Review CAT S31 Rugged Phone – Hard as a rock!
I must admit I have a fondness for CAT phones. They can take a beating with no issues, perfect for real men, not so good as vanity toys to place on the table at a downtown Café. Actually, these are working class phones, in the best way: from painters and plumbers to firefighters or ambulance doctors.
Why would you buy such a phone?
Let’s drop the accounting and focus on the real reasons you’d buy this kind of phone: it can fall directly on concrete from over 6 feet without a scratch. The case is made of rough plastic and rubber and is easily capable of absorbing strong shocks. Even the shape of the case, with the rounded edges and striations is made to stand up to abuse and damage. The screen, though only Gorilla Glass 3, appears a fair bit distanced from the touchscreen so that the display does not directly take damage. The case’s edges are also a bit above the level of the protective glass, for the same reason. And, of course, it’s waterproof and dust-proof, and can be submersed 4 feet under for over half an hour.
The fun part was that the launch event had the CAT team placing the phone into an aquarium and forgetting about it, so it was underwater for the entire event – about 3 hours. And surprise, no damage. I dried it off on my pants and it works just fine. This phone is also certified military grade according to MIL-STD-810G spec, so it can resist saltwater, vibrations, thermal shocks and in general, environments that will see you break before the phone does. We should test this on Mars. Pity there’s no phone signal there yet.
Another practical feature is the ability to use the phone while the screen is wet, or by using gloves. Additionally, there are 3 old-school physical buttons: Home, Back and Multitask, big enough to resemble the dashboard of a bulldozer or excavator. No, this isn’t a very ‘feminine’ phone. I’d like to find out if the touchscreen works with nail extensions.
There are a few weird things also going on: for this phone, CAT moved the power button from the right to the left – which means that holding the phone like most humans, in your right hand, you’ll have to press Power with the tip of your pinky and trust me – this isn’t a small phone. The Power and Volume buttons are silver and quite big on the S31, except the golden customizable button which can also be found on the flagship and is kind of a series’ trademark feature. The CAT logos on the front and back are big, visible, but don’t take away from a phone of this kind.
How does it move? We’d say decently. I had a truck-load of apps open and no lag, and also ran some NFS No Limits to stress the phone, without and slowdowns. The phone features Android 7.1.2 though we don’t yet know if Android 8 Oreo will be available. Either way, Android Oreo’s market penetration is still really low. Otherwise the software features are about the same as the S41: a minimalist but highly efficient Camera app, few pre-installed apps resembling the simplicity of stock Android and a folder of neat, niche-specific apps suitable for a professional phone like this, available for installation in the App “Toolbox” – get it?
The connectivity is good – 2.4 and 5Ghz Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.1, GPS, Glonass, Micro-USB and a headphone jack. The USB and headphone jack feature waterproof rubber caps. Finally, a shout out to the battery – 4000mAh, which paired with the hardware specs and screen should go a really long way.
Are you the right guy for the CAT S31?
If you’re an extreme athlete, amateur extreme athlete or extremely unlucky in general, this is the perfect phone for you. You can also use it as a good bludgeoning or projectile weapon in a pinch. Jokes aside, it’s perfect for builders, miners, drivers, firefighters and other heavy-duty work. But all work and no play make Dan a dull boy, so feel free to take the phone out while biking, gardening etc. I used the S31 as navigation on my motorbike and in fact, I still do. As opposed to me, it doesn’t care about the cold weather outside.