CAT S60 hands-on: A rugged phone with a thermal camera

CAT is back with a new rugged phone at Mobile World Congress, this time offering a built-in FLIR thermal camera module with the S60. FLIR's sensors have been available as add-on attachments for Android handsets for a while now, but the vendor has managed to shrink its module down to the size of a standard camera sensor with the Lepton, allowing it to be integrated into a phone.

Here's what you're getting with the CAT S60:

Category	Features
Display	4.7-inch 720p IPS LCD with Gorilla Glass 4 Max. brightness of 540 nits
CPU	1.7Ghz octa-core Snapdragon 617
GPU	Adreno 405 GPU
RAM	3GB
Internal Storage	32GB storage
Storage Expansion	microSD slot up to 128GB
Camera	13MP with dual-tone flash FLIR thermal camera (changeable heat palettes, temperature spot meter) 5MP front shooter
Connectivity	LTE, Wi-Fi 802.11ac, Bluetooth 4.1, GPS, GLONASS, NFC and FM radio
Battery	3800mAh
OS	Android 6.0 Marshmallow

The CAT S60 is a chunky phone, with an angular design and beveled edges. The micro-USB and 3.5mm audio ports are all covered, and the navigation buttons are similar to what we've seen on the Galaxy S6 Active. There's front-facing audio as well.

The FLIR thermal camera is where things get interesting. The sensor has a built-in thermometer that lets you measure surface temperatures in real-time, and you can also tap to set different viewpoints to view how cold or hot an object is. The thermal sensor interlaces data from the regular camera to give you a live preview mode, which offers much more detail. You can take photos and videos in the live preview mode, but the resolution is limited to VGA (640 x 480). That may not seem like a lot, but it offers a lot of value for the professional users this phone is targeted toward.

For exapmple, first responders at an accident can leverage the thermal camera to find the wounded amidst the wreckage. Home energy contractors could point the CAT S60 at a house and determine where air is leaking.

The S60 can be used with wet hands or gloves, functions underwater (up to 5 meters) for an hour, and the strengthened frame offers drop protection to 1.8 meters. The phone is designed to take a beating, and is MIL-STD-810G certified, which means that it is resistant to dust, humidity, rain, thermal shock, salt, and vibration.

The CAT S60 is surprisingly decent as a regular phone. It comes with Marshmallow out of the box, with a stock interface along with a few pre-installed apps to take full advantage of the FLIR sensor.

For now, the CAT S60 is aimed at professionals, but it will be interesting to see if a mainstream vendor can leverage the FLIR sensor in a consumer-facing device. There's no release date for the S60 yet, but it will set you back $599 once it hits store shelves.