Panasonic has announced the release of its next generation of rugged handheld devices. The Panasonic rugged handhelds are based on Android devices and feature an integrated barcode scanner along with a wide range of functionality and accessories.
The Panasonic rugged handheld series is an important addition to the rugged series from Panasonic. The product manager for the Toughbook heaped praised unto the Panasonic rugged handheld series.
Customers who are seeking a practical, rugged solution with a
sleeker finish that can still withstand difficult conditions is the job
description that Panasonic has adhered to.
Some of the devices launched in the Panasonic rugged handheld
series will come jampacked to perform with 12-hours of battery life and
hot-swappable batteries.
Hot-swappable batteries are a boon to the rugged industry
because it allows the users to immediately swap the batteries without having
the Panasonic rugged handhelds to lose power or shut down.
There is suspense regarding these hot-swappable batteries that
the Panasonic rugged handheld devices will harbor. However, it has been
confirmed by Panasonic that the hot-swappable batteries for the rugged handheld
series will be sold separately.
The Panasonic rugged handheld series models will also have an
8-megapixel rear camera for document recording.
The
Panasonic rugged handheld series includes models with Wi-Fi only or Wi-Fi and
4G voice and data capability in two model versions.
The
variants from Panasonic rugged handhelds with Wi-Fi capability will be
available in August 2018, priced roughly Rs.1,02,900 excluding taxes.
From
September 2018, the 4G voice and data version will be available for about Rs.1,09,300.
Both versions would be sold in Europe and will come with Panasonic's regular
3-year warranty, which applies to any of the company's durable products.
Panasonic
rugged handhelds general specifications
The
Panasonic rugged handhelds run on Android 8.1 Oreo and sports a 5-inch HD
display and a resolution of 720x1280 pixels.
These
devices come with Glove and Rain modes.
From a
processing perspective, the Panasonic rugged handhelds are powered by a
quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon APQ8009. Most devices in the Panasonic rugged handheld
series are clocked at a processor speed of 1.1GHz which is quite amazing when
coupled with 2GB of RAM.
In terms
of camera, the devices in Panasonic rugged handhelds feature an 8-megapixel
rear camera with LED flash.
There
have been no reports on whether any of the devices in the Panasonic rugged
handheld series will feature a camera at the front. But most devices that we
examined in the Panasonic rugged handheld series don’t feature a front camera.
However,
most devices in the Panasonic rugged handheld series come equipped with 16GB of
inbuilt storage which is expandable via a microSD card.
LTE,
Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.1, NFC, Micro-USB, and a headphone jack are among the
connectivity solutions available on Panasonic rugged handhelds.
Panasonic
has only confirmed the presence of an accelerometer in the rugged handhelds and
it will be interesting to see what Panasonic has in store for the users.
A
3200mAh battery that powers the Panasonic rugged handhelds also has a "hot
swap" functionality.
Panasonic
is confident in and proud of the Panasonic rugged handhelds batteries, which
support up to 12 hours of continuous data access.