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

Dell has designed a standing as a provider of rugged tablets, and the Latitude 7220 Rugged Severe Tablet is a strong addition to the vary. It has been through military-quality (MIL-STD 810G and 810H) testing (such as transit and functioning drop-checks), can function in temperatures ranging from -28°C to 62°C, and is IP65 rated for dust and water resistance — as befits a pill that is produced to endure the toughest of problems. 

The eleven.6-inch FHD (one,920 x one,080) touch screen has a highest brightness of one thousand nits, so it’s absolutely outdoor readable. It can also be utilized with gloved fingers. The screen sits in deep bezels and has a chunky, rubberised surround that is even more bolstered at the corners by an additional layer of security. The aforementioned drop testing incorporates transit drops from one.22m (four toes) and functioning drops from .91m (three toes).

There is certainly a caddy in the major edge for a modest, light-weight but serviceable stylus that is tethered properly to the overall body. If you never want the stylus and the tether, both equally are easily taken out.

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Dell’s eleven.6-inch Latitude 7720 Rugged Severe Tablet runs on eighth-technology Intel Main (i3, i5 or i7) processors with 8GB of RAM and up to 1TB of SSD storage. It can be very configurable, with a number of possibilities for connectivity and equipment.


Picture: Sandra Vogel/ZDNet

As you would hope given all the security, the Latitude 7220 Rugged Severe Tablet is chunky for its eleven.6-inch screen measurement. It actions 312.2mm extensive by 203mm deep and is 24.4mm thick (12.3in. x seven.99in. x .96in.). It can be major much too, setting up at one.33kg (2.93lbs). None of these measurements are as applicable as they would be if you ended up selecting an everyday pill or laptop computer — in truth, the additional measurement and body weight to some extent suggest the degree of security for the innards.

This security extends to placing the ports and connectors guiding hinged handles. These all sit on the appropriate edge (in landscape manner), and comprise a mini serial (RS-232) port guiding its individual hinged protect, the electricity connector (yet again guiding its individual protect), and then, all guiding 1 protect: USB-C with DisplayPort USB three. three.5mm headset jack and MicroSD card slot. 

Beneath the screen (in landscape manner) you can find an array of eight buttons, a few of which are consumer configurable. The non-configurable buttons are volume up and down, screen brightness up and down, and vehicle-rotate toggle. All of these buttons light-weight up an eerie green when 1 is pressed.

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On the back again you can find a smartcard reader and a fingerprint scanner, furthermore a removable protect for an optional warm-swappable secondary battery (£20.fifteen ex. VAT). Each the key and secondary batteries are 2-mobile 32Wh Li-ion units.

There is an optional ‘all or nothing’ camera setup that comprises a 5MP camera and Home windows Hi there IR camera on the entrance, and an 8MP camera at the back again. Each the most important cameras have sliding privateness handles, though the IR camera does not. A keyboard is also optional, but I was not sent 1 to total the take a look at package.

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As befits a absolutely rugged pill, all ports are properly secured guiding hinged handles.


Picture: Sandra Vogel/ZDNet  

The design is really modular, allowing for for lots of configuration possibilities. You can depart out the cameras, for example, conserving you £28.60 (ex. VAT), or specify 802.11ax wi-fi (Wi-Fi 6) in its place of 802.11ac a shoulder strap will expense you £15.46 (ex. VAT), while a gentle tackle is just £10.02 (ex. VAT).

Playing all around with other specifications can be more expensive. Relocating up from the foundation eighth-technology Main i3-8145U processor to the major-conclusion Main i7-8665U adds £207.35 (ex. VAT), while storage updates from the foundation 128GB M.2 PCIe NVMe Course forty SSD can mount up: a 256GB generate adds just £29.25 (ex. VAT), but decide for a 1TB generate and you might be searching at £324 (ex. VAT). In the meantime, cell broadband (Snapdragon X20 LTE) adds £103.35 (ex. VAT) to the expense.

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Even at the foundation value, in which the Main i3-8145U processor is teamed with 8GB of RAM and an 128GB SSD, the Dell Latitude 7220 Rugged Severe Tablet will established you back again £1,791.forty (ex. VAT £2,149.68 inc. VAT) or $one,899. Get started incorporating in extras and the value truly mounts up. But that is the way with rugged tablets, and the really configurable nature of this 1, along with its extremely-vibrant screen, stylus, programmable buttons and great security surely make it healthy for objective.

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