The CAT S62 Pro is an all-new ultra-rugged smartphone with the ability to capture thermal images with its unique thermal camera built in. The question is, who is this smartphone for and is it any good? Is it really as tough as the manufacturer suggests? Watch our latest review in #TheMeasure to find out!

At first glance, you will notice that this smartphone is not as bulky and cumbersome as most rugged phones out there. It’s been designed with a modern look in mind. Safe to say it’s better looking than some other, ‘regular’ smartphones on the market. It’s not tiny and is still thicker than most, but not all that much heavier than typical smartphones in the current market. The screen does look a bit last-gen with the massive bezels but the FHD LCD display is good enough and is bright and sharp enough for most users’ daily needs. It has crazy glove support so even if you have massive thick gloves on, you can still use the phone without any issues. Something we’d like to see implemented on all phones.

Spec-wise it’s running Android 10 with an Android 11 update coming soon, [at the time of publishing]. Surprisingly, it offers a basic stock experience which is great with just a few added apps but they’re product-specific as the Cat S62 Pro has the Flir Thermal camera, but we will talk more about that later.

Key Features

• Inside it’s rocking a pretty decent snapdragon 660 
• 128GB storage with SD expansion up to 256GB
• 6GB ram
• Nice and snappy fingerprint scanner located on the back
• Dual sim support
• Next-Generation Thermal Imaging Smartphone
• Drop Tested up to 1.8m onto steel
• MIL SPEC 810H, IP69/IP68 Water and Dust Proof
• Super Bright 5.7″ FHD+ Display Protected by Corning® Gorilla® Glass 6
• 4000 mAh Battery and 2.0GHz Octa-Core Qualcomm Processor
• Google Android™ 10 [with an upgrade to 11] and 90 day security patch
• Beyond Rugged: IP68 & IP69 and Mil-Spec 810H: Dustproof and drop-proof to 1.8m, vibration, sand, salt mist and pressure-resistant

It’s safe to say, this phone is built to take a lot of abuse. Cat has opted to use a recessed Corning Gorilla Glass 6 screen, which is super durable, and if you do happen to do the impossible there is actually a pre-installed screen protector with the same rating, acting as a sacrificial first layer of defence. Its super-sealed design means that it is water and dustproof with an excellent rating of ip68 and ip69. It can be washed with soap and water and it has been specifically engineered to promote the use of alcohol and bleach wipes to clean the device without them damaging any finishes or coatings on the device. This is certainly not the case with most smartphones and with recent events, this is a nice added bonus as it keeps devices hygienic.

The CAT S62 Pro smartphone meets US military 810H Spec, which is the most up to date specification, so you know the Cat S62 Pro is tough. Other features include temperature shock test vibration tests, meaning they tested this smartphone by dropping it from 1.8 meters straight onto Steel 30 times on each of its sides. The 2-year warranty is also included in all this madness, so if your device does not survive anything mentioned and more, they will replace it for you. It just shows how confident Cat is with the absolute RUGGEDNESS of this monster. 

Now, this phone features the highest quality integrated thermal camera on the market right now, and by the sounds of an exclusivity deal, it will be for some time to come. It features FLIR’s new Lepton 3.5 sensor which has 4x more thermal pixels, 30% image sharpness and a 10% wider field of view, while all being 12% smaller than the last version. This now allows for professional-grade thermal imaging built into a smartphone. Crazy!

Another amazing feature is that once you have taken your thermal images you can then go in and edit them in post as all the thermal data is stored in the image itself allowing for recolouring and adding more temperature gauges and markers all after the fact.

One downside is that the thermal camera is only paired with a 12MP camera which isn’t great, but does the job in mixing detail into the thermal images. Also, if you ever want to use the CAT S62 Pro like a normal smartphone camera, you aren’t going to get the best experience. This is felt even more in the front camera that is only 8MP and looks even worse. Oh, and thermal video is only captured at 8.5 hertz which is a bit of a shame. We were told this was to ensure thermal accuracy and to allow it to reach the military spec. Maybe it would be quite nice to be able to uncap this a bit with a big warning telling you how it’s now not going to be as accurate.

If you’re a gadget reviewer who just got your hands on a Canon EOS R5 camera and want to see exactly how hot it is getting, or maybe you just want to take some really interesting images using a thermal camera for an Instagram feed, there are many circumstances where having a thermal camera of this quality and accuracy could come in handy. 

Other than builders and site workers, who we could see getting the most benefit from this smartphone, it could also be an excellent rugged companion of outdoorsy photographers, who’s always backpacking in the wilderness. We could see wildlife photographers using the thermal camera to spot hidden animals in bushes and in the dark, too. Maybe also if you’re a gadget reviewer who just got your hands on a new Canon EOS R5 camera and want to see exactly how hot it is getting, or maybe you just want to take some really interesting images using a thermal camera for an Instagram feed, there are many circumstances where having a thermal camera of this quality and accuracy could come in very handy. 

The ruggedness and thermal imaging capabilities of this smartphone definitely come at a price and, as you have to forgo some aspects, you would expect from normal phones in its price range such as this screen being smaller and tucked under these massive bezels. It’s only an LCD as an opposed to an AMOLED, you would find in most others and pretty poor normal cameras on this device

Overall compared to other rugged work phones out there this is definitely one of the best but as a normal phone you are missing some features and specs, so I would only recommend this phone to those who want it for its specific feature set.

Pricing and availability

The CAT S62 PRO smartphone is available now, priced at £599.00 GBP. Head to the Catphones website for more info on this and other models in the range.