So, the Google Nexus 6 and Motorola Droid Turbo are here and both claiming to be well built and tough phones huh. Pfft. Maybe you like the build quality of the OnePlus One or the HTC One M8. Even bigger pfft. No these devices might claim to be toughies but inside they’re full of Snapdragons and blahdy blahdy blah. Now if you want a real tough phone then look no further than CAT phones. These bad boys are built by CAT (Caterpillar) who are more typically known for building construction, farming and agricultural equipment. As such CAT have generally speaking built up quite a reputation for being tough. So that’s why they made some phones. Ones you can rely on no matter what you are doing or what environment or terrain you are in.
Up until now CAT phones were only available in Europe but it now seems they have arrived on US shores. If you do want one then don’t head down to Best Buy or your local AT&T shop (even though they run on AT&T). No those shops are simply not tough enough. If you want a CAT phone then you will find them at your local Home Depot, right in-between the drilling equipment and hardhats. There are currently only two variants available in the US and these go by the super tough names B100 and B15Q (available single-SIM and Dual-sim). No time for clever names like Turbo or Lumia here. CAT phones are dust, scratch, water and impact resistant and can “easily” withstand drops of 1.8m. In fact, one of their best selling points is that they can withstand extreme temperatures and are immune to temperatures as low as -13 F and as high as 131 F. Let’s see your Moto X take that heat.
The B15Q offers a 4″ display, 1GB RAM, a MediaTek quad core processor, 5MP rear camera, music and video players and running on Android 4.4 (KitKat). The baby of the two is the B100 although in spite of being the baby, it is the more durable of the two meeting military standard MIL SPEC 810G for salt spray, thermal shock and vibration. It also comes with a dual-core MediaTek processor and 512MB RAM. You can pick up the B100 for $149.99 while the B15Q will cost $349.99 for the single-SIM and £359.99 for the dual-SIM. Both come unlocked and will run on either AT&T or T-Mobile. So what do you think? Is that your flagship device I can see hiding behind the bed. Thought so!
