The flip or clamshell phone design has gone the way of the dinosaur, but there’s still a minimum of one company that creates them. Not only has Samsung been launching a flip phone for China and South Korea year after year after year, its Galaxy Z Flip even puts a contemporary and hi-tech spin to the old fashioned form factor. Compared to those, the rugged CAT S22 Flip looks almost negligible, but it’s a couple of essential perks that make it worth a re-evaluation, especially if you’re within the marketplace for tough-as-tanks phones.
Like any other flip phone, the CAT S22 Flip comes with a standard T9 keypad. Like many of the brand’s rugged phones, this one is additionally on the entry-level tier, powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 215 with only 2GB of RAM and 16GB of storage. The 2.8-inch 640×480 screen doesn’t even reach the bare 720p minimum for much content, but what the CAT S22 Flip lacks in hardware, it makes up for in software.
Google features a strict set of minimum requirements for a phone to be eligible to possess Google Play Store, and, surprisingly, the CAT S22 Flip meets all of them. The phone runs Android 11 Go Edition; it even has Google Play Store and apps pre-installed. And just in case you’re wondering how you’d even use those apps, the phone’s 2.8-inch VGA screen is touch-sensitive, a bit like a daily smartphone.
Of course, the CAT S22 Flip also has the makings of a typical rugged CAT phone, including an IP68 rating, MIL-SPEC 810H certification, and, therefore, the like. It also comes with a programmable Push-to-Talk (PTT) button when you would like instant access to some function. And just in case you would like to require pictures of broken equipment to send to your colleagues, the 5MP primary camera will attempt to get the work done.
The CAT S22 Flip is out there exclusively from T-Mobile for $234. it’s just about a good niche smartphone in an already niche line of rugged mobile devices. That said, if you need such a tank of a phone while rocking a 90s style, then this is often probably the companion you would like.
