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Winmate M700DQ8 7-inch rugged Android 9 tablet
Technologically up-to-date tablet for tough jobs in challenging environments
(by Conrad H. Blickenstorfer, May 2020)
Winmate introduced the 7-inch M700DQ8 in early 2020 to meet the increasing demand for industrial-grade compact tablets that can survive in any environment. The tablet runs Android because Android has become the de-facto standard in mobile computers. There are well over 2.5 billion Android devices out there, which means vast developer support and almost universal familiarity with the platform. While there are actually phones with 7-inch screens now, the M700DQ8 is a bigger, heavier, and almost infinitely tougher device. There's no need for a case, the tablet is small enough to go, or be mounted, virtually anywhere, yet big enough for real work on the job, even if it's in the rain or snow or with gloves on.
The M700DQ8 measures 8.4 x 5.2 x 0.75 inches, which is relatively large for an 7-inch tablet. The extra size buys room for four large physical buttons along the bottom side of the display. It also means there is a generous glass margin beyond the perimeter of the actual LCD, always a good thing with a capacitive multi-touch screen — you can comfortably hold the device without fear of inadvertently touching something and triggering some action, and you don't bump into a protective bezel when swiping up, down, left or right, or dragging something off the screen. And the larger footprint, of course, also allows for slots, ports, and a great deal of extra protection.
Physical push buttons come in handy for use in vehicles and under adverse outdoor conditions. Sometimes push buttons are better than onscreen touch. Why Winmate chose four buttons (Home, Menu, Return, and Trigger) with non-standard labels instead of the common three Android buttons is unclear, but one quickly gets used to it.
The image below shows the front of the M700DQ8 as well as its side-mounted I/O. On top is the power/sleep button, and an expanssion area from an optional bolt-on barcode scanner. On the left side is an I/O block that includes a reversible USB 3.0 Type C port, an audio jack, power, as well as a SIM card slot and a Micro SD card slot. All these sit behind a protective plug. Next to it is a surface mount docking connector.
The sidebar to the right shows the backside of the M700DQ8. Visible are the documentation camera with its illumination LED, the battery compartment, and the expansion area for the barcode scanner. The battery is an externally accessible rechargeable 3.7V 5,300mAH 19.6 watt-hour Li-Ion unit that snaps flush into the backside of the tablet. This type of design relies on a rubber pressure seal around the battery contacts. Flush-mounted batteries make optional extended batteries possible. Also visible is the tablet's small rear speaker.
For processing, the Winmate M700DQ8 uses the octa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 660 that powers many smartphones and also has become a favorite with manufacturers of rugged handhelds and tablets.  We've benchmarked this system-on-chip in a few other rugged handhelds and tablets, and it's definitely at the very forefront of what's available in Android-based rugged computing gear today. There's 3GB of RAM and 32GB of onboard eMMC mass storage. The latter can be augmented via microSD card.
In terms of performance, the M700DQ8 scored 166,986 in the AnTuTu benchmark suite, 2,928 in Vellamo Metal, 3,725 in Vellamo Multicore, and 5,346 in Vellamo Browser. While the latest premium martphones score higher, this is about the current state-of-the-art in rugged handhelds and tablets.
Ruggedness
As far as ruggedness goes, the Winmate m700dq8 is in a different universe compared to consumer phones or tablets, even if they are in a case. The device is very well protected, materials used are grippy and won't get scratched or dented, and ergonomics are excellent for use out in the field, even with gloves on.
The tablet's 5-foot drop spec to concrete means it won't break if it slips out of a user's hands. The display survived having a 1-pound metal ball dropped on it from height of 53 inches. The -4 to 140 degree Fahrenheit operating temperature range allows deployment in a very wide range of settings. That's on external power; on battery the range drops to 14 to 122F, still respectable.
The Winmate m700dq8 has an IP65 ingress protection rating where the "6" indicates the unit is totally dustproof an the "5" that the unit can also handle low pressure jets of water, so the tablet can handle much more than just a bit of rain.
All that said, we'd like to see more detailed ruggedness specs for devices specifically designed for use in harsh environments. Why? Because many of today's slender smartphones now sport IP68 sealing and YouTube shows them being dropped from ridiculous heights without damage (because they are so light). We do think the industrial-grade device industry must be more proactive in presenting and marketing the impressive ruggedness of their products, and that includes complete ruggedness testing results.
Very good cameras
Almost all tablets have integrated cameras these days, and the Winmate m700dq8 is no exception. There's a user-facing 8-megapixel conferencing camera and a 13-megapixel rear cameras. On the software side, the tablet comes with the "Snapdragon" camera app. As is almost always the case with Android devices, both the cameras and the software are very good. The software, in particular, is much better than the dreadful standard Camera app in Windows-based devices.
The purpose of cameras integrated into tablets designed to be used on the job is to eliminate the need for carrying along a dedicated camera or use a modern smartphone for taking pictures. The cameras in the Winmate m700dq8 can easily do that. The images below were taken with the Snapdragon app's highest quality (there are no fewer than 20 picture size options!) and resolution settings for 16:9 aspect ratio pictures (4160 x 3120 pixels, or 13mp). Click on the sample picture compilation to see it in full size.
Video quality, likewise, is up to modern smartphone standards. That includes 4k video as well as frame rates up to 240, image stabilization, LED illumination, GPS, and white balance settings. All that said, Camera excellence is a moving target, with the latest smartphones outdoing each other. The m700dq8 doesn't compete with them, but, unlike so many rugged devices in the past, its cameras get the job done.
Display
Good display quality and enough brightness to be able to use a tablet outdoors have come to be expected. The Winmate M700DQ8's 7-inch screen offers 1280 x 720 pixel resolution, making for a tall (or wide, if used in landscape mode) 16:9 aspect ratio. That works well with most Android apps and the custom applications this type of tablets is often used for. Likewise, the display's 210 ppi (pixels per inch), while not quite at the "retina" level, is plenty sharp enough for its intended purpose.
Since M700DQ8 tablets will see use outdoors as well as in vehicles and indoors, display brightness is important. The Winmate M700DQ8's display is rated at 650 nits luminance (we tested 560, likely due to touchscreen and pritective glass losses), on par with most premium consumer tablets and also with the 7-inch rugged tablet competition.
Display viewing angle is crucial in tablets and handhelds, but somewhat less so in vehicle-mount deployments where they are fixed and will generally be viewed from the same angle. As is, the M900P's specs suggest 80 degree viewing angles from all directions, plenty good enough. When viewed from some angles, brightness varies a little bit, but there are no color and only very minor contrast shifts.
The pictures below show that, like on all glossy transmissive LCD displays, outdoors there can be reflections on the M700DQ8 screen. By now billions of smartphone and tablet users have learned to live with this inherent limitation of contemporary display technology. Overall, the display is very good.
Bottom line: Winmate M700DQ8
The Winmate M700DQ8 is a small, durable, environmentally rugged tablet for use in field services, transportation, logistics, factory automation, smart retail, and more. While its 7-inch screen is barely larger than that of today's largest smartphones, this Winmate tablet is the complete opposite of a smartphone: it's designed to be a tough, reliable tool for the job. That makes it larger and heavier than any phone and many small tablets — and ready for any job where you can't baby equipment or constantly worry that it might break.
Unlike the technology in many rugged Android tablets, the M700DQ8 is technologically up-to-date. That means Android 9, a quick SnapDragon processor, very good cameras, and USB Type-C. The tablet is designed for mobile field deployment but is equally suitable as a vehicle-mount. -- Conrad Blickenstorfer, May 2020
Winmate, founded in 1994, is a Taiwanese company with a worldwide presence. Specializing in industrial display technologies and solutions, Winmate also branched out into Tablet PCs, digital signage, rugged Mobile PCs, embedded automation controllers, marine grade displays and computers, and Panel PCs such as the Stainless Panel PC shown here.
Contact Winmate:
Web: www.winmate.com or winmate-rugged.com (for North America)
Email: sales@winmate.com.tw or NASales@winmate.com.tw (for North America)
OEM/ODM Contact: ODM@winmate.com.tw
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