One of the Most Rugged Phones You Can Buy (Video)

When a company that is known for making bulldozers and things that make the Earth shake decides to make a phone, it’s no wonder it ends up being one of the most rugged phones you can buy.

Seeing the Cat S60 in person, there is no doubt that this phone is about survival. From the carbon fiber looking back, chunky exterior to the metal casing surrounding the edges, it looks, well, in a way like their bulldozers even complete with the yellow accents.

Read More: Watch the Unboxing video of the Cat S60.

Rugged? Check.

The Cat S60 can survive a drop of up to 1.8 meters directly onto concrete as well as being military certified and capable of being submerged under 2 meters of water for up to an hour. You can even toggle the two gold switches next to the speakers to mechanically shut each of those to get down to 5 meters of water at the cost of being able to use the speakers and microphone.

Comparing that to the most popular other active-life phone on the market, the Galaxy S7 Active’s 1.5 meters and 30 mins, similar military spec but no drop to concrete claims, it’s probably safe to call it one of the most rugged phones on the market.

Specs to Get the Job Done

Beyond the sheer rugged nature though it isn’t too shabby when it comes to other specs. With an octa-core Snapdragon 617 and 3GBs of RAM and a (thankfully) stock Android 6.0.1 build, it’s pretty snappy. And while the display won’t win any awards – it’s only a 4.7″ 720P display – it is easily visible in bright sunlight (which I imagine was a bigger concern for Cat then resolution).

The camera on the device isn’t the best either if we’re honest, but it does have a 13MP rear camera that’s adequate in good lighting conditions and not very useful otherwise.

Infrared Camera is Kinda Cool

The other camera on the back is a bit more impressive however. Another big differentiator of this phone is the fact is has a full-blown thermal imaging camera made by Flir, that when turned on can not only show you heat signatures but even tell you temperatures. I had a great time with my friend, Michele Ragussis, in her restaurant figuring out how inaccurate the fryer’s temperature was and just being blown away by being able to check the temperature of the food coming out of the kitchen.

So maybe not the most practical of features for your everyday life, sure. But the target demographic for this phone tends to be using thermal imaging for construction: checking for hidden drafts, leaky pipes, etc.

Conclusion

I was honestly surprised at just how much I liked this phone. I brought it with me to a festival in the Nevada desert where I was beaten by dust storms had to go from summer temperatures to winter on a daily basis, a beach cottage on a lake in Canada where I was going from water to sand then to dinner in Buffalo, and a small fishing village in New England climbing watch towers and checking out what animals were around at low-tide.

Through out it all, I had a confidence in my phone that I don’t think we normally have when doing outdoor activities with our, let’s be honest, expensive, delicate pieces of advanced technology we carry around with us at all times. Not once was I worried that I’d drop it, that I needed to shelter it, or if I had to jump in the water did I need to leave my phone on the shore.

Many people have taken one look at this phone and told me how bulky, or large it is etc. and while, I agree, I’m not sure I would use this to replace my everyday sleeker phone considering I live in NYC, but if on a trip of some sort or if I was entrenched in a more outdoorsy lifestyle, I would consider it. Just like we all love super cars and sports cars, but now and then sleek and shiny isn’t what you need, you need a truck.

Hope you guys enjoyed this and if you did, please share it! It’s greatly appreciated!

Let me know what you guys think of this phone in the comments below as well, always love hearing from you guys.