The Caterpillar S40 is a very rugged but not very powerful smartphone

Caterpillar may not be a household name among Android smartphone makers, but the company has a long history of launching rugged smartphones. Enter the new Cat S40, one of the most rugged Android handsets that we've ever seen.

Starting with the good stuff, the Caterpillar S40 comes with an IP68 certification, meaning that it's waterproof when submerged in up to 1m of water for up to 60 minutes, and it’s also dustproof. The ruggedness of the Cat S40 is guaranteed by the handset's Military Standard 810G certification, one that ensures that the handset is prepared for the harshest of environments. The manufacturer says that the Cat S40 can withstand any drop from as high as 6 feet / 1.8 meters.

Unfortunately, rugged as the Cat S40 is, the handset is lacking in terms of hardware specs. The 4.7-inch display may be protected by a layer of Corning's Gorilla Glass 4 and is also operable with gloves and wet fingers, but the panel only runs a resolution of 540 by 960 pixels. Under the hood, the situation doesn't get any better. The brains of the operation is a 1.1GHz quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 210 chipset, which is the worst-performing chip that Qualcomm currently makes. Paired with 1GB of RAM, the Snapdragon 210 should be able to perform basic operations, but just don't expect the handset to be snappy at it.

Other specs include 16GB of microSD-expandable integrated storage space, an 8MP primary camera, a 2MP secondary shooter, as well as a 3000mAh battery. On the software side, the Caterpillar S40 runs Android 5.1 Lollipop.

The Cat S40 will be launched on August 1st in 60 countries around the globe. In the US, the handset will set you back $399 off contract. If you need an entry-level smartphone that's able to take a serious beating and survive, the Cat S40 might be one of your best choices. For a tad less protection against the environment but a lot more processing power, check out the only pricier Samsung Galaxy S6 Active.