Panasonic expands Toughpad family of rugged tablets

Panasonic is carving out its niche with rugged tablets for military and government employees. And its newest product for that market is the Toughpad FZ-Q1, a 12.5-inch tablet with enterprise-grade ruggedness.

Panasonic unveiled the new product at the 2016 International CES, the big tech trade show in Las Vegas this week. The device runs Windows 8.1 Pro, and it comes with an Intel i5-4302Y vPro processor or an Intel Celeron processor N2807.

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It’s really for anyone who needs a more durable tablet. Applications include code enforcement, home health, transportation, retail cash registers, and small businesses.

“When fully rugged notebooks were introduced, we slowly saw the demand grow for similar solutions that were less robust,” said Jan Ruderman, vice president of the business mobility group at Panasonic of North America, in a statement. “The tablet market is following this path, but at an accelerated pace. Many applications don’t require a fully rugged device, and as a result, businesses felt compelled to purchase consumer-grade solutions.”

Ruderman added, “Unfortunately, those tablets don’t provide the reliability, usability and security businesses require and consumer device manufacturers typically don’t have the sales and services infrastructure needed to support enterprise customers.”

This fanless Toughpad features a full High Definition, 350 nit, 10-finger touch screen with an anti-reflective (AR) treatment. Other usability features include an easy-grip bottom cover, an integrated stylus, and a fast-charging battery that outperforms consumer-grade tablets. It has USB 3.0, MicroSDXC, a 2-megapixel webcam, an 8MP rear-facing camera, and options for smart card readers. Its battery lasts up to 9 hours and the device weighs 2.3 pounds.

The Toughpad FZ-Q1 will be available in March, at an estimated street price of $1,700 for the Performance model and $1,000 for the Standard model.