Since I started durability testing phones, the name CAT had been brought up so many times
as potentially one of the most durable phones on the planet, but I haven't had a chance
to test that theory until now.
I have two phones here: the S31 and the S41.
The smaller S31 is spec'd down a bit with a smaller screen and smaller battery, but
the same basic build.
Today we'll focus on the S41.
Let's get started.
[Intro]
This definitely isn't your sleek, pristine looking iPhone or Samsung phone.
This is built for a very specific group of people - a group of people who need their
device to survive no matter what happens happens to it.
The CAT S41 is even impressively advertised to resist solar radiation.
So star man here could start swiping Tinder on Mars if he had this phone...and he's still
probably have better luck than the rest of us.
For those of us here on earth, CAT has designed this phone to survive a 1.8 meter drop onto
concrete - an impressive 6 foot fall.
But as we can tell here, to gain that much drop protection, there has to be a thick plastic
layer covering the Gorilla Glass 5, which scratches at a level 3.
Luckily that laminate layer is included on the phone and easily replaceable if it ever
does get too messed up.
I am going to leave that protection intact and in place because the phone is incomplete
without it.
Just remember that the screen scratches at a level 3.
There are 3 physical buttons along the bottom - all ip68 water resistant and made from plastic.
But if you're outside wearing protective gloves, these large physical buttons can be useful.
There's a cutout on the screen protector for that 8 megapixel front facing camera.
It's covered by Gorilla Glass 5 underneath that plastic and won't be damaged by my razor.
The earpiece is plastic, but has holes small enough that metal shavings or dirt won't easily
get inside.
The power button is made from black plastic, along with the volume buttons - same plastic
material.
The body of this phone is where things start to get intense.
A beastly layer of thick plastic covers the entire surface of the phone, with rubber grip
covering that plastic.
And this isn't the cheap flimsy plastic either.
My razor blade is severely struggling with this stuff.
Down at the bottom of the phone we have the charging port flap covering a micro USB port.
And it's interesting, every other water-resistant phone I've tested so far has never been fit
for salt water because the salt in salt water corrodes metal faster and degrades it's adhesive.
But since all the metal and adhesive is covered up on this phone with these watertight plastic
flaps, this phone is salt water resistant up to 2 meters deep - over 6 feet.
There's even a flap covering the headphone jack with plenty of plastic and rubber along
that edge to keep the phone damage free.
Now the camera is where things start to get a little disappointing.
The flash is plastic, which is fine, no one really cares about that.
But the camera lens itself is also made from plastic.
Now I get that plastic is more shatter resistant than glass, but plastic scratches much easier
that glass does, so it's something to keep in mind if you own this phone.
Also, this phone does not record video in 4K, it maxes out at 1080p.
The camera was apparently not the focus or the selling point of the S41.
Our spaceman snapchat game on Mars is going to be rather weak.
On the side of the phone we have one metal button, which is programmable to any app with
a short press function and a long press function.
Now that's useful.
And we have another flap keeping the SIM and SD card slots watertight.
The iPhone 8 is water resistant to 1 meter, just for 30 minutes.
This CAT S41 is water resistant 2 meters deep for up to an hour.
CAT's not messing around.
Inside this phone is a massive 5,000 milliamp battery that CAT says has a 38 hour talk time,
or 44 days of standby.
Pretty impressive.
I did attempt an art class with Jerry on the back rubber, but the resilience of rubber
closes up on my razor blade slices, hiding my beautiful cat I drew on the CAT phone.
It's got pointy little ears and everything.
The CAT logo is embedded into the rubber, but it's pretty solid and would take some
major abuse to ever fall out on it's own.
So I'll just put this back.
Good as new.
And now the burn test.
Remember, we're working with several different screen layers here.
This is a 5 inch 1080p display, and I left the flame in place for about 15 seconds before
the outer plastic layer started to bubble up and melt.
It got a little crispy.
And now the structural bend test which is surprising.
I expected the phone to be a little more rigid than it is.
There is some decent flex to the front and back of the phone.
This is definitely not a bad thing of course, since nothing snapped or broke, or was even
permanently disfigured.
Everything straightens out after the flex, but it does have some bounce to it.
Long story short, the phone is incredibly durable when it comes to water resistance
and drop protection, as long as you don't mind that plastic screen and the plastic camera
lens.
It might not be mainstream, but the S41 will survive basically anything if you had to pick
one feature as the most important on your smart phone, what would it be?
Let me know in the comments.
And come hang out with me on Instagram.
Thanks a ton for watching, and I'll see you around.