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Cat phones had announced the Cat S61 less than a week ago, and the company brought this handset to the Mobile World Congress (MWC) 2018. One of our editors is currently in Barcelona, and he managed to get some hands-on time with the Cat S61, the company’s all-new rugged smartphone. The Cat S61 is a direct successor to the Cat S60 which was introduced a while ago, and this is, needless to say, a rugged smartphone. The Cat S61 looks a bit different than its predecessors, which is especially noticeable once you see it with your own eyes.
This phone has a rather interesting shape, its design is not exactly proportional, its sides and bottom are flat, but the top is not, and that applies to the whole frame of the device. Cat phone opted to design this handset in a rather odd fashion, and the phone’s dual camera setup may have something to do with it, as one of the two cameras is placed on the back of that hump, or whatever you want to call it. The device itself is made out of metal, well, it sports an aluminum-reinforced die-cast frame, and it is MIL-810G certified. Now, on the back of the device, you will find rubbery material for a better grip, which was the case with some other Cat-branded phones. The device is also IP68-certified for water and dust resistance, and it comes with a FLIP thermal imaging camera with enhanced software. This camera now offers better contrast, expanded temperature range, and an upgrade from VGA to high-definition detail. You will notice that two cameras are located in the upper portion of the phone’s back, while a third one is placed in the lower portion of the phone’s back. Well, that is the thermal camera that we’ve mentioned a second ago.
This smartphone also comes with three physical keys on its front side, which are essentially navigation buttons for Android. This phone also sports an indoor air quality sensor from Sensirion, and it sports a laser-assisted distance measurement. You can drop this phone to concrete from up to 1.8m, and it should not be damaged or anything of the sort. As far as specs are concerned, it’s safe to say this is a mid-range smartphone. The device is fueled by the Snapdragon 630 64-bit octa-core SoC, while it sports a 5.2-inch fullHD display. The Cat S61 also comes with 4GB of RAM and 64GB of native storage, while a 4,500mAh non-removable battery (Quick Charge 4.0-compatible) is included as well. A 16-megapixel snapper is placed on the back of the phone, while the other two cameras have other purposes, as mentioned in the second paragraph. An 8-megapixel shooter is placed on the front side of the device, while the phone comes with Android Oreo out of the box. Those of you who are interested in getting this phone should know that it will become available in the second quarter of the year, and it will cost £799 / €899 / $499 in the UK, Europe, and the US.
