What that means is that the Conker NS6 is a full-fledged Windows PC, no ifs and buts. Its display may be small for running an OS designed for use on much larger screens, but the 1280 x 720 resolution is, in fact, plenty to run Windows 10.

There are caveats. Even with Custom Scaling, tapping all those small Windows controls can be hit and miss. A precise capacitive touch stylus would come in handy, or better yet — gasp — a Bluetooth mouse. The screen shot below is from our sample unit, with Custom Scaling set to 150%.

Interestingly, while the Conker NS6 and its Android-based SX6 sibling look identical on the outside, inside it's a different story. Similarities are limited to making the boards fit into the same housing with the same controls and cutouts, but otherwise we're talking two entirely different computers.

What performance can you expect?

Conker NS6 Benchmarks/Comparisons

PERFORMANCE COMPARISON	Conker	Getac	MobileDemand	Trimble
Model	NS6	T800 G3	Flex 10A	Kenai
Type	Phablet	Tablet	Tablet	Tablet
Display size	6.0"	8.1"	10.1"	10.1"
Year	2017	2017	2017	2016
Processor Type: Intel	Atom	Atom	Atom	Atom
Processor Model	X5-8350	X7-8700	X5-8350	E3826
CPU Speed	1.44 GHz	1.60 GHz	1.44 GHz	1.46 GHz
Turbo Speed	1.92 GHz	2.40 GHz	1.92 GHz	no turbo
CPU Mark	1,199.4	1,620.3	1,599.7	499.8
2D Graphics Mark	82.6	104.7	96.3	86.4
Memory Mark	292.9	284.1	324.4	249.4
Disk Mark	737.1	601.0	615.9	1,726.5
3D Graphics Mark	158.5	162.6	109.7	122.0
Overall PassMark	554.6	643.0	640.1	550.1
ALU	21,906	21,118	22,251	9,897
FPU	17,708	18,082	18,487	8,058
MEM	17,568	17,648	19,711	15,386
HDD	20,313	18,620	21,304	35,416
GDI	3,236	3,430	3,680	2,937
D2D	2,639	2,845	2,540	2,072
OGL	3,055	2,984	3,015	1,733
Overall CrystalMark	86,425	84,727	90,988	75,499

Amazingly, the pocket-sized Conker NS6 can hold its own in performance against traditional and much larger Windows tablets from major vendors. The only reason why it didn't score even higher was that the only available power plan appears to throttle CPU clock speed some, and that the NS6 uses relatively slow eMMC mass storage. Realize, of course, that while these performance figures are remarkable, they are not in the Intel Core processor league.

Quite rugged, but more data, please!

On the ruggedness side, the tough and rugged looking Conker deserves some environmental testing data! After all, customers will buy it because it's a rugged device and they expect data to back that up. As is, there is almost none in the specs, and all we know is that the Conker NS6 has a wide operating temperature range of 14 to 122 degrees Fahrenheit, and can be dropped from four feet to concrete (we think it can handle more). Ingress protection is at the IP67 level, which means it can handle immersion down to a meter for 30 minutes (we did not put that to the test).

Remarkably good cameras

Like virtually all modern handhelds and tablets, the Conker NS6 has front (2-megapixel) and rear (5-megapixel) cameras. The included standard Windows Camera app doesn't provide many options and settings, and our sample pics defaulted to 2,560 x 1,440 pixel (3.7-megapixel). The camera worked quite well. Click on the sample picture compilation to see it in full size.

One thing we would have liked to see more of in the device literature is security. Security is a major concern with handheld computers today, and while Windows 10 has stepped up security, we don't know what of it is available in the NS6.

Industrial-grade barcode scanning

While you can get any number of scanning apps for smartphones, they all use the phone's camera, and those cameras were not made for scanning.

The Conker NS6, on the other hand, can be ordered with industrial-grade scan engines. Available are the 1D Zebra Motorola SE655E linear CCD scanner (see spec sheet) or the 2D Honeywell N3680 with Adaptus decoding technology(see N3680 spec sheet).

And since workers need to see the display while they are scanning, the scan engine points at a slight downward angle. Very convenient.

Conker NS6: the bottom line

There aren't too many 6-inch phablets that run full Windows 10, and the Conker NS6 can do that. It has a very good, bright 6-inch capacitive multi-touch display with perfect viewing angles, which makes it easy to use. Industrial scanners make it suitable for serious work. And its performance is comparable to that of standard-size Intel Atom-powered rugged tablets. The NS6 also convinces with good cameras, very solid build, a replaceable battery, and good ergonomics. We're impressed. Conrad H. Blickenstorfer, October 2017

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Tablet Technologies Ltd, resides at the exceedingly picturesque address of Calf Pens, Hatfield Park Farm, Takeley, Bishop's Stortford, UK. They sell an interesting lineup of rugged and semi-rugged tablets and handhelds to military, industrial and enterprise customers all around the world.