14 DAY TRIAL // Panasonic isn't well known among Windows Phone fans, but that doesn't mean that the company is not present on the market with some products powered by Microsoft's operating system.
The new Toughpad FZ-E1 device is a curious mix of smartphone and tablet. Even though it sports a 5-inch display, Panasonic insists that this isn't a smartphone, but a tablet.
On top of that, the device runs Windows Embedded 8.1 Handheld, but with a Windows Phone 8 skin that brings it closer to a smartphone.
Either way, Panasonic Toughpad FZ-E1 won't be available for everyone, but enterprise customers may be taken into consideration. The thing is the tablet is not available for sale and Microsoft hasn't yet released this version of Windows for this type of devices.
Even if the tablet is powered by Windows Embedded 8.1 Handheld, Panasonic claims it will run Windows Phone apps without any problems.
Moving on to specs, Toughpad FZ-E1 is an ultra-rugged tablet with a 5-inch HD (720p) capacitive touchscreen display. According to Panasonic, the device features the “world's most rugged design” and it's been MIL-STD-810G certified against shock, vibration, rain, dust, sand, altitude, freeze, high and low temperature.
1D/2D barcode and magnetic stripe reader with stylus are optional
The tablet also features IP65 and IP68 certification, which makes it water resistant (submersible up to 1.5 meters for 30 minutes). Toughpad FZ-E1 is a heavy device for its size: 426g (battery included).
Hardware-wise, the tablet is surprisingly powerful. Panasonic included a 2.3GHz quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 processor, 2GB RAM and 32GB of internal memory, which can be further expanded up to 64GB via microSD card slot.
The slate also has an 8-megapixel camera on the back with autofocus, LED flash and video recording, as well as a secondary 1.3-megapixel camera in the front.
Panasonic Toughpad FZ-E1 is powered by a huge 6200 mAh battery, which should provide up to 1000 hours of standby time or up to 23 hours of talk time.
