Active3 is available in the U.S. Tuesday with prices starting at $489.99 for the Wi-Fi-only model and $589.99 for the models that support LTE.