During the CAT S60 launch event in Shoreditch last week, our sister publication Mobile News got an exclusive interview with Bullitt Group (which owns the license for Cat devices) to find out more about the new handset.
The Cat S60 is a rugged handset which features one big standout feature, dedicated thermal imaging technology incorporated directly into the camera. Designed by Flir, the company also provide thermal imaging software and hardware to institutions such as Formula 1 and the military With a 4.7-inch 720p screen, Snapdragon 617 octa-core processor and 4GB RAM, it’s packing enough power for your average mid-level user. It also houses a hefty 3,800mAh battery and 32GB of in-built storage, plus a drop rating up to 1.8m. There’s also dual-SIM, which is practically a necessity on business and public service devices. This second slot will double as a microSD bay, which is handy if you want more storage instead.
The imaging camera itself is only VGA, but it likely wont matter since the practicality is not in taking nice pictures, it’s about identifying heat signatures. Bullitt spoke a lot about how this handset could be useful in public services and we have to agree, it’s an all-in-one solution for those who need thermal imaging capabilities in a solid handset. The S60 will also ship with Android Marshmallow 6.0 out of the box, another welcome feature as most rugged devices seem to ship outdated operating systems on board.
The S60 will retail for ¬649 in Europe and £529.99 in the UK, an attractive point that puts it just at the top end of rugged devices. With the addition of the built-in thermal camera, we can justify the slight bump in price. It’s still cheaper than buying a rugged device and thermal imaging camera separately, plus you get the added practicality of having them both integrated. It’s available to buy now from Catphones.com.
For our full hands-on review of this unique device, click the link here.
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