Verdict
A phone with a specialised use in idea , the Cat S75 is tough enough to take some serious hits , and can be plunged into water safely . But when you take away its toughness and orbiter message feature of speech , it ’s just another mid - ranger .
Pros
Cons
Key Features
Introduction
You might already be familiar with the Cat brand if you ’re in the habit of buy employment rush , or perhaps earth - go equipment .
The Cat S75 is n’t quite on the same scale of toughness as a shovel , but it ’s a chunky telephone set which should be capable to survive rough handling , and can get a substance out even if you ’re in the middle of nowhere ( in Europe , at least ) thanks to its satellite connectivity and retentive battery life .
However , take off these features and it ’s a fairly unimpressive mid - range sound that targets a specific recess , and wo n’t be attractive to anyone outside it .
Design and screen
The Cat S75 is slightly thicker and heavier than most phones . There ’s also a fatheaded bezel around the CRT screen , but apart from that there ’s nothing that marks the S75 out from other Android smartphones .
There are no noticeable sealed door over the USB port wine , as you ’d observe on a rugged laptop – it look like a normal , if somewhat chunky , earphone – but there are two redundant buttons . The one on the left is big , idealistic for pressing while wearing mitt , and is programmable .
The one on the top , which is small-scale and coloured red , is designated as an pinch alarm button – contain it for five seconds and an SOS is sent via ( by default option ) the satellite substance service . The power button on the veracious - hand side of the handset is above the volume rocking chair , like on a Pixel earphone , so may take a act of getting used to if your current handset has them the other room around .
A earpiece like this is n’t meant to be flashy , it ’s meant to be baffling , and that means an armoured plastic back that wraps around the sides , as if it was already in a protective character . It ’s fully grown , but certainly not uncomfortable to hold – though there is a ridge around the screen that you ’ll certainly feel with your ear . The integrated protection makes it less tricky than some drinking glass telephone set , so it ’s less likely to slither off the couch , or the deck of a boat .
The screen is coat with Gorilla Glass , and the French telephone should withstand a 6 foot drop onto a steel control surface as well as submersion in body of water up to 5 M deep for 35 minute . This is n’t the marketing point it once was – many phone now sportIP68ingress aegis , and redact your current telephone in a protective suit might be all the extra toughening it needs .
The screen , an IPS board with an FHD+ resolution , does a fairly good line but picket in comparison to some of the AMOLED models out there . Again , this is a earphone you ’ll want to buy because of its planet electronic messaging and ability to shrug off rough treatment rather than something to well out Netflix on , but having a nice silver screen certainly helps .
It has a slightly rocky texture to it , discrete from the feel of a less rugged earpiece blind , which defecate me inquire if there ’s an integrated screen guardian in place too . It ’s rather reflective in direct sun , and not the brightest I ’ve come across , but you may use it while jade baseball glove or with wet hands .
Aside from the tv camera gibbosity , fingerprint reader ( smaller than those on other phones , perhaps to help keep detritus out ) , special buttons and Cat logo there ’s nothing that stands out visually about the phone . Perhaps its very genericness is another stratum of protective cover .
Camera
On the back of the Cat S75 there ’s a modest camera bulge , have three lenses and an light-emitting diode flash ( which , in a nice touch tailored to its intended consumption , is really bright so you may use it as a torch while escape from caves ) .
The main tv camera is a 50MP unit , with a maximal aperture of f/1.8 , which apply the Isocell JN1 sensor from Samsung . Announced in 2021 and used on phones by Redmi and Nothing , it put out absolutely good 12.5MP files , though they can lack the colour soda pop and detail of simulacrum created with newer sensor .
Switching between focal length is n’t achieved with a tap in the fashion most Android phones do , but using a slipper . This mean it ’s well-situated to change to the 8MP ultrawide camera – and indeed it will do this automatically in some circumstance – rather than stick with the better quality files bring on by the main camera .
It ’s an clumsy direction of doing things , and will lead to some unsatisfying results , as the images from the ultrawide are noticeably tough than the main photographic camera ’s shots .
There ’s a 2MP macro instruction camera too , but the humble - resolution data file it produces are n’t much better than zooming in on a still from the primary camera taken at its close focusing distance , and it can be backbreaking to sharpen with .
In low-down light the image quality diminish apart , though it is help by that bright flare . The common Android Nox modal value requires you and your subject to last out still , so does n’t aid greatly , and you ’ll see increased noise and a deficiency of definition in phantasma areas . TV options are slim , with a choice between 720p or 1080p transcription , plus time - lapse or boring motion .
Naturally , the photographic camera can be used underwater . Triple - press the power push button opens the camera app in underwater mood , from where you’re able to utilize the volume buttons to trigger the shutter . I tried it in a lit aquarium , but the deficiency of unassailable luminosity increased the shutter speeds so much that getting a knifelike image of fast - moving Pisces was unimaginable , though you may do comfortably if photographing stone .
The 8MP front camera is congeal into the top of the sieve and , even with HDR fashion switched on , produces washed - out colour and smeared detail . It ’s fine for reach picture phone call , but I would n’t rely on it for a good quality shot .
Performance
The eight - core chipset at the warmness of the Cat S75 is break into clump of two A78 core and six A55s , an strange arrangement from an industry that wish to keep things in grouping of four .
It has a non - stock GPU as well – Dimensity 900 phones such as the Oppo Reno 7 orOnePlus Nord CE2 5Gusually push pixels with a Mali G68 chip , but the Cat has one from PowerVR instead . This mean that the phone lacks the virginal processing power that others with more A78 cores – such as theSamsung Galaxy S21 – have , but it ’s for sure not a poor performing artist .
It might not be one of the best phones for gaming , but there ’s enough there to launch the OS , and functioning in things like mapping and message apps are likely more important for the prey audience of a speech sound like this .
The feature that ’s going to attract a lot of adventurous people to the phone is the satellite messaging avail , which allows you to make contact with civilization even when out of range of phone service , as long as you’re able to get an unobstructed vista of the sky .
On the S75 it ’s provided by Bullitt , and extend two - way communication for school text messages , but requires you to use a special SIM card that go in the telephone set ’s second slot . This intend you ’re unable to utilise the satellite SIM and the phone ’s MicroSD expansion or dual-(normal)-SIM ability at the same time , though with 128 GB of depot on plank you might never need to make for a MicroSD bill anywhere near it .
I then tried it in a notorious sound dead spot outside a menage in Somerset , and found that a clean view of the sky ( with no building or other impediment ) was all-important . I manage to get some content through , including my GPS coordinates , but the app spent more time telling me the table service was unavailable than it did actually working .
The content then come through on the recipient ’s telephone set as a normal SMS if they do n’t have the Bullitt app installed . Message plans diverge from 30 a month for € 4.99 ( £ 4.30 , $ 5.50 ) , to 250 in a whole class for € 59 ( £ 50.50 , $ 64.50 ) . All plans come with emergency SOS service , and there ’s a three - calendar month free trial of the cheapest program with the Cat sound . you may also use it to send SOS messages that alert the emergency brake services .
The only little outlet is in the satellite coverage . A impediment of the Bullitt website reveals that if you ’re in Europe or the USA you ’ll be able to expend the servicing right now . Canada and southern Alaska will follow in July . The whole of Africa , Central and South America , Japan and Australasia ( except Tasmania ) are marked as ‘ Q3 2023 ’ , and if you want to go hiking in Russia , India , or China you ’re out of luck , as they ’re marked ‘ unsupported ’ .
Some countries , such as most of the Middle East , Mongolia , South Korea and Myanmar are ‘ unverified ’ . Some of this is due to wars , inconvenient political regime , or government regulating of satellite communications . Things may change , but at the time of writing this is very much a Europe - only system .
Battery life
Given the sizing of the telephone , and the battery sizing of 5,000mAh – at the top end of the power cells usually used in phones – I had high expectations for the Cat S75 ’s battery liveliness , and I was n’t disappointed .
It negociate 17 hours of ceaseless use in my test before go into its battery saver modality , which points to a life story mensurate in whole days if left on standby . If you know you ’re going to be out of range , you may alternate the phone to a orbiter - only mode , which should check the 5 K and Wi - Fi from love aside and wasting exponent .
Cat has n’t revealed in its marketing materials how much power the headphone can draw from the wall , but I hook it up to a 60W courser and saw it fully juiced - up in about two and a half hour .
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Should you buy it?
If you ’ll make use of the satellite message characteristic , or need a problematical phone .
If you require a mid - range phone for everyday use , there are cheaper and better pick .
Final Thoughts
The Cat S75 place a narrow down recession . Not everyone is croak to require a phone that ’s sealed and hardened to this degree , and its performance is n’t as in effect as cheaper phones from other producer .
The telephone set seems aimed at those who intend to get really lose and away from the beaten track in the natural state of Europe . Once the satellite service is widened to include more of the world , then it may become more utile for travellers , scientist , journalists or anyone else come out into the jungle aside from phone coverage .
Without the satellite messaging system it ’s a mid - range headphone that ’s let down by take 6 GB of RAM alternatively of 8 , and by a GPU that seems a whole tone down from the usual one encounter in Dimensity 900 phones . The rugged outside and waterproofing is prissy to have , but they ’re not enough to buy this phone over others if you ’re search for something to use all the time . Check out ourBest Phoneslist for more options .
Trusted Score
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FAQs
Yes , the Cat S75 is a 5 gibibyte smartphone .
The Cat S75 can be dropped onto concrete from up to 1.8 m in high spirits without breaking , and can be dunked in 5 molarity deep water for up to 35 minutes .
Test Data
Full Specs
