Work in a rugged trade and fed up with having to replace broken phones every couple months? Ever wanted thermal imaging as a smartphone feature? If you answered yes to either of those, you should check out the CAT® S60 smartphone.
It is a rugged, go anywhere phone that will survive just about anything you throw at it or throw it under. Unless it’s CAT plant of course. It also has another neat trick up its sleeve, full FLIR video technology.
CAT S60 smartphone
The CAT S60 is at its heart a rugged smartphone ideal for builders, architects, tradesmen and anyone working in heavy industry. The tough die cast frame will survive a drop from up to 1.8m and exceeds even military specifications for survivability. It is waterproof up to 5m for an hour too.
You might think that a rugged phone would be as portable as a brick and you would be wrong. It measures a mere 73.4mm x 147.9mm x 12.66mm and weighs only 232g. So while a little bigger than your average phone, there isn’t much compromise for this ability.
Hardware specifications are pretty good too. It uses a Qualcomm MSM8952-3 processor running at 1.5GHz and has 3GB of RAM. It also has 4G capability, NFC, Wi-Fi, USB, GPS, a 13 megapixel rear camera with FLIR, a 5 megapixel front camera and lots more besides. The 3800mAh will keep the phone running for up to 43 days between charges in standby mode and has up to 30 hours talk time.
The screen is a 4.7 inch a-Si AHVA unit capable of HD and 1280×720 pixels. It features Corning® Gorilla® Glass 4 for extra survivability.
FLIR
The rear camera has a FLIR thermal imager built in. This is a first for a smartphone and could dramatically speed up daily tasks for many trades. FLIR’s MSX Technology can detect heat through smoke and obscured areas as well as detect hotspots in equipment, materials and surfaces.
Whether you’re working with electronics, vehicles, computers or larger constructs, being able to quickly identify sources of excess heat is a vital part of maintaining healthy systems. Having fast access to that kind of technology within your smartphone is a benefit too good to ignore.
As a concept, the CAT S60 smartphone is hard to beat. If you have a rugged job or are constantly damaging your usual smartphone, it’s worth looking at something more survivable. Whether you would use the FLIR feature or not, rugged phones don’t come much better looking than this!
