Customer Ratings & Reviews

From a hardware standpoint, the Cat S48c is a fine phone with a very durable built-in hard case and a factory installed elastomeric screen protector. Battery life is as good as claimed, with a charge lasting for days, even with data services turned on. There is a full complement of preloaded apps from the tech giants, and I had no problem replacing these with more privacy friendly open source apps from F-Droid. My only "wish list" improvement to make the S48c even more rugged would be rubberized corners instead of hard plastic and a couple extra millimeters of rubberized housing extending above the screen to help prevent damage to the glass in the event of falls onto uneven surfaces such as gravel. If not for the network issues described below, I would have awarded 5 Stars to the Cat S48c. What is missing from the S48c is an unlocked Access Point Name APN settings editor. While the manufacturer claims that the S48c is compatible with Verizon, AT&T, and T-Mobile, the user of the S48c is effectively locked out of the APN settings and reliant on the cellular carrier to load their settings on to the phone. A really interesting discovery is that APN settings cannot be manually entered either on my old "unlocked" Samsung Galaxy Blaze or my family's "unlocked" iPhones. An explanation of this is posted at Apple's support site under the title "View and edit your Access Point Name (APN) on your iPhone and iPad". Per Apple, "You can only edit or view your APN on your iPhone and iPad if your carrier allows it. If you can't modify your APN settings, contact your carrier." I tried to manually edit APN settings on an "unlocked" phone (Cat, Samsung, or iPhone) served by each of the three major USA carriers, and none of the phone manufacturers or cellular carriers allowed it. In the case of my Cat S48c, I spent a solid week trying to get data services from AT&T to work. I could make and receive phone calls, but any internet related activity was not available. Cat Phone's tech support assured me that the S48c should work on AT&T's network and that I needed the help of AT&T's Level 2 tech support. AT&T's tech support reported that the S48c was an "unrecognized" device on their network and instructed me to manually enter their MMSC, proxy, and other APN settings. However, it was not possible to save custom APN settings in the S48c. Since it was becoming apparent that AT&T did not have an APN setting they could download onto the S48c and that the firmware in the S48c would not allow a user to manually enter an APN setting, I took the phone to Verizon, and in 30 minutes my phone number had been ported and data services were active. Being able to so easily transfer from one American carrier to another without a multi-year contract is a big improvement from a decade ago. But, unless your phone is completely unlocked, it appears the consumer is still not truly free to "Bring Your Own Device" as advertised by all three major cellular carriers, because it seems the carrier must agree to allow the phone access to their network even if you are a paying customer with an account.

Regarding the S48C, I have also contacted warranty support twice with responses from 2 separate employees. The first issue, my flashlight would not turn on, and the camera app would crash when opening the rear camera. I had the device shipped and repaired under warranty. The second issue I have found with this device is that it will only charge at a respectable rate (2200 mA vs. 100 mA) with the factory charger and adapter. I found this out after I left in a hurry without my charger while visiting a friend who lives an hour away. I was trying to use Samsung USB-C chargers in the mean time. It would charge to 100% if you left the device over a day without use, which is not practical. I contacted warranty support about this since I could not buy another factory charger and cable online. I got my old charger and adapter back, but they still are sending me another one for free. I would definitely recommend the high end AT&T Cat phones over this one given my friend's experiences, but I needed to stay within the Verizon family plan. I'm believe that device has much higher quality internals. Don't buy the S48C for the internals, but buy it for durability. My friend ran one of those over with heavy agriculture equipment (on soil), and the phone still works. I believe he also never had to contact CAT support. How did I decide to buy this device? I have cracked the screens on 2 Samsung devices, which contributed to those devices stopping working. One time I sat down on corrugated stainless steel and cracked the device in my back pocket. The device shorted after a year. I actually had to emergency by saying "hey google, call 9-one-1" after witnessing a car rollover since my screen was unresponsive at this point in the device's life. The first Samsung device I broke happened when I slipped down our stairs with (also in my pocket). This literally bent the phone. I was fine after a minute. The devices had cases but no Otter boxes. I'm not sure if the first one had a screen protector or not. The second one had a case but no screen protector. Maybe I could have tried an Otterbox, but I saw Cat's 6 foot drop rating and recommendations from an AT&T Cat phone owner I worked with. In the meantime, my fiance is the one with the cracked Samsung screen now. :) In my experience, warranty support has stood behind the product. Even though it was extra effort, this is the first device I have relied on not cracking. The device has been used in an agriculture mechanic setting. I have had the device 7 months. I will have a bachelor's in mechanical engineering in 3 months and plan to keep this device for its durability. For full disclosure, I have a free AT&T Samsung I keep at home that can be used similar to an Ipod (need Wifi), but it also has emergency features still work like amber alerts going off when you're trying to be quiet deer hunting. I used text now with wifi for MFA when the S48C was getting repaired. Battery life is also very good compared to the Samsung devices. You can run it down in a day, but it gives you plenty of notice ahead of time. It is a huge difference in runtime to the Samsung. If you bring your charger if you're expecting 16 hours of Youtube from this battery, you will be very happy with convenience for everyday use. I wouldn't buy it for the battery, but it's a feature that's satisfying the customer. Regarding durability, people have asked me to throw it out the window and see if it stands up, but I wouldn't recommend intentional abuse to the device unless you're trying to make cool youtube videos. It has held up to my rugged use. If you don't need ruggedness in a phone, you don't want the S48C.

So far this phone is working great. The volume does appear to be quite loud if you want it to be and it is very sturdy. It has worked just as described.

I bought this Phone Because it said it was Compatible with Boost Mobile . Well that was a lie when i went to activate the phone i was informed that it was not Compatible. So i went to the Best Buy Website to Chat with Support Team that was unhelpful . I got passed around team member to team member because they are not trained properly . False Advertisement is the best way to describe this .

This phone can go through any type of fall and won’t get damaged. Very strong and sturdy. Only wish it had a little better operating system.

I like the phone no complaints so far but I'm a very simply guy to please so would look to see what your needs an wants date befor buying

Total piece of garbage! Phone was always handled with care yet it completely pooped out after having it only 10 months. Ability to make or receive calls just quit. Really disappointed.

I initially bought this phone for my teenage son whom is quite rough on things. It has held up well, and he is extremely happy with its features. Most of his friends have iPhones or Samsung phones, but they all think his phone is super cool. (It is nice that it stands out) The phone has held up so well, that I got another for my wife, as she is also has a habit of breaking phones. Screen and volume and call functionality are all good. The screen is cabable of being quite bright and unlike some other phones, you can still read it when outside on a bright day. Processing speed is good. The only ding is that the camera pictures are just OK. Not bad, but not great either.

So far this phone works well. Survived many drops.