Cat B35
2.40", 2 Mpx, 4G
Product ratings
Pros
Cons
41 reviews
Advertising ICONS on home screen. DO NOT BUY.
COMPLAINT: I purchased a CAT B35 on 10/22/2018. Until yesterday, the device was a recommended purchase. Now yesterday the producer installed the new firmware. In the process, KaiOS illegally programmed ads (selfies, google ads and youtube ads) on the main screen. The device also can not be reset. You pay money for this phone and have to put up with unsolicited ads on the home screen since 2019-05-20. DO NOT BUY!
Pro
- It was once a good device
Contra
- Advertising on home display
Don't buy it Cat has shot a beautiful buck!
do not buy. !
since the last software update, the device constantly hangs up. ! You have an important phone call with a customer, and suddenly after a few minutes the phone restarts by itself. The customer is of course annoyed and thinks what... After the restart, you have to enter the pin again. if you're lucky, it works again, but after a new call after about 4-5 minutes, it starts all over again.Pro
- Splashproof and dustproof
- Camera with 2 MP takes good usable photos
Contra
- Software
- Menu guidance many options you have to search for
No hard reset option, unstable OS: Not recommended as a reliable companion.
Those looking for a reliable outdoor phone will have to look further. Even though I really like the concept of the Cat B35:
The phone does not have a hard reset option. Operating system hung up completely when the battery was almost full. Only after the battery was dead was I able to restart the phone - 1 week later. I had to get an emergency phone to replace my emergency phone in the meantime.
As a reliable replacement for a smartphone thus unfortunately not to use. Also constantly loses network connection in dual-SIM mode - had to restart the phone practically before every call.Pro
- Good battery life
- Good flashlight
- Some smartphone functions for the "emergency"...
Contra
- ...but not reliable enough for emergencies
- No hard reset
- Unstable OS
- Mobile and data connection constantly interrupts in dual-SIM mode
As much as I like it. It is not to be recommended at all.
I live this phone and I will try to keep it. It is WAY better than the Nokia 8110 "Matrix" and the Ruggear RG170.
Most of the down votes and problems reported by other users in this page are due to unrealistic expectations and wrong assumptions. If you think you can have these kind of "work" phones and use them as any other smart phone you're wrong. You don't use a Android Go or Kai os phone with a button keyboard as a smart phone. You just don't. If you want a cheap smart phone get a cheap smartphone not an outdoor/"work" phone.
As said in my first line, this is my third outdoor phone and this one is the best you can get as of writing. BUT:
This phone has some 2 major defaults that would make it straight up bad for most people.
1) The Sim ALWAYS loses contact when to phone is dropped, even from 40cm high, calls are lost and the phone requires a restart. This is unacceptable.
To successfully fix this, I used a thin strip of tape in the back of the tray to make it ever so slightly thicker. I also used a tiny amount of kneadable eraser (1-1.5 mm diameter ball) to make the SIM adhere or grip to the tray. Definitive and cheap fix. But still absolutely unacceptable.
2) Phone randomly restarts during calls. This happened to me 6 times in the few weeks I own this phone. And I do not make long calls very often. AS of now I do not have fixed this issued that is well-known and widespread but STILL UNADDRESSED BY CAT. Unbelievable.
Despite these major issues I still have better value out of this phone compared to the two previously mentioned models.
Nokia 8110: Tiny screen, Extremely poor battery life especially on host-spot mode, extremely bad keyboard, fragile,.
Ruggear RG170: Huge and unpractical, Andoid Go version is so stripped down that you can't even have maps or receive emails or use whatsapp... Just get any cheap Dumbphone and you will have a better value.
I really hope cat will solve the phone call issue.Pro
- Battery life, even in hotspot mode
- Size and feel
- Recessed screen and waterproof
- Best physical keyboard I have had
- All the necessary apps are present and working
Contra
- Randomly restarts during calls (this is extremely bad)
- Without modification, the Sim drops out of place when dropped and requires a restart
- No option to lock the keyboard during calls
- No a big deal but... Th truck noise when turning on/off is ridiculous.
A brick with long battery life and useless camera
Pro
- Long battery life (emergency phone for hiking, lasts up to 10 days without use).
- Apparently robust, but I did not test it
Contra
- clunky and big, almost unhandy for a non-smartphone
- KaiOS (partly WLAN automatically switched on)
- Not very intuitive to use
- Camera unusable (worse than in former phones from 2007)
To recommend
Extremely robust button phone with hotspot function. Edit: Unfortunately defective after a few months. Still the only oldschool phone with the desired features that I found.
Pro
- rugged
- 4G hotspot
Tip Top
As described, it does what it should and is reliable.
For emergencies and when travelling if you don't need a full touch screen. Also works as a hotspot with a foreign SIM.
Waterproof for sports. Also if you don't want to take an expensive device with you. Very good reception, even LTE. Just doesn't have a touchscreen...
Pro
- Long battery life
- Kaio's operating system
- Google assist
Contra
- Not many apps yet
Always as fast as ever, equipment received in perfect condition
Pro
- Speed
- Quality/price ratio
Grist
The phone is just trouble. The keys have not worked properly from the beginning and I had to have it repaired because water had penetrated from the rain... it was never completely under water. It was repaired without comment under warranty. After that the buttons were without problems but it started to flicker. Sent it back and got it back unrepaired with the comment that it had been extensively tested and no faults could be found but it still flickered. No idea why they could not see that ...
At some point it no longer loaded. The part is so cheaply processed that the part for the charging cable could be pressed in. Sent in for repair for the third time and got an estimate of just under 165 francs.... Practically double what it cost new. For an outdoor phone it is not worth the money. That was at Sunrise but it's about the phone.....Pro
- Cheap
- Hotspot
Contra
- Unsuitable
pretty good
some problems with buttons + battery doesn't last as long as in one of the oldies but still perfectooooo network sharing + flashlight are beast
Hardware good - software worse
The phone itself does what it promises.
You can make calls and write SMS.
KaiOS is Android-less, but you still have to struggle visually with Youtube apps and co.
on the desktop.Pro
- stable hardware
- Torx screws
- long battery life
- anti-thief
Contra
- Micro-USB
- Software mangled
- "normal" writing
- missing "loud mode" at tel.
- No tracker for Anti-Thief
Do not buy this product, a disaster
The keys on the keyboard do not respond correctly, sometimes does not take into account the key pressed, sometimes considers that the key has been pressed twice or more, so impossible to write a message correctly.
Not to recommend
Just turns off after 4 min phone call, very bad if you have a business.
Complained twice and supposedly sent in and repaired, what a lie!!!!Pro
- Good size
- Robust
Contra
- Turns off after 4 min. talk time
Constantly out of order.
After already 3 repairs the device is still not working properly... During a phone call, after about 4 minutes of discussion, the phone turns off... it's not the sim card because it works well on another mobile phone... really disappointing. My advice: avoid absolutely...
Found
Pro
- Resistant to water and falls - super
Moyen
First aid post
Pro
- Need it for the medical service of our Samaritans association super decision
- Cheap
- Robust
- Good battery
Unusable
Recently bought this mobile. After a few days, the phone restarted on its own, even though it was just on the table and I didn't touch it. Also suddenly shuts off during a phone call and is hard to turn on afterwards. In addition, it suddenly switches from German language menu navigation to English, or resets the ringer volume. After only about two weeks, I had to send it in for repair and was then without a mobile for 4 weeks. Shortly after I got it back from repair, the same errors started all over again. This CAT B35 is absolutely unusable.
Cat B35
Good for manual work.
Pro
- Rugged, easy to use, waterproof.
Does what it must
Pro
- Rugged
- Battery life
Electronic waste
Although I have used the phone only little (second device), the battery is already after 18 months at the end of its forces - and a battery is known to be excluded from the warranty.
The motor noise when switching on and off is a gimmick that quickly once tremendously annoying.
I did not succeed in sending picture messages.Would not recommend it to anyone
Already 3 phones have the same problems. Sim card slot apparently has a loose contact and recognizes the sim card partially no longer. In addition, it makes itself independently off and then restarts again. Such a device is absolutely unreliable and cannot be called "robust". It is not at all suitable as a business mobile phone, let alone for everyday use.
Pro
- Handy
Contra
- KaiOS menu confusing
- Sim card slot defect
- Hardware hangs up
Perfect if you want to disconnect from your phone because this device is to sh*t
Not great battery, not very stable OS with random crashes... exactly what I was looking for to remove any dopamine effect while using my phone!
Pro
- Less spyware than a smartphone
- Light
- Unbreakable
- Whatssapp
Contra
- Low battery
- Lack of stability
30 out of 41 reviews
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