The Galaxy Xcover 2 hasn’t been the most exciting Samsung device to be making the rumor rounds of late (not even close), but if there was anyone feverish at the thought of a new Sammy rugged phone the wait is now over.

Officially unveiled moments ago, the Xcover 2 significantly ups the spec ante compared with its predecessor, but still comes up a little short on the hardware side. Don’t get us wrong, the 4-incher is not exactly an entry-level device, but it’s far, far away from being called top-tier.

It certainly doesn’t help that we knew most of the Xcover 2 features already, including the 4-inch 800 x 480 pix res TFT panel, 5 MP rear-facing snapper, VGA front-facing cam, 4 GB of on-board memory, microSD support and 1,700 mAh battery.

The dual-core 1 GHz processor was not an unbreakable enigma either, although we still don’t know the make and model. Not even the 1 gig of RAM can shock us, despite that being the single important spec left out of both Xcover 2 leaks.

As far as software goes, the Xcover 2 comes with Android 4.1 Jelly Bean, some TouchWiz customizations on top, as well as the Samsung-exclusive S Voice, S Cloud, AllShare Play, Smart Stay and Motion UI.

There’s no NFC support as far as we can tell and obviously no 4G LTE, but you do get your standard mid-range connectivity features – HSDPA, HSUPA, Bluetooth 4.0, Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, Wi-Fi Direct, A-GPS and Glonass.

Of course, the pièce de résistance is supposed to be the phone’s rugged yet slim design. And while we can’t give out any verdicts until taking the fellow for a swim or a walk through the desert, everything sounds good. There’s IP67 certification for water resistance to a depth of one meter, as well as dust and sand protection. Meanwhile, the phone is not overly bulky, weighing in at 148 grams and measuring 12 mm in thickness.

Mum’s the word when it comes to pricing and availability, but, based on earlier reports, we’re expecting the Samsung Galaxy Xcover 2 to land in Europe in February. In fact, there’s already a Swedish retailer, Cdon, that takes pre-orders for the device, with shipping supposed to start next month, on the 21^st. The list price is KR 2,690, which translates into around $413, or €306. Are you in or are you out?