Cat Phones S62 Pro now available in the US

The Cat S62 Pro – and it’s Cat like at Caterpillar, the construction company – is now available in the United States. The rugged smartphone is the latest device to feature the Cat brand (it’s technically a product of the licensee Bullitt Group) and builds on the built-in thermal camera capabilities of its predecessors. It’s been designed with construction and industrial workers in mind, and at $ 699, it’s a more attractive follow-up to the 2018 S61, which debuted in the US at $ 899.

Launched on sale in the UK last summer, the S62 Pro features solid (if not super competitive) phone specs, which is not guaranteed in the rugged phone class. You’ll get a 5.7-inch 1080p display, a Snapdragon 660 processor with 6GB of RAM, 128GB of storage, and a 4000mAh battery. But unlike the mainstream midrange devices released now, you won’t get 5G connectivity or Android 11 preinstalled; it comes with Android 10 and Cat says it will provide an update to 11. Although the S62 Pro is significantly cheaper than its predecessor, it no longer offers the air quality measurement sensors and distance, and uses a slightly smaller battery (compared to 4500mAh).

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This is the boring thing. Interesting things the S62 Pro has to offer include its selector feature: an integrated Flir thermal camera with four times more thermal pixels than its predecessor. The phone features new modes that allow users to adjust and blend the overlaid information from the standard 12-megapixel camera, providing more context to the thermal image. There is also an option to set an alarm that will notify you when a certain temperature level is detected.

When it comes to its rugged credentials, the S62 Pro is rated IP68 and IP69: the former indicates that it is safe to dive in 1.5 meters of water for up to 30 minutes, the latter that it can withstand high pressure spraying. The company says it has been tested under even harsher conditions than this, but is guaranteed to meet these official IP ratings.

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It can withstand drops of up to six feet on a steel surface, and its Gorilla Glass 6 display is reinforced with an additional factory-fitted screen protector. The S62 Pro also meets the requirements of the military standard MIL-STD-810, including resistance to vibration and thermal shock.

The S62 Pro is not currently available from any of the major US carriers, but it is offered unlocked directly from Cat phones and third parties, including Amazon and Home Depot.