CAT S42 deals
The CAT S42 is in our catalog but no UK retailer currently stocks it.
Tradespeople, farmers and outdoor workers who need a phone that survives water, dust and drops for calls, messaging and site photos, and who do not need speed or current software support.
CAT S42
No deals currently available
The CAT S42 is in our catalog but no UK retailer currently stocks it. Check back later, or browse our wider phone catalog.
About the CAT S42
The Cat S42 was built for people who break ordinary phones. It is a properly rugged handset rather than a normal phone in a case: the body is IP69-rated against dust and high-pressure water jets, it survives drops onto concrete from up to 1.8m, and it meets the MIL-STD-810H military durability standard, so it shrugs off building sites, farms and fishing trips. The trade-off is that everything else is deliberately basic. The 5.5-inch HD display, entry-level Helio A20 chip and 3GB of RAM are fine for calls, messaging, maps and a camera, but they will feel slow with heavy multitasking or demanding apps. The 13MP camera is functional for site photos rather than anything you would frame. Battery life is the quiet strength, with a 4,200mAh cell driving a modest screen. It is a 4G phone with no 5G, and having launched on Android 10 it is long past its update window, so it now makes most sense as a secondary work phone bought refurbished rather than as your only device.
Expert Rating
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CAT S42 Specifications
Spec Scores
Under £200 Phones · 130 phones
- 5.5 inches
- 720 x 1440 pixels
- IPS
Based on panel type (LTPO is the modern flagship gold standard), resolution, refresh rate, peak brightness, screen size, and HDR10+ / Dolby Vision support. Marketing peak-brightness claims are capped at 3500 nits to prevent inflation.
- Single camera setup
- 13 MP main camera
- 1080p video recording
Based on main-sensor size (1-inch / 1/1.3" beats 1/2.0"), telephoto reach (periscope > 5x > 3x optical), image processing tier (Apple Pro, Pixel Pro, Galaxy Ultra, Honor Magic Pro, Xiaomi Ultra), pro video features (ProRes, Apple Log, Dolby Vision), camera-partnership branding (Leica, Hasselblad, Zeiss) and OIS. Older flagships are de-rated since image processing pipelines have advanced significantly each generation. Megapixel count is deliberately downweighted — it correlates poorly with real-world camera quality.
- 5 MP front camera
Based on selfie megapixels and max selfie-video resolution.
- 4,200 mAh
Based on battery capacity (mAh) adjusted for platform efficiency calibrated against NotebookCheck, Tom's Guide, GSMArena and CNET reviewer tests. Apple A-series gets +45% (iOS process freezing + LTPO 1Hz + tuned panels make iPhone Pro Max outlast many 6500+ mAh Android phones in measured tests). Top Snapdragon / Dimensity flagships get +15%, budget chipsets are penalised −15% to −25% to reflect less efficient displays and looser background limits. Charging speed is excluded — see the separate Fast charging tag for that.
General
Dimensions
161.4 x 77.3 x 12.7 mm (6.35 x 3.04 x 0.5 in)
Weight
220
SIM
· Nano-SIM · Nano-SIM + Nano-SIM
Operating System
Android 10, planned upgrade to Android 11
Colours
Black
Radio
FM radio
Camera
Primary Camera
13 MP, f/2.0, (wide), PDAF
Primary Camera Video
1080p@30fps
Primary Selfie Camera
5 MP
Display
Type
IPS LCD
Display Size
5.5
Display Resolution
720 x 1440 pixels, 18:9 ratio (~293 ppi density)
Display Protection
Corning Gorilla Glass 5
CPU & Memory
Chipset
Mediatek MT6761D Helio A20 (12 nm)
GPU
PowerVR GE8320
CPU
Quad-core 1.8 GHz Cortex-A53
Memory Card Slot
microSDXC (dedicated slot)
Internal Storage
32GB 3GB RAM
Connectivity & Data
4G
1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 20, 28
Wi-Fi
Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n
Bluetooth
5.0, A2DP, LE
USB
microUSB 2.0, OTG
NFC
Yes
GPS
GPS, GLONASS, BDS
Battery
Battery
4200
Other
Sensors
Accelerometer, proximity, compass