Dell Latitude 7212 Rugged Extreme Tablet - Review 2022

Thick cloud cover, heavy rain, and blustery wind are commmonplace in New York City in Jan. These truly miserable midwinter days are ideal for testing the Latitude 7212 Rugged Extreme Tablet (starts at $1,909; $2,687.02 every bit tested). Dell claims that this detachable Windows tablet is equally at dwelling house in blinding sunlight, driving snow, farthermost rut, biting cold, and pretty much anything else nature can dish out. Even better, the tablet's rugged enclosure protects pleasingly capable components, including a surprisingly brilliant full HD bear upon screen and hot-swappable batteries. And because that rugged competitors from the likes of Panasonic and Getac fetch serious premiums, the whole bundle is suprisingly affordable. That makes the Dell Breadth 7212 Rugged Extreme our new Editors' Selection rugged laptop.

No Shortage of Add-Ons

The Latitude 7212 isn't actually a laptop. Like the Panasonic Toughbook 33 from which it steals the Editors' Pick award, the Dell is really a detachable Windows tablet, a form factor that's probably ameliorate suited to the rugged tasks its owners volition frequently perform. With its optional keyboard encompass, the Breadth 7212 can reap information in the field—pictures of malfunctioning ability transformers, or perhaps data nerveless from a remote weather-monitoring station—and be fix to type up a quick report in one case you become back to your truck and attach the keyboard.

In an ideal earth, that keyboard would be included instead of a pricey $373 improver, but the total price is still far plenty below what you'd otherwise expect to pay for a rugged laptop (the Toughbook 33 we tested is $4,099, for instance) that we're non complaining. Some of the other pricey simply potentially necessary accessories you lot can society for the Latitude 7212 include an active pen ($36.46); a kickstand ($73.85); a battery charger ($174.57); a chest harness ($45.fourscore); a shoulder strap ($45.80); a rigid handle ($174.57); a desktop dock ($326.24); a scanner module for barcodes and magnetic stripes ($399.63); and a module with Ethernet and two actress USB ports ($232.77).

Our review unit came with only the kickstand and the keyboard cover, which means it'due south similar to the legions of other less-rugged detachable tablets that we examination hither at PC Labs in that it can be propped up on a desk to apply as you would a conventional laptop. The kickstand is incredibly sturdy and grippy, which means no slipping or billowy when you tap on the screen at nearly any bending.

How Tough Is Information technology?

All told, with the kickstand and keyboard cover attached, this review unit weighs 4.98 pounds, or 3.two pounds for the tablet by itself. That'southward by no means light—most detachable Windows tablets weigh less than 3 pounds—but neither is information technology out of the ordinary among the Latitude 7212's rugged competitors. The Toughbook 33 weighs iii.37 pounds without its keyboard, while the Xplore XSlate R12 is a bit lighter at 3.09 pounds alone and 4.09 pounds with its kickstand and keyboard.

When you add in the Latitude 7212's measurements of viii by 0.96 by 12.3 inches (HWD), the general feeling is one of reassuring heft, which in turn makes you feel comfy carrying this affair everywhere you get. Even an iPad clad in the toughest of OtterBox defender cases doesn't experience as invincible as this.

Of course, the Latitude 7212's heft is a flake of a placebo, since the real protection comes from the way Dell has engineered the example and components. The exterior is a tough black plastic shell, augmented by grippy corners that resemble oversized versions of the triangular mounts that agree photos to the pages of an anthology. The edges are grippy likewise, and slightly springy, which means that if you drop the Breadth 7212, it will bounce.

Speaking of drops, the tablet is designed to meet the MIL-STD-810G immovability standard, which translates to the post-obit capabilities, co-ordinate to Dell's ain testing: surviving a drop from iv anxiety while information technology'southward off, or 3 anxiety while yous're using it; withstanding bravado rain, grit, and sand; and surviving explosive changes in atmospheric pressure, vibrations, shocks, and extreme temperature changes. Information technology'southward worth noting that if y'all drib information technology with the keyboard attached, the 2 components will probably split, which happened on two out of my iii drop tests.

The operational temperature range extends from minus 20 degrees to 145 degrees, and you lot can store the tablet from minus 60 degrees to 160 degrees. Dell even says the Latitude 7212 can withstand electromagnetic interference, which is covered by a carve up MIL-STD-461F standard.

In spite of all these standards, certifications, and Dell'due south internal testing, the Latitude 7212'due south warranty options are no different than any other business PC that the company offers. In other words, you'll still accept to pay an additional fee to add accidental harm service on acme of the included warranty. If yous exercise, Dell will repair damage acquired by accidental drops, spills, screen breaks, and the similar.

That'due south the same approach that many rugged PC manufacturers accept with their impairment protection, and it's the primary reason why nosotros test the functionality of the tablet in inclement weather condition like rain and wind rather than trying to replicate the MIL-STD-810G testing hither at PC Labs.

Finicky Touchpad, Brilliant Screen

The 11.6-inch touch screen is then bright that it was hands visible exterior on that dreary Tuesday afternoon, both while it was raining and during the brief periods of direct sunlight. Information technology's polarized and protected with Corning Gorilla Glass and it is designed to work with both gloved hands and the included stylus, a passive i that fits into a slot on the tablet'south rear when not in use. With unseasonably warm temperatures in the mid-50s, information technology wasn't quite cold enough during my time exterior with the Latitude 7212 for gloves, but the stylus performed flawlessly when tapping on the screen, even when littered with raindrops.

I wasn't every bit impressed with the touchpad, however. It became unusable in the rain after about 10 minutes, and even when it'south dry out and turned up to the maximum sensitivity setting, information technology still tracks poorly. At least the backlit keyboard is the same sturdy design that we've come up to expect from Latitude laptops and tablets.

The Latitude 7212 tin exist ordered with or without front- and rear-facing webcams, and the cost difference is petty (about $10). This review unit has both cameras installed (a 5MP forepart shooter and an 8MP rear photographic camera with flash) and they are amid the best basic webcams we've tested, at least for elementary needs like quick videoconferencing. Subjects filmed with both cameras indoors and out never looked done out, and there was virtually no graininess. Equally an added bonus, you can shut sliding doors to protect both lenses.

More doors—the flip-up kind, not the sliding kind—protect the ports, which on this unit include a microSD card slot, a USB 3.0 port, a USB-C port, a headphone jack, and fifty-fifty a mini serial port for backward compatibility. Y'all can configure a Breadth 7212 without the serial port, and if you need more USB ports you can order the dock or boosted port modules mentioned above.

Sound from the system's speakers is tinny, about what you'd look from a tablet that focuses on protection, non superior audio. Still, they're loud enough that the audio rails in a movie was conspicuously discernible outside, even in a higher place the pelting and street noise.

Field Performance

Our review unit of measurement comes equipped with an Intel Cadre i5-7300U running at 2.6GHz, Intel integrated graphics, 8GB of memory, and a 256GB NVMe SSD to handle storage. Our benchmark tests showed this configuration to be likely acceptable for most tasks you'll be performing in the field, although it's not the fastest rugged laptop nosotros've tested recently. A score of 3,137 on the PCMark 8 test ways that the Latitude 7212 has more enough horsepower to reach spider web browsing, video conferencing, data entry, and other common PC tasks with well-nigh no lag time. The best event on this exam belongs to the Getac S410 (3,349), merely the departure is minimal and whatever effect of more than 3,000 is very good.

On our specialized multimedia editing tasks, the Breadth 7212 performed about in the center of the pack. It was noticeably slower at encoding an HD video file using Handbrake (two minutes, 54 seconds) than the Xplore XSlate R12 (2:eleven) and the Panasonic Toughbook 33 (2:06), simply the 3:47 it took to cease applying a series of Photoshop filters is roughly the aforementioned every bit the XSlate (3:34) and the Toughbook (3:45). If your piece of work ofttimes involves these or other processor-intensive tasks, you'll want to consider upgrading your Latitude 7212 to an Intel Core i7. Other upgrade options include 16GB of memory and 512GB or 1TB SSDs.

One functioning arena in which the Latitude struggled is 3D gaming. Its integrated graphics failed to breach the 30fps threshold we consider to be the minimum for smoothen gaming, even on the Heaven and Valley simulations at medium quality settings. Chances are you won't accept much opportunity for gaming in rugged atmospheric condition anyway.

Come across How We Test Laptops

You lot'll have to extend the kickstand or remove it entirely (a task easily achieved without tools thanks to a single captive screw) to access the two battery compartments at the bottom rear edge of the tablet. With both 34Wh batteries installed and fully charged, the Latitude 7212 lasted 11 hours and 34 minutes on our battery-rundown examination. Even with just one battery installed, it still managed to eke out more than 5 hours, and since the batteries can be removed and inserted while the organisation is on, y'all could run the Latitude 7212 unplugged for days if you had to. Dell likewise offers 65Wh lithium ion batteries at $104.46 each for fifty-fifty more juice.

The bombardment life is impressive plenty compared with the contest (the Toughbook 33 achieved a time of 10:23), but information technology's even more than impressive when you business relationship for the fact that the batteries are powering an incredibly bright eleven.6-inch touch screen and a rather power-hungry Intel Core i5-7300U CPU.

A Durable Bargain

If you work in the field performing tasks ranging from frequent Antarctic expeditions to trips to accept readings from basement electric meters, your PC needs are far different from the average laptop or tablet shopper. Y'all need to consider the system's sturdiness and customization options before you wait at options like retentiveness and processing ability.

We think the Dell Latitude 7212 is perfectly suited for scenarios like these. Not only can information technology serve as both a laptop and a tablet, but information technology includes useful, even thoughtful features like a high-quality webcam, an extra-bright screen, and copious concrete protection, from waterproofing to shock resistance. What's more, it does all of this at a price that's far lower than what some competitors cost. That should give you condolement the next fourth dimension you're standing on a rainswept street corner on a bleak afternoon, pawing at your tablet'southward screen and knowing that it will do most everything you lot enquire of it for at to the lowest degree xi hours before it dies.

Source: https://sea.pcmag.com/laptops/19348/dell-latitude-7212-rugged-extreme-tablet

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