[section_title title=The Phone]The Phone
The CAT B100 has a “retro” design (or one could say “classic”), styled like mobile phones from before the iPhone era. It follows CAT’s yellow and black colour scheme and at a first glance has a rugged look to it. It has large key pad buttons to make it more friendly to users wearing gloves and features steel strips down each side, which are bolted in place, resulting in a slick yet, durable feel to it. It has a 2.2″ colour screen, which nowadays most people will laugh at – however that is not the point for this phone, as large screens can crack easily and gobble up battery. The edges are bevelled, which reduces the possibility to chip the edges and the exposed plastic areas are covered in a rubber coating adding to the durable feel.
The B100 is certified to IP67, which means it can handle a lot of punishment before failing. The device is waterproof up to 1m for 30 minutes, impervious to dust, can withstand low and high temperatures and can survive a drop from up to 1.8m. Of course these are only what the phone is rated to, so it could potentially take even more force before finally dying. The rear of the phone is a clear example of the measures that have CAT have taken to not only improve the phone’s defences, but also increase the effectiveness of the phone when used in a noisy environment and it does this by the way of a large speaker located on the back. Next to this is an LED flash and further to the left, the 3MP camera. Located just next to the camera is a small microphone, which aids in noise cancellation – ideal for those busy construction sites. Below the flash are two contact points for a “drop in” charger.
The battery, sim and mini SD card slot is held firmly shut by two large screws, which securely contain the parts that are most likely to fly off if dropped. The battery cover has a small rubber outline, which creates an airtight gap to stop any moisture making its way into the electronics inside.
The left side of the B100 has a rubber cover protecting the micro USB slot. On the right side are three yellow buttons (as seen above) that control the volume and other functions.
