This new Android phone is the ultimate gadget for germophobes

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The Cat S42 H+ can supposedly inhibit 99.9% of bacteria from replicating within the first 24 hours

cat s42 H+
(Image credit: Cat)

If you're in the market for an ultra rugged smartphone, Cat has a new one for you. The S42 H+ is an afforable smartphone built for toughness, but it also features an anti-microbial coating built into the phone itself.

In this ever-going pandemic era, I think a lot of us have become a lot more aware of the little things potentially living on our phones. The construction of the S42 H+ itself helps to fight off some of the bacteria that a lot of us carry around.

Silver has some anti-microbial properties, so Cat teamed up with Addmaster to use the latter's Biomaster silver ion technology. This is what separates the S42 H+ (Hygiene Plus Innovation) from the regular S42. Otherwise, it's the same phone.

But we'd forgive you for not knowing what the S42 is off the top of your head. These ultra rugged phones aren't often marketed to regular consumers, instead posing themselves as "blue collar" devices meant to survive harsher conditions. 

For example, the phone is IP68 and IP69 certified, and can survive warm, soapy water. It handled bleach wipe testing 3,000 times and can deal with some commonly used chemical mixtures, such as hand sanitizer. You can wash the phone as often as you need to.

The Cat S42 H+ uses a MediaTek Helio A20 processor, 3GB of RAM, 32GB of storage, a 4,200 mAh battery, and it runs Android 10. You get a single 13MP rear camera with a 5MP front cam. The phone sports a 5.5-inch HD+ display with a touchscreen that works when wet or if you're wearing gloves. It's an LTE device, so there's no 5G support. The S42 is certainly not going to compete with the best Android phones, but it's not meant to.

You can purchase the S42 H+ in the UK for €269 at the end of April. If you're in the U.S., you can buy one later this summer for $299. It will receive Android 11 later this year (likely after Android 12 is out, disappointedly so). 

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Jordan Palmer
Jordan Palmer
Phones Editor

Jordan is the Phones Editor for Tom's Guide, covering all things phone-related. He's written about phones for over six years and plans to continue for a long while to come. He loves nothing more than relaxing in his home with a book, game, or his latest personal writing project. Jordan likes finding new things to dive into, from books and games to new mechanical keyboard switches and fun keycap sets. Outside of work, you can find him poring over open-source software and his studies.