We have never reviewed a smartphone like the Cat S75 at Bullitt. Not a comment on the quality of the device, but a fact. Why Cat S75 is a unique smartphone: Not only does it have military-grade strength, so much so that it can withstand any fall and even take pictures under water. But it has satellite connectionwhich allows you to call for help when you are in an area not covered by the mobile network – but also to send messages to friends and relatives to let them know where you are and how you are.
So, in addition to testing camera and performance as we do in every smartphone review, we also sent messages via satellite. And we also had an excuse to test the resistance of this smartphone during runs and mountain trips: we’ll tell you how it performed Bullitt Cat S75 in this review (definitely more “active” than usual).
Our Bullitt Cat S75 review
The Cat S75 is a satellite and rugged smartphone. What does it mean? A rugged smartphone is a type of mobile phone that is designed to withstand extreme conditions, such asand shocks, drops, dust, water or high temperatures. These smartphones are often used by people who work in harsh environments, such as construction sites, army, forest or mountains. Or by those who practice extreme sports, such as hiking, climbing or diving.
Something that we immediately notice when opening the package, made of recyclable cardboard and containing a satellite SIM and a USB-A / USB-C cable for recharging. In fact, it seems that Cat S75 already has an ultra-resistant cover: but in reality it is only the coating that Bullitt has made to protect this smartphone.
Designed to last
The smartphone has quite massive dimensions in the hand – measure 171 X 80 X 11.9 mm and weighs 268 grams. If the weight isn’t that exaggerated (“big” smartphones like the iPhone 14 Pro Max weigh just thirty grams less), the almost twelve millimeter thickness is quite noticeable. But in the hand it feels like a normal smartphone with a generous cover – nothing exaggerated.
The lining the rmakes it water resistant for up to 35 minutes at a depth of five metresas well as sand, dust and dirt. Bullitt has also tested falls from 1.80 meters on steel without damaging it. We replicated the experiment, but no doubt abused it more than we would any other smartphone tested for review: Bullitt Cat S75 withstood everything without a mark.
The certification IP68 and IP69K imply that it can also withstand jets of hot water and other pressure, and Bullit assured us that it easily resists other liquids as well. It also has a certification MIL-STD-810H which protects it from shocks, vibrations, extreme temperatures and humidity. In short: it resists everything.
Also interesting is that there is a coating based on silver ions to make it antimicrobial. But the real advantage is that you can wash it whenever you want under water and with any type of disinfectant.
Everything you need, even a few more comforts
Despite all these protections, this smartphone does not give up connectivity and advanced (and rather comfortable) features. As the dual SIM (also satellite) accessible on the left, no need for pins of any kind: just open the plastic cover and take out the SIM tray. Just below you find a button that you can customize as you like (useful for those who work with quanta, for example). On the other side, there are the volume and unlock buttons, while at the top the one for SOS emergencies. At the bottom, two speakers (which produce a loud and clear sound, even after immersing the smartphone in water) and the USB-C port.
On the back you will find, together with the cameras, the sfingerprint sensor to unlock the phone (which also works alongside face recognition). In short: Cat S75 is a complete smartphone, albeit rugged.
Bullitt Cat S75 review: an outdoor display?
The Cat S75 has a 6.6 inch screen with a resolution of 2408 x 1080 pixels with an aspect ratio of 20:9 which makes it slightly higher than average. The bezels are definitely more noticeable than non-rugged products, but it seems to us an acceptable compromise. Especially since the refresh rate da 120Hz makes navigation very smooth.
The glass Corning Gorilla Glass Protection it’s the same as some top-of-the-range Androids, but here it’s twice as thick: 0.80 mm. And you can use it even with gloves or wet fingers. The only problem we had was with the automatic brightness, which didn’t always allow us to see the screen well outdoors. Raising it manually, the display was readable – even if not more than other smartphones that have a less “sporty” propensity than this one.
All in all, the Bullitt Cat S75 screen didn’t excite us during this review: for the same price, on another smartphone it would be a serious flaw. But as we said, it is not a “normal” smartphone.
Performance and daily use
Equipped with a processor Mediatek Dimensity D930, paired with 6GB RAM and 128GB storage, the Cat S75 has everything you need to run your most used applications. We wouldn’t recommend it to pro gamers, but the games also seemed fluid to us and the device responsive in every usage situation. With Geekbench 6 we got benchmarks from 844 in the single-core and from 2119 in multi-core, which are not record-breaking. But for everyday use and some games every now and then they are enough and more.
The operating system is Android 12, almost stock version. It’s not the latest update, but it has almost everything you need (including the smart, modern design of the last two updates released by Google). Bullitt ensures that you will receive updates for three years and security for five.
Among the extra apps, there is the dedicated camera of Cat Phone, which among other things allows you to take pictures underwater using the volume keys instead of the touchscreen (which does not work in water). And the Toolbox, which collects extra applications to install, with a session dedicated to professionals: bills for construction sites, management software for farms, occupational safety and more. Finally, there’s Bullitt Satellite Messenger.
Our satellite test with Bullitt Satellite Messenger
The big advantage of the Cat S75 lies in being able to send and receive messages even when there is no network signal, using the technology of Bullitt Satellite Messenger, which uses a series of satellites in space to transmit messages: we could not fail to try it in this review.
Opening the application (after activating the trial subscription provided to us by Bullitt, here are the details of the offers), we first clicked the button at the top left to connect to the satellite. We struggled to find signal at first, as we weren’t holding the phone vertically: once we figured this out, orienting ourselves to the satellite and connecting took just a couple of minutes. This technology hooks up to geostationary satellites, which then stay in the same position as we try to connect – once connected, we never lost the signal.
We sent some test messages to friends and family, which they receive an SMS with the text written by us and the location in less than a minute. To respond, they must download Bullitt Satellite Messenger from the App Store or Play Store.
Furthermore, we did a test on the SOS functionality. Once we sent our location, the Bullitt app asked us a few questions (were we alone, were we in danger and what kind of danger was it, etc). The operations center (advised of our test) got back to us within a minute. If it had been a real emergency, he would have sent emergency services immediately. Something extremely useful if you are in remote areas without mobile coverage. It worked very well.
Bullitt Cat S75 review, also an underwater camera
The smartphone has a rear facing camera 50 megapixelflanked by an ultra-wide-angle sensor from 8MP and a macro from 2MPas well as a front from 8 megapixel.
The shots do not come close to those that a top of the range can achieve. Even in bright light, there is a bit too much noise in the pictures. Which have a good rendition of bright colors, but tend to lose nuances. The result is more than enough for social media, but The Cat S75 doesn’t take pictures that you’ll want to poster-size and frame. With the Pro mode you can adjust the influx of light a bit and get better, if not groundbreaking, shots.
Ultrawide is a bit too dark and shooting macro gives a bit too “pixelated” effect to impress us. Selfies are average, although in the shot below you can see that the autofocus management isn’t exactly perfect.
However, we really appreciated the ability to shoot in all conditions. Not only can you take your smartphone with you to the beach, but you can also enter the water and shoot with the volume keys. Since we don’t have a beach available, we had to test the functionality in a basin of water. But the effect seemed pretty good to us: our Squirtle as a subject is poorly defined, but it’s an interesting additional feature for this resourceful smartphone.
Battery and charging
The battery from 5,000 mAh in the Bullitt Cat S75 it didn’t disappoint during our testing days for this review: even…