In this review, we will look at the TOP 4 best Caterpillar smartphones and phones in 2017. We will pay attention to the most popular and popular models in order to understand their strengths and distinctive qualities.

Phone Caterpillar Cat B25

The Caterpillar Cat B25 model is one of the most popular in the collection of the American manufacturer. Phones are produced in China, but at the same time they are famous for their high quality and excellent functionality.

  1. Design and equipment. Classic and attractive candybar, which has a brutal and at the same time futuristic design. As a result, the phone stands out against the background of a gray mass of similar gadgets, which practically do not differ in anything except the logo. The unique look of the main camera, which is located on the back surface, rubber sagging and unsurpassed quality of the finish - everything speaks of premium. mobile phone. The device is offered in a yellow box with the company logo. The Caterpillar Cat B25 package includes the gadget itself, a charger, instructions and a connector for connecting the device to a computer. The main feature of the device is the keyboard, which is equipped with wear and abrasion resistant buttons.
  2. Display. A distinctive feature of the phone is its unique screen, which is based on advanced Quarter VGA technology. The two-inch display boasts a TFT matrix and its innovative anti-shock properties. The presence of the IP67 certificate indicates that the screen is able to withstand even immersion in water, though no deeper than 1 meter.
  3. Performance mobile phone Caterpillar Cat B25 is provided with a MediaTek MT6235 processor with a clock frequency of 208 MHz. Only 256 MB of memory is available to the user, but it can be increased up to 8 GB using MicroSD memory cards.
  4. Multimedia. Caterpillar Cat B25 cannot boast of chic multimedia capabilities. The main camera of 2 megapixels shoots at a resolution of 1920x1080, which is quite small for modern realities. To justify the manufacturers, we can only say that the phone is not intended for shooting photos and videos, but is positioned as an indestructible device for communication in any conditions. The autofocus of the camera is also lame, detecting faces every other time.
  5. Autonomy. The main advantage of the Caterpillar Cat B25 gadget is its 1300 mAh lithium-ion battery, which is more than enough for 10 hours of talking. Due to the minimal power consumption, the mobile phone is able to work in standby mode for more than 300 hours.
  6. Additionally. Among the additional features include the presence of a dust and moisture resistant case, as well as an FM receiver. To store musical compositions, you can use the built-in advanced media player with the possibility of point settings for each user.
The price of Caterpillar Cat B25 in Russia is 4,000 rubles. A video review of this device is presented below:

Smartphone Caterpillar Cat S30


Caterpillar Cat S30 is the latest and most advanced model of the American manufacturer, which premiered at the IFA world exhibition. An affordable device can easily compete with the flagship smartphones of Korean manufacturers.
  1. Design and equipment. This model smartphone comes in a small yellow box. There are no chips or compartments inside: the box is quite simple and stylish. The bundle is also weak - it consists of a device, a charger and a Micro-USB cable. The design of the smartphone turned out to be unique. Compared to other models of the American concern, the Cat S30 boasts more elegant and modern forms. The brutality that is inherent in the manufacturer's products is not noticed at all here. All this made the device more comfortable to use: it sits perfectly in the hand, and the body material turned out to be pleasant to the touch. According to the company, the device can spend about an hour underwater without compromising its functionality and integrity.
  2. Display. The screen can be called the most ill-conceived and weak part of the smartphone. The Cat S30 is equipped with a 4.5-inch display with a resolution of only 854x480 pixels. This is a record low quality even for budget phones, despite the fact that the manufacturer characterizes its unit as a representative of the middle segment. A consolation is the increased brightness, which is made possible by the use of third-generation Gorilla Glass.
  3. Performance Cat S30 provides Qualcomm processor Snapdragon 210 version. The heart of the phone has four cores that run at 1.1GHz. The corporation's engineers decided to use the Adreno 304 GPU as a graphics accelerator. Few people will be surprised today with 1 GB of RAM, but this is enough for the Cat S30 to fulfill all its obligations. The internal memory is only 3 GB, so you can't do without using cards up to 64 GB.
  4. Multimedia. The device is completely devoid of any hint that it was not created for listening to music. Melodies play very loudly, and the sound in the headphones is of high quality. The only drawback is its own digital noise reduction and sound processing, which is clearly not fully thought out. The main camera is 5 megapixels capable of shooting video in HD resolution, boasts auto focus and LED flash. Pleased with a large number of settings that allow you to control the shooting, change its quality and other parameters. The device is equipped with only a 2-megapixel front camera, which again is not enough for modern realities. In defense of the smartphone, it should be noted that there is no color noise in the resulting pictures.
  5. Autonomy. Cat S30 is equipped with a 3000 mAh battery, which is enough for several days of active use of the gadget. In talk mode, the smartphone is able to work 9 hours. This is an impressive figure for this kind of device. In the mode of modern games, the phone will last about 7 hours without any problems, and when shooting video, it lasts for 11 hours.
  6. Additionally. The Cat S30 model runs on the Android 5.1 operating system, the proprietary shell is not used. The smartphone is able to work with two SIM cards at the same time and for each of them you can assign a specific ringtone.
The price of the Caterpillar Cat S30 in Russia is 16,000 rubles. Below is a detailed video review of this gadget:

Smartphone Caterpillar Cat S50


Caterpillar Cat S50 - Protected smart phone, which is distinguished by the presence of a powerful processor, LTE support and the ability to withstand enormous loads and moisture.
  1. Design and equipment. This model is one of the most brutal and terrifying. However, this is all done for the sake of protection from falls, moisture and other factors. The impact-resistant case is attached with large bolts, the side part is made of metal, and the corners of the cover are made of high-quality rubber. Even the main camera to some extent resembles a nut. The package bundle of the gadget is almost no different from other devices of the manufacturer.
  2. Display- home distinguishing feature Caterpillar Cat S50. The 4.7-inch screen is bright and juicy. Having a resolution of 1280x720 pixels, it is able to distinguish touches with a wet hand. A high degree of protection is guaranteed by the presence of Gorilla Glass 3, which is famous for its impact resistance, stain and dust resistance.
  3. Performance. Under the back of the Caterpillar Cat S50 is a Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 quad-core processor clocked at 1.2GHz. With 2 GB on board, the smartphone can cope with all the tasks assigned to it without slowdowns and obvious glitches. Thanks to the graphics accelerator, even gamers can enjoy all the latest innovations gaming industry.
  4. Multimedia. The 8 MP main camera boasts high-quality auto focus and the ability to record video in 1080p resolution. The front camera is nominal here - VGA option. The sound in the smartphone is excellent, so music lovers will definitely like it.
  5. Autonomy. Caterpillar Cat S50 cannot boast of good autonomy. The 2630 mAh battery is barely enough for a day of active use of the phone. In game mode, the device will last no more than 3 hours, and in talk mode - up to 10 hours.
  6. Additionally. Among the additional advantages of the Caterpillar Cat S50 is the IP57 standard, which guarantees protection from dust and allows you to dive with your phone to a depth of one meter. The presence of military standards ensures the possibility of operating the gadget even at -25C frost.
The price of the Caterpillar Cat S50 in Russia is 25,000 rubles. More detailed information contains a video review:

Mobile phone Caterpillar Cat B30


The Caterpillar Cat B30 is a rugged mobile phone based on advanced technologies that is considered the best in its class. Affordable price and the availability of innovative coverage ensure the popularity and relevance of the model.
  1. Design and equipment. The device has a slightly brutal appearance. Massive bolts flaunt on the back cover, which are designed to ensure a tight hold of the case. By the way, it is made of impact-resistant material based on IP67 protective technology, which provides resistance to moisture and mechanical damage. The package bundle of the Cat B30, like other models of the American manufacturer, is quite meager and includes the gadget itself, a charger and a cable for connecting to a PC.
  2. Display. A 2-inch TFT screen with a resolution of 176x220 pixels is clearly not the solution that a modern user expects to receive. The model boasts high brightness, thanks to which the phone can be used even in bright sunlight.
  3. Performance. The Spreadtrum 7701 processor with a clock frequency of 460 MHz is responsible for the stable operation of the gadget. Not an impressive figure, but a larger model is not needed. Built-in memory of 1 GB can be expanded up to 16 GB using microSD memory cards.
  4. Multimedia The Cat B30 includes a music player with point-to-point tuning, a radio module and several built-in games. The main camera is only 2 megapixels, and the front one is missing.
  5. Autonomy. The device is equipped with a 1000 mAh lithium-ion battery, which is enough for 570 minutes of talk time and about 240 hours of standby time.
The price of Caterpillar Cat B30 in Russia is 5,000 rubles. The following video review will help you better evaluate the capabilities of the device:


The TOP 4 best smartphones and phones from Caterpillar described above in 2017 will definitely appeal to connoisseurs of shock-resistant devices. At an affordable price, gadgets can boast of high quality and excellent autonomy.

Caterpillar, the world's leading custom equipment corporation, creates rugged smartphones. These phones are made in original style and ergonomic design.

A feature of the brand's models is moisture protection and shockproof housing. The devices are based powerful processors, instantly distributing the load from user signals, background utilities and updates. A simple and understandable Android operating system with a user-friendly user interface provides maximum comfort for using a smartphone. Useful applications and instant messengers for fast unlimited communication are available to all users.

Caterpillar mobile phones are equipped with a slot for two SIM cards operating in synchronous mode. Thanks to this option, you can choose the best rates for making calls and accessing the Internet. The devices support all GSM standards and provide mobile communication anywhere in the world. In addition, the phone can be used as a powerful geolocation system: each model supports GPS navigation and more advanced - A-GPS, eliminating the presence of "cold" zones.

So Caterpillar smartphones you are provided with interesting leisure. They offer rich multimedia functionality: an autofocus camera allows you to capture the beauty of new places, and an MP3 player will give you the joy of listening to melodies. Favorite music can be set as a ringtone.

  • Class: IP67 rugged smartphone
  • Form factor: monoblock
  • Body materials: plastic, rubber and glass
  • Operating system: Google Android 4.4
  • Network: GSM/GPRS/EDGE (850/900/1800/1900 MHz), UMTS (850/900/2100 MHz)
  • Processor: 4 cores, MediaTek MT6582
  • RAM: 1 GB
  • Storage Memory: 4 GB
  • Interfaces: Wi-Fi (b / g / n), Bluetooth 4.0, microUSB connector (USB 2.0) for charging / synchronization, 3.5 mm for a headset
  • Screen: capacitive, TFT-LCD 4"" with a resolution of 480x800 pixels
  • Camera: 5 MP with autofocus + 0.3 MP, flash
  • Navigation: GPS
  • Optional: accelerometer, proximity and light sensors, FM radio
  • Battery: removable, capacity 2000 mAh
  • Dimensions: 125x69.5x14.95 mm
  • Weight: 170 g
  • PRICE: 15,000 rubles (Q4 2014)

Contents of delivery

Introduction

The CAT smartphone from the world-famous American corporation Caterpillar is an upgrade of the previous generation of the CAT B15 dust and moisture-proof device. New B15Q received new chipset, new version operating system Google Android, more RAM and other little things.

In general, the device came out extremely budget in terms of specifications: the simplest quad-core processor from MediaTek, the simplest non-IPS display with a low resolution, a weak battery, etc. However, the cost is by no means budgetary - about 15,000 rubles. It remains to be seen how good the protection of this model is.

Design, dimensions, controls

As befits such gadgets, CAT B15Q has impressive dimensions - 125x70x15 mm, however, we have seen more, for example, teXet X-Driver - 139x73x18 mm. The B15Q is IP67 water and dust resistant – fully dustproof and short-term submersion in water up to one meter. In addition, CAT has passed the US Military Standard 810G testing for vibration, moisture, shock, temperature, and so on.



I ran "droptests" like this:

  1. Dropped a smartphone from a height of 1.8 meters onto a floor covered with linoleum
  2. Dropped a smartphone from a height of 1.5 meters onto a tiled floor
  3. Immersed in water to a depth of 30 cm

All these procedures were carried out several times. Conclusions made the following. Both in the first and in the second cases the device dropped 10 times. When falling from a height of 1.8, the cover flew off and the battery fell out 7 times. When falling from a height of 1.5 meters, the lid flew off onto the tile and the battery fell out 4 times. Mostly CAT fell on the corners, so they were a little hesitant. Several blows fell on the metal edges, on which there were notches of a dark gray color.






Submerged in water 5 times. The first time for a couple of minutes, the second time for 30 minutes, the third and subsequent - for a minute. The device behaved perfectly, but the “touch-screen” did not respond, that is, use it in water touch screen useless. After removing it from the water and removing the back panel, I noticed that the water did not get on the vital “organs” of the smartphone, but the area not protected by the rubber gasket was wet.

In general, the CAT B15Q performed fairly well in all tests. The only thing I didn’t like was the way the back cover closes: it seemed to me that it was fixed with plastic holders extremely unreliably (during the “drop tests”, one such loop broke).

The color of the device is black, the shape is rectangular with beveled corners. Anodized aluminum is used on the sides, the rest of the body is durable rubberized plastic with a soft-touch coating. The back panel has an embossed finish, and in the center there is a recessed brushed metal inscription “CAT”.



In the hand, the smartphone lies more or less well, however, the thickness of 15 mm still affects.



On the front side, in the top center, there is a voice speaker. It has medium volume and intelligibility due to IP67 protection. You are heard well, but a little deaf.


On right - front-camera, light and proximity sensors. Below the screen - touch buttons "Back", "Home" and "Menu". Marked on the body with white translucent paint. There is a backlight, it is not bright, but during the day the characters are visible, and at night the backlight does not blind the eyes.


Under the back button is a microphone. On top, under a rubber plug, there is a 3.5 mm audio jack. You can connect any headphones, since the connector is not deep. On the right is the yellow power button. It is pressed surprisingly easily, the course is average. Usually in protected devices they are rigid and inconvenient to use. A similar type is volume control and flashlight activation. They are located on the right. On the left under the rubber plug - microUSB. Here you just have to "use" proprietary cable, as soon as it reaches the connector recessed into the housing. This is inconvenient, but what can you do - a certain fee for protection from dust and moisture.





On the back of the device there is a camera eye, framed by a metal ring, a single-section LED flash, and a speaker. At the very bottom there is a latch on which the lid closes. Maybe the sample was unsuccessful, maybe the CAT B15Q devices are all like that, in general, the slider does not go all the way to the left, that is, as I understand it, it does not close the lid. Therefore, the panel can be removed quite easily, it is worth pulling slightly on the recess on the bottom end.





SIM cards of the miniSIM standard are installed in a special slide on the left, under them there is a slot for a microSD memory card.

Summing up in this section, it is worth saying the following: CAT B15Q is not well protected, since its weak point is the rear panel, which can cause problems if it is not fully pressed with a plastic latch. In addition, I believe that the fixing loops had to be made of metal, and the basis for the back cover should be made from it.

Display

The screen diagonal of CAT B15Q is 4 inches, the physical size is 51x86 mm. The frames on the right and left are 8 mm each, on the top - 17, and on the bottom - 23 mm. The screen is protected by durable Corning Gorilla Glass. The official website does not say which generation of glass is used. In any case, it protects more from scratches and scuffs than from hard impacts. During use, not a single scratch appeared on the display.

There is no oleophobic coating: fingerprints abundantly cover the entire surface of the screen and are very difficult to erase with a microfiber cloth. The anti-reflective layer, if any, is weak.

The screen resolution is low - 480x800 pixels. The matrix is ​​not made according to IPS technology so the viewing angles are small. When tilted away from oneself, brightness and contrast decrease, colors are inverted towards oneself, to the right and left - the colors acquire a yellowish tint.

The maximum white brightness is 418 cd/m2, the maximum black brightness is 0.9 cd/m2, and the contrast ratio is 460:1. The color gamut is slightly larger than sRGB in the red and green areas.


Black color

White color



Battery

It uses a lithium-ion (Li-Ion) battery with a capacity of 2000 mAh, 3.7 V, 7.4 Wh. The manufacturer gives an approximate operating time: in standby mode - up to 21 days, in talk mode - up to 16 hours.

In the video playback mode (MP4, 640x480 pixels) at maximum brightness and volume in headphones, the battery ran down after about 5 hours. If you use 3G, make about 10-15 calls lasting 1-2 minutes, “take a picture” for 20 minutes, then the battery will run out in 9 hours.

Charging takes about 4 hours from USB and 2 hours from a standard AC adapter.

Communication options

The phone works in cellular networks 2G (GSM/GPRS/EDGE, 850/900/1800/1900 MHz) and 3G (850/900/2100 MHz - SIM1 only). In stock Bluetooth version 2.1 (EDR) for file and voice transfer. There is wireless Wi-Fi IEEE 802.11 b/g/n. The device, of course, can be used as an access point (Wi-Fi Hotspot) or modem. In the settings, this item is listed as "Modem Mode". There is WiFi Direct.

There is a GPS. Works more or less normally, at least I had no problems.

Memory and memory card

This model has 1 GB of RAM. Of this amount of RAM, an average of just under 600 MB is free.

Built-in memory 4 GB, available for data storage is approximately 2 GB. There is a slot for a microSDHC memory card up to 32 GB.

cameras

The CAT B15Q smartphone has two camera modules: the main one with autofocus at 5 MP, the front one at 0.3 MP. The aperture of the first is F2.4, the second is F2.8.

Oddly enough, but the 5 MP module produces quite "test" pictures: clean, without obvious noise, the detail is excellent, the white balance is always correct. Focus is slow, sometimes wrong. There is no exposition by tapu.

The front is weak. There is nothing to talk about.

Video device records in FullHD resolution at 30 frames per second. However, the quality leaves much to be desired, 5 megapixels is not enough to unlock the potential of FHD resolution. The sound is clear, but quiet, stereo.

Video file characteristic

  • File Format: 3gp
  • Video codec: AVC, 17 Mbps
  • Resolution: 1920 x 1080, 30 fps
  • Audio codec: AAC, 128 Kbps
  • Channels: 2 channels, 48 ​​kHz

Photo examples

Sample photo on the front camera:

Performance and software platform

Somehow it turned out that everything latest smartphones The ones I tested were equipped with the MediaTek MT6582 chipset (4 cores, Mali-400 graphics). Such a chip is usually equipped with budget devices of all companies. In order not to repeat yourself, you can read and watch the review of LG Fino and Bello, for example. Smartphone CAT B15Q behaves stably, does not freeze and does not slow down.

"Indestructible" phone for workers and builders

Walking once, already at the end of last year's IFA 2012 exhibition, along the most distant and secluded nooks and crannies of its pavilions, we stumbled upon a small, but very curious stand for us with representatives mobile technology, so far unknown to us. Cute, unusual, brutal-looking thick and ribbed mobile devices, never seen on the Russian market, not only instantly attracted the eye of a sophisticated journalistic audience with an amazing “armored” design, but also became participants in a “cruel” show arranged by company representatives right on the spot. Before our eyes, phones that have a strong (which could be understood even by the unusual appearance) protected from dirt and water, thrown directly into construction concrete mixers, kneaded together with fresh concrete, and then, casually rinsing with running water from a garden hose, demonstrated to the stunned spectators the remaining full-fledged performance of the mobile devices that had gone through this "hell".

Everything became clear as soon as it became clear who exactly was the initiator of all this "disgrace". The company demonstrating the “cruel” treatment of fragile electronics turned out to be the famous American corporation Caterpillar, a world leader in the production of construction and mining special equipment. Accordingly, the "electronics", to the production of which such a company had a hand, also turned out to be far from fragile. The participants of that memorable show were several completely indestructible mobile phones and even one smartphone, on the body of which the logo of this famous construction corporation flaunted. The smartphone was called the Cat B10, and, of course, at that moment we really wanted it to become the hero of one of our reviews.

However, it took much longer than we would have liked before we were able to get hold of one of these super-rugged smartphones from a well-known heavy equipment manufacturer for testing. By that time, the life cycle of the Cat B10 smartphone was already waning, and a new “changer” came in its place - the owner of no less characteristic external data, a smartphone called Cat B15. Naturally, we chose for our tests a more recent model, which has only recently begun its journey to the market.

Since we always take up reviews with great interest and test all dust and moisture-proof devices that appear on our market, we have already accumulated some experience on this topic. Summarizing most of these studies, we most often come to the same conclusion: almost all of the dust and moisture-proof mobile devices on our market (and the vast majority of them now belong to the Japanese company Sony) cannot be fully called protected devices. None of the rugged Sony devices on our market, for example, are protected from bumps and drops, and most of them are not even equipped with locks on removable covers. When such phones fall on a hard surface, the plastic latches of the covers can simply bounce off, and then all the measures provided by the manufacturer to protect against dirt and water from entering the case become meaningless - the cover flies off, the filling is exposed. If such a phone falls, say, into a puddle on hard asphalt, then such a fall can end as badly for it as for any other mobile device that does not have special protection against water. In this way, this species devices can be attributed, according to the classification adopted in the automotive market, not to SUVs, but rather to “SUVs” - pampered “citizens” who more demonstrate external paraphernalia than actually have the capabilities of an “all-terrain vehicle”. Such protected mobile devices can only be carefully brought into fresh water and held there for half an hour at a depth of half a meter - that's all.

Pictured: Cat B15 compared to Sony's dust and water-resistant smartphones (Xperia acro S, Xperia V and the most recent Xperia ZR), as well as one of the rugged Lenovo smartphones on a similar hardware platform (Ideaphone A660).

Moreover, we were interested in getting some of the real "off-road vehicles" designed for truly harsh operating conditions for testing. Caterpillar's connection to Ruggedized Mobile makes sense: With nearly a century of experience in some of the toughest, most remote-urban work environments, these people know what real heavy-duty heavy-duty equipment is all about. By the way, the company is also a manufacturer of the famous yellow non-wearing boots, which are so loved by workers and builders all over the world (in the very first photo, the girl cracks down on phones in just such boots). Recently, they have also been offered reliable electronic mobile assistants.

Naturally, we did not expect anything special from the performance of the Cat B15 smartphone. The usual MediaTek platform inside, a small screen resolution, modest hardware data - all this was known even before testing. However, this is not what guides people who buy such secure devices. They are interested, first of all, in protective qualities, and only the hardware stuffing is the tenth thing. However, we, as professionals in our field, are always very much concerned about this part of the issue. Therefore, we still got at our disposal an overseas smartphone and conducted all the experimental studies with it, which we conduct with any other mobile device that enters our test laboratory. Of course, we did not test the protective properties of a mobile phone by dropping it from the roof of a house or placing it under the wheels of a car - that would be too much. The Cat B15 smartphone in our hands passed exactly the same standard testing according to the methodology we developed as all the other heroes of our reviews. Here is our detailed report on it.

Main characteristics of Cat B15

Cat B15 Sony Xperia ZR Sony Xperia V Lenovo A660 Samsung Galaxy X cover 2
Screen 4", TN 4.55" IPS 4.3″, VA? 4", TN 4" IPS
Permission 800×480, 233 ppi 1280×720, 322 ppi 1280×720, 342 ppi 800×480, 233 ppi 800×480, 233 ppi
SoC Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 Pro @1.5GHz (4 cores, ARMv7 Krait) Qualcomm MSM8960 @1.5GHz (2 cores, ARMv7 Krait) MediaTek MT6577 @1GHz (2 cores, ARM Cortex-A9) @1 GHz (2 cores, ARMv7)
GPU PowerVR SGX 531 Adreno 320 Adreno 225 PowerVR SGX 531 Mali 400MP
RAM 512 MB 2 GB 1 GB 512 MB 1 GB
Flash memory 4 GB 8 GB 8 GB 4 GB 4 GB
Memory card support microSD microSD microSD microSD microSD
Operating system Google Android 4.1 Google Android 4.1 Google Android 4.0 Google Android 4.0 Google Android 4.1
Battery removable, 2000 mAh removable, 2300 mAh removable, 1700 mAh removable, 1500 mAh removable, 1700 mAh
cameras rear (13 MP), front (0.3 MP) rear (12 MP), front (0.3 MP) rear (5 MP), front (0.3 MP) rear (5 MP), front (0.3 MP)
Dimensions 125×70×15.0mm, 170g 131×67×10.4mm, 138g 129×65×10.7mm, 120g 125×65×10.5mm, 138g 131×68×12mm, 149g
  • SoC MediaTek MT6577, 1 GHz, 2 cores, ARM Cortex-A9
  • GPU PowerVR SGX 531
  • Operating system Android 4.1.2 Jelly Bean
  • Touch LCD-display TN, 4″, 800×480
  • Random access memory (RAM) 512 MB, internal memory 4 GB
  • slot for microSD cards up to 32 GB
  • GSM communication 850, 900, 1800, 1900 MHz
  • Communication 3G UMTS 850, 900, 1900, 2100 MHz
  • Bluetooth 2.1+EDR
  • Wi-Fi 802.11b/g/n, hotspot WiFi access
  • GPS, A-GPS
  • Camera 5 MP, autofocus
  • Camera 0.3 MP (front)
  • Dust and moisture resistant (IP67)
  • Li-ion battery 2000 mAh (B10-2)
  • Dimensions 125×69.5×14.95 mm
  • Weight 170 g

Contents of delivery

The smartphone goes on sale in an attractive small package in the form of a rectangular box made of thick cardboard with a branded bright yellow color and a few concise inscriptions. It is pleasant to take it in hand: everything is neat, strict, of high quality - everything shows that the product was released by a serious manufacturer.

In the box there was not a very rich set - everything is only the most necessary: ​​a small charger, a connecting cable, a modest wired stereo headset with regular headphones non-insert type, and documentation. It is noteworthy that the instruction manual is made here in the form of a thick booklet with cut corners: in terms of dimensions - a copy of the smartphone itself. A trifle, but nice. I was also pleased with the set of spare parts included in the kit in the form of rubberized caps and even metal screws for attaching them to the case. Everything is thought out to the smallest detail: if the rubber gasket wears out, or the slot of the old screw breaks when dismantling the cover, then they will find a replacement in the kit. Everything shows that the manufacturer was preparing his "SUV" for really the most severe operating conditions.

About security

The Cat B15 is officially certified to IP67 dust and water resistance, which means complete protection against dust ingress, as well as protection against low-pressure water jets from all directions, and can be stored at a depth of 1 meter in fresh water for up to 30 minutes. water.

As already mentioned above, Smartphone Cat B15 is a device of a completely different level of protection than most of the dust and moisture-proof smartphones of the "traditional" manufacturers of mobile equipment that are currently on the market. Its significant difference is protection, not only from dust and water, but also from falls: the rubberized body of the hero of today's review has increased impact resistance. As for the official data on this issue, the manufacturer states in the instruction manual that the phone has been tested against drops from a height of 1.8 meters (human height), and guarantees that the smartphone will not be damaged during such a fall. An interesting phrase follows: the company guarantees the protection of the device from accidental bumps and falls, but is not responsible for the consequences of intentionally “cruel” handling of the device. However, this is all, of course, reinsurance: the thick rubberized body of the Cat B15 will certainly be able to withstand falls from much greater heights. The advertising phrase on the branded manufacturer sounds something like this: “Drop it from a height of 1.8 meters upside down on concrete, and it will bounce back even if the smartphone falls screen down.” By the way, the display is covered here. protective glass Corning Gorilla with Wet Finger Tracking.

We checked the last possibility, and even tried to take pictures with a smartphone camera under water - everything was confirmed. A smartphone can not only be controlled with wet fingers (which in extreme conditions rain, snowfall, etc. can be very important), but also easily withstands immersion in water to a depth of 1 meter for 30 minutes. Photographing under water is, of course, not included in the official list of capabilities of this “SUV”, however, after the announced underwater shooting function of the Sony Xperia ZR, we decided to check this possibility with the Cat B15.

It was not difficult, because the Cat B15 smartphone, like Sony Xperia ZR is equipped with a hardware key to control the camera, which means that it is really capable of shooting underwater, although this is not included in the official circle of its “duties”. Of course, in the absence of a built-in flash, you can’t expect anything artistically outstanding from underwater shooting on the Cat B15 camera - the quality of the photos is rather modest. But the fact remains that due to the presence of a hardware photo button, underwater shooting on the Cat B15 camera is quite possible. Recall that with full immersion, not a single screen will perceive the touch of your fingers, which means that it is impossible to shoot by clicking on the virtual icons on the display - only if there is a hardware camera shutter key.

Appearance and usability

So, the Cat B15 smartphone is equipped with a shock-resistant case that can protect the fragile electronic filling not only from dirt and moisture, but also from falls. This implies the features of the body of this communicator: rough, angular, very thick and quite heavy. The thickness of the case is justified by protection against shocks and falls - thick rubberized plastic surrounds the electronic stuffing with impenetrable protection. It is difficult to say for sure whether there is a metal frame inside this layer of plastic: the manufacturer calls its case “aluminum body”, but this may be just a play on words, or this phrase may only mean aluminum protective pads screwed on the sides of the device. In any case, you feel the real power and impenetrability of these thick walls, which makes you believe in the absolute reliability of the device in terms of impact resistance.

The phone, as already mentioned, is very thick - almost 15 mm, which is a kind of "anti-record". But, of course, it would never occur to anyone to find fault with the excessive thickness of this smartphone - everyone understands that this is dictated by the structural features associated with the ability of the smartphone case to withstand bumps and falls.

There are no glossy and shiny surfaces here - only matte rubberized plastic and rough metal side plates. Due to this, the phone is firmly held in the hand and does not slip. Fingerprints here, in fact, there is nowhere to leave, except on the screen itself - the rest of the case is completely unmarked.

The Cat B15 housing has a removable plastic cover that, unlike most devices from "traditional" mobile equipment manufacturers, has a real locking lock, which prevents it from being opened by shocks. This favorably distinguishes the novelty from analogues from Sony, Samsung and others in the sense that plastic latches may not withstand, but the lock will still hold the cover in place when it falls and will not allow the electronic filling and contacts to be exposed. This is an important distinction that allows us to recommend this smartphone rescue workers, extreme athletes, travelers, and just fishermen and hunters, for whom the fail-safety of the surrounding equipment is most relevant, and sometimes vital.

Under the cover, there are slots for SIM-cards and memory cards protected from moisture and dirt, which, after installation, are supported by a rechargeable battery. Thus, without removing the battery, it is impossible to get to any of the interchangeable cards.

The phone supports two SIM cards (using the Mini-SIM format) and microSD memory cards up to 32 GB. All pyramid-type cards are installed one above the other and do not require frequent changes: they also have to be removed one by one, it is not possible to remove the lower ones separately, and it is very inconvenient to get them out of the slit-like slots. There is really nothing to pry a stuck card with - in which case you will have to use tweezers, and it’s better not to think about using a Micro-SIM with an adapter at all: it will be very difficult to insert and remove it back.

The front panel is almost completely covered with durable protective glass Corning Gorilla, resistant to scratches. The screen is framed by thick half-centimeter frames - some of them are plastic, some are metal. Hidden under the glass are the eyes of the sensors and the front camera, as well as the bottom three buttons for controlling the system and applications. The buttons under the screen are touch-sensitive, have a dim milky backlight, the duration of which cannot be adjusted using regular means. The screen and touch buttons respond quite comfortably to finger touches - there are no problems with this, there were no erroneous clicks, as well as inhibition in response.

All other controls and connectors are traditionally located on the edges of the device. On the top end, the power button is adjacent to the 3.5 mm audio jack, and the camera control button is embedded between the volume keys on the side. The Micro-USB connector is hidden under a cover on the left side, the bottom end was left empty. The main microphone is located on the front edge under touch buttons. All connectors are securely covered with tight rubber plugs, and they are not fixed to the body with traditional flexible "tails", but screwed with real metal screws. These parts are interchangeable and replaceable.

All mechanical buttons have a fairly rigid stroke. They almost do not protrude from the case, but the response when pressed is quite distinct. The volume is regulated here not by a two-position rocker, as is the case in most cases, but by two separate independent buttons. The camera control key located between them is unable to activate shooting in sleep mode - in any case, you must first unlock the smartphone, which is logical: we have a product thought out to the smallest detail, in which nothing should work by itself or accidentally pressed in your pocket.

And finally, a few minor remarks. Firstly, the metal side plates did not really add beauty to the device - the all-color rubberized Cat B10 case with its black ribbed sides looked somehow more rigorous and finished in terms of design. And there is nothing to say about the convenience of holding in your hand: in wet fingers, metal, of course, glides better than rubber. Secondly, the Micro-USB socket is recessed so deep that not every third-party USB cable will fit. The owner of the device needs to remember this, otherwise you can take another cable on the road, relying on their versatility, and be left without charging all the time. As for the colors, there is no diversity here: we did not find any mention of any other color options for the Cat B15 than the one that was in our test specimen.

Screen

The Cat B15 is equipped with a modest 53 x 82 mm TN touch matrix, 102 mm (4 inches) diagonal, 800 x 480 pixels resolution, and a pixel density of 233 ppi.

The brightness of the display has both manual and automatic adjustment, the latter based on the operation of the light sensor. Multi-touch technology allows you to process up to five touches simultaneously - verified AnTuTu program tester. The screen is quite responsive, there are no problems with this. The smartphone also has a proximity sensor that blocks the screen when you bring the smartphone to your ear.

Detailed examination using measuring instruments held by the editor of the sections "Monitors" and "Projectors and TV" Alexey Kudryavtsev. Here is his expert opinion on the screen of the test sample.

The screen of the smartphone is covered with a glass plate with a mirror-smooth surface and, judging by the reflection of objects in it, if it has an anti-reflective filter, it is very weak. On the outer surface of the screen, there may be a special oleophobic (grease-repellent) coating, but its effectiveness is very low, as a result, the screen is easily covered with fingerprints, which are relatively difficult to remove.

At manual control brightness, its maximum value was 316 cd / m², the minimum - 13 cd / m². As a result, even at maximum brightness in bright daylight, the visibility of information on the screen will not be very high. There is automatic adjustment brightness by light sensor (apparently, it is located to the left of the front camera). In complete darkness, the auto-brightness function reduces the brightness to 13 cd/m² (too low), in an artificially lit office, the brightness is set to 56 cd/m² (more or less), in a very bright environment, it rises to 88 cd/m² (and you need increase to the maximum). AT automatic mode when external lighting conditions change, the screen brightness rises and falls, but this mode is of little use, since the brightness is set clearly below the required one. The brightness of the backlight has a modulation with a frequency of about 42 kHz, this is a very high frequency, so there is no visible flickering of the image on the screen.

This screen is set to TN type matrix. The micrograph demonstrates the subpixel structure typical of TN (or rather, the lack of structure):

The screen has good viewing angles in the horizontal direction, but at the slightest deviation upwards, dark shades are inverted, and when deflected downwards, light shades are inverted. With a perpendicular view, the uniformity of the black field is not high, since the black field is noticeably brightened along the screen border. Contrast is good - about 800:1. The response time for the black-white-black transition is 11 ms (8.6 ms on + 2.4 ms off), the transition between halftones 25% and 75% (by the numerical value of the color) and back takes a total of 24 ms. Short response times are, perhaps, the only positive property of this matrix. The gamma curve constructed from 32 points did not reveal a blockage either in the highlights or in the shadows, and the approximating exponential function turned out to be 2.45, which is higher than the standard value of 2.2, while the real gamma curve is in good agreement with the exponential dependence:

Color gamut less than sRGB:

Apparently, the matrix filters mix the components to each other, and the spectra confirm this. This technique allows you to increase the brightness of the screen at the same energy costs for backlighting, but the colors lose their saturation.

The balance of shades on the gray scale is disgusting, since the color temperature is above the standard 6500 K, the deviation from the blackbody spectrum (delta E) is high, and both parameters vary greatly from hue to hue:

It can be concluded that the screen is definitely not strong point this device.

Sound

In terms of sound, the smartphone cannot boast of anything special. Both speakers are not loud enough, especially the external one. Obviously, the general specific internal arrangement, organized in order to protect against moisture ingress, affects. The speaker is additionally covered with a special protective membrane that does not allow water to pass through, so the sound is more deaf and quiet. This effect is found in many waterproof models (the exception, by the way, was the same Lenovo Ideaphone A660 from the comparative plate - although this smartphone is protected, it simply deafens with its loud sound). No particular distortions are observed in the telephone dynamics, the voice of a familiar interlocutor, intonations and timbre are well recognizable, but the voice still sounds muffled, as if from behind an obstacle. The external speaker grill is located at the back, so the sound is also significantly muffled by the surface when the phone is placed on the table (screen up).

The regular audio player is not particularly remarkable, from the sound settings there is only a standard equalizer with several preset values.

Camera

Cat B15 is equipped, like most modern smartphones, with two digital camera modules. True, the front camera is equipped with only a very modest VGA module with a resolution of 0.3 megapixels.

The main, rear camera is also equipped with a rather modest 5-megapixel module, from which, nevertheless, the image processing program “squeezes” everything it can. By default, the camera shoots in the maximum possible resolution of 5 megapixels, while the pictures are obtained at a size of 2560 × 1920. Examples of photos taken with factory settings and our comments on their quality are presented below.

A perfectly acceptable resolution. The foliage of trees in the background starts to stick together, but the camera tries to process it.

The same effect on the crowns of trees. In the lower right corner, the resolution drops a little, but in general, the image is very decent, even in the farthest plans.

The foliage is worked out well, but it seems that it is painted.

The exposure is good. The noise in the shade is very moderate.

In the background, the clarity of large objects is decent, and finely detailed ones seem to be drawn.

Again, the same effect of sticking together small objects, but good sharpness of large ones.

Noises in the shadows are barely noticeable.

Small print is distinguishable, which, of course, is not so surprising, but good.

The macro is nice and detailed, there is even a hint of bokeh.

The text is not damaged, but there is a feeling that anti-aliasing has been done to the font.

The camera is nice and quite reasonable. She works out her 5 megapixels completely.

In many pictures, you can notice too smooth and uniform transitions between shades. The camera very interestingly processes what it sees poorly due to its limited capabilities. The program seems to paint the landscape with oil. Of course, this is a minus from the point of view of documentary shooting, but from the point of view of art, this is a very interesting phenomenon. The program simply paints a picture from nature itself. And it should be noted that she does it well. Quite smoothly transitions from sharp zones to unsharp ones look.

The camera copes well with noise, trying to shoot at minimum values photosensitivity. For example, the yellow box shot uses ISO 103, and is the only shot in this series that does not have ISO 50.

This camera does a good job with both artistic and documentary shooting. Of course, for a documentary, she doesn’t have much high resolution, but software processing sometimes adds "artistic" to the pictures.

The camera can shoot video, and is not even deprived of the opportunity to “try” itself in Full HD shooting, but it succeeds badly: the image is slow and torn, so the system frankly cannot cope with shooting at maximum resolution. By default, the camera only shoots video at a resolution of 640x480. Nevertheless, we tried to shoot in both modes, examples of clips are presented below. The clips are saved in a 3GP container (video - MPEG-4 Visual (Advanced [email protected]), sound - AAC LC, 128 Kbps, 16 kHz, 2 channels).

  • Movie #1 (13.4 MB, 640×480)
  • Movie #2 (8.65 MB, 640×480)
  • Movie #3 (31.2 MB, 1920x1088)

Camera control settings are standard for Android systems: not the most successful layout of icons makes you search through the menu. The choice of options, such as shooting resolution, is carried out by pressing the small arrows to the right and left, which is very inconvenient. In general, manufacturers are doing the right thing by modifying the standard Google interface. However, the shooting control options are quite rich: you can add geotagging, artistic effects, and color effects, adjust white balance, saturation, brightness, contrast, and even enable HDR mode.

Shooting, as mentioned above, can be done either by pressing a virtual button on the screen, or by pressing a hardware mechanical key on the side of the device. This key is not capable of activating the camera from a locked state, such as Sony smartphones. But you can take pictures right while shooting a video, which is useful.

Telephone part and communications

The smartphone works standardly in modern 2G GSM and 3G WCDMA networks; network support fourth generation(LTE) no. Generally, networking capabilities smartphones are minimal today: the 5 GHz Wi-Fi range is not supported, and there is no support for NFC technology either.

There were no freezes or spontaneous reboots / shutdowns during testing. When brought to the ear, the screen is blocked by the proximity sensor. The ambient light sensor controls the brightness level of the screen automatically. But here, unfortunately, no warning light sensor was provided, which is a pity.

OS and software

There is not much to talk about in this section. As a system, the Google Android software platform version 4.1.2 and its proprietary interface are used. No additional graphics user interfaces the developer did not use his own production, you can not find additional pre-installed third-party applications here. Everything remained as it was intended by the creator of the system - only "bare" Android and a few icon links to the web pages of various online services of Caterpillar itself (for example, rental of construction equipment). But of course, nothing prevents the user from downloading and installing any programs available in the Google Play online store.

Performance

The Cat B15 hardware platform is based on a single-chip system (SoC) MediaTek MT6577. The CPU here has 2 Cortex-A9 cores running at 1GHz. It is assisted in graphics processing by the PowerVR SGX 531 GPU. Random access memory the device has only 512 MB, which is not enough for the Android system. The storage available to the user to upload their own files is initially about a gigabyte of the nominally designated 4 GB of internal memory, but there is the possibility of expanding the memory through microSD cards. Connection mode external devices to USB port(USB Host, USB OTG) is not supported here.

Based on the results of the data obtained during the testing, the performance of the Cat B15 turned out to be at the expected low level. There is no discovery in this: as a result of the tests, Lenovo A660 gave exactly the same numbers, the work of which is organized on a similar hardware platform. By the way, the results of a secure Samsung smartphone are similar.

As for testing the graphics subsystem in the 3DMark cross-platform test, neither Lenovo A660 nor our today's "ward" frankly coped with it. The phones simply failed to pass the test, throwing out failure messages on the screen. In principle, it is understandable: the test itself is very difficult, and both devices officially do not meet its requirements - at least in terms of the amount of RAM.

In the Epic Citadel gaming test, the results for the Cat B15 graphics subsystem are modest, but at least the test passed without failures.

As for benchmarks for evaluating speed javascript engine, then the results in them depend significantly on the browser in which they are launched, so the comparison can only be truly accurate on the same OS and browsers, and this is not always possible. In the case of devices running on operating system latest versions Android, we always try to use Google Chrome.

Video playback

To test "omnivorous" when playing video (including support for various codecs, containers and accessibility, such as subtitles), we used the most common formats, which make up the bulk of the content available on the Web. Note that for mobile devices it is important to have support for hardware video decoding at the chip level, since it is most often impossible to process modern versions using processor cores alone. Also, don't expect mobile device decoding of everything, since the leadership in flexibility belongs to the PC, and no one is going to challenge it.

Format container, video, sound MX Video Player Regular video player
DVDRip AVI, XviD 720×400 2200 Kbps, MP3+AC3 plays normally plays normally
Web-DL SD AVI, XviD 720×400 1400 Kbps, MP3+AC3 plays normally plays normally
Web-DL HD MKV, H.264 1280x720 3000Kbps, AC3 Program
BDRip 720p MKV, H.264 1280x720 4000Kbps, AC3 plays fine with decoder Program Video plays fine, no sound¹
BDRip 1080p MKV, H.264 1920x1080 8000Kbps, AC3 playback with delays, sound only with a decoder Program Video plays fine, no sound¹

¹ Audio in MX Video Player only played after switching to software decoding (in Hardware+ the smartphone refused to play MKV); The regular player does not have such a setting.

Battery life

The capacity of the battery installed in the Cat B15 is 2000 mAh. The battery here, as already mentioned, is removable, so that it can be removed and replaced (battery brand B10-2).

Continuous reading in the FBReader program (with a standard, light theme) at the minimum comfortable brightness level (brightness was set to 100 cd / m²) lasted until the battery was completely discharged for 14 hours and 15 minutes, and for continuous viewing of YouTube videos in high quality (HQ) with the same brightness level home network The Wi-Fi device spent more than 7 hours - not bad indicators, but this is normal for a small screen with low resolution and dim backlight. The Lenovo A660 performed worse, consistent with its smaller battery capacity.

Outcome

Officially, Caterpillar does not supply its smartphones to Russian market, and abroad Cat B15 can be purchased at a price starting from 300 euros. If you search in online stores, then in our country the few sellers that offer this model set a price for it from 21 to 25 thousand rubles. Of course, the smartphone turns out to be very expensive for such primitive characteristics: for such money you can buy two uncertified Sony Xperia V (≈11 thousand rubles) or as many as three Lenovo A660 (≈7 thousand rubles), and in terms of protection against dust and water, these models are are basically equal. But if you are faced with the task of choosing a truly protected smartphone model that is not afraid of falls from a height and hitting rocks, then here, perhaps, you can overpay. However, it is better, of course, to try to order a Cat B15 from abroad, on the same Amazon for example: it will come out much cheaper, even with delivery.