There have been several rumours about a forthcoming rugged version of the Samsung Galaxy S8, the Galaxy S8 Active, but it seems that LG has beaten its Korean rival to the punch.

The LG X Venture is a ruggedised, water and dustproof handset designed specifically for those who lead a more active lifestyle.

It is IP68 rated, which means it can survive being submerged in water down to 1.5 metres for up to 30 minutes. It's also dust tight, so can be taken off-roading or the like.

There are three physical buttons on the front so it can be used in cold climates, while wearing gloves, and there is even a Glove Mode that, once turned on, recognises gloved screen taps and swipes.

lg x venture rivals galaxy s8 active for extreme smarts image 2
LG

It comes with a 5.2-inch Full HD (1920 x 1080) screen, is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 435 processor and has a mighty 4,100mAh battery. This can be charged speedily, with Quick Charge 2.0 charging the phone from empty to 50 per cent in 48 minutes.

The front-facing camera is 5-megapixels, while the rear is 16-megapixels. There is 32GB of storage on-board, with the ability to expand that by a further 2TB through microSD card. The phone sports 2GB of RAM.

It runs Android 7.0 Nougat and weighs 166.5kg, measuring 154 x 75.8 x 9.29mm. There's a fingerprint sensor too.

The LG X Venture launches in North America first, available from today. Some areas in Europe will follow, along with regions in Asia, Africa, the Middle East and Latin America. Price is yet to be revealed.