CAT S42 vs. Fairphone 5

Phone Comparison, Reviews and Tests

In depth comparison and review of CAT S42 and Fairphone 5. Compare sizes, cameras, batteries, memory, and other important specifications and features to easily choose the right phone for you. Our goal is to help you uncover differences between the products and find the phone that will best fit your needs.

Phone Specifications Comparison

CAT S42 vs. Fairphone 5 Comparison Chart
DESIGN AND DIMENSIONS CAT S42 Fairphone 5
Product Type Smartphone Smartphone
Form Factor Touch - Rugged Touch
Height 161.3 mm 161.6 mm Fairphone 5 has greater height than CAT S42.
Width 77.2 mm 75.83 mm CAT S42 has greater width than Fairphone 5.
Depth 12.7 mm 9.6 mm Fairphone 5 is narrower than CAT S42.
Weight 220 g 212 g Fairphone 5 is lighter than CAT S42.
Body Colour - Sky blue | Transparent | Matte black
Body Material - 100% post-consumer recycled plastic
Protection Shockproof, dustproof, splashproof, waterproof, sandproof, dirtproof, drop-proof Splash-resistant, dust-resistant, shock-resistant
Waterproof (Water-resistant) Yes - CAT S42 is waterproof.
IP rating IP68, IP69 IP55
SAR Value 0.947 W/kg (head), 1.206 W/kg (body), 2.029 W/kg (limb) -
Integrated Components FM radio -
Connector Type USB
Headset jack - mini-phone 3.5mm
USB Type-C - 24 pin USB-C
SIM Card Type (Size) Nano SIM Nano SIM, Electronic SIM card (e-SIM)
SIM Card Qty Dual-SIM Dual-SIM
DISPLAY CAT S42 Fairphone 5
Display Type LCD display OLED display
Display Technology IPS OLED
Screen Size (Display Size) 5.5" 6.46" Fairphone 5 has larger screen size than CAT S42.
Screen Resolution (Display Resolution) 1440 x 720 pixels 2700 x 1224 pixels Fairphone 5 has better screen resolution than CAT S42.
Display Format HD+ Full HD+
Aspect Ratio 18:9 20:9
Max Brightness - 880 cd/m²
Colour Depth - 1.07 billion colours
Contrast Ratio - 1000000:1
Display Enhancement Technology Super Bright Display -
Display Refresh Rate - 90 Hz
Touch Sampling Rate - 300 Hz
Display Features - Wide colour display (P3), Adaptive Tone, Pixelworks technology
Display Protection (Screen Protector) Corning Gorilla Glass 5 (scratch resistant glass) Corning Gorilla Glass 5 (scratch resistant glass)
PROCESSOR CAT S42 Fairphone 5
Processor Type (CPU) MediaTek Helio A20 Qualcomm
Processor Number - QCM6490
Clock Speed - 2.7 GHz
Processor Core Qty Quad-core 8-core Fairphone 5 has higher processor core quantity than CAT S42.
Graphics System (GPU) - Qualcomm ADRENO 643
MEMORY CAT S42 Fairphone 5
RAM 3 GB 8 GB Fairphone 5 has more RAM than CAT S42.
Internal Memory Size (Storage Capacity) 32 GB 256 GB Fairphone 5 has more internal memory than CAT S42.
Supported Flash Memory Cards (Expandable Memory) microSDHC, microSDXC - up to 128 GB microSDHC, microSD, microSDXC - up to 2 TB
CAMERA CAT S42 Fairphone 5
MAIN CAMERA
Number of Main Cameras 1 2
Sensor Resolution 13 Megapixel 50 Megapixel Fairphone 5 has better camera resolution than CAT S42.
Sensor Size - 1/1.49"
Sensor Name - Sony IMX800 sensor
Lens Aperture F/2.0 F/1.88 Fairphone 5 has better lens aperture than CAT S42.
Lens Construction - 6-element
Pixel Size - 1 μm
Optical Image Stabiliser (OIS) - Optical Image Stabiliser (OIS) Fairphone 5 has optical stabilisation.
Focus Adjustment Automatic Automatic
Minimum Focal Length (Focal Distance) - 10 cm
Focal Length Equivalent to 35mm Camera - 26mm
Digital Zoom - 8x
Camera Modes - Panorama, Slow motion mode, Pro mode, Portrait, Super Night mode, Stop-Motion Video Mode, High-Pixel Mode
Light Source LED flash LED flash
Video Resolutions - 1920 x 1080 (1080p) at 30 fps, 1920 x 1080 (1080p) at 60 fps, Slo-mo video 1920 x 1080 (1080p) at 120 fps, Slo-mo video 1280 x 720 (720p) at 240 fps, 3840 x 2160 (4K) at 30 fps
Camera Features (Functions) Phase Detect Auto-Focus (PDAF) 4-in-1 pixel binning, OIS+EIS dual stabilisation
SECOND CAMERA
Sensor Resolution (2nd Camera) - 50 Megapixel
Sensor Size (2nd Camera) - 1/2.51"
Sensor Name (2nd Camera) - Sony IMX858 Sensor
Lens Type (2nd Camera) - Ultra wide-angle lens
Lens Aperture (2nd Camera) - F/2.2
Lens Element Qty (2nd Camera) - 6-element
Pixel Size (2nd Camera) - 0.7 μm
Focal Length Equivalent to 35mm Camera - 13mm
Camera Functions (2nd Camera) - Autofocus
Camera Modes (2nd Camera) - Macro mode
Camera Features (2nd Camera) - Electronic Image Stabiliser (EIS), 2.5cm macro photography, 4-in-1 pixel binning
FRONT CAMERA
Number of Front Cameras 1 1
Sensor Resolution (Front) 5 Megapixel 50 Megapixel Fairphone 5 has better front camera resolution than CAT S42.
Sensor Size (Front) - 1/2.76"
Sensor Name (Front) - Samsung JN1
Lens Aperture (Front) - F/2.45
Pixel Size (Front) - 0.64 μm
Focus Adjustment Focus free Focus free
Focal Length Equivalent to 35mm Camera - 22mm
Light Source (Front) - Display flash
Camera Features (Front) - Electronic Image Stabiliser (EIS), 4-in-1 Pixel technology, up to 1.5x digital zoom
BATTERY AND CHARGING CAT S42 Fairphone 5
Battery Capacity (Battery Size) 4200 mAh 4200 mAh Both phones have the same battery capacity.
Standby Time - 459 hours
Talk Time - 2280 minutes
Run Time Details - Talk: up to 2280 min
Standby: up to 459 hrs
Continuous browsing: up to 18 hrs
Battery Technology Lithium Ion Lithium Ion
CELLULAR CAT S42 Fairphone 5
Technology WCDMA (UMTS) / GSM WCDMA (UMTS) / GSM
Mobile Broadband Generation 4G 5G Fairphone 5 has more advanced generation mobile network.
Operating System Android 10 Android 13
Payment Technology Android Pay -
Navigation GPS, A-GPS, GLONASS, BeiDou GPS, A-GPS, GLONASS, BeiDou, Galileo
COMMUNICATIONS CAT S42 Fairphone 5
Data Transmission GPRS, EDGE, HSDPA, HSUPA, HSPA+, FDD-LTE LTE, 5G NR, HSDPA+
2G Band 850 GSM, 900 GSM, 1800 GSM, 1900 GSM 850 GSM, 900 GSM, 1800 GSM, 1900 GSM
3G UMTS Band Band 1, Band 2, Band 4, Band 5, Band 8 Band 1, Band 2, Band 5, Band 8
3G UMTS Frequency 2100, 1900, 1700, 850, 900 2100, 1900, 850, 900
4G LTE Band Band 1, Band 2, Band 3, Band 4, Band 5, Band 7, Band 8, Band 20, Band 28 Band 1, Band 2, Band 3, Band 4, Band 5, Band 7, Band 8, Band 12, Band 20, Band 28, Band 32, Band 38, Band 40, Band 41, Band 42, Band 48, Band 66, Band 71
4G LTE Frequency FDD 2100, FDD 1900 PCS, FDD 1800+, FDD 1700 - 2110 AWS, FDD 850, FDD 2600, FDD 900, FDD 800 DD, FDD 700 APT FDD 2100, FDD 1900 PCS, FDD 1800+, FDD 1700 - 2110 AWS, FDD 850, FDD 2600, FDD 900, FDD 700a, FDD 800 DD, FDD 700 APT, FDD 1500 L, TDD 2600, TDD 2300, TDD 2500, TDD 3500, TDD 3600, FDD 1700 - 2110 AWS-3, FDD 600
5G NR Band - N1, n2, n3, n5, n7, n8, n20, n28, n38, n41, n66, n71, n77, n78, n48
5G NR Frequency - FDD 2100, FDD 1900PCS, FDD 1800, FDD 850, FDD 2600, FDD 900, FDD 800, FDD 700APT, TDD TD 2600, TDD TD 2500, FDD AWS-3, FDD 600, TDD TD 3700, TDD TD 3500, TDD 3500
Wireless Interface IEEE 802.11a/b/g/n/ac Wi-Fi 6E
Bluetooth Bluetooth 5.0 Bluetooth 5.2 LE
NFC Yes Yes Both phones have an NFC reader for mobile payments.
Messaging Services SMS, MMS -
MEDIA CAT S42 Fairphone 5
Supported Digital Audio Standards - AAC, apt-X, LDAC, SBC, apt-X HD
FEATURES CAT S42 Fairphone 5
Phone Functions Speakerphone, voice control, call timer, conference call, flight mode, voice dialing, vibrating alert -
Sensors Accelerometer, ambient light sensor, proximity sensor, digital compass Accelerometer, proximity sensor, magnetometer, Time of Flight (ToF), light sensor, gyroscope, compass
Security Devices - Face recognition, fingerprint reader (side)
Security Technology - Face Unlock
Additional Phone Features Wet Touchscreen Operation, Glove Touchscreen Operation OTG Reverse Charge, modular and repairable design, recycled and fair materials, DisplayPort over USB Type-C, 8 years of software upgrades
Android Enterprise Recommended - Yes
OTHERS CAT S42 Fairphone 5
Included Accessories Power adapter -
Compliant Standards MIL-STD 810G, IP68, IP69 IP55, MIL-STD-810H, ICE 60058-2-31
Product Recycled Content - 70 % - fair focus or recycled materials
Max Depth of Water Resistance 1.5 m -
Max Height of Shock Resistance 1.8 m 1.8 m
Max Operating Temperature 55 °C -
Min Operating Temperature -25 °C -
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