Despite launching in other territories on July 20, the S42 is still only available for pre-order in the UK.
“Due to ongoing global freight restrictions there has been a delay on the UK stock. It will remain on pre-order until stock is available to ship to end customers – we expect it to be soon but can’t put an actual date on it at the moment,” said Bullitt’s chief sales officer for EMEA Nathan Vautier. “But we can hopefully launch the device within the next week or so.”
Bullitt Group has announced a July 20 release date for its S42 smartphone, which will be the manufacturer’s cheapest yet.
Originally unveiled at CES this year as the Cat S32, the phone has since been renamed.
The S42’s MSRP of £229 makes it the cheapest Cat smartphone at launch to date. It will be available from catphones.com and “multiple retailers and operators”, according to Bullitt. Some of these retailers will include Clove, BuyIT and eBuyer.
It has a 4,200mAh battery running on a Mediatek Helio A20 MT 6761D chipset, with Android 10 OS. It has 3GB RAM and 32GB expandable internal storage.
The phone has a 5.5-inch HD screen that can be operated with gloves or wet fingers. Its rear camera is 13MP and its front camera is 5MP.
In terms of rugged credentials, the S42 is IP68 certified for dust and water, has MIL SPEC 810H, and has been drop-tested on steel from 1.8m. Its front has Corning Gorilla Glass 5, and it is housed in a textured design for better grip. It can be submerged in 1.5m of water for up to 35 minutes.
It also has a programmable shortcut key that can be used for Push to Talk, lone worker SOS calls, or to launch its torch or camera.
Users can also completely submerge the phone in warm soapy water to keep bacteria off it, amid concerns that phones could be ‘Trojan Horses‘ for the coronavirus.
“Cat phones customers need a phone they can rely on,” said Bullitt’s product portfolio vice president Peter Cunningham.
“Whether they are in the emergency services, or working in a hospital where hygiene is the priority, or in construction and needing a phone that’s tough enough to survive on site, day after day, the Cat S42 is designed to be utterly dependable and keep working for you.”
Bullitt Group’s distribution partners include Eurostar Global and Westcoast.
