back to article We give Panasonic's new 5-inch Toughpad phablets a kicking

Youtube Video At IFA in Berlin yesterday, Panasonic put on its own spin of the ice bucket water challenge, but instead of dowsing charitable folk, it dunked its latest diminutive Toughpads. On show were the new rugged 5-inch HD (1280x720) FZ-E1 Windows 8.1 and FZ-X1 Android 4.2.2 tablets, both featuring data and voice …

  1. Haku
    Facepalm

    Going to send my brother a link to this article

    He accidentally went swimming with his last mobile phone...

  2. Anonymous Custard
    Joke

    If they're that tough...

    ...they should have used a blender rather than an ice-bucket ;)

  3. David Paul Morgan
    Go

    Nice to see...

    that Panasonic are still making a contribution and a choice in this niche market, rather than chasing the herd.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Nice to see...

      But who's going to buy them when drop-proof water-proof Androids are available at almost half the cost? Only if your company requires certified military level protection, probably.

  4. Gordon 10
    Joke

    and if all else fails

    you can use them to club somebody to death.

    1. joeW

      Re: and if all else fails

      Heavy ez good. Heavy ez reliable. If et does not work, you cen always heet heem with et.

  5. Khaptain Silver badge

    Cough, how much ?, cough

    I am not known for being very delicate so this would be just perfect but not at that price..

  6. John P

    "rapid technology cadence "

    as a Windows Phone user I'd have to take issue with that, while the rest of MS has moved to a faster cadence, the phone division seems to have gone the opposite direction, the current 8.1 update being the first in a while.

    Is this a sign of future change or just marketing fud?

    1. Jack Faust meets Mephistopheles

      As a windows phone user I'm surprised to hear that, the updates are actually coming a little too fast for carriers to keep up. Windows Phone 8 had 3 updates over it's lifetime (GDR1, 2 & 3). 8.1 has just received it's first update (amusingly named 'Update 1") and that's not including vendor specific firmware such as Nokia's Amber, Black, Cyan and Denim.

      1. Anonymous Custard

        As another (corporate) Windows Phone user, I'd love to know as mine is still on 8.0 and saying it's fully up to date...

        Our IT people don't know why none of ours seem to have updated yet (it's an HTC 8x on Vodafone), and I'm somewhat loathed to take matters into my own hands via the beta app method.

        1. Jack Faust meets Mephistopheles

          Ugh that sounds bad, looks like it's lack of compatible firmware supplied by HTC see http://community.vodafone.com.au/t5/Windows-Phone-Mobile-Broadband/Htc-8x-wp8-1-updates/td-p/354791 for info. DP might be your only hope.

  7. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Nice phone... shame about the os, slap some droid on there and i would be more intrested.

    1. rob1n
      FAIL

      Reading fail

      You mean like the FZ-X1 Android version mentioned in the article?

    2. Dana W

      It comes in a Droid version as well, read the article, don't just look at the pictures.

  8. Yugguy

    Insert Obligatory Joke Here

    "I wish they were smashing up all the IPhones."

    Well someone had to...

  9. Nigel 11

    What I wan to know

    Is whether it can survive face-down 2m drops onto a flint-gravel drive?

    1. ecofeco Silver badge

      Re: What I wan to know

      Short answer: yes.

      They really are that tough.

    2. Andy Hards

      Re: What I wan to know

      What I wan to know

      Is whether it can survive after being submerged in 1.5m of water for an hour or so?

  10. JaitcH
    Happy

    Water / splash proofing is so handy in so many countries

    where rain 'showers' really are like standing under a shower.

    It's amusing to watch iSheep using their favourite iThingy wrapped up in a sandwich bag to help them survive a little bit if water.

    Sony has models with similar features at a lower price.

    1. JDX Gold badge

      Re: Water / splash proofing is so handy in so many countries

      I put my kindle in a sandwich bag and my iPad in a large freezer bag when using them in the bath, and don't consider the need for this a detraction on the device. People don't generally like standing in the rain on their phone anyway!

      1. Nunyabiznes

        Re: Water / splash proofing is so handy in so many countries

        And a plastic bag is a smidge cheaper.

        I am impressed with the claimed battery life with the toughpad. We use Panasonic Toughbooks for our LEOs and I have to say they have held up to a group of people that collectively treat their equipment like hammers much better than any other piece of technology we provide them with.

        I like to say if you put a deputy in a rubber room with a marshmallow and an anvil that the anvil doesn't stand a chance.

      2. coolcity

        Re: Water / splash proofing is so handy in so many countries

        I'm even cleverer than that, I don't use them in the bath. Problem solved for free.

      3. Andy Hards

        Re: Water / splash proofing is so handy in so many countries

        Why would anyone stand on their phone regardless of whether it's raining or not?

  11. Tsunamijuan

    MMM barcode reader

    I must say the barcode reader is a very appealing part of this for me. Though the price range is likely to be a deal breaker a this point.

    While they are certainly more up to date than the handhelds we currently have in the field. If we go for a replacement we're looking for something that is more like half the price of our proprietary units. Not 3/4's of the price.

    I will definitely be keeping my eye on these though. As they seem to a much more open alternative for portable sales and inventory control.

  12. ecofeco Silver badge

    These ARE tough

    I've set up a few of these this year as well as the larger model. They are indeed very tough and the best part, easy to operate.

    Even the OS, in my case it was Win7, has been modified for ease of use and recovery.

    If only ALL slabs were this nice.

  13. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    My phone has been dropped so many times its all scuffed up. It's fallen from my pocket several dozen times and fallen from my roof onto concrete once, no screen damage. It was dropped in a pond once, recovered, and still working great. It was also free, no additional charges. It has never dropped a call and gets signal almost everywhere. Best part it was free.

    What is this phone you ask, why its a Motorola flip phone.

    1. coolcity

      No justification for the price especially with no wireless charging.

      I don't get why a 5" phone is classed as a "phablet". Stupid name anyway, I'm amazed it caught on. Perhaps the most bizarre thing about these phones though, especially at the asking price, is the lack of wireless charging, a design decision which is simply absurd.

      The first thing to fail on devices like this are usually the seals that are opened the most often, which in this case would be the charger ports so wireless charging would be perfect.

      I can't understand the price justification for what is pretty standard kit with a tough casing, and there are plenty of barcode reader free apps which work well so no need to pay any extra there. Looks to me like another expensive toy for the sort of person who would buy a Hummer.

      1. mistersaxon

        Re: No justification for the price especially with no wireless charging.

        The difference between an app for a camera and a real barcode scanner is huge - I've never found a scanner app that could read the micro-barcodes on an SFP module for example - so I think it's justified for applications where you need reliable industrial-grade scanning. *shrug* the odd price-check in Homebase, not so much.

        Wireless charging would be good but doesn't that make the charger very proprietary? And large... But it would still be nice to have the option I suppose, assuming it can charge as fast as the charger options provided here...

  14. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Groundhog Day

    Just like the AT&T/NCR robust Windows Pen Computer from 1995 & many others which were built like tanks. On reflection sales also tanked......... (groan).

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