Whether it’s for work, adventure, or disaster preparedness, you may need a means of communication that doesn’t rely on the cellular network. Until late last year, that meant carrying a separate device – whether that’s a Satellite Phone or something text-oriented like the Garmin inReach Messenger.

Satellite communications are now starting to feature on some smart phones. We’ve seen this with Apple’s new iPhones, but their functionality is quite limited: they can connect you to emergency services or they can send your location to friends and family. However, you can’t chat with your friends and family like you would with inReach, for example.

Now, the Bullitt Group makes non-emergency two-way satellite communication possible with new phones like the Cat S75. Note for North American readers: the same hardware is available as the Motorola Defy 2, there is also a separate communication device, the Motorola Defy Satellite Link, which enables the same functionality on any Android or iOS phone .

What is this feature? For starters, there’s a free 12-month subscription to emergency response centers operated by FocusPoint International. You can contact them 24/7 via the app or the dedicated SOS button at the top of the phone.

In an emergency, there is a simple questionnaire that will help communicate your situation to the emergency services (eg if you are alone, if someone is injured, etc.).

For other communications, you can send and receive messages to regular cell service subscribers, who will receive them as text messages. Note that if they want to respond, they will need to download a free app. Here are the plans, the Cat S75 comes with three months of Essential plan free:

The app runs on the Bullitt Satellite Messenger service. You can quickly send location records with a simple swipe or type a message – messages are limited to 140 bytes, or 140 characters of the Latin alphabet, though it’s less with other alphabets (it fully supports Unicode load).

The phone, typical of the Cat brand, is designed to be robust. This one skips the showmanship of rubbery textures and exposed screws on the exterior. Still, at 171 x 80 x 11.9mm and 268g, you certainly won’t mistake it for a regular phone. It’s not too huge, for example the iPhone 14 Pro max is 77.6mm wide and weighs 240g (it’s only 7.9mm thick though). Either way, you won’t wear the S75 in skinny jeans or a clutch.

The phone features a 6.6” 20:9 display, FHD+ IPS LCD panel with 120Hz refresh rate. If you look closely, you will see a small lip that runs around the perimeter of the phone. to keep the Gorilla Glass Victus off the table if you lay the phone face down.You don’t have to look that close to see the huge bezels, but that’s typical of rugged phones.

The S75 can survive drops onto steel plates up to 1.8m (6ft). MIL-STD-810H tests include vibration and tumbling, as well as salt spray – this phone will do just fine or an oil rig. It has also been tested in extreme temperatures (-30°C/-22°F to 75°C/167°F) for 24 hours.

IP68 dust and water resistance is complemented by IP69K for resistance to high temperature water jets. The phone is designed to survive up to 5m (16ft) underwater for 35 minutes. The camera even has an underwater mode if you want to take a few photos while you’re out there.

The S75 has the so-called Hygiene+ antimicrobial coating with silver ions. The phone is easy to clean with alcohol wipes or just soap and water.

Going back to the camera, it lives on a bump that doesn’t have as much protection as the screen. The triple module includes a 50MP main camera, an 8MP ultrawide, and a 2MP macro (who knows, a macro camera might actually come in handy on a phone like this).

We haven’t mentioned it before, the front camera is an 8MP module, which isn’t in a notch or a punch hole, but… you know, there’s a huge bezel on top of it. screen.

The Cat S75 is launching with Android 12 and Bullitt has promised to update it to Android 14. This release is important as Google is working on native support for satellite connectivity. Additionally, the phone will receive 3 years of quarterly security patches and then another 2 years of emergency patches.

The software runs on MediaTek hardware – the Dimensity 930 and as well as Non-Terrestrial Network (NTN) communications hardware that allows the phone to connect to satellites. There’s 6GB of RAM and 128GB of storage on board, plus a microSD slot if you need more.

The 5,000mAh battery is sealed inside the phone and supports 15W fast charging via USB-C, as well as Qi wireless charging. There are no pogo pins for the charging cradle.

The Cat S75 is already up for pre-order with select carriers and retailers in the Europe, Middle East and Africa region. It costs $600/€600/£550 (this includes the 3-month Essential plan). The Bullitt Satellite Messenger service will be launched in Europe and North America this quarter and expanded to other regions by the end of the year.