MWC 2013: Various brands overview

CAT B15

Caterpiller, probably one of the last names you'd expect to hear at a mobile trade show, has announced their ultra-rugged B15 smartphone, which has an IP67 rating and can survive drops of up to 1.8 meters, underwater immersion for up to half an hour, and even operate in extreme temperatures (down to -20 C).

While it can take some punishment, the screen is not that great display-wise

As far as the software side of things goes, the B15 does have Jelly Bean, but the dual-core 1GHz processor, 512MB of RAM, and 5MP camera capable of 720p recording make this device sound like it should've been released a year ago.

The construction is solid but the performance is just average

The display has low contrast and poor visibility when not looked at head on, and while it certainly looks like it can take some punishment, we'd be hard pressed to recommend this to anyone but construction workers or the like. If you simply tend to drop phones, there's better packages out there.