Why did Android tablets struggle when Android phones did so well? Perhaps it was because, unlike phones, tablets were viewed as desktop extensions. Perhaps Google's almost exclusive focus on phones kept tablet buyers away. As a result, many early Android tablets were timid attempts that failed to get traction. They were seen as junior partners to their Windows-based siblings, something not as useful and powerful as Windows tablets.

The situation is changing now and there is a veritable flood of excellent new Android handheld hardware. Android itself is growing up and is becoming much better suited for corporate and industrial use. Add to that the almost universal user familiarity with Android, and there's now a significantly stronger business case for Android tablets.

As for size, the SOL PA501 measures 11.0 x 7.7 inches, just like the Windows-based PX501. Put in consumer tablet perspective, it's larger than a standard iPad's 9.8 x 6.8 inches and a bit smaller than the latest 12.9-inch iPad Pro's 11 x 8.5 inches. As a fully rugged device the SOL PA501 is quite a bit thicker than an iPad, 0.9 inches. And as far as weight goes, the SOL PA501 tips the scale at just a bit over three pounds.

The image below shows the RuggON SOL PA501 from the front and from all four sides.

The overall look of the tablet is dominated by the light-gray bezel that extends 3/4 of an inch beyond the thin black plastic frame of the actual display, and is then contained within a quarter inch of tough rubber molding. The design is accentuated by a slight "Coke bottle" concave indentation on all four sides, adding both protection, grip, and elegance.

Controls and annunciator lights are all on the front of the tablet where they can be seen easily. There are two shiftable, programmable function buttons on the left; a barcode trigger and lights for charge, WiFi and Function on the right; webcam, microphones and light sensor on top; and power, volume up/down and the Android Home key on the bottom. The areas where palm and thumbs rest when holding the tablet are kept clear.

Going around the tablet, on the left side is most of the I/O, sitting behind two a protective rubber plug covers. Standard, on the right side are the power plug and a DB9 RS232 (our review unit came in an optional fingerprint reader configuration). Along the bottom is a Kensington lock slot, an optional dual antenna pass-through for installed wireless functionality, and the tablet's 26-pin surface mount docking connector. The top is unadorned with the exception of small bulge/window that can be used for the optional barcode reader.

The image above shows the left side of the SOL PA501. For illustration purposes we took both protective cover doors off. From left to right, there are:

• two USB 2.0 Type A ports (in lieu of the heat exchanger for the Windows version's fan).
• a USB 3.1 Type-C port
• a micro-SIM slot
• a micro-SD card slot
• a 3.5mm headphone/speaker jack
• an RJ45 Ethernet jack

There are no simple answers. Microsoft has completely dominated the desktop and laptop market for almost four decades. Microsoft also dominates IT, and there is an incredible wealth of software that runs on Windows, including most of the truly complex systems. Android, on the other hand, dominates the massive smartphone market and there's a massive number of Android apps.

RuggON has done an excellent job with that, as from the front the SOL PA501 looks just like a more muscular consumer tablet. But turn it around and it's instantly clear that this machine is all business.

The pictures below show the backside of the SOL PA501, reminiscent more of a business laptop than a generic Android tablet. On the left is the backside as is, on the right with the bumpers, battery, and expansion compartment cover removed.

The SOL PA501's 48.6 watt-hour Li-Ion battery is square, compact, and less than half an inch thick. It fits flush into the backside of the tablet and is securely held in place via a springloaded lever that can be locked in place. The battery compartment itself is not sealed. Sealing to the interior of the device is via lips around the battery that press against a rubber patch around the battery contacts.

To the left of the battery, a small plastic cover, secured by seven Philips head screws and sealed via a lip-and-pressure seal allows access to the tablet's SIM card slot.

The tablet's four protective bumpers are intricately formed of elastomer with a tough rubber overmolding. Each is held in place with two Philips head screws. If a bumper gets damaged, it can easily be replaced.

Some parts that are often molded into the housing in lesser tablets are removable and replaceable on the SOL PA501. That includes the protective port covers and the rubber plug of the power jack. If these gets damaged, they can easily be replaced.

Unlike the Windows-based RuggON PX501 that has a fan exhaust, the Android-based SOL PA501 doesn't need a cooling fan. There are slots for the tablet's speaker, but the speaker is a self-contained sealed unit, so no water will go through the speaker slots into the interior of the tablet.

In terms of overall construction, the SOL PA501 consists of three layers. There's the ABS plastic front plate/bezel. Fastened to that is the tablet's very tough magnesium chassis that has the display mounted on one side of it and the motherboard and ancillary electronics on the other. And then there's the black ABS plastic back cover that's secured to the front side with a good two dozen Philips head screws of different sizes. Sealing around the perimeter is via a tongue-and-groove design that does not seem to rely on an o-ring in the groove. One suggestion we'd have for RuggON is to either use the same type of screws all around, or to make the screws different enough so they can be told apart. As is, some have delicate little rubber rings that easily get stuck or vanish, whereas others do not. Another solution would be to design the case so that screw holes are technically outside the tongue-and-groove sealed inner part of the tablet

Once all of the screws are loosened, gently prying the two sides apart allows separating them without having to undo any additional snaps or latches. There is just one wire assemblies between the two sides, that for the speaker.

Compared to a consumer mass-market product like the iPad with all of its super-miniaturized electronics concentrated into a couple of tiny circuit strips, the SOL PA501 is fairly complex inside, albeit with significantly fewer modules, connectors, components, and other assorted parts than its Windows-based PX501 cousin. As is always the case with RuggON products, everything is neatly organized. Wires aren't just hanging around; there are little metal guides individual wires fit into. We haven't seen that solution before. Black tape covers a lot of the connections, probably both to insulate the connections and also to keep them from rattling loose. That's in place of the little drops of silicone glue used in lots of devices to keep connections securely fastened. The advantage of tape and guides is that connections can be undone without having to break and scrape away glue.

The pictures below show what it looks like inside the SOL RuggON PA501:

Since the Qualcomm SnapDragon processor and its ancillary electronics generate considerably less heat than the Intel Core chip in the Windows-based PX501 unit, thermal engineering of the device of the Android tablet is far simpler. There is no need for a fan that makes noise and, like all things mechanical, can get clogged or break down.

There's also no need for elaborate copper tubing to syphon heat off the CPU and transport it to the fan's heat exchanger. All the SOL PA 501 needs is a small metal heat spreader. Interestingly, the Android tablet's magnesium frame, which carries over from the Windows version of the tablet, still has the fan compartment, but in the SOL PA501 it's repurposed to house a couple of extra USB Type A ports.

In terms of modules, the Android version of RuggON's flagship tablet needs far fewer than the Windows model. Almost everything is integrated into the unit's MS-01 PRO System-On-Module that includes Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and even the Qualcomm Snapdragon SDM660 chip.

The image to the left shows the thermal footprint of the SOL PA501. The infrared picture, taken with our lab's FLIR ONE Pro thermal imaging camera, shows the heat generating components of the design, and how very effectively the metal heat exchanger with its large surface area spreads and dissipates the heat.

Like the Windows tablet, the Android-based SOL PA501 has both edge-mount connectors as well as a separate remote I/O daughterboard that in our unit housed the power jack and a Type A USB port.

So far I have referred to the housing of the SOL PA501 as "plastic." But not all plastics are equal. What RuggON is using is PC+ABS-FR(40)<94V0. PC+ABS stands for PolyCarbonate + Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene, which is an alloy that combines the strength of polycarbonates with the high abuse resistance of ABS. FR means it's a Flame Retardant material, and <94V0 refers to the UL 94 standard for flammability safety for plastic materials, with V0 meaning that in a test, a vertically held sliver of that material stops burning after 10 seconds, with no burning drips. This is good stuff RuggON is using to build its tablets.

Also of note is the substantial 7 watt-hour bridge battery that makes the main battery hot-swappable. Unlike most backup batteries that only provide a few minutes of run time, the one in this tablet can easily handle even a lengthy main battery interruption.

The SOL PA501's standard battery packs 48.6 watt-hour. For those who need more, we recommend the optional 97.2 watt-hour battery (the larger battery in the picture above to the right) that adds a bulge and some weight, but is really a better match for the high-powered chip. Also of note: the battery supports fast charging.

Our evaluation unit came with the optional integrated 1D/2D barcode reader. The scanner window is molded into the housing and the scanner mount bracket is part of every SOL PA501 as well.

The image compilation below shows some of the details of the RuggON SOL PA501. On the left is a closer look at the SIM slot that sits inside the tablet underneath an access cover. On the right is the unusually powerful 7 watt-hour backup battery that makes hot-swapping of main batteries easy.

Below on the left is a closer look at the tablet's optional 1D/2D barcode reader on the left and the 13mp documentation camera with its LED flash on the right.

That said, we did run AnTuTu, Vellamo, and PassMark Mobile on the SOL PA501, and the SOL PA501 is MUCH faster than any other rugged Android device we've tested, generally twice as quick overall as other recent devices we've had in the lab, and four times faster overall than earlier systems. The only device that came close to the SOL PA501 was a late model Huawei smartphone.

What that all means is that the SOL PA501 is as quick and responsive as a modern smartphone, which is precisely what today's customers want.

For those interested: the benchmark results were: AnTuTu v8.0.4: 162,015. Vellamo Metal: 2,858. Vellamo Multicore: 3,840. Vellamo Browser: 5,921. PassMark Mobile: 10,011.

That said, between the availability of the optional 97 watt-hour extended battery and the SOL PA501's internal backup battery that provides both a "reserve tank" for another hour or so as well as enabling hot-swapping of batteries, PA501 users will rarely encounter battery life issues.

Bright, sharp 10-point procap multi-touch display

Using the RuggON SOL PA501

The DashON utility also offers one-tap access to the button setting utility. This is where users can assign functions or features to the tablet's two function buttons, both unshifted and shifted.

Very good dual camera hardware and software

The RuggON SOL PA501 has front and rear cameras, as is standard on most modern tablets. On the front is a 8-megapixel webcam. The rear camera is for picture taking and documentation. It has an 13-megapixel imager, and the pictures we took in the highest available resolution setting came out in 4:3 aspect ratio 4,160 x 3,120 pixel resolution, almost exactly 13-megapixel. All in all, about 30 camera resolution settings are available. Images can be saved as JPEG, WebP, PNG and even RAW. Image quality can be set in 1% increments from 0 to 100%. And there are literally dozens of fairly advanced settings available.

Video settings are no less impressive. There are two dozen available video resolutions, ranging from 176x144 pixel all the way up to 4K Ultra HD with 3840 x 2160 pixel resolution. Like in photo mode, there are numerous advanced settings available. Video format can be in MPEG4 H264, MPEG4 HEVC (really H265), 3GPP and WebM; video bitrate can be set between a lowly 100kbps up to full 200Mbps; frame rate can be set, minimum and maximum video clip lengths, there's video stabilization, and lots more. For processing, the anti-banding, edge mode algorithm and noise reduction technology can all be set, and so on.

As we've repeatedly mentioned over the years, our experience with cameras integrated into rugged vertical market handhelds and tablets has generally been underwhelming, with most lagging well behind what's available in dedicated point & shoots and consumer smartphones. This, apparently, is one area where Android is way, way ahead of almost anything available in the Windows world, and that is amply demonstrated in the substantial difference between the camera hardware and software on the Windows-based RuggON PX501 and the Android-based PA501.

We were pleased to find that both the front- and the rear-facing cameras of the PA501 were absolutely up to the task. In picture and video taking, just like in its speed and responsiveness, the PA501 is more like a modern smartphone than a traditional tablet.

The screen snap to the right shows what the camera app looks like in picture-taking mode.

The user interface is attractive and logical. In picture taking mode, you can toggle between still and video mode, and the display is neat and uncluttered in both front and rear camera modes. However, a vast wealth of settings is always just a finger tap away.

The pictures below were shot with the RuggON SOL PA501 in 13mp mode. Click on the image to bring up a full-size version.

The SOL PA501 documentation camera is more than capable of taking pictures than are good enough for any job documentation purpose. In fully automatic mode there is good sharpness and image detail, and little of the massive compression that often renders pictures from such integrated cameras useless due to artifacting. A bit of a learning curve is involved when using the full gamut of available settings.

Video is way better than what we've seen from most cameras integrated into rugged devices. Being able to shoot in so many recording formats, up to full 4K, is very useful. Today's smartphones have spoiled consumers with their superb cameras and sophisticated imaging apps. RuggON made sure they won't be disappointed in the SOL PA501's imaging qualities.

While the desktop dock is fairly basic, the vehicle dock is every bit as tough and rugged as the tablet itself. There's ignition power support, the tablet can be locked to the dock, and the dock also guards against draining vehicle power. As for features, the dock, depending on the version, provides dual USB 3.0 Type A, RS232 serial, RJ45 LAN, HDMI, VGA, audio, SMA antenna connectors as well as fused power. Antenna pass-through can be configured via the RuggON GUI utility.

How did RuggON address all of these issues with the SOL PA501?

With regard to protection from the elements, the SOL PA501 carries IP65 sealing where the "6" means it's totally dustproof, and the "5" that it is also sealed against, according to the IP classification system chart, low pressure water jets from all directions. That's far better sealing that standard consumer tablets have.

That said, consumer smartphones are catching up in terms of sealing. Some are now available in IP67- and even IP68-rated versions, raising expectations. In general, it's more difficult to seal larger devices than smaller ones, and also devices with multiple ports and controls than those that have just one or two. We expect the industry to move towards almost universal IP67 protection for fully rugged devices, if not for absolute need then for the additional peace of mind.

The SOL PA501 can handle repeated drops from five feet. That's a foot more than the standard drop height in the MIL-STD-810G tests. Four feet is standard because that's the approximate distance a tablet falls when it's accidentally dropped while being used in a standing position. It's always better to exceed a standard, and the SOL PA501 does.

The stated operating temperature range of -4 to 140 degrees Fahrenheit (-20 to 60 degrees Celsius) also exceeds that of most rugged devices. This means the SOL PA501 can be used in commercial freezers as well as in hot desert climates.

The display uses Corning Gorilla Glass 3 that provides even more protection against breakage and scratching than the first two generations. That's especially important in large-screen handhelds such as the SOL PA501.

Additional display protection is provided by a display that's slightly recessed around its perimeter and then also benefits from additional protection from the corner rubber bumpers. This provides much better protection than consumer tablets where the entire front is flush glass.

Our examination of the interior construction of the SOL PA501 with its thick metal frame suggests a high degree of toughness and ability to withstand accidents and abuse. Bumpers and overall design offer ample shock absorption and there are no components that can easily rattle loose. Like any advanced rugged device, the SOL PA501 relies on multiple seals to keep dust and liquids out. These are all well designed and easy to keep in good working condition.

Designed as a general purpose rugged tablet, the SOL PA501 can be used for a vast variety of applications. Its sharp and bright 10.1-inch display makes it especially suitable for graphics-intense mapping and positioning deployments where precision and minute details matter. The speedy octa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 660 processor makes for leading smartphone-class performance. There is no fan, making for silent operation. Battery life is well past one shift even with the standard. The battery is hot-swappable, and a massive 97 watt-hour extended version is available.

Great praise goes to the SOL PA501's 1920 x 1200 pixel display that's among the best we've seen. It offers perfect viewing angles from all directions, and does so without any annoying changes in hue or brightness. The Gorilla Glass-protected 10-point capacitive multi-touch screen is quick and responsive. The display can be optimized for touch, stylus or glove operation.

As elegant as the SOL PA501 looks, it's tough as nails and exudes a sense of quality and invulnerability. This tablet can survive repeated 5-foot drops, can operate in icy cold and blistering heat, and its IP65 sealing means it can easily handle dust and rain and worse.

With the SnapDragon 660-powered Rextorm SOL PA501, RuggON provides a very compelling rugged tablet solution for those who need, or prefer, Android on the job. The SOL PA501 is a modern and impressively rugged solution for all sorts of field data capture and communications deployments via a selection of add-on and snap-on modules. It will undoubtedly be of substantial interest to enterprise, industrial and vertical market customers. -- Conrad H. Blickenstorfer, December 2019

Specifications RuggON SOL PA501