Dell’s Latitude 7220 Rugged Extreme Tablet Gets Quad-Core CPUs & 1000-Nits Display

Dell has introduced a new version of its high end 12-inch Latitude Rugged Extreme tablet, the Latitude 7220 Rugged Extreme. Like other ruggedized PCs, the new 7220 is designed to reliably work in harsh environments, offering against scapes, drops, and material ingresses of all kinds. At a high level, Dell's latest ruggedized tablet largely carries over their earlier designs – making it compatible with 'most' of the accessories developed for them – but now it has been upgraded to a quad-core Intel Core 8^th Generation CPU, a 1000 nits display, as well as the latest in connectivity technologies.

Dell has a history of offering fully-rugged tablets that goes back to 2015, and with the Latitude 7220 RE they are now on their third generation tablet. Just like its predecessors, the Latitude 7220 Rugged Extreme tablet comes in the MIL-STD-810G-certified 24-mm thick chassis designed to withstand operating drops, thermal extremes (-29°C to 63°C/-20°F to 145°F), dust, sand, humidity, blowing rain, vibration, functional shock and all other kinds of physical impact. The tablet is also MIL-STD-461F certified, meaning that the Latitude 7220 RE is both designed to avoid leaking electromagnetic interference, as well as being able to resist it.

Because of the significant chassis bulk required meet the durability requirements for a ruggedized device, the Latitude 7220 Rugged Extreme is neither small nor light; the device weighs in 1.33 kilograms, which is comparable to a full-blown 13.3-inch notebook. In fact, the new model is 60 grams heavier than the previous-generation Latitude 7212 Rugged Extreme.

From a technology perspective, one of the key improvements with the Latitude 7220 RE is its new display panel, which offers a peak luminance of 1000 nits and should be bright enough to provide decent image quality even under direct sunlight. The brightness of the screen can now be regulated on the front panel of the tablet, which should be rather convenient. Meanwhile, the tablet no longer has a dedicated Windows button, but the latter is still present on Dell’s optional IP65-rated keyboard cover with kickstand.

Under the hood of the new tablet is Intel’s 8^th Generation Core i3/i5/i5 (Whiskey Lake) processor, which offers two or four cores along with Intel’s UHD Graphics 620. Depending on exact tablet SKU, that CPU can be accompanied by 8 GB or 16 GB of LPDDR3 memory and a PCIe 3.0 x4-based Class 35 or Class 40 M.2 SSD, with capacities ranging from 128 GB to 2 TB. The system can be powered by two hot-swappable batteries, each with a 34 Wh capacity (by default, the system includes only one), though Dell isn't promoting specific battery life figures since they expect the tablet's customers to have a pretty varied range of use cases.

Meanwhile, Dell's latest ruggedized tablet has also received a communications upgrade. The tablet not only offers Wi-Fi 5/6 and Bluetooth (which can be hardware disabled for military-bound devices), but also can include an optional Qualcomm Snapdragon X20 4G/LTE modem, as well as a FirstNet module to access networks for first responders.

As for wired I/O, the Latitude 7220 Rugged Extreme includes a USB 3.1 Type-C connector that can be used for charging and external display connectivity, a USB 3.0 Type-A port, an optional micro RS-232 port, a POGO connector for the keyboard, and a 3.5-mm audio jack for headsets. The tough tablet also features rear and front cameras, an SD card reader, an optional contactless smart card reader, as well as a touch fingerprint sensor. Meanwhile, notably unlike its predecessor, the 7220 no longer includes a GbE port, VGA, HDMI, nor some other legacy I/O options.

As far as security is concerned, Dell’s Latitude 7220 Rugged Extreme can be configured to cover all the bases. The tablet has a fingerprint reader, Dell’s ControlVault advanced authentication, Intel vPro remote management, a TPM 2.0 module, optional encryption for SSDs, and NIST SP800-147 secure platform.

The Dell Latitude 7220 Rugged Extreme tablet is now available from Dell starting at $1,899.

Related Reading:

• Dell Launches Three Rugged Latitude Laptops with up to 1000-nit Displays
• Dell Latitude 12 Updated: Rugged Tablet Gets Faster CPU, FHD LCD, Lower Weight, USB-C
• Dell Announces Latitude Rugged Extreme 12 and 14 Laptops

Source: Dell
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