The previous incarnations of tough phones have been somewhat bulky and lacking in the many features seen on smartphones, however rugged phones have come a long way. When looking at the best phones for builders or for anyone working in a tough or harsh environment a tough phone with a rugged chassis is ideal and the latest offering from Caterpillar offers a super tough casing combined with smartphone capabilities.

Caterpillar B15Q Smartphone features

The Caterpillar B15Q is the first Android KitKat rugged phone giving you all the amazing apps on the Google Play store and the latest innovations from Google on the OS. This tough phone packs a quad-core processor so you can have multiple apps running easily and the 4-inch display is the ideal size for web browsing. The 5-megapixel camera on the back is great for taking snaps and the bright LED flash doubles as a torch should you find yourself in the dark.

Social network integration is included so you can browse the latest tweets and updates as well as views pins on Pinterest and share your status with friends and family.

Music and video can be enjoyed on the phone and a bunch of apps are included such as Ocearch Shark Tracker, Swiftkey for easy text input and Waves Audio for superior sound quality.

There is a VGA front facing camera for video calls and along with the quad-core processor the Caterpillar B15Q has 1GB RAM and 4GB of on board memory which can be boosted with a microSD card. The connectivity package includes 3.5G and Wi-Fi for web browsing, Bluetooth for connecting wireless accessories and GPS for navigation assistance.

Caterpillar B15Q Tough Phone features

As this is a Caterpillar handset you can be assured that this phone can handle pretty much anything that is chucked at it. The 4-inch display is protected by Corning Gorilla Glass and includes wet finger tracking and the case is IP67 certified making it impervious to dust and waterproof for up to 30 minutes in up to 1 metre of water (with port covers secured).

The Caterpillar B15Q is so tough it has a Military Standard rating of 810G which translates to a phone that can withstand extreme temperatures, shock and being dropped. The drop rating in this phone is impressive as the super tough casing will bounce back from a fall of up to 1.8 metres and even excessive temperatures of -20 degrees C up to 55 degrees C are no problem for this tough phone.

The Caterpillar B15Q shows that you can have a phone that is built to be tough but still have all the flexibility of a smartphone so if you love outdoor activities or work in a harsh environment then this tough phone is the one for you.

What do you think of the Caterpillar B15Q? Do you think this tough phone has enough smartphone features? Tell us your thoughts by commenting below or join the conversation on Google+.

Written by: Carmel Brown