Knowledgeable's Ranking
Execs
- Satellite tv for pc comms
- Deep water immersion
- Light-weight for a rugged telephone
- Wi-fi charging
Cons
- Satellite tv for pc solely handles messaging
- Restricted satellite tv for pc protection for now
- Satellite tv for pc SIM blocks SD card slot
- Solely 1080p video recording
Our Verdict
For the same worth, there are cell phones with superior specs, however they can't transmit messages outdoors of mobile phone tower protection. That one distinctive function would possibly justify its excessive asking worth for some customers.
Value When Reviewed
$599
There was a dry spell in CAT-branded telephones because the glorious S62 Professional, however that’s now ended with the arrival of the S75.
For these interested by CAT and the way they mix heavy industrial development tools with the fully completely different calls for of telephone making, the S75 had been made by Motorola.
Offered because the Motorola Defy 2 in some areas, however now additionally a part of the CAT product vary because the S75, and the telephone carries the acquainted CAT branding.
As could be anticipated with this model, the S75 is a telephone that may take knocks and hold rolling, however there are lots of cheap rugged telephone designs that additionally meet these standards.
The place this telephone diverges from the trail is that it may possibly ship and obtain messages even when there isn't a telephone service, extremely.
Does that make it definitely worth the premium pricing for what's a medium performer in different respects? Learn on and discover out.
Design & Construct
- Constructed to deal with abuse
- Light-weight for a rugged telephone
- No want for rubber plugs
Sometimes, for a Motorola-originated design, the S75 is a clear and stylish kind that avoids the theatrical excesses that blight another rugged telephone designs.
The display screen is barely recessed, leaving a lip throughout the entrance face which may nicely save the display screen from extreme harm falling face down.
it’s lined with 0.8mm-thick Corning Gorilla Glass Victus, making it remarkably resilient
Even when it does encounter objects apart from fingers, it’s lined with 0.8mm-thick Corning Gorilla Glass Victus, making it remarkably resilient.
Overlaying the edges and underside is an impact-resistant rubberised coating that gives the look of invulnerability, even when there are limits to what this design can deal with.
However, the general impression is that at 268g, this isn’t excessively heavy, and with its rubberised end, it gained’t simply be flying out of your hand or pocket.
Most rugged telephones at the moment are utilizing a button format the place the facility button is beneath the amount rocker that usually doubles as a thumbprint reader. The S75 is extra like a normal telephone design, the place the facility button is above the rocker, and the fingerprint reader is positioned in the course of the again like Motorola telephones of yesteryear.
Whereas inserting the fingerprint sensor in that location is useful for these which are left-handed, the sensor is small and having it there has resulted within the digicam cluster being displaced to the left.
What’s extra pleasing is that the USB-C port isn’t hidden behind a rubber plug, regardless that the telephone is rated to deal with 15m of immersion for a restricted interval.
Nevertheless, there isn't a audio jack, and CAT doesn’t present an adapter to get this performance from the USB-C port.
Display & Audio system
- Sharp and vibrant show
- Not superb for outside use
- The standard poor audio system
In my first examination of the S75, I observed that the speaker ports are on the underside finish of the telephone, which doesn’t appear superb to have them each at one finish.
As soon as I used the telephone, it grew to become evident that the display screen was additionally a speaker because the sound was louder coming from the display screen than the underside vents.
The display screen is a blended expertise, relying on what you are attempting to do.
There isn’t an enormous quantity of frequency vary, most likely as a result of the protecting glass coating is damping the output, however for telephone use, the sound could be very clear and never clearly clipped.
The display screen is a blended expertise, relying on what you are attempting to do.
Having a decision of 1080 x 2408 pixels, this IPS panel has a 20:9 ratio and a ~400 ppi density, making it barely oversubscribed for taking part in again 1080p video. The front-facing digicam does take slightly of this decision, because it’s notched into the display screen, however not considerably.
Brightness is extremely adjustable, and it may be made very dim or dramatically vibrant, however this scope doesn’t assist a lot if you end up outdoors. The naturally easy and reflective floor of the Gorilla Glass makes utilizing the telephone outdoors a problem, and this has ramifications for utilizing satellite tv for pc messaging, sadly.
If you're not preventing reflections, the 120Hz refresh price of the show makes for a easy expertise, and color copy is respectable. There are some rugged designs showing with OLED shows, however the one within the S75 is an efficient high quality IPS, and it most likely makes use of much less energy to run.
Specs & Efficiency
- Highly effective chipset
- GPU options are lacking
- 6/128GB
When you’ve excluded Apple from any listing, the selection of SoC utilized by most telephone makes boils right down to a small listing of chip makers that features the likes of Samsung, Qualcomm, Broadcom, Marvell, STM and MediaTek as probably the most prevalent.
The S75 makes use of a MediaTek SoC that could be a variation on its Dimensity 900 platform, the 930.
Evaluating the Dimensity 930 with its 900 predecessor, the core association and clock speeds are remarkably related. The numerous modifications listed below are a greater ARM instruction set and the change from the GPU to the PowerVR B-Collection IMG BXM-8-256.
Whereas the additional directions assist, the GPU change is a much less convincing alteration.
We’ve beforehand examined Dimensity 900 telephones and located that they will run the 3DMark Wild Life take a look at, however the CAT S75 and its Dimensity 930 lacks the options to execute that Vulkan code. The identical is true for the Geekbench 5 Compute Vulkan take a look at, which didn't run all of the sub-tests.
To place this telephone into the proper context, I’ve in contrast it to some latest rugged telephone designs from AGM and Doogee. The AGM makes use of the Snapdragon 782G, the Doogee V20 Professional a Dimensity 700, and the Doogee S100 has a MediaTek Helio G99.
Throughout the benchmarking board, the Dimensity 930 can’t match the Snapdragon 782G, however it may possibly beat the Dimensity 700 and even the Helio G99.
All the opposite telephones utilized in these exams have 12GB of RAM and 256GB of storage, so reminiscence and storage most likely aren’t an enormous think about benchmark efficiency. Extra is at all times higher for the loading of a number of apps, however for single purposes, the quantity within the CAT S75 is sufficient.
The place it's a lot much less constant is within the GPU. It performs marginally higher than these utilizing the Mali-G68 MC4 GPU in GFX Aztec and GFX Automobile Chase, however it's dramatically superior within the GFX Manhattan 3.1 take a look at.
What’s not lined by these benchmarks is the celebration trick of the S75, particularly its capability to speak with geostationary satellites
These outcomes counsel that higher driver integration would possibly make this GPU considerably higher after it has been tuned.
Satellite tv for pc connectivity
What’s not lined by these benchmarks is the celebration trick of the S75, particularly its capability to speak with geostationary satellites to each ship and obtain messages.
UK firm Bullitt introduced in late 2022 that it could be partnering with MediaTek to make use of that firm’s 3GPP NTN (Non-Terrestrial Community) chipset.
Bullitt Messaging is the results of that settlement, a service that makes it potential to speak outdoors of mobile information vary, up a mountain or in a distant area.
This isn’t a globally obtainable service however is within the technique of being rolled out regionally.
Beginning with the entire of Europe, together with Scandinavia, with the entire of the USA and Canada quickly to be added. A last growth part is deliberate for later within the 12 months throughout South America, Africa, Oceania, Australia, New Zealand and Japan.
The Center East, Russia, India and China aren’t deliberate to be lined, sadly.
Aside from the CAT S75, the one further know-how you must get this facility is the Bullitt SIM that comes with the telephone and a contract to make use of the service.
What’s attention-grabbing is that the S75 will work with Bullitt even when the telephone has no typical cell service SIM put in, as this know-how doesn't want that to work. The one caveat is that you simply want some web connection to arrange the service, however after that registration course of, it may be used at any time when the proprietor wants it.
There are Satellite tv for pc Plans you’ll have to take into accounts right here as though there's a free choice, ones with messaging begin at $4.99 per 30 days. Extra on these later.
Cameras
- Good principal digicam
- Different sensors are much less spectacular
- Solely 1080p video
In megapixel competitors, the 50MP Samsung ISOCELL JN1 50MP sensor on this telephone appears to be trailing the sector. Nevertheless, it has a superb pixel binning function that ends in high-quality photos at 12.5Mp.
For those who need better decision, the sensor helps pixel-for-pixel 50Mp, however these captures lack the readability and noise suppression of the pixel-binned snaps.
even with a 50MP principal sensor, solely 1080p video is obtainable, not even 1440p
On the rear are additionally an 8Mp GalaxyCore GC08A3 made for super-wide photographs and a really low-resolution 2Mp depth sensor used for results. Neither of those is very fantastic, however they will help the primary sensor prolong its options.
However the largest sensor disappointment is the front-facing 8Mp ISOCELL 4H7, which is beneath the standard stage seen on many telephones that use the most recent 16- or 32Mp Samsung sensors.
When it comes to digicam features, it’s a blended bag. The collection of particular modes contains super-macro, underwater, bokeh and panoramic. However all these, together with photographs taken in Skilled mode, are in JPG, with no RAW output.
Video might be captured in sluggish movement, timelapse, and with both a wide-angle mode or regular side. However the largest remorse with video is that even with a 50MP principal sensor, solely 1080p video is obtainable, not even 1440p! With most telephones doing 4K and a few 8K, being solely able to 1080p appears restricted.
I must also point out that, in contrast to so many rugged telephone designs, the CAT S75 helps full Widevine L1 encryption, enabling it to stream video from the likes of Netflix and Amazon in the very best quality, and never the blurry 480p that telephones with out this functionality are saddled.
Not that you would be able to watch Netflix over the Bullitt satellite tv for pc connection, however if you happen to do use your telephone for watching, it’s a helpful functionality.
Battery Life & Charging
- 5000mAh cell
- 15W charging
In testing, the S75 lasted slightly below 15 hours of steady exercise on the PCMark battery take a look at, which is environment friendly for a telephone with solely 5000mAh of battery. The stability right here is that, as rugged telephones go, this can be a light-weight gadget, and people with a lot bigger batteries aren’t.
That’s the identical capability because the battery Motorola put in its ThinkPhone, one other light-weight rugged design from the identical supply.
The logic to this battery dimension selection is that in case you are ‘off the grid’, then there's little level having the telephone on on a regular basis. Solely once you intend to ship and obtain satellite tv for pc messages, and that sometimes gained’t be all day.
And, if you happen to’ve not within the wilderness, charging is prone to be obtainable from a automobile or constructing.
The opposite benefit of a smaller battery is that it expenses faster, even with the ‘Quick Cost’ limits of 15W that Motorola placed on this design. Curiously, that 15W restrict is on each wired and wi-fi charging that this telephone helps.
With the ability to get 30% of the battery replenished in simply half-hour is useful regardless that it’s not likely as much as trendy quick charging requirements.
We’ve seen rugged telephones that help 66W charging on wire and 33W on wi-fi, however I believe that the warmth that will be generated by pumping that a lot energy right into a battery of 5000mAh would possibly nicely overheat the telephone and/or harm the battery.
Rugged telephones that help 66W charging will usually have 22,000mAh batteries that may deal with that stage of recharging.
Software program & Apps
- Android 12
- Google Apps plus social media
- Bullitt Messenger
The CAT S75 is a by-the-numbers Google Android 12 telephone, which avoids any radical modification of the usual toolset or interface.
That’s what most clients need, and so they’ll even be happy that this telephone doesn’t come preloaded with video games they by no means requested for or oddly regional-centric apps that aren’t of their native language.
Alongside all the usual Google instruments, CAT pre-installed Fb, Instagram, Whatsapp and Twitter, together with a couple of helpful CAT toolbox apps.
However the instrument that's thus far distinctive to this telephone and its Motorola Defy 2 brother is the Bullitt Messenger app, to ship and obtain messages with a satellite tv for pc hanging 22,000 miles above the Earth.
The place this service differs from cell comms is that you would be able to’t make a name, solely ship messages, and also you have to be outdoors to get a transparent line-of-sight to the spacecraft.
Once you run the appliance, it has a show that signifies if the satellite tv for pc might be linked and the way you would possibly wish to reorientate higher to ascertain that. As soon as the connection is made, messages might be despatched and obtained utilizing the app. It could be good if the Bullitt know-how interfaced by way of Google Messenger, however that it really works in any respect is exceptional given the distances and the facility output of the telephone and satellite tv for pc.
Along with messaging, the app may make an SOS service request the place your location is relayed to a service centre for assist to be despatched. And a ‘verify in’ service the place your actual location is shipped to a predetermined one who is monitoring your progress.
Bullitt has promised a variation on the checking-in function the place a map might be printed with pushpins to indicate the place you might be at any given level in your journey.
Value & Availability
The worth instantly from CAT for the S75 is $599/£549/€599 making this a premium-priced Android gadget that doesn’t have the excessive specs of a Google Pixel or Samsung Galaxy.
Within the UK, you can even purchase it from the likes of Amazon, Laptops Direct, CPC and Clove Know-how.
Nevertheless, it has Bullitt Messenger, and that distinctive function has elevated its worth accordingly. It is going to be bought within the USA because the Motorola Defy 2 and ought to be obtainable on Amazon.com quickly.
Alongside the outlay for the telephone, homeowners will want a plan in the event that they want to use Bullitt Messenger since satellites price a lot to construct, launch and preserve.
Costs vary from $4.99/£4.99/€4.99 a month for 30 messages as much as $29.99/£29.99/€29.99 for 300 messages. Alternatively, a one-off cost of $59.99/£59.99/€59.99 provides you 250 messages unfold over a 12 months, do you have to solely want this stage of communication for a particular job or journey.
These costs evaluate nicely with satellite tv for pc telephone prices, the place Iridium handsets begin at twice the value of the CAT S75 and plans for month-to-month use begin at $75 {dollars} for simply half-hour of inclusive calls. Whereas these telephones enable calls, the same old price of an SMS message is 45c in both route.
By comparability, the CAT S75 is just not solely cheaper to personal, however the plans are extra inexpensive, and the fee per message is considerably much less.
Try extra choices in our greatest rugged telephones chart.
Verdict
The important takeaways from the S75 are that it is vitally sturdy, does have ample efficiency to ship a good person expertise and, most necessary of all, the Bullitt Satellite tv for pc Messaging resolution works as marketed.
Contemplating you must be outdoor to place the telephone for satellite tv for pc comms, having a display screen that labored higher in vibrant daylight may need made it even higher, however workarounds might be discovered.
The specification of the telephone isn’t wonderful, however it’s greater than most customers will want until they’re utilizing a graphically intensive app or gaming. Nevertheless, the one foolish mistake is that you would be able to’t use a MicroSD on this telephone alongside a traditional SIM and the one wanted to make Bullitt work.
If ever a telephone wanted an e-SIM functionality, it was this one.
The worth appears excessive for the specification, however it’s a lot the identical price that Motorola might be promoting the equivalent Defy 2, and when you've got a singular function like Bullitt, there isn’t any competitors to say.
A real satellite tv for pc telephone with the power to make calls would price considerably extra, and the fee per communication would even be better.For the cash, the CAT S75 supplies real distant communications however at a worth that many purchasers will like.
Specs
CPU: MediaTek Dimensity 930
CPU Spec: Octa-core (2×2.2 GHz Cortex-A78 & 6×2.0 GHz Cortex-A55)
GPU: IMG BXM-8-256
RAM: 6 GB
Storage: 128GB (expandable to 2TB with MicroSDXC)
Display: 6.6″ IPS LCD, 120Hz
Decision: 1080 x 2408 pixels, 20:9 ratio (~400 ppi density)
SIM: Twin Nano SIM or single SIM and MicroSD
Weight: 268g
Dimensions: 171 x 80 x 11.9 mm
Rugged Spec: IP68, IP69K and MIL-STD-810H (water-proof as much as 5m for 35 min)
Rear cameras: 50 MP f/1.8 broad, PDAF 8 MP, f/2.2 ultrawide, 2 MP f/2.4 macro
Entrance digicam: 8 MP, f/2.0 broad
Networking: WiFi 5, Bluetooth 5.1
OS: Android 12
Battery: 5000mAh