CAT S41

Specifications

Pricecompare

Reviews for the CAT S41

93% CAT S41 review: A rugged smartphone for users working in extreme conditions
Source: Techaeris Archive.org version
The CAT S41 isn’t for everyone and isn’t a phone for the average consumer. It’s not pretty, it’s not expensive, it doesn’t run the latest software, and it’s not a status symbol. What it has going for it is it’s a functional and rugged tool that is meant to be used and can be abused. Buyers seeking those attributes will love this phone.
Single Review, online available, Long, Date: 02/19/2018
Rating: Total score: 93% price: 95% performance: 100% display: 90% mobility: 95% workmanship: 95%

83% CAT S41 review: Built to survive tough environments with a battery that last for days
Source: Zdnet.com Archive.org version
The Cat S41 rugged smartphone is designed for a particular field worker or adventuresome person and it is not for everyone. It is reasonably priced, especially when compared to today's flagships, and performs well at the jobs it is designed to complete.
Single Review, online available, Short, Date: 02/13/2018
Rating: Total score: 83%

CAT S41 rugged smartphone
Source: Tech Smart Archive.org version
There’s a reason why CAT has become the trusted name in rugged phones, with the S41 another example of a well-built device able to withstand care-free usage.
Single Review, online available, Short, Date: 01/22/2018

74% CAT S41 review: Truly a niche device
Source: Android Authority Archive.org version
The Caterpillar S41 is one of the most rugged devices we’ve seen to date. The physical keys, IP68 weather resistance, and Gorilla Glass 5 make it a respectable choice for those working in dangerous environments. However, this is not a consumer device. The sluggish processor and less-than-ideal camera will keep away anyone wanting to use their device for more than the simplest tasks.
Single Review, online available, Long, Date: 01/14/2018
Rating: Total score: 74% performance: 65% display: 80% mobility: 96% workmanship: 77%

80% Cat S41
Source: Trusted Reviews Archive.org version
If you’re a self employed handy-person or extreme-sports enthusiast in need of a rugged smartphone, the CAT S41 is a great choice. Featuring a robust, albeit chunky build and offering excellent battery life and a pleasingly bloatware-free Android install, the CAT S41 is one of the best ruggedised phones to arrive this year.
Single Review, online available, Very Long, Date: 01/02/2018
Rating: Total score: 80%

60% Cat S41 Review: The Phone Endures, the Camera Does Not
Source: Tom's Guide Archive.org version
Few smartphones are built to suffer the kinds of abuse the S41 can handle and still hit a reasonable price point. CAT has done a commendable job of bringing that durability to the midrange market without making too many sacrifices. This is a decently performing handset with almost incomparable battery life, and for the right customer, it definitely suits a need.
Single Review, online available, Medium, Date: 11/03/2017
Rating: Total score: 60%

80% Cat S41 review
Source: Techradar Archive.org version
The Cat S41 has hit a sweet spot by going after an audience who will know about the brand, and are likely to request VAT refunds and look for a solid aftersales service – which similarly priced Chinese-sourced rivals won’t be able to match on either count.
Single Review, online available, Medium, Date: 11/01/2017
Rating: Total score: 80%

Foreign Reviews

60% Zwei Toughe Typen
Source: Connect - 9/18
Single Review, , Short, Date: 09/01/2018
Rating: Total score: 60% features: 60% ergonomy: 60%

80% Zwei Toughe Typen
Source: Connect - 9/18
Single Review, , Short, Date: 09/01/2018
Rating: Total score: 80% features: 80% ergonomy: 80%

Ein toughes Outdoor Smartphone auf Reisen
Source: Notebooksbilliger Blog DE→EN Archive.org version
Single Review, online available, Long, Date: 12/21/2017

89% CAT S41
Source: Android Mag DE→EN Archive.org version
Single Review, online available, Short, Date: 10/26/2017
Rating: Total score: 89% price: 83% performance: 60% features: 80% display: 80% mobility: 100% workmanship: 100% ergonomy: 80%

Outdoor-Smartphone
Source: Notebooksbilliger Blog DE→EN Archive.org version
Single Review, online available, Very Short, Date: 10/11/2017

Cat S41 klasse Outdoor-Handy mit 5000-mAh-Akku
Source: Tech Stage DE→EN Archive.org version
Single Review, online available, Long, Date: 09/13/2017

Cat S41 das neue Outdoor-Smartphone
Source: Curved DE→EN Archive.org version
Single Review, online available, Medium, Date: 08/31/2017

80% Review – Cat S41
Source: PC Guia PT→EN Archive.org version
Single Review, online available, Very Short, Date: 03/01/2018
Rating: Total score: 80%

Recensione Cat S41
Source: Notebook Italia IT→EN Archive.org version
Positive: Good price; nice performance; long battery life.
Single Review, online available, Very Long, Date: 10/06/2018

CAT S41: La Recensione – La sicurezza si paga
Source: Androidiani IT→EN Archive.org version
Positive: Nice design; solid workmanship; nice performance. Negative: Poor cameras; relatively high price.
Single Review, online available, Short, Date: 11/02/2017

50% Review Cat S41: sterke telefoon mist kracht
Source: AndroidWorld.nl NL→EN Archive.org version
Single Review, online available, Medium, Date: 05/18/2018
Rating: Total score: 50%

80% Review: Cat S41 (Android Smartphone)
Source: GadgetGear.nl NL→EN Archive.org version
Single Review, online available, Medium, Date: 10/11/2017
Rating: Total score: 80%

Cat S41 review
Source: Nieuwe Mobiel.nl NL→EN Archive.org version
Positive: Support waterproof; nice display; long battery life. Negative: Poor cameras.
Single Review, online available, Very Long, Date: 10/13/2017

Recenzja CAT S41. Tak wytrzymałe powinny być wszystkie smartfony
Source: Antyweb PL→EN Archive.org version
Positive: Powerful hardware; nice display; waterproof and dust avoiding; long battery life. Negative: Heavy and bulky; no USB-C; high price.
Single Review, online available, Long, Date: 03/22/2018

60% CAT S41 [TEST]: Robust håndværkermodel
Source: Alt om Data DA→EN Archive.org version
Single Review, online available, Very Short, Date: 01/11/2019
Rating: Total score: 60% price: 60% performance: 50%

Test: Tåliga CAT S41 med jättebatteri
Source: Mobil.se SV→EN Archive.org version
Positive: Long battery life. Negative: Poor cameras in low light.
Single Review, online available, Short, Date: 10/20/2017

Comment

Model: The Cat S41 is part of the Caterpillar brand. Caterpillar is known for its bright yellow and monstrous construction machines. Bullitt Mobile Limited, a licensee, sells smartphones under this brand for those who are used to dealing with big tools all day long. According to www.digitaltrends.com, Bullitt has already turned out phones under the JCB, Caterpillar, and Kodak brands (e.g. the Kodak Ektra). The Bullitt Group focuses on producing rugged phones. The Cat S41 is IP68 certified and MIL-STD-810G compliant. It uses mid-range hardware and can be used as an emergency charger.

Design and Connectivity

The ruggedized 5-inch phone is both bigger (152 x 75 x 12.85 mm) and heavier (218 g) than a standard smartphone with a similar screen size. www.techradar.com describes that it features a rubberized outer casing with a Cat logo displayed prominently on top (next to an 8-megapixel front-facing camera), and at the back of the device (below a 13-megapixel Sony camera sensor). They mention large physical system buttons, something which is essential when you are working mostly outdoors, with gloves or dirty fingers. All ports are covered by flaps. The S41 features an earphone jack at the top, and a speaker grill and a microUSB port at the base. The left-hand side houses the SIM tray (nano SIM), a microSD card slot and a programmable key. The volume rocker and the power button can be found on the opposite side. There are dual SIM (~500 USD / 350 EUR as of 02-16-18) and single SIM (~ 450 USD / 500 EUR as of 02-16-18) variants available on amazon.com / amazon.de. www.trustedreviews.com finds, “the CAT S41 has been unashamedly designed for durability, not visual flair or comfort in hand.” www.tomsguide.com confirms that the phone is difficult to grasp for those with small hands. They summarize, “The S41 doesn't try to play down its rugged roots like the Galaxy S8 Active. It's not particularly elegant, but then, that's not the point.”

The phone features a kevlar laced polymer chassis and a Gorilla Glass 5 front. It is IP68 certified, i.e., it has been tested to survive drops from heights of up to 1.8 meters, temperature between -25 C to 50 C and prolonged submersion in water at depths of up to two meters. The tester from www.trustedreviews.com writes, “I didn’t get a chance to take the phone down to 50m depths, but it easily survived an attempted at drowning in my bathtub with its port covers plugged.” Moreover, it is MIL-STD-810G compliant.

The manual (can be downloaded from www.catphones.com) specifies support for 802.11 a (5GHz), 802.11 b/g (2.4GHz), 802.11 n (2.4G/5G) Wi-Fi (no faster 802.11ac here!), Bluetooth 4.2, GPS, AGPS, Glonass, and E911, FM RX, WiFi Direct, NFC. The following bands are supported 2G Band: GSM, GPRS, EDGE (Class 33), 3G Band: HSPA, R9, 4G Band: LTE Cat6. www.androidheadlines.com mentions that the Cat S41 supports plenty of global cellular network bands including those in the U.S. that are 4G, but it won’t work on Sprint or Verizon.

In contrast to the LG X venture and the Samsung S8 Active, the S41 lacks biometric authentication such as a fingerprint reader. It features the usual proximity and light sensor, accelerometer, and e-compass. Sadly, the phone uses an older micro-USB charging port instead of USB-C (better charge and data speeds).

While a FLIR thermal imaging sensor made the older CAT S60 interesting, the S41 lacks such a unique selling point. Nevertheless, www.trustedreviews.com think, “The S41 earns its place as one of the best ruggedised handsets yet.”

Display

The S41 features a capacitive 5.0-inch display with Full HD resolution, which supports 4 points touch. The tester from www.trustedreviews.com evaluates that the FHD resolution ensures everything looks suitable sharp, but colors are a little cool for his liking, and whites are far from the cleanest he has seen. Moreover, he mentions that the phone does not come close to matching competing smartphones, like the Asus Zenfone 4, let alone mobile HDR-ready handsets such as the Galaxy S8 when it comes to max brightness. In contrast, www.tomsguide.com writes that the screen is bright at 595 nits. In their testing, the S41 reproduced 116.6 percent of the sRGB spectrum and turned in a Delta-E color accuracy score of 1.46. www.digitaltrends.com evaluates, “The 5-inch TFT screen is average. It’s a little dull, but still visible in direct sunlight”. The tester of www.androidauthority.com felt very mixed about the display. He mentions fine colors and a respectable pixel density of 441 PPI, but he thinks that the large bezels let the phone’s display feel outdated. The CAT S41 can be used with gloves on, but it attracts fingerprints easily. www.gsmarena.com finds that an oleophobic coating would have been appreciated since this is the kind of phone that has to worry about more than skin oil.

Camera

The S41 features a 13 MP AF rear camera with LED flash and a 8 MP FF front camera. www.trustedreviews.com thinks that while the camera combo is not industry-leading, but it is more than good enough for everyday tasks, though the 13 MP camera cannot match the shutter speeds or low-light performance of top-end dual-lens cameras. In contrast, www.tomsguide.com is really disappointed about the S41’s camera. They summarize, “The S41's shooter is so bad, it makes most mediocre budget handsets look like iPhones and Pixels by comparison.” They recommend never to use HDR on the S41 as this will worsen the image quality. www.androidauthority.com shares the opinion that the cameras are terrible. In contrast, www.zdnet.com reports, “The camera isn't going to help you win photo contests, but in decent lighting outside (which is likely where many use such rugged phones) the S41 fared well.”

Software

The handset runs stock Android 7.0 Nougat, Google’s previous-generation operating system. Duplicate applications and bloatware have been kept to a minimum. www.trustedreviews.com confirms, “Outside of minor additions, like the aquatic mode, to the OS’s shortcuts menu, the UI is pretty much stock Android.” They think that the underwater aquatic mode could be useful for plumbers, since it could be great for people using the phone to spot the source of a leak, for example. They write that you will find a wealth of DIY and industry-specific services that help boost the phone’s enthusiast and industry appeal including the SOS Location Alert services, plus the Toolbox marketplace.

Hardware and Performance

With the Mediatek MT6757 (also known as Helio P20) and the Mali-T880 GPU, the S41 boasts faster hardware than the S60 (Snapdragon 617 Adreno 405). It features 3 GB of RAM and 32 GB on-board storage. The hardware is mid-range and targets average users. It has not been designed for gamers. www.techradar.com confirms, “The phone is fast enough for an average non-mobile gamer: there are enough resources, both in terms of compute power (don’t forget that the CPU has eight cores) and storage, to keep Android and a slew of apps running happily for the foreseeable future.” www.trustedreviews.com shares the same opinion, “The CAT phone opens applications reasonably smoothly and with no noticeable lag. Web browsing and video streaming run fine.” They mention that competing consumer-focused phones perform better in graphics performance and load times on titles such as Riptide GP2, but think that this is hardly a deal breaker in view of the S41’s focus. According to www.tomsguide.com, the S41 takes a hair longer than it should to boot up, but once it is ready, it performs admirably most of the time and you can expect the S41 to handle some light gaming. www.digitaltrends.com finds the Android 7.0 software experience to be smooth and responsive.

Battery Life

The 5.000 mAh battery is non-removable. Bullitt claims that it can keep the phone running for 44 days of standby time and 38 hours talk time. The phone can also serve as a emergency power bank using Cat’s proprietary Battery Share cable. You can set a minimal charge level, after which charging stops automatically. So, you do not have to worry about draining the phone's battery. The tester of www.trustedreviews.com praises,“The 5000mAh battery puts every other phone, including the gigantic Huawei Mate 10 Pro and Razer Phone, to shame when it comes to capacity, and makes the S41 one of the only phones I’ve tested that can constantly last a full two days off one charge with regular use.” He mentions that the The S41’s stamina even remained impressive when he threw more intensive tasks at it. www.tomsguide.com writes that this one of the longest-lasting smartphones they have ever tested. It lasted 15 hours and 19 minutes in their battery test (continuous website streaming over AT&T LTE). According to www.tomsguide.com the S41 lacks wireless charging, but it supports fast charging with the included Pump Express 2.0 wall adapter.

Speakers and Call quality

As many phones, the S41 only has one speaker. According to www.androidheadlines.com it does not belong to the best its kind. They report that it began to sound a bit tinny and would also start to sound blown out just a little bit at higher volumes (lower than they would have expected). www.trustedreviews.com observed “a tendency to pick up a minor hiss when recording or taking and making calls.” Hence, headphones are recommended for really good quality audio. According to www.androidheadlines.com phone calls sounded pretty clear on their end and they were told that they sounded fine on the other end too.

Summary

Advantages are robust, albeit bulky build, excellent battery life, and stock Android. A highlight is that the phone can serve as a power bank. Otherwise you will get a mid-range hardware. Moreover, the phone is a little pricey.

www.techradar.com summarizes that the S41’s IP68 rating and subdued rugged looks will make it popular with builders and outdoor professionals. However they note that a unique selling point is missing so that many might look for a similar smartphone at a lower price and give the Chinese AGM X1 and the Blackview BV7000 as examples. www.trustedreviews.com recommends the phone to self employed handy-person or extreme-sports enthusiast in need of a rugged smartphones. www.tomsguide.com explains that there are only few options when you are after a truly durable smartphone, which range from the quite expensive Samsung's Galaxy S8 Active, which is both tough and powerful, to devices like LG's X venture, a budget handsets, which compromises heavily on specs and features. In there opinion, the S41 does not make much sense unless you spend a lot of time on a construction site or in the unforgiving outdoors, away from a wall outlet. www.digitaltrends.com finds, “As durable and long-lasting the Cat S41 is, we don’t think those are enough reasons to buy it with its current price tag.”

Sources

www.catphones.com/en_gb/cat-s41-smartphone.html
www.digitaltrends.com/mobile/bullitt-builds-cat-kodak-phones/
www.techradar.com/reviews/cat-s41
www.trustedreviews.com/reviews/cat-s41
www.tomsguide.com/us/cat-s41,review-4814.html
www.digitaltrends.com/cell-phone-reviews/cat-s41-review/
www.androidauthority.com/cat-s41-review-815500/
www.zdnet.com/product/cat-s41-4g-lte-32-gb-gsm-smartphone/
www.androidheadlines.com/2017/11/cat-s41-review-rugged-integrated-power-bank.html
www.gsmarena.com/cat_s41_and_cat_s31_handson_review-news-27054.php
www.equipmentworld.com/cat-s41-review/
www.heise.de/newsticker/meldung/Cat-S41-Outdoor-Smartphone-laedt-dank-Riesen-Akku-andere-Handys-3819058.html

Press Review by Martina Osztovits

ARM Mali-T880 MP2: Mobile graphics solution for tablets and smartphones, which can be found in ARM SoCs (for mostly Android based devices). The Mali-T880 can be built with 1 to 16 clusters, where the MP2 version features 2 clusters/cores.

Non demanding games should be playable with these graphics cards.

» Further information can be found in our Comparison of Mobile Graphics Cards and the corresponding Benchmark List.

Helio P20 MT6757: ARM based octa core SoC (8x ARM Cortex-A53) clocked at up to 2.3 GHz. The chip also includes a Cat.6 LTE modem.» Further information can be found in our Comparison of Mobile Processsors.

5.00":

This display is tiny. You will probably see very little on the screen and be able to use mini-resolutions.

CAT:

CAT, which can be easier found under CAT Phones in the web, gets seldom reviewed, does hardly have any market shares and achieves average ratings (as of 2016).

74.42%: This rating is poor. More than three quarters of the models are rated better. That is rather not a purchase recommendation. Even if verbal ratings in this area do not sound that bad ("sufficient" or "satisfactory"), they are usually euphemisms that disguise a classification as a below-average laptop.

» Further information can be found in our Notebook Purchase Guide.

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