Panasonic Toughbook FZ-L1 Rugged Android Tablet Launched at $1,499

Panasonic has launched a new device in its Toughbook lineup, and this time it is a tablet – FZ-L1. The Toughbook series is known for its rugged products for enterprise users, and they come at premium prices. Similarly, though the Panasonic Toughbook FZ-L1 features mediocre specifications it will be available with a high price tag. However, the company is targetting a different market – the enterprise segment, so the price cannot be compared with regular Android tablets. Apart from durability, the key features of the tablet include a 7-inch display, a quad-core Snapdragon processor, 2GB RAM, and more importantly Android 8.1 Oreo.
To recall, last month Panasonic had launched the Toughbook FZ-T1 in Europe. The handheld, almost similar to the tablet in terms of specifications, has also been launched in the US. The Toughbook FZ-L1, like the FZ-T1, can be used in the retail sector for shelf stocking, assisted sales or order taking and more, says Panasonic. It comes with an integrated barcode scanner, that is field configurable for landscape or portrait modes, and a host of accessories will be available at launch. In terms of price, the Panasonic Toughbook FZ-L1 will be available in the US starting at a suggested retail price of $1,499 (roughly Rs. 1,03,000). Even the Toughbook FZ-T1 will be sold in the US starting with that price tag.
Toughbook FZ-L1 specifications
The Panasonic Toughbook FZ-L1 runs Android 8.1 Oreo and sports a 7-inch HD (1280×720 pixels) display with 10-point capacitive multi-touch with rain sensing and glove touch modes. It is powered by a quad-core Qualcomm MSM8909 processor, clocked at 1.1GHz paired with 2GB RAM.
In terms of camera, the Panasonic Toughbook FZ-L1 features an 8-megapixel rear camera with LED flash. There is no camera at the front. The smartphone is equipped with 16GB of inbuilt storage, expandable via microSD card. Connectivity options include LTE, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.1, NFC, Micro-USB, and a headphone jack. Panasonic has only mentioned the presence of an accelerometer and an ambient light sensor in the smartphone.
The Panasonic Toughbook FZ-L1 is fuelled by a 3200mAh battery, with “warm swap” function. The company claims that the battery provides up to 12 hours of continuous data access. In terms of dimensions, the smartphone measures 193.04×132.08×12.7mm and weigh 421 grams. The Toughbook FZ-l1 is IP65/67 water-resistant and MIL-STD 810G-certified.