If you’re the kind of person walking around with a cracked phone screen and your personal brand is “builder chic,” then the Cat S32 might be the mobile for you.
Unveiled at CES last night, the device is the latest ruggedised smartphone from the Reading-based manufacturer Bullitt Group, which since 2012 has had a licence from construction giant Caterpillar to slap the Cat name onto their mobiles so they can flog it to builders and Bear Grylls-wannabes.
An update to the Cat S31, the S32 is at the budget end of Bullitt’s offerings, with the previously covered Cat S52 and the Cat S61 geared towards those with more in their wallets, so most of its specs aren’t going to blow anybody away and its textured, extra-grip design, chunky size and wide bezels won’t turn heads. But what you do get is an Android 10 smartphone certified to be dustproof and waterproof to IP68 standards and which can withstand not only 35 minutes in up to 1.5 metres of (fresh) water, but being dropped onto steel from a height of 1.8 metres, if that’s a thing you like to do. Bullitt also believe it’ll keep operating in extreme temperatures and survive thermal shocks.
It comes with an impressively large 4,200mAh battery, beefier than a lot of flagships currently on the market, and a 5.5″ HD+ display protected by scratch-resistant DragonTrail Pro glass with a touchscreen Bullitt claims can still be used with wet fingers or gloves. Where Bullitt has obviously skimped is on the device’s 3GB of RAM and 32GB of storage, but that storage is expandable with a microSD card. However, there’s little you can do about the 13MP rear camera, 5MP front camera and the low-end Mediatek Helio A20 MT 6761D 1.8Ghz quad-core chipset powering the device.
When it hits stores, you’ll find the rough and ready Cat S32 on sale for €299 (about $485).
Editor’s Note: Stay tuned for an Australian release date and local pricing.
This post originally appeared on Gizmodo UK, which is gobbling up the news in a different timezone.