Skip to main content

This new Android phone is unbelievably tough — and it talks to satellites

The Cat S75 smartphone is strong enough to keep working after more than a few drops — and also clever enough to send and receive messages even when there’s no cellular connection.

If you have a fall and don’t fare as well as the Cat S75 phone, it has the ability to call for help when other phones would simply fail, thanks to a special new chip from MediaTek and an app that enables satellite communication.

Two-way satellite communication

The opening screen for the Bullitt Satellite Messenger app on the Cat S75 phone.
Image used with permission by copyright holder

Made by the Bullitt Group, the Cat S75 is the first smartphone to come with the Bullitt Satellite Messenger app, which communicates with satellites to send and receive messages even when your cellular service is nonexistent. It will also connect you to FocusPoint International, a company providing SOS assistance, to get help in case of an emergency when you don’t have service on your phone.

Messages can be received and replied to by any phone, no matter if it has the MT6825 chip or not, or even whether it’s an Android or iOS device.

It’s made possible by the new MediaTek MT6825 chip, which provides two-way communication, location sharing, SOS services, weather forecasting, and movement tracking through its communication with satellites. The Bullitt Satellite Messenger app is used in these circumstances, rather than your standard SMS app or a service like WhatsApp, and messages can be received and replied to by any phone, no matter if it has the MT6825 chip or not, or even whether it’s an Android or iOS device.

While the Bullitt Satellite Messenger app does require a subscription, it’s less expensive than your normal carrier contract. It costs five euros per month, which should be around $5, and that gets you 30 messages per month and the SOS Assist service for a year. There are other packages available with more messages included, plus a package with a one-off $60 or 60 euro charge for 250 messages per year. This is ideal for someone who may only benefit from the service a few times per year, rather than on a monthly basis.

The exciting two-way communication and SOS assistance provided by the Bullitt Satellite Messenger app on the S75 is a step up in functionality from Apple’s satellite communication system on the iPhone 14, which concentrates solely on emergency communication. Bullitt says its app will help keep families connected, even when the phone is out of service, as well as proving beneficial to anyone who may need emergency help, or to companies whose workers often face situations where they are unable to maintain reliable communication.

A really, really tough phone

The back of the Cat S75 phone, covered in dust.
Image used with permission by copyright holder

That’s the technology inside, but what about the Cat S75 itself? It’s important to note that everything you read about the Cat S75 also applies to the Motorola Defy 2, which was announced during CES 2023. Bullitt is producing the Defy 2 for Motorola under license, and it is essentially the same phone with slight design changes. If you live in the U.S., it’ll be the Defy 2 you’ll be able to buy, while the U.K. and most other places will get the Cat S75.

To call it tough is an understatement. It has been drop-tested onto steel from a height of 1.8 meters. It has IP68 and IP69K water and dust resistance, scratch-resistant Gorilla Glass Victus, it meets MIL-SPEC 810H standards, has withstood bend tests and humidity tests, and has been designed to withstand flexing and bending too. The entire phone can be washed with soap, antibacterial wipes, or even bleach.

The screen measures 6.6-inches and has a 120Hz refresh rate and a 2408 x 1080 pixel resolution. It’s a MediaTek Dimensity 930 processor inside with 6GB of RAM and 128GB of storage space — this can be expanded using a MicroSD card. A 5,000mAh battery provides the power, and it has 15-watt fast charging plus wireless charging, while there’s a  fingerprint sensor for security on the back of the phone. A 50-megapixel camera is joined by an 8MP wide-angle camera and a 2MP macro camera, plus an 8MP selfie camera.

The phone also has 5G, NFC, and Bluetooth 5.1, but comes with Android 12 installed, which is a bit of a disappointment. Bullitt does promise upgrades to Android 13 and Android 14, though. Finally, a programmable button on the side of the phone can be linked with the Bullitt Satellite Messenger app. Don’t forget, the Motorola Defy 2 shares all these features, but the design is slightly different.

Price and availability

The Cat S75 costs $599, or 549 British pounds, and is available for preorder now. It comes with a three-month free trial of the Bullitt Satellite Messenger app’s basic plan. The satellite app will cover Europe and North America at launch, with other territories — including Australia, New Zealand, and Africa — coming before mid-2023.

Editors' Recommendations

Andy Boxall
Senior Mobile Writer
Andy is a Senior Writer at Digital Trends, where he concentrates on mobile technology, a subject he has written about for…
Best smartwatch deals: Samsung, Google, Apple, and Garmin
A woman receives a call on her Google Pixel Watch.

Fitness, fashion, function, all of the above. Pick your poison, but either way, a smartwatch makes a great tech accessory. Even better, right now's a great way to save with a lot of smartwatch deals going on across several retailers. You’ll find several of the best smartwatches and best fitness trackers with their prices discounted right now, and among the current smartwatch deals are brands like Garmin, Apple, Samsung, and Google. With so many ways to save on a smartwatch out there, we’ve tracked down the best smartwatch deals and compiled them all in one place. So whether you’re in the market for an Apple Watch or a Pixel Watch, a Galaxy Watch or a Garmin, read up on the best smartwatch deals below.
Best Fitbit deals

You'd be forgiven for thinking Fitbit left the scene a while ago. They haven't and they're still providing excellent smartwatches like the Fitbit Sense 2. It's specifically designed to help you stress less, sleep better, and live healthier. All-day stress detection can help you recognize stressful events and manage them to carry on stress-free. Sleep profiles and sleep reports teach you about the quality of your previous night’s sleep. Heart rate tracking and fitness tracking are part of the package, and the Fitbit Sense 2 even has built-in GPS. Of course, that's just one model from the brand.

Read more
This is your best look yet at the Samsung Galaxy S24 series
Leaked renders of Galaxy S24 series in purple.

Just over a week ago, a handful of purported real-life shots of the upcoming Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra appeared online predicting a slightly refined look. Now, the folks over at Windows Report have shared alleged product renders of the entire Galaxy S24 trio ahead of a rumored January 27 launch. 
It seems the in-hand photos of the Ultra trim, which appeared on X (formerly Twitter) a few days ago, were the real deal. Samsung hasn’t given any aesthetic makeover to the top-tier model -- the flat sides are here to stay, and so is the floating ring aesthetic for the camera lenses at the back.
The only two key changes are a different material for the frame and a couple of new colors. Shoppers will have the option of a new yellow shade that was recently seen on the Samsung Store-exclusive variant of its Galaxy Z flip foldable phone. Then there's a new purple trim, which looks identical to the same shade on the Galaxy S23 FE, down to the contrasting metal frame polish.
Gray and black will be the other shades on the table. The biggest change is that Samsung, following in the footsteps of the iPhone 15 Pro, is reportedly using Titanium for the Galaxy S24 Ultra. The regular and Plus variants will likely stick with armored aluminum and a glass back with Corning Gorilla Glass protection.

The rumored specification list is your usual flagship-tier affair and includes Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chip, a 120Hz OLED display, 12GB RAM, up to 1TB storage, and a 5,000mAh battery.
The report notes that the vapor chamber cooling system inside the S24 Ultra will be nearly twice as big as its predecessor's, which was already in a league of its own. Buyers can expect the phone to maintain its cool during demanding tasks such as gaming, high-res video capture, and generative AI-aligned tasks.
The camera hardware also remains the same as this year's Ultra phone, save for a curious change to the zoom camera. Instead of a 10-megapixel periscope camera with an industry-leading 10x optical zoom output that we saw on the Galaxy S23 Ultra, the upcoming phone is said to embrace a 50-megapixel sensor, but with a lower 5x optical zoom range.

Read more
Best Apple deals: AirPods, Apple Watch, iPad, and MacBook
dell xps 15 vs macbook pro 16 apple ry 14 1200x9999

Apple products are praised for their high quality and interconnectivity, but that quality does come with a price. This is one large reason why we look for great Apple deals to shop, as it sometimes really is worth the wait. To help you out, we've compiled some of our favorite deals on all of the major categories of Apple products. Try these deals first next time you're looking to expand or upgrade your Apple collection.
Best iPad deals

Whether you're wanting to get a standard iPad, an iPad Air, or an iPad Mini, their is a sale on for you at the moment. If, however, one of the iPad Pro models is among the best iPads for you, don't worry too much about holding off. These deals are small, typically taking off around 10% of the price, and are more of a bonus if you already wanted the model rather than an incentive to choose it over something you really wanted. Meanwhile, if you're willing to go refurbished, our larger collection of the best iPad deals has larger deals and you can find an iPad Pro.

Read more