Cat S62 Pro unveiled: A flagship rugged phone with an advanced thermal camera
The Cat S62 Pro.
Bullitt Group, which builds Cat-branded rugged smartphones, has launched a new flagship device -- the Cat S62 Pro. Described as 'the ultimate work phone', the Android 10-based S62 Pro is the third generation in the S6x series, and succeeds the well-received 2018 Cat S61.
"The S62 Pro is best-in-class in every dimension, whether we're talking design, ruggedness or technology," claimed Peter Cunningham, VP product portfolio at Bullitt Group at the online launch event. It's certainly a sleeker, slightly lighter device than its predecessor, with excellent rugged credentials, a more powerful chipset, more RAM and storage, and an improved FLIR thermal imaging camera.
However, the 5.7-inch S62 Pro, which costs €649/£599/$749, also drops two sensors that were present on the 5.2-inch S61: a laser-assisted distance measuring tool and an indoor air quality monitor.
Here's a detailed specs comparison between the new S62 Pro and the S61:
Cat S62 Pro | Cat S61 | |
Display | 5.7-inch FHD+ (1080 x 2160) 18:9 TFT LCD, wet finger/glove-on working technology | 5.2-inch FHD (1080 x 1920) IPS, auto switch support and wet-finger/glove-on working technology |
Dimensions | 158.5 x 76.7 x 11.9mm | 163 x 78 x 13mm |
Weight | 248g | 250g |
Rugged certifications | IP68, MIL-STD 810H, drop-tested up to 1.8m (6ft) onto steel | IP69 & IP69K, MIL-STD 810G, drop-tested up to 1.8m (6ft) onto concrete |
Operating system | Android 10 | Android 8 (Oreo) |
Chipset | Qualcomm Snapdragon 660 (2.0GHz) | Qualcomm Snapdragon 630 (2.2GHz) |
RAM | 6GB | 4GB |
Internal storage | 128GB | 64GB |
External storage | MicroSD | MicroSD |
Rear cameras | 12MP Sony IMX363 (F/1.8), FLIR Lepton 3.5 thermal camera | 16MP, FLIR Lepton thermal imaging camera |
Front cameras | 8MP | 8MP |
Speaker(s) | mono | mono |
3.5mm audio jack | no | yes |
USB-C | yes | yes |
4G LTE bands | 1/2/3/4/5/7/8/20/28/38/40 | 1/2/3/5/7/8/19/20/26/28/38/39/40/41 (EU/ROW) | 1/2/3/4/5/7/8/12/13/17/25/26/28/29/66 (Americas) |
Wi-Fi | 802.11ac | 802.11ac |
Bluetooth | 5 | 5 |
Infrared port | no | no |
NFC | yes | yes |
GPS | GPS, AGPS, Glonass, BeiDou (variant dependant), Galileo | GPS, Glonass, BeiDou (variant dependant), Galileo, QZSS, and SBAS |
Sensors | proximity, ambient light, compass, gyroscope, thermal | accelerometer, proximity, ambient light, compass, gyroscope, barometer, thermal, indoor air quality (humidity & temperature), laser-assisted distance measurement |
FM radio | yes | yes |
Programmable shortcut key | yes | yes |
Fingerprint reader | yes | no |
Battery | 4000mAh | 4500mAh |
Fast charging | yes | Quick Charge 4 |
Wireless charging | no | no |
Price | £599 / $749 | £649 / $729 |
Thermal imaging on the Cat S62 Pro gets a 4x improvement in resolution compared to the Cat S61.
The S62 Pro's key feature is its thermal imaging camera, which is based on the FLIR Lepton 3.5 module. With this, users can locate hot or cold spots around the house, examine the thermal signatures of appliances, or look for wildlife within a 30m range, among other things.
The Lepton 3.5 camera can measure temperatures between -20°C and 400°C, has a horizontal field of view of 57 degrees, and uses multi-spectral dynamic imaging (MSX) to overlay visible output on the thermal image (this can now be dialled up and down). A new alpha-blending feature combines thermal and visible detail on the same image, and you can now add notes directly to your images -- identifying a particular radiator or other piece of equipment during a site survey, for example.
The Lepton 3.5 sensor delivers a four-fold improvement in thermal resolution, Cunningham said: "We're moving from a resolution of about 5,000 pixels on the S61 to almost 20,000 on the S62 Pro. Pixels are also smaller, which gives you greater definition when you're looking at the images," he added.
SEE: 5G smartphones: A cheat sheet (free PDF) (TechRepublic)
The Cat S62 Pro supports Android Enterprise features, including Zero-touch provisioning, and has been tested for enrolment and policy provisioning with leading EMM (Enterprise Mobility Management) solutions. It comes with a two-year warranty and security updates for three years.
Look out for a full review of the Cat S62 Pro in the coming weeks.
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