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Cat S50 Milspec phones

wrwtexan

Senior Member
Joined
Feb 5, 2011
Messages
558
Location
Cooper, Texas
Occupation
Indy Farm Wrench, heavy land clearing, rancher
I received a facebook post and link to a line of Cat branded cell phones which are supposed to be built to better handle our work environment. I found an unlocked model on ebay for good money and have been needing to replace my Samsung Galaxy S3. Aside from having the Cat logo emblazoned on it, I like the features and it will work on 3G and 4G networks as mine is only 3G with spotty service in some of my work areas. Has anyone had any experience with these (good/bad)?
 

mikebramel

Senior Member
Joined
Jul 15, 2012
Messages
1,612
Location
milwaukee
Those look very similar to the generic Chinese "tough" phones with 2x the price tag. After breaking an Iphone, Galaxy 4, and an HTC, went with the Samsung Rugby. $150 brand new..... indestructible under most use
 

wrwtexan

Senior Member
Joined
Feb 5, 2011
Messages
558
Location
Cooper, Texas
Occupation
Indy Farm Wrench, heavy land clearing, rancher
mikebramel; but, but, its got the Cat name on it:crying... I need to stay with a smartphone for online parts page searching, etc, so that's why I was interested.
 

simonsrplant

Senior Member
Joined
Feb 10, 2014
Messages
554
Location
Alberta CANADA
Occupation
Heavy Duty Off Road RSE
JCB branded a similar product in the uk some years ago. It was android based and on paper seemed like a good idea. Excellent battery life, tough, and all the plus points of a smart phone. I had three, all in the space of the same number of months, all replaced under warranty. A couple things irritated me: firstly, despite the branding, they were nothing to do with the brand at all. Secondly, the aftersales from online based support was junk. Finally, I understand things go wrong, but three failures...
I reluctantly bought an iPhone and have had many lifeproof cases. Despite damaging cases, I'm yet to have a hardware failure.
 

digger doug

Senior Member
Joined
Nov 2, 2011
Messages
1,371
Location
NW Pennsylvania
Occupation
Thrash-A-Matic designer
I'm still waiting for the Detroit Diesel phone....has 10x the volume...:D
And can operate encased in oil/grease...:rolleyes:
 

rossaroni

Well-Known Member
Joined
Feb 22, 2013
Messages
106
Location
SE PA
Check out some of the torture tests that they put Sonim phones through. Expensive, but they say that they are the last one you'll buy
 

CM1995

Administrator
Joined
Jan 21, 2007
Messages
13,248
Location
Alabama
Occupation
Running what I brung and taking what I win
I reluctantly bought an iPhone and have had many lifeproof cases. Despite damaging cases, I'm yet to have a hardware failure.

Same here, I've went through 3 LifeProof cases on the iPhone I have now. The cases may be "life proof" but they're not CM proof...:rolleyes:

BTW - Detroits don't leak, they mark their territory.:cool2
 

kshansen

Senior Member
Joined
Mar 11, 2012
Messages
11,128
Location
Central New York, USA
Occupation
Retired Mechanic in Stone Quarry
Same here, I've went through 3 LifeProof cases on the iPhone I have now. The cases may be "life proof" but they're not CM proof...:rolleyes:

BTW - Detroits don't leak, they mark their territory.:cool2

Humm, is there some unknown connection between Detroit engineers and Harley engineers? Seem they both have that same habit!
 

CM1995

Administrator
Joined
Jan 21, 2007
Messages
13,248
Location
Alabama
Occupation
Running what I brung and taking what I win
Humm, is there some unknown connection between Detroit engineers and Harley engineers? Seem they both have that same habit!

Land Rover too:stirthepot

:tong
 

movindirt

Senior Member
Joined
Sep 5, 2013
Messages
672
Location
under a shady tree
My last 2 phones have been Samsung phones with Otterbox cases, haven't had a issue with either of them yet, I try to upgrade every 2 years, my old phone is good enough to be able to get all the contacts and info I need off of it before it dies or something :rolleyes: Have a Samsung galaxy s6 at the moment, the Cat phones are the equivalent of the galaxy s4's I heard. Needless to say I'll stick with my Samsung's :D I like their products as well as Apple's, usually if there is a issue the fix can be found on youtube instead of calling customer support :Banghead :bash
 

Mike L

Senior Member
Joined
Dec 1, 2010
Messages
1,897
Location
Texas
Occupation
Self employed field mechanic
I have the iPhone 5 with an lifeproof case and have had good luck.i can destroy a phone like nobodies business and even took it swimming accidentally this summer with no damage. I'd be interested to see how the cat phone holds up though.
 

clintm

Senior Member
Joined
Jul 7, 2013
Messages
974
Location
charlotte nc
Occupation
trucking,concrete recycling,grading, demolition
I got a iPhone 6s plus and a survivor case only complaint is that people complain that they have trouble hearing me have tried to find if it has noise canceling feature but can't find any thing anybody else having this problem.
 

wrwtexan

Senior Member
Joined
Feb 5, 2011
Messages
558
Location
Cooper, Texas
Occupation
Indy Farm Wrench, heavy land clearing, rancher
Keep the comments coming but I appreciate all the responses. I will probably stay with the Samsung and move up to an S4 as so far I've been relatively satisfied with it. My wife and I tried the chinese knockoff smartphones prior to our S3's and weren't very happy with them. I've had mine in a cheap rubber case with a plastic face shield from ebay but see I should move up to the Otterbox or similar case.
 

CM1995

Administrator
Joined
Jan 21, 2007
Messages
13,248
Location
Alabama
Occupation
Running what I brung and taking what I win
I got a iPhone 6s plus and a survivor case only complaint is that people complain that they have trouble hearing me have tried to find if it has noise canceling feature but can't find any thing anybody else having this problem.

Maybe you need to stand a little farther away from the crusher.:tong

:D
 
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