2017 redux of Panasonic's first-ever rugged Android tablet has Toughbook roots
(by Conrad H. Blickenstorfer)

It seems like only yesterday that Panasonic introduced their original Toughpad on Monday, November 7, 2011 at a major media event at Dallas Cowboy Stadium in Arlington, Texas (read our historic coverage). Then Panasonic Solutions Company president Rance Poehler, who is now at Dell, introduced the Toughpad A1 as the first of an impending series of "professional-grade Android-powered tablets." Fast-forward 5+ years to the present, January 2016, and we know that rugged Android tablets didn't catch on as quickly as once expected. But they are certainly here now, and so Panasonic, which at this point has a whole lineup of Android and Windows tablets, introduced the Toughpad FZ-A2 on January 12, 2017.

It's interesting how times have changed. When the original Toughpad A1 was introduced, Panasonic essentially only had the Lenovo ThinkPad Tablet and the Motorola ET1 as competition. The Apple iPad was the undisputed overall ruler of tablets, and so Panasonic adopted its 4:3 aspect ratio 1024 x 768 pixel portrait layout. But the world just wasn't quite ready for Android business tablets, even one as reasonably priced as that original Toughpad.

It's a different world now. Windows has made a somewhat unexpected comeback in tablets, and there are dozens of rugged Android tablets. Panasonic itself has nine tablets and phablets, five Windows and four Android. Both OS platforms have established themselves as suitable for useful, productive tablet work. So it made perfect sense for Panasonic to reintroduce a 10-inch class Android tablet, updated to current tech, layout and customer expectations.

Below you can see what's old, what's new, what's changed and what hasn't.

Toughpad FZ-A2 vs original Toughpad FZ-A1

Model	Toughpad FZ-A2	Toughpad FZ-A1
Introduced	January 2016	November 2011
OS	Android 6.0	Android 3.2
Processor	1.44GHz Intel Atom x5-Z8550	1.20GHz Marvell PXA2128
CPU cores/threads	4/4	2/2
RAM	4GB	1GB
Mass storage	32GB eMMC	16GB
Expansion slots	microSD Card	microSD Card
Display	10.1"/1920 x 1200 (224 ppi)	10.1"/1024 x 768 (127 ppi)
Display nits	800 nits	500 nits
Touch	10-point capacitive	Capacitive
Pen	Passive	Active
Battery Life	"9 hours"	"10 hours"
Size (inches)	10.7 x 7.7 x 0.65	10.5 x 8.4 x 0.7
Weight (lbs.)	1.94 lbs	2.1 lbs
Sealing	IP65	IP65
Drop	5 feet	4 feet
Temp. range	Unknown	-4° to 122°F
Altitude	Unknown	15,000 feet
Camera	2mp front + 8mp rear	2mp front + 5mp rear
USB	USB 3.0 + USB C	microUSB 2.0
HDMI	HDMI	microHDMI
Bluetooth	v4.2 Class 1	v2.1 Class 2
WiFi	802.11a/b/g/n/ac	802.11a/b/g/n
WWAN	opt. 4G LTE	opt. 4G LTE
Price	starting at US$2,189	starting at US$1,299

So what do we make of this new 10-inch Toughpad and where does it fit in?

In terms of looks it's instantly recognizable as a Toughpad, with the Toughbook-pioneered heavy use of contoured magnesium. It's a handsome design and one that undeniably has a look and character of its own, not an easy thing in today's tablet market of often nearly indistinguishable products. The new A-Series Toughpad is also remarkably light and slender (without its optional snap-on "configuration area" options) for a rugged tablet.

What's changed is the display. While the iPad continues to carry the portrait orientation torch, almost all other tablets on the market are now primarily configured for landscape orientation. The aspect ratio also changed from the iPad-like 4:3 to a wider 16:10. Resolution is 1920 x 1200 pixel, which is gratifyingly sharp and in what Apple calls the "retina" range. At 800 nits it's quite bright, too, significantly brighter than the original FZ-A1. There's, of course, capacitive multi-touch with a special rain-sensing mode. The active pen of the original A1 has been replaced with a passive stylus, but we don't know if it is of the same technology that works so well on the Toughpad FZ-M1.

The FZ-A2 is powered by a 1.44GHz quad-core Intel Atom x5-Z8550, a somewhat surprising choice since the vast majority of Android tablets are powered by ARM chips. There's 4GB of SDRAM and a soldered 32GB of eMMC mass storage. That can be augmented with up to 32GB via the tablet's microSD card slot. There's dual-band 802.11a/b/g/n/ac, Class 1 (long distance) Bluetooth version 4.2, and optional integrated 4G LTE wireless broadband. There are dual cameras (2GB front, 8GB rear). The user-accessible battery packs 31 watt-hours, good for up to 9 hours. For wired connectivity there's a standard USB 3.0 port, a USB Type-C port, audio and HDMI.

This being a tablet for work, Panasonic wanted to offer popular options such as 1D/2D barcode scanning or a SmartCard reader, but without bulking up the slender profile of the basic tablet. So those options come as bolt-on modules for special "configuration areas." The image below shows the bare FZ-A2 with its battery and back cover on the left, and with configuration area options installed on the right.

Now if much of this is starting to sound a bit familiar, it's because it is. Yes, the FZ-A2 is really an Android-based, Atom-powered, lower-end tablet half of the Toughbook 20. Does that mean the functionality-adding keyboard half of the Toughbook 20 is also available for the FZ-A2? We don't think it is.

Panasonic calls the Toughpad FZ-A2 "fully-rugged" and states that it is a "MIL-STD-810G design." Unfortunately, the only hard data supplied in the specs is a 5-foot drop rating and IP65 ingress protection, where the "6" stands for totally dustproof and the "5" that the device is protected against low-pressure jets of water from all directions. Panasonic's Toughbooks and Toughpads have been around, Toughbooks are market leaders, and we have no doubt about their great quality and ruggedness (we've seen the ruggedness testing in Japan firsthand). However, Panasonic really ought to supply more detailed ruggedness information, especially since the Toughpad FZ-A2 starts at a rather considerable US$2,189, and it's the very ruggedness of the product that justifies the price.

And price, unfortunately, is an issue here. The original Toughpad FZ-A1 started at just US$1,299, so we're seeing an almost 70% price increase for the FZ-A2. To put that further in perspective, Panasonic's own Windows 10-based Toughbook 20 with a full Intel Core processor and detachable keyboard with plenty of extra connectivity starts at US$3,099. And the FZ-A2's most direct competitor, the Xplore XSlate D10 begins at US$1,649. So what we have here is an interesting rugged tablet with impressive Panasonic pedigree, but at a rather lofty price.