Known for manufacturing and selling machinery and engines, Caterpillar knows a thing or two about making rugged products. That’s why it might not be much a surprise to see the company return to selling smartphones with the Cat S40, revealed the company today.
Updated on 08-03-2015 by Malarie Gokey: Added official price of $400 and news of a future launch in the U.S. later in the year.
As far as specifications are concerned, the S40’s are decidedly in the low-end side of things, with the phone powered by a quad-core 1.1GHz Snapdragon 210 processor and 1GB of RAM. The processing package should be enough to run Android 5.1 Lollipop well enough on a day-to-day basis, though don’t expect to do a ton of multitasking with the S40.
Looking elsewhere, you’ll find a 2-megapixel camera above the 4.7-inch, 960 x 540 resolution IPS display, while turning the phone around reveals an 8-megapixel shooter capable of 1080p video recording. If the 16GB of internal storage isn’t enough for you, the Micro SD card slot allows for up to 64GB of additional storage. Finally, the S40 comes with your standard array of wireless connectivity options, including 3G and 4G LTE connectivity, Bluetooth 4.1, and GPS.
However, if you opt to buy the S40, it’s clearly won’t be because of its internals, but rather because of its ability to withstand your clumsiness. The S40 is IP68 certified, meaning it can survive in six feet of water for up to an hour and is impervious to dust. In addition, the phone carries a Military Standard 810G certification, indicating it has shock- and drop-proof capabilities, with Caterpillar saying you can drop the S40 from a height of six feet and not worry about the phone breaking.
The S40 features glove-on technology, which lets you use the display without taking off your gloves to do so. Finally, you can also use the display without having to dry your fingers beforehand.
If you live a rugged lifestyle, the S40 looks to be a solid choice for your needs, though the £400 price tag might be a tad hard to swallow. The S40 will be available in more than 60 countries on August 1. Caterpillar told Digital Trends that the Cat S40 will hit the U.S. later this year for $400.
