4:27 pm ET update: Additional information on US sales through Verizon

If you thought the days of removable smartphone batteries were long gone, you're in luck: Samsung is bringing back one of our favorite features in the new Galaxy XCover Pro, a rugged $500 smartphone designed for industrial workers but available to everyone! will bring back one of the most popular features of the company's products

The 63-inch XCover Pro is like one of Samsung's Galaxy Active phones - you can take almost anything you throw at it - but with more features to make it useful if you work in a jobsite With military-grade protection from the elements, an FHD+ display that can be used with wet hands and gloves, pogo pins for docking charging, and a 4,050 mAh removable battery, the XCover Pro can do just about anything At only $500, and the fact that anyone can purchase it from Samsung's website, it's a game changer

The XCover Pro doesn't feel like a cheap device When I saw a demo model of the XCover Pro at last week's CES press briefing, the phone felt sturdy, with a textured back and a beautiful display The back is removable because the battery can be purchased separately

In addition to the headphone jack and USB-C charging port, the phone has literally everything: pogo pins, a power button fingerprint sensor, and facial recognition

The XCover Pro is targeted at workers in a wide range of fields, from factories and manufacturing plants to airlines and retail stores, and despite its rugged design, it has useful productivity-enhancing features Samsung has built two programmable buttons into the XCover Pro (one on the side and one on top) that can be used as shortcuts to work-specific apps (including support for Microsoft Teams' new walkie-talkie feature) The device has Samsung's POS system built in and works with compatible card tap-to-pay

The XCover Pro is not a competitor to Samsung's flagship Galaxy Note 10 or Galaxy S10 (or the Galaxy S11/S20, which will debut in February) The device has 4GB of RAM, 64GB of storage, and an Exynos 9611 CPU, not exactly cutting-edge specs The new handset's dual-lens rear-facing photography has a standard 25-megapixel lens and an 8-megapixel wide-angle lens, with the 13-megapixel front lens cut out from the top left of the screen

Samsung says the phone will ship in the US during the first half of this year, as the Galaxy XCover Pro is available through Verizon Samsung wants companies to invest in a fleet of phones for their employees But for those who want a rugged smartphone that can withstand the abuse of life, the XCover Pro could be the perfect daily driver

An earlier version of this article incorrectly stated the display type of the Galaxy XCover Pro, which features a 63-inch FHD+ screen