Gadgetory

caterpillars first smartphone is one of the beefiest we've laid hands on but just how durable is it when stacked up against some of its rugged competitors let's find out I'm Michael Fisher this is PocketNow and this is the cat b15 let's put it to the test our cat b15 demo unit comes to us from our friends at clove code UK which means two things one you should pay them a visit if you want to be fifteen of your very own and two we can't test this phone to destruction because we do have to return it that's right there's going to be no drop test from two hundred feet or a blowtorch taken to this phone so if that's what you were tuning in for we're sorry what we will do instead is put the b15 up against some other rugged devices in the pocket now labs to see what it's rated to take and yes we'll give it a bath as well though the b15 is officially on the market it's not being sold through any carriers in the US buyers will spend $349 for an unlocked unit capable of running on AT&T or t-mobile USA though it's limited to 3G with no LTE support onboard as such it's likely to do some battle from mindshare with samsung's galaxy s4 active and AT&T exclusive which Trump's the b15 in almost every standard smartphone category if you watched our full review of the active you'll recall that it's essentially a galaxy s4 in a beefed-up shell with most of the hallmark features of that flagship so this is no surprise if you're looking for a top-of-the-line Android phone that can handle some abuse the galaxy s4 active is the hands-down winner especially considering the subsidized price on contract but hold on specs aren't everything what if you need an Android smartphone but you're more worried about the durability than the feature set the b15 actually brings some heat here and caterpillars webpage for the phone makes that plain if this were home improvement in the mid-90s Tim Allen would call this a man's phone both it and the galaxy s4 active are rated to the ip67 standard for dust proving and immersion and water up to a meter deep for up to 30 minutes neither one offers any additional safeguards against impacts like milspec durability rating but the b15 offer something pretty sweet that the active doesn't wet finger tracking on the display that means when it's soaked it should still respond to touch inputs in a reasonably accurate fashion something we definitely can't say about the s4 active before we move on it needs to be said the B 15 s added bulk over the active it paired with its slightly recessed screen and aluminum side rails makes it less pocketable and less attractive yes but it also makes us less apprehensive about dropping it again there's no milspec rating of any sort to back that up but the B 15 just feels hearty err that all changes when we come around to the Kyocera torque sprints bear grylls endorsed android phone that we reviewed a few months back in addition to the ip67 immersion and dust resistance rating the torque is rated to military standard 810g for shock vibration temperature extremes blowing rain low pressure solar radiation salt fog and humidity as the spiritual successor to sprint solder nextel phones the torque ain't playing around now the B 15s wet finger tracking means it's screen should work a little better when covered in water but overall the torques cools the cat phone and durability as a mid-range phone it's also more directly comparable to the feature set of the B 15 each has a dual core processor and each runs a fairly skinless build of Android the displays are the same size and the cameras bear the same 5 megapixel resolution it's mainly the torques milspec durability rating LTE radio and fancy transducer earpiece that works through hearing protection that set it apart we took a look at the Samsung rugby pro back in December in the context of a tour of a TTS push-to-talk service we've since returned our demo units to AT&T but as the rugby is the carrier's closest analogue to the bee 15 we thought it worth a mention at $449 off contract the rugby pro is still $100 more expensive than the B 15 but there's a reason for that like all the others the rugby pro offers LTE and like the torque it's certified to mil spec in this case standard 810 F for dust humidity rain and shock and like all the others waterproof based on the ip67 rating the rugby pro also obviously offers out of box support for ATS push-to-talk service which is worth mentioning for you walkie talkie users out there finally we come to the most fragile rugged phone around the Xperia Z from Sony in fairness we need to make the point that Sony doesn't market the Z as a quote unquote rugged device because it isn't like its tablet sibling it's just waterproof those ratings are ip57 and IP 5x with the Z protected against low pressure Jets of water from all practicable directions and against immersion in once again one meter of fresh water for up to 30 minutes that moisture resistance is an excellent thing to have but the Z's all glass construction means it's nowhere near is resistant to impact as the v15 or really any of the other devices on this list we just included here for the sake of completeness given that t-mobile USA has just started offering the Xperia Z for sale there are many more rugged devices on the US market including some Verizon branded Casio handsets we'll be taking a look at soon this is by no means a comprehensive look at how the b15 fits into the landscape or even how well it performs remember this is not a review but at just under $350 unlocked bearing a brand recognized and respected the world over the B 15 is significant enough to consider for those who need a rugged smartphone on either AT&T or t-mobile and don't need fancy features 4G or constraining contracts if that sounds like you the cat b15 is at least worth a look even if it's just to gawk at the novelty of a smart phone carrying the brand of an industrial equipment manufacturer that's going to do it for now folks hope you enjoyed the quick look if you have something to say drop it in the comments but before you do that like us if you enjoyed the video after you're done with all that visit us at pocketnow.com for more durable device reviews check out our youtube channel page here for video versions of the same and follow us on social media so you don't miss any part of the conversation sincerely thank you very much for watching and we'll see you next time