Cat S52 in review: Something special is lost
The Cat S52 is supposed to be more stable than other phones. It is not. It should be just as good or better than other phones. It isn't. The Cat S52 is a betrayal of the brand and a disappointment. I would have loved to have it.
The Bullit Group makes smartphones as a licence holder of major brands such as Land Rover and Cat. While the Land Rover Outdoor Phone has met with little enthusiasm, the Cat Phones have achieved something like cult status. This is because every phone in yellow and black is unusual, has special features and always looks like a brick. And also weighs about as much.
Bullit has also made a name for itself on the market by only bringing a phone onto the market when it is worthwhile. If there is a new feature that wasn't there before, a new standard of resistance is achieved or the market gains excitement in some other way.
So now the Cat S52. I really would have liked to have had it. But at the end of the test, there's not much left.
The walk to the generic
The Cat S52 is a smartphone. It is a rectangle with rounded corners and is only faintly reminiscent of the bulky beasts of years gone by. This is where I start to have doubts. Part of the charm of the Cat phones is the fact that they are closer to a brick than an iPhone. There are indentations, bulges and protrusions. Antenna cut-outs and flaps over the connections. In other words: Cat Phones are physically interesting devices. Interesting to touch and feel.
The Cat S52 is none of these things. The USB-C port is open, as is the 3.5mm headphone jack. This has no effect on the water and dust seal, but dust incrustations in the USB port can happen more quickly and you have to scrape out the port manually. Only the SIM and SD card slot are closed. Apart from the silvery edge and the screws, the Cat S52 could be any other phone. Somehow, there's no joy in that.
In addition, Bullit has, as usual, skimped on the rest of the hardware. If I want a laser sensor in my phone, or an air quality sensor, then I can do without top specs. But Bullit makes the mistake here that no special sensors are installed and the specs can never keep up with anything even remotely interesting. A MediaTek Helio MT6765 system-on-a-chip chugs along with 4GB of RAM and 64GB of internal storage. It's the end of 2019 and the MT6765 was launched at the end of 2018.
The performance of the camera is even less surprising. The specs are okay - 12 megapixels at f/1.8 wide angle, but Bullit won't win any prizes with this camera. The company never wanted this, because Cat Phones are not usually selfie phones that fit in a handbag or jeans. Nor do they want to be. Cat phones are tools, not lifestyle objects.
The Cat S52 is something in between, it wants to be a bit of a tool and a bit of a lifestyle object. In the end, it is neither.
At least it has an FM radio. Good, because we're switching to DAB+ in Switzerland next year.
Yes, it also has software
Bullit was also able to save on the software. Because where no special sensors need to be addressed, nothing needs to be modified. There is Cat's own app store, which can be filtered separately by business sector. The first option: Business Tools. So that you can create invoices. Does the Cat S52 also want to be interesting for business people? Really? For people who, in their consumer mania, are waiting for the latest iPhone or Samsung Galaxy or Huawei P just because someone on a stage is promising the return of smartphone Jesus? They of all people should decide in favour of a Cat Phone?
Yeah, no, that's clear.
It gets even duller when you move the filters towards Farming. You quickly notice that there are ten apps per category. That makes 50 apps in five categories. Wow. How gurky. Where is my knot-tying app from the S60? Why do I only find the same fitness trackers under "Outdoor" that are in every other phone? Why are three of the ten apps from Under Armour? And why does Bullit allow itself to include a demo of a barcode scanner as a select app in its app store?
The fact that clicking on the app opens the Google Play Store is then a mere formality.
Other than that? Android 9, with the latest security patch from September 2019.
Can it withstand at least something?
The main question with Cat Phones is always about robustness. The advert also raises high expectations here.
Let's take a look:
- Sleek design: Fine by me
- Waterproof: IP68 certified. So is the Huawei P30 Pro and the iPhone 11
- Dust Proof: IP68 certified. This is the Huawei P30 Pro and the iPhone 11 too
- Military Spec: The Cat S52 is MIL-STD-810G certified. More on this below
- Protected Screen: Yes, hopefully
- High quality camera: No
- Long battery life: With 3100mAh? A working day is enough for system performance, but better optimised system-on-a-chips achieve far more with the same battery power
What is MIL-STD-810G?
"Military Spec" sounds good, MIL-STD-810G sounds even more martial. But if you're thinking that the front of the phone can easily send a few text messages and take a bullet, then you're wrong. Because 810G is not "combat grade". Even if the standard can mean a lot, it doesn't have to. Because nobody checks the standard unless a device is actually being considered for use in the US Army. And even then, the standard is quite relaxed.
A device that is MIL-STD-810G-certified is made of:
- Low air pressure
- Heat up to 49 degrees Celsius
- Cold in the freezer
- Rain
- Humidity
- Sand
- Dust
- Immersion in water
- Vibrations
- Shocks
With IP68, much of this is already covered, as IP68 does not actually mean "IP Sixty-Eight" but "IP Six Eight". The six insures against the ingress of dust. This is the top mark, there is no IP 7x rating. The eight ensures unlimited survival in water at a depth of at least one metre.
MIL-STD-810G also ensures a drop resistance of 26 drops from a height of 121.92cm. That's four American feet.
So: The Cat S52 is not necessarily more stable or tougher than a flagship, doesn't perform anywhere near as well, but tries to emulate the design of these phones. I don't like it. That hurts all the more because I actually really like Cat and Bullit. I like their approach of only releasing something when there's something new and not because it's Christmas time. I'm looking in your direction, Apple.
Now Bullit is betraying itself with the S52. It's generic, weak and the bluff with the super stable, obviously blown. Yes, it's more stable than a glass bottle or a slice of cheese, but more stable than the other phones? Rather less, if anything.
So, that's it. I'm hoping for the Cat S62. It can unabashedly receive advance praise from me again. <p
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Journalist. Author. Hacker. A storyteller searching for boundaries, secrets and taboos – putting the world to paper. Not because I can but because I can’t not.
