Cat S61 Is A Rugged Smartphone And Costs US$ 999

While the world awaits the launch of the Samsung Galaxy S9, a new Android device has already hit the thousand dollar mark. In 2017, the Samsung Galaxy Note8 came close and everyone expected the Galaxy S9+ to be priced equivalent or higher than the 64GB iPhone X. However, the Cat S61, a recently launched rugged Android smartphone is priced at US$ 999.

The Cat S61 succeeds the Cat S60, which was also an extremely rugged smartphone. The market for premium rugged smartphones is extremely niche. However, people with a certain lifestyle would certainly appreciate what the Cat S61 brings to the table. Cat is known for coming out with smartphones that fit this demographic and the Cat S61 does the same, however, at a very premium price.

Specifications

The Cat S61 has a 5.2 inch IPS LCD display 1920 x 1080 px resolution. The device has the now archaic 16:9 aspect ratio and comes with huge bezels around the display. However, that solves a purpose, since this device is supposed to be used ruggedly.

Under the hood, it has the Qualcomm Snapdragon 630 chipset with a 2.2GHz octa-core processor. This is coupled with 4GB RAM and 64GB onboard storage which is expandable up to 256GB using a microSD card. Unfortunately, there is no fingerprint sensor on the device which is unusual for a smartphone being launched in 2018.

However, unlike a lot of 2018 Android devices, the Cat S61 will run Android 8 Oreo out of the box. It will also be updated to Android P in the future. It is powered by a massive 4500 mAh battery that charges via a USB C port.

To the back of the phone is a single 16MP camera while the front houses an 8MP camera.

Rugged Features

In isolation, the specifications of this smartphone are definitely underwhelming. However, this smartphone has some features that are hard to find in any other smartphone. Also, this is because this device has a very specific target audience and regular phones do not need such features.

The 5.2 inch display on the Cat S61 works with gloves on and with wet fingers. Also, the FLIR thermal camera measures temperatures ranging from -20°C to 400°C. In fact, it has a feature to live stream these thermal images as well. Interestingly, the smartphone has a built-in Sensirion air quality sensor. This sensor will alert users of high levels of indoor air pollutants that can come from paints, solvents, carpets, furniture, or even cleaning products. Not just that, the sensor also reads humidity levels and temperatures.

The device comes with a laser-assisted distance measurement tool that lets users measure point-to-point distances of up to 10 meters. The build of the smartphone is rugged, thanks to the aluminium-reinforced frame, MIL Spec 810G rating and IP68 rating for water and dust resistance.