Rough and tough smartphone from CAT

The rugged device is ideal for construction or industrial workers with a focus on durability and not on features

• By Naushad K Cherryil Staff Reporter
• Published: 17:55 January 2, 2014
• 

• Image Credit:

Dubai

Caterpillar’s first smartphone – B15 – will definitely not appeal to mass audience but only for certain categories. It does not have the looks of iPhone or HTC, despite weighing only 170 grams; it is destined for rugged workers in the construction or industrial field where durability is a main concern.

The four-inch LCD display has a resolution of 480x800 pixels and powered by dual-core 1GHz processor. It has 512MB RAM and 4GB of internal storage capacity. Out of 4GB, only 1.6 is available for users. Even though it is too small compared to current standards, the storage capacity can be expanded up to 32GB using microSD. It runs on very old Android 4.1 Jelly Bean operating system. The advantage is that the OS is stock Android and no overlay and it is difficult to find phones except on Nexus phones.

The main advantages of the phone are its water, dust, crash proof and dual SIM. It supports the old big SIM card.

Bulky but sturdy

The phone looks bulky but it is sturdy and has IP67 certification, which means it can withstand a drop of around two metres while it can survive in one metre of water for 30 minutes. The grooved back sits firmly in the hand and does not slip. The rugged casing is made of rubber and with aluminum sides. The headphone and the micro USB ports are sealed by a flap. The power button, on the top of the device, is in level with the casing so users need to put pressure on it.

The low-resolution screen does not produce rich colours and details like the high-end phones but the screen can track wet fingers and the Gorilla Glass prevents from scratches.

The MediaTek processor is not ideal for graphic-rich games but works well for internet surfing with no lags. The 5MP with no LED flash support produces average photos as the device’s clear focus is on durability. It takes average snaps in bright light but night shot is ruled out due to lack of LED flash. Sometimes the sensor struggles in bright sunlight. It has scene modes like night, sunset, party, portrait, landscape, night portrait, theatre, beach, snow, steady photo, fireworks, sports and candle light. It can take 40 photos in one shot. There are seven colour effects apart from the HDR, panorama and 3D multi-angled photos.

The front-facing VGA camera is only useful for video chatting.

The camera can record 720p at 30 frames per second but the output is not good enough due to a low-resolution screen.

The device comes with three built-in CAT-based apps — Cat Rental, Cat Used and Cat.com, mainly for industrial purpose and not for a common man. The catphone app provides customer support for the phone.

Regarding connectivity, it has 3G, WiFi and Bluetooth. The device is good for any weather as it can withstand temperatures from -20 to 55 degrees Celsius.

The removable 2,000mAh battery decently lasts about a day for heavy users and for moderate users, almost two days, which is pretty decent. In a nutshell, it is a niche handset and will stand up to any rigours weather conditions and outdoor usage for industrial workers. It is priced at Dh1,599.

Fact Box

Pros
• Extremely solid
• Good battery life
• Dual SIM
• Water, dust and crash proof
• Unskinned version of Android
Cons
• Low-resolution screen
• Poor camera specs
• Weak processor
• Limited internal storage
• Old operating system