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AT&T 'confirms' Galaxy S8 Active ahead of announcement

There's still no word from Samsung about when the Galaxy S8 Active is coming, but AT&T may have forgotten about that.

Gordon Gottsegen CNET contributor
Gordon Gottsegen is a tech writer who has experience working at publications like Wired. He loves testing out new gadgets and complaining about them. He is the ghost of all failed Kickstarters.
Gordon Gottsegen
2 min read
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Despite a number of leaks, Samsung has yet to officially announce the Galaxy S8 Active, the more durable and rugged cousin of the  Galaxy S8  flagship. However, the US carrier AT&T may not have gotten the memo.

For a brief moment, AT&T included the GS8 Active in the FAQ section of one of its promotions. Mention of the phone was later taken down, but not before it was spotted by XDA Developers.

The AT&T promotion states that customers can save $500 on a Samsung TV if they buy a subscription to DirecTV and a Galaxy S8 phone on AT&T Next. The Galaxy S8 Plus and upcoming S8 Active were then included as eligible phones in the fine print. 

For the past few years, Samsung and AT&T have partnered up to release Active versions of Samsung's Galaxy S phones, like the Galaxy S7 ActiveS6 Active and S5 Active. The phones featured the usual high-end specs of a flagship Galaxy phone at the time of launch, but with added durability like a shatterproof screen, and dust, water and shock protection. It sometimes included a bigger battery as well.

Previous Active phones were all released sometime in June or July, so the Galaxy S8 Active is expected soon. The AT&T promotion itself state that it only lasts until August 31, so we're left to wonder if the phone will release sometime this month. 

This isn't the first leak about the phone. Back in June, documents on the Samsung website also mentioned the existence of the S8 Active. Although nothing is official until the phone is announced, leaks coming straight from Samsung and AT&T make the phone appear pretty certain.

Samsung declined to comment and AT&T did not immediately respond to a request for comment on this story.