Dell Latitude 7220 Rugged Extreme Tablet, hands on: Fully equipped for harsh environments Review

Dell has crafted a reputation as a provider of rugged tablets, and the Latitude 7220 Rugged Serious Tablet is a solid addition to the array. It has gone through military services-grade (MIL-STD 810G and 810H) screening (together with transit and operating drop-tests), can get the job done in temperatures ranging from -28°C to 62°C, and is IP65 rated for dust and drinking water resistance — as befits a pill which is manufactured to endure the toughest of situations. 

The 11.six-inch FHD (one,920 x one,080) touch display screen has a maximum brightness of one thousand nits, so it is really absolutely outside readable. It can also be made use of with gloved hands. The display screen sits in deep bezels and has a chunky, rubberised surround which is more bolstered at the corners by an excess layer of defense. The aforementioned drop screening features transit drops from one.22m (four toes) and operating drops from .91m (three toes).

You will find a caddy in the best edge for a smaller, lightweight but serviceable stylus which is tethered nicely to the human body. If you really don’t want the stylus and the tether, both are easily taken off.

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Dell’s 11.six-inch Latitude 7720 Rugged Serious Tablet runs on eighth-technology Intel Core (i3, i5 or i7) processors with 8GB of RAM and up to 1TB of SSD storage. It is really really configurable, with multiple alternatives for connectivity and accessories.


Image: Sandra Vogel/ZDNet

As you would hope supplied all the defense, the Latitude 7220 Rugged Serious Tablet is chunky for its 11.six-inch display screen dimension. It actions 312.2mm large by 203mm deep and is 24.4mm thick (twelve.3in. x seven.99in. x .96in.). It is really major much too, beginning at one.33kg (2.93lbs). None of these measurements are as applicable as they would be if you had been choosing an every day pill or laptop — in reality, the excess dimension and body weight to some extent suggest the degree of defense for the innards.

This defense extends to putting the ports and connectors powering hinged covers. These all sit on the correct edge (in landscape manner), and comprise a mini serial (RS-232) port powering its have hinged address, the electrical power connector (yet again powering its have address), and then, all powering just one address: USB-C with DisplayPort USB three. three.5mm headset jack and MicroSD card slot. 

Beneath the display screen (in landscape manner) you can find an array of eight buttons, a few of which are user configurable. The non-configurable buttons are volume up and down, display screen brightness up and down, and auto-rotate toggle. All of these buttons gentle up an eerie green when just one is pressed.

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On the back you can find a smartcard reader and a fingerprint scanner, plus a removable address for an optional incredibly hot-swappable secondary battery (£20.fifteen ex. VAT). Both the principal and secondary batteries are 2-mobile 32Wh Li-ion units.

There is an optional ‘all or nothing’ camera setup that includes a 5MP camera and Home windows Good day IR camera on the entrance, and an 8MP camera at the back. Both the key cameras have sliding privateness covers, though the IR camera does not. A keyboard is also optional, but I was not despatched just one to entire the exam kit.

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As befits a absolutely rugged pill, all ports are effectively safeguarded powering hinged covers.


Image: Sandra Vogel/ZDNet  

The structure is very modular, making it possible for for a good deal of configuration alternatives. You can depart out the cameras, for example, preserving you £28.sixty (ex. VAT), or specify 802.11ax wi-fi (Wi-Fi six) alternatively of 802.11ac a shoulder strap will charge you £15.forty six (ex. VAT), even though a comfortable manage is just £10.02 (ex. VAT).

Actively playing all over with other specs can be additional expensive. Transferring up from the base eighth-technology Core i3-8145U processor to the best-close Core i7-8665U adds £207.35 (ex. VAT), even though storage updates from the base 128GB M.2 PCIe NVMe Course 40 SSD can mount up: a 256GB drive adds just £29.twenty five (ex. VAT), but choose for a 1TB drive and you happen to be looking at £324 (ex. VAT). In the meantime, mobile broadband (Snapdragon X20 LTE) adds £103.35 (ex. VAT) to the charge.

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Even at the base selling price, wherever the Core i3-8145U processor is teamed with 8GB of RAM and an 128GB SSD, the Dell Latitude 7220 Rugged Serious Tablet will set you back £1,791.40 (ex. VAT £2,149.68 inc. VAT) or $one,899. Start introducing in extras and the selling price truly mounts up. But which is the way with rugged tablets, and the very configurable mother nature of this just one, alongside with its extremely-bright display screen, stylus, programmable buttons and excellent defense unquestionably make it fit for objective.

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