Panasonic is adding two new tablets to its line of rugged devices aimed at folks who work outdoors. The Panasonic Toughpad FZ-E1 and Toughpad FZ-X1 are handheld tablets with 5 inch screens and the ability to withstand 10 foot drops, dust, water, and extreme temperatures.
These small tablets aren’t aimed at the general public though. Prices will start at $1799 when the little guys go on sale in August.
The Toughpad FZ-E1 features a 2.3 GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 processor and runs Windows Embedded 8.1 Handheld software, while the TouchPad FZ-X1 has a 1.7 GHz Snapdragon 600 processor and Android 4.2 Jelly Bean software.
Both devices feature 5 inch, 1280 x 720 pixel anti-reflective LCD displays, 2GB of RAM, 32GB of storage, micro SDXC card slots, 802.11ac WiFI, Bluetooth 4.0, NFC, and optional 3G and 4G. There are also options for barcode readers and magnetic stripe card readers.
The tablets have 8MP rear cameras and 1.3MP front-facing cameras, offer up to 14 hours of battery life thanks to a 6200mAh battery. They batteries are also hot swappable, allowing you to change batteries while the device continues to run.
The tablets may have phone-like screen sizes, but these rugged systems measure 1.2 inches thick and weigh 15 ounces, making them a lot heavier than a typical smartphone. But the sturdy devices can be dunked in up to 5 feet of water for as long as 30 minutes or usd in temperatures ranging from -4° F to 140°F
A WiFi-only Touchpad FZ-X1 will run $1799 when it hits the streets in August, while a model with mobile broadband will be available for $1849 should be available in January, 2015.
The WiFi-only ToughPad FZ-E1 will also launch in August for $1899, with a $1999 mobile broadband model coming in October for $1999.
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