Dell has built a reputation as a supplier of rugged tablets, and the Latitude 7220 Rugged Serious Pill is a solid addition to the variety. It has undergone military-grade (MIL-STD 810G and 810H) tests (together with transit and running fall-assessments), can do the job in temperatures ranging from -28°C to 62°C, and is IP65 rated for dust and drinking water resistance — as befits a pill that’s produced to survive the toughest of conditions. 

The 11.6-inch FHD (one,920 x one,080) touch screen has a utmost brightness of 1000 nits, so it can be fully outdoor readable. It can also be utilized with gloved arms. The screen sits in deep bezels and has a chunky, rubberised surround that’s more bolstered at the corners by an more layer of defense. The aforementioned fall tests incorporates transit drops from one.22m (4 ft) and running drops from .91m (three ft).

There’s a caddy in the prime edge for a small, lightweight but serviceable stylus that’s tethered properly to the overall body. If you don’t want the stylus and the tether, both equally are quickly removed.

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Dell’s 11.6-inch Latitude 7720 Rugged Serious Pill runs on 8th-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 multiple options for connectivity and extras.


Impression: Sandra Vogel/ZDNet

As you’d count on provided all the defense, the Latitude 7220 Rugged Serious Pill is chunky for its 11.6-inch screen measurement. It measures 312.2mm wide by 203mm deep and is 24.4mm thick (twelve.3in. x 7.99in. x .96in.). It can be hefty way too, setting up at one.33kg (2.93lbs). None of these measurements are as suitable as they would be if you were being deciding on an each day pill or notebook — in fact, the more measurement and pounds to some extent reveal the diploma of defense for the innards.

This defense extends to placing the ports and connectors at the rear of hinged addresses. These all sit on the correct edge (in landscape mode), and comprise a mini serial (RS-232) port at the rear of its personal hinged go over, the ability connector (yet again at the rear of its personal go over), and then, all at the rear of one particular go over: USB-C with DisplayPort USB three. three.5mm headset jack and MicroSD card slot. 

Beneath the screen (in landscape mode) there is an array of 8 buttons, a few of which are person configurable. The non-configurable buttons are volume up and down, screen brightness up and down, and automobile-rotate toggle. All of these buttons gentle up an eerie environmentally friendly when one particular is pressed.

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On the back there is a smartcard reader and a fingerprint scanner, in addition a detachable go over for an optional incredibly hot-swappable secondary battery (£20.15 ex. VAT). Equally the main and secondary batteries are 2-mobile 32Wh Li-ion models.

There is an optional ‘all or nothing’ digicam setup that comprises a 5MP digicam and Windows Howdy IR digicam on the entrance, and an 8MP digicam at the back. Equally the main cameras have sliding privateness addresses, although the IR digicam does not. A keyboard is also optional, but I was not sent one particular to total the check package.

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As befits a fully rugged pill, all ports are effectively protected at the rear of hinged addresses.


Impression: Sandra Vogel/ZDNet  

The design and style is incredibly modular, making it possible for for a great deal of configuration options. You can go away out the cameras, for illustration, conserving you £28.sixty (ex. VAT), or specify 802.11ax wi-fi (Wi-Fi 6) rather of 802.11ac a shoulder strap will cost you £15.46 (ex. VAT), when a smooth tackle is just £10.02 (ex. VAT).

Playing all over with other specs can be additional pricey. Going up from the foundation 8th-technology Main i3-8145U processor to the prime-close Main i7-8665U provides £207.35 (ex. VAT), when storage upgrades from the foundation 128GB M.2 PCIe NVMe Class 40 SSD can mount up: a 256GB drive provides just £29.25 (ex. VAT), but choose for a 1TB drive and you’re on the lookout at £324 (ex. VAT). Meanwhile, mobile broadband (Snapdragon X20 LTE) provides £103.35 (ex. VAT) to the cost.

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Even at the foundation cost, where by the Main i3-8145U processor is teamed with 8GB of RAM and an 128GB SSD, the Dell Latitude 7220 Rugged Serious Pill will set you back £1,791.40 (ex. VAT £2,149.sixty eight inc. VAT) or $one,899. Start off introducing in extras and the cost truly mounts up. But that’s the way with rugged tablets, and the incredibly configurable character of this one particular, along with its extremely-dazzling screen, stylus, programmable buttons and outstanding defense absolutely make it suit for objective.

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