Dubai: Caterpillar’s new rugged smartphone – CAT S50 – is a much improved model and specs than their earlier model – CAT B15Q.
S50 is significantly thinner and wider than B15Q and has more premium finish.
The toughened rubber casing and silver anodized aluminium body, coupled with Corning Gorilla Glass 3 screen makes the device water, dust and crash proofs. It weighs 185 grams.
In the drop test, the device survived a drop from two metres without a scratch and survived a depth of one metre under water for more than 45 minutes. The headphone, SIM slot and the micro USB ports are sealed by a flap. Check the flaps to see if it has been properly sealed before immersing it in water.
It can also endure extreme temperatures from -25 degree Celsius to 55 degrees Celsius. It shows that Caterpillar is not looking at the beauty but focusing on the durability.
The military certified (MIL-STD-810G) phone can also withstand vibration, solar radiation, transport and thermal shock resistant.
Even if your hand is sweaty, the device can be operated as it has a wet-finger tracking. It is perfectly suited for demanding industrial and construction workforce.
The 4.7-nch IPS LCD display has a resolution of 720 x 1280 pixels (312 pixels per inch density) with 2GB of RAM and 8GB od internal storage capacity. Even though it is too small and users get only 5.28GB for regular storage use, the microSD card slot supports up to 64GB.
It is powered by Qualcomm 1.2GHz quad-ore processor with Adreno 305 GPU and runs on slightly tweaked Android KitKat version.
CAT has replaced its processor from MediaTek to Qualcomm to handle
The display is good with bright colours and details but what Caterpillar needs to do is change the design of the phone. There may be a reason for CAT sticking to the original design but as customers are very fond of the design aspect, it is high time for CAT to look into it.
The phone is bulky but it is sturdy and feels good to hold in the hand. The back of the phone has a nice texture for a good grip even when you are using a glove.
CAT has preloaded a bunch of apps like CAT websites for rental and used equipment, cat parts, cat.com and catphones support and it has its own app store where around 1000 apps are available.
CAT has added Waves Audio for enhanced sound quality and the big mono speaker produces loud audio to fill a room with decent mid-range, high-range and bass. It has installed Swiftkey to help type faster and Ocearch global shark tracker apps.
The 8MP autofocus LED-flash back camera has improved a lot compared to its predecessor but still needs improvement. It takes very decent photos in decent light conditions but struggles in low light conditions. Users can improve the photo quality with HDR function on but switch it off when taking action pictures. The flash can also double as a torch in dark spots.
The camera app is basic but it has added the Lens Blur feature to blur the background and focus on the object. It can record videos in Full HD at 30 frames per second.
The front-facing camera is still VGA (0.3MP) and is only useful for video chatting. Video recording is decent enough for sharing it on social networks.
Regarding connectivity, it has 4G, NFC, GPS, WiFi and Bluetooth 4.0.
The non-removable 2,630mAh battery is decent enough to last for more than two days of moderate use as the screen is not power hungry and the company claims to last for 792 hours in standby mode. It gives more than one full day for heavy users, which is pretty decent.
In a nutshell, if you are not looking at the beauty of the device but at durability, this is the right choice. It is priced at Dh1,999.
