So I got my first review gadget in a few years, the Cat S61. Going to review it as an outdoors/prepper phone. The software on it is just better than my S8+... which really speaks to how terrible the S8+ software is, frankly.
CAT is to be commended for not messing up Android with a bunch of bling and garbageware. From what I'm can tell it's a pretty stock build with a custom curated app store and some custom apps.
I have yet to be unpleasantly surprised by insistence that I sign up for some service or submit to some obvious surveillance or suchlike. There is no button that I accidentally press that brings up something I never want to see or interact with.
And of course a selling point is that it doesn't crack when you bump it, shake it, or blow on it too hard (*cough* S8 *cough). You can even drop it, screen-down, and it's fine.
I don't really understand why so much of the S8's ad campaign was around how waterproof it is. As far as "do this and it doesn't break" type selling points go, I think the ability to touch it without it shattering would be a bigger deal than waterproofness.
The main downside to the S61 is, of course, the size. It is a big old dad-phone -- the kind you wear on your belt. I could probably use it as a weapon in a pinch.
