CAT S48c review
The CAT phone that works on Verizon — and the one certified for hazardous atmospheres.
The verdict
Older hardware with two things nothing else in the CAT range offers: Verizon CDMA certification, and a listing that advertises two years of cover including screen replacement. The box also carries a Class I Division 2 non-incendive marking, which matters enormously to a small group of buyers and not at all to everyone else.
Buy it if
- You are on Verizon — this is the only CAT phone here certified for their network
- You break screens and the advertised two-year screen-replacement cover checks out with the seller
- You work in an environment where a non-incendive rating is required
- You want wet-finger and glove-on touch on a 5-inch phone rather than a large one
Skip it if
- You want current software; this shipped on Android Oreo with an upgrade to Pie
- You want a big screen — 5 inches is small by any modern standard
- You want a good camera
- You want 5G, or a phone that will still be getting security patches in two years
Prices change daily, so we don't list them here. The button opens the current listing.
Specifications
| Operating system | Android Oreo, upgradable to Android Pie |
|---|---|
| Display | 5 in FHD, 1920 x 1080, IPS |
| Touch | Wet-finger and glove-on working technology |
| Glass | Corning Gorilla Glass 5 |
| Chipset | Qualcomm SDM630, 2.2 GHz octa-core |
| RAM | 4 GB |
| Storage | 64 GB |
| Rear camera | 13 MP autofocus with LED flash |
| Talk time | Up to 30 hours |
| Durability | IP68; dust resistant; drop tested to 6 ft (1.8 m) onto concrete |
| Water resistance | Up to 4 ft for 35 minutes |
| Operating temperature | -13°F to 131°F (-25°C to 55°C) |
| Vibration | Category 4 |
| Hazardous areas | Box marked Non-Incendive, Class I Division 2 |
| Dimensions | 5.9 x 3.0 x 0.5 in |
| Weight | 9.1 oz |
| Networks | 2G GSM and CDMA; 3G UMTS and EVDO; 4G LTE Cat 13; VoLTE; dual-band Wi-Fi |
| Carrier | Verizon network certified (CDMA), single SIM |
| Model | CS48SABNAMUNOD |
| Warranty | Listing advertises 2 years including screen replacement — confirm with the seller |
| Sensors | Proximity, ambient light, e-compass, accelerometer |
What it is
A 5-inch rugged Android phone, older than the rest of the CAT range on this site, and the only one certified for Verizon's CDMA network. For a large number of American buyers that single fact decides the whole question — every other CAT phone we have reviewed either does not support Verizon at all or supports it unofficially.
The body is non-slip, the buttons are raised enough to find through gloves, and the touchscreen works with wet fingers. None of that is new, and all of it still works.
The warranty is the quiet headline
The listing advertises two years, and states that it includes two years of screen replacement.
That is unusual enough to be worth pausing on. On our CAT S62 Pro page, the single most useful owner warning is that the body survives falls the glass does not — a display broken in a two-to-three foot drop inside a machine cab. Cover that names the screen explicitly addresses exactly the failure mode that actually happens.
If you work somewhere phones get dropped daily, that is worth arithmetic before you compare spec sheets. Confirm the terms and the claims process with the seller first, since this is the reason to choose this model over a newer one.
Class I Division 2, and who needs it
The retail box carries a Non-Incendive, Class I Division 2 marking alongside the IP68 and MIL SPEC 810G ratings.
That is a hazardous-location classification: it describes equipment permitted in places where flammable gases or vapours may be present under abnormal conditions. Oil and gas, chemical plants, fuel handling, some grain and paint facilities. In those workplaces an uncertified phone is not allowed on site at all, and the certification is not a nice-to-have — it is the reason you can carry a phone at work.
For everyone else it is a curiosity. But if it applies to you, it moves this phone from an old mid-ranger to the only candidate on the page.
The hardware is old, and that is the trade
Android Oreo with an upgrade to Pie, a Snapdragon 630 and a 5-inch 1080p screen. This is 2018 hardware and it behaves like it.
An owner coming from a Kyocera DuraForce Pro reports the S48c as noticeably faster with better signal, and describes the interface as an older style that was easy to figure out because it resembled phones he had used before. Setup on a Verizon prepaid plan went through without trouble, and restoring apps and passwords through a Google account worked as expected.
That is a fair summary of who this is for: someone replacing a work phone, not someone upgrading a personal one. The same owner, who works in construction, fitted a case and a tempered screen protector anyway — sensible even with the warranty.
Durability, in numbers
IP68 with dust resistance, submersion to four feet for 35 minutes, and drop testing to six feet onto concrete rather than the steel used for some of the range. Operating temperature runs from -25°C to 55°C, and it is rated for Category 4 vibration.
The operating temperature range is worth noting separately. A phone that keeps working at -25°C is a different proposition from one that shuts down in a cold snap, and very few consumer phones will state a figure at all.
Networks
This is the flexible one. 2G on GSM and CDMA, 3G on UMTS and EVDO, 4G LTE Cat 13 with VoLTE, and dual-band Wi-Fi. Verizon network certified, single SIM.
Compare that with the rest of the range, where Verizon is either unsupported or a gamble, and the picture is clear: if you are on Verizon and you want a CAT phone, this is the one.
Who it competes with
Against the CAT S62 you give up a much newer chip, a bigger screen, a 48 MP camera and 128 GB of storage, and you gain Verizon certification, the hazardous-area marking and the screen cover.
Against the S62 Pro you give up the thermal camera entirely.
Against a modern mid-range phone in a rugged case, you give up almost everything on the spec sheet and gain certifications a case cannot provide.
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