Not every one of us has the time to worry about screen shattering due to drops or getting body damage or malfunction due to water spillage. Then there are some of us who tend to work under very hot temperatures or even very cold. In such cases, the average tablet usually malfunctions, or their screen gets broken on the first drop or so, which can be very expensive to replace.
Therefore, Dell designed its Latitude 7212 Rugged Extreme Tablet to cater to such people who want to live a worry-free life while using their tablets. The tablet whose base model is available for $1,909 is meant to withstand extreme temperatures, whether too hot or too cold and even drops from up to 4 feet. Not only this, but it covers water spillage too, and you need not worry about the body getting scratched either.
It isn’t just a rugged tablet but also offers the performance of a business-class laptop. When it comes to business meetings, the tablet won’t disappoint you with its battery life either since it is meant to last throughout a day courtesy its two batteries. Furthermore, you would find the keyboard to be comfortable to type on, and the brightness level of the screen is just amazing, therefore easier to use under bright sunlight too. Though the only thing lacking about the tablet is that its touchpad doesn’t support multi-touch gestures, for unknown reasons.
Design
To put in one simple word, the tablet is indeed a beast. That’s right since even meant to look rugged, it still features an aggressive design. The ruggedness is made further possible by the back panel having a harder finish than usual. Furthermore, the edges feature a material which makes it possible to hold the tablet with a firmer grip than usual.
In addition to this, you can always use the tablet as a laptop too if you wanted, by attaching an optional keyboard. If used only as a tablet, it weighs just 2.6 pounds, though if you went on to attach the optional keyboard, kickstand, and another battery, then it shall weigh nearly twice i.e. 5 pounds. It is true that this keyboard attached weight is more than the keyboard attached weight of 12.9-inches Apple iPad Pro, Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Tablet and the Microsoft Surface Pro, which weigh 2.3 pounds, 2.4 pounds and 2.4 pounds respectively, but then none of these tablets offer the durability which the Dell Latitude 7212 offers, which of course means added weight than usual.
Considering dimensions, the tablet measures 12.3 x 8 x 1.1 inches as a tablet and 12.3 x 8.6 x 1.7 inches with kickstand and keyboard. Indeed the iPad Pro and Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Tablet measure just 0.6 inches in thickness and the Surface Pro 0.5 inches, but then again, these aren’t as rugged as this Dell beast.
Ports
To access the ports, you would have to open the rubber flaps on the right side. This is a precautionary measure to protect the tablet against unintentional water damage or even dust which usually gets trapped in the ports. One of these flaps provides access to the charging jack, and another one to the headphone jack, USB 3.0 port, and a USB Type-C port.
Perhaps, a great addition is a stylus pen which sits in a slot at the top edge of the display. Though, the stylus pen isn’t wireless but rather connected to the tablet via a cable that can be stretched. This means, that there is no way you can forget your stylus pen somewhere.
If you need a Micro Serial RS-232 port, you can always opt for a model which includes that. To access the port there would be another rubber flap on the right side of the tablet.
Security
There is a built-in TPM 2.0 chip which keeps your passwords secure, and there is a contactless smart card authentication reader too without any additional cost.
In case you want to log in to your tablet without the hassle on inputting a pin or password, you can opt for a model with a fingerprint sensor too which is present on the top-left corner of the back of the tablet for $69.41 extra. There is also a Kensington-Lock slot on the left side to prevent tablet theft.
In case you want specialized Data Protection Service, you can opt for a personal one by Dell for just $30.55 per 4 years. For business purposes, Dell offers its Dell Data Guardian and Dell Endpoint Security Enterprise for $98.15 per year. For $17.76 extra, you can also get the Intel vPro technology, through which the IT guys at your company can manage your machine remotely.
Cameras
The tablet doesn’t have one but two cameras: One is there in the middle of its top-bezel and another one at the top-right corner of its back. This means you can easily take selfies as well as portraits.
Furthermore, for added privacy reasons, in case you wonder if someone is watching you using the cameras, you need not worry or attach a tape over them since there is an added physical switch for each shooter. This allows the switch to slide over the lens, thus making sure, no one gets to see your surrounding and what you are doing.
Optional Keyboard and Touchpad
If you opt for the additional keyboard, you would find it very comfortable to type on. This is because the keyboard has an ideal 1.7 millimeters of travel and requires 73 g of force to press a key.
As far as the touchpad is concerned it measures 3.5 x 2-inches, apart from discrete mouse buttons. The touchpad although accurate failed to register multi-touch gestures such as three finger swipe.
Display
The 11.6 inches matte screen is amazingly bright. Furthermore, with Gorilla Glass protection it can survive falls. The tablet was dropped from a height of 4 feet and it didn’t get a single scratch nor did its keyboard fell apart. Furthermore, the tablet reproduced 115 percent of the sRGB spectrum, which is more than the category average of 103 percent.
Furthermore, the tablet recorded 525 nits on the light meter, which is way more than the 287 nits category average.
Battery Life
The Latitude 7212 lasted 5 hours on continuous usage, and with double batteries, you can extend that to 9 hours and 44 minutes.
Price and Configurations
For a price tag of $1,999, you are getting a Latitude 7212 with a Core i3-7100U CPU, 8GB of RAM, an M.2 128GB SATA Class 20 SSD and one two-cell, 34-watt-hour battery. For the attachable keyboard and kickstand, you need to shell out $372 extra, and $92.55 for the additional battery. If you want to upgrade to a 7th-Gen Core i5 CPU, you would need to spend $179 more.
Perhaps, if you are looking for a rugged tablet which can sustain heavy shocks, then without a doubt, the Dell Latitude 7212 is a great buy, even though it costs more than usual, but what is money for if not meant to save you from added stress.
