Cat phones licensee Bullitt Group has unveiled the Cat S62 Pro, its third device with a thermal imaging camera.
Bullitt has developed the phone’s thermal technology in partnership with thermal imaging specialists FLIR Systems.
The thermal imaging camera uses FLIR’s Lepton 3.5 camera which can measure temperatures from -20C to 400C. With isotherm alarming, users can add alarms to alert when something in the camera’s field of view reaches a particular temperature.
It also features Multi-Spectral Dynamic Imaging (MSX) and thermal blending. These two upgrades allow for more detailed thermal imagery, and to examine specific temperatures of different parts of an image. Thermal blending allows a normal image from the phone’s camera to be overlaid with thermal detail.
“For five years we have led the thermal mobile market, and with the introduction of the Cat S62 Pro we are raising the bar to continue leading the industry,” said Bullitt’s vice president of product portfolio Peter Cunningham.
“Not only are we bringing game-changing professional thermal image quality to our customers, but we’ve also made numerous other improvements. Compared with its predecessor, it’s 12 per cent more compact with a 10 per cent bigger screen.”
The S62 Pro’s other key specs include a 4,000mAh battery, 6GB RAM and 128GB internal storage, running Android 10 on the Qualcomm Snapdragon 660 chipset. The phone is upgradeable to Android 11, and is Android Enterprise-ready.
Its normal camera is a dual 12MP dual-pixel Sony setup, with an 8MP front camera. the display is 5.7-inch FHD+, covered with Gorilla Glass 6, which Bullitt says is usable with gloves or wet fingers.
It is also IP68 and MIL-STD 810H graded for dust, water and drop protection, as well as being resistant to vibration, sand, salt mist and pressure. It also features a programmable shortcut button that can be used for PTT, SOS, or for easy camera and torch launching.
Additionally, there is a dual-SIM variant, and the phone is covered by a two-year warranty and three years of security updates.
Unlike its predecessor, the S61, the S62 Pro does not have an air quality sensor or a laser distance measurement tool. “We found with the S61 we were asking customers to invest a lot of money when maybe they didn’t want all of its features,” said Cunningham. “We’re trying to distil the proposition into a great smartphone with an awesome thermal camera, and then we’ll look at how to integrate those sensors into other products.”
The S62 Pro carries an MSRP of £599 in the UK, making it £200 cheaper than the S61 at launch. It will be available “in the next few weeks,” according to Cunningham, from Cat’s website and “multiple retailers and operators”.
The S62 Pro’s unveiling follows on from the launch of the Cat S42, an update of Bullitt’s core range of rugged smartphones. 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.”
Eurostar Global and Westcoast handle distribution for Cat phones.
