Sometimes for the workforce that is mostly out of the office and in the field, a normal mobile device is not enough. You may need to have a tougher and more rugged device that is still chock-full of features to serve all your customer-facing workers. Panasonic, whose TOUGHBOOK line has been known for rugged devices for the outdoors, is now releasing a new tablet line called TOUGHBOOK FZ-L1 and it’s targeting those that are mostly mobile and customer-facing.
The tablet has a 7” display and is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon quad-core 1.1GHz CPU processor. It has 2GB RAM and 16GB internal storage so at least that part is not so impressive. It will run on Android 8.1 Oreo but of course you’ll see a future upgrade to Android 9 Pie. It has an 8MP rear camera which is meant more for document capture rather than mobile photography.
But of course the more attractive features for this kind of device is how it will fare outside the comfort of your home or office. It has military standard 810G, it has IP67 water and dust certification, and it can survive up to a 1.5m drop. It can also function in extreme temperatures ranging from -10 to +50 celsius. You can use it even in the rain or with a gloved hand or using an optional passive pen. It even has a full shift battery life with warm swap capabilities.
The TOUGHBOOK FZ-L1 tablet will come in 8 model variants: With or without an integrated enterprise-class, straightline barcode reader for scanning 1D, 2D or QR codes; with a choice of Wi-Fi only or Wi-Fi and 4G and data capabilities, and/or Google Mobile Services. It is targeting those doing inventory checking in the field or those involved in routing, navigation and inventory management in logistics, and also for those working in warehouses.
It is is priced at £1,049 or around $1400 for the Wi-Fi only version and £1,130 or around $1500 for the 4G and data version, with both prices at RRP plus VAT. It will be available this autumn in Europe and comes with a standard 3-year warranty.
SOURCE: Panasonic
