Dell Latitude 7230 Rugged Extreme tablet review: One of the best displays in its category

The Latitude 7230 Rugged Extreme was announced in October of last year as the successor to the Latitude 7220 Rugged Extreme. It introduces an updated chassis with a larger screen size (11. 6-inch to 12-inch), faster Intel CPU options (8th gen to 12th gen), and faster connectivity options (Wi-Fi 6 to 6E, 5G).

Our unit in review in a midrange SKU with the Core i5-1240U, 16 GB RAM, and 512 GB NVMe SSD for approximately $3200 USD. Other SKUs are available with the slower Core i3-1210U, faster i7-1260U, more RAM or storage, and other expansions. All configurations otherwise ship with the same 1920 x 1200 1200-nit IPS touchscreen.

The full specifications sheet for the Latitude 7230 Rugged Extreme is publicly available through Dell here . Alternatives include the Acer Enduro T1 , the Samsung Galaxy Tab Active series , or the Panasonic Toughbook FZ-G2 series . More Dell reviews: The chassis is sturdy from all angles especially along its rubberized edges and corners.

Its weakest spot is directly on the center of the touchscreen where warping is noticeable when firmly pressing down on it with a finger. It’s not a huge concern or anything, but any warping is worth mentioning nonetheless. Some annoying aspects of the case include the fidgety covers for the ports and spongy front-facing buttons.

The port covers are difficult to grip while the button shortcuts could use some more give when pressed. The competing Toughbook FZ-G2 does things a little better in this regard. At about 1.

6 kg including its two removable batteries, the unit is one of the lighter rugged tablets in its category. Length and width are conveniently very close to the DIN A4 standard when not taking into account the removable carrying handle. There is a healthy selection of integrated ports to select from.

The two Thunderbolt 4 ports in particular are noteworthy as they allow for the same docking capabilities and external monitor support as modern consumer ultrabooks. Keep in mind that one will always be occupied for charging purposes, however. Most of the other ports are optional and can be configured at checkout including HDMI 2.

0, USB-A, RJ-45, RS-232, or a barcode scanner. The Intel AX211 performs reliably when paired to our Wi-Fi 6E-enabled Asus AXE11000 test router. The model can be configured with no Wi-Fi at all, but we recommend choosing carefully as an end-user installation on the Latitude 7230 Rugged Extreme is much more involved than a typical ultrabook.

The rear 11 MP webcam and even 5 MP front-facing webcam are both sharper than anything you’d find on a consumer clamshell laptop. Each webcam has its own physical privacy slider while the rear webcam has a built-in flash. Windows Hello is supported with the front-facing webcam.

The back panel is secured by no less than two dozen Torx screws. Thankfully, the two batteries and single M. 2 SSD slot are more easily accessible.

RAM is soldered and only configurable at checkout. An official service manual is available directly from Dell if further disassembly is required. Optional accessories include the premium keyboard, hand strap, active pen, and many others.

The retail box includes a passive pen and a rigid carrying handle already attached. A three-year limited warranty applies if purchased in the US. The Latitude 7230 Rugged is one of the few devices in its category and size to offer >95 percent sRGB for more accurate and vibrant colors.

Black-white and gray-gray response times are also reasonably fast for less noticeable ghosting. There is no pulse-width modulation for brightness control as well meaning you can use the tablet at very low brightness levels without eyestrain or noticeable flickering. This is one of the best displays we’ve seen on a rugged tablet.

The biggest drawback to the display is its graininess despite the excellent colors and bright backlight. When compared to the sharper screens on consumer tablets or laptops, the touchscreen on the Latitude 7230 Rugged is under thicker layers of glass and protection which ultimately impacts image quality. For the target audience, however, super-crisp pictures are usually not a priority.

The display is well-calibrated out of the box with average grayscale and color deltaE values of just 1. 5 and 1. 06, respectively.

Attempting to calibrate it further ourselves with an X-Rite colorimeter would not significantly improve accuracy and so an end-user calibration is not necessary. Outdoor visibility is excellent as the display is well over 1000 nits or over two times brighter than the typical consumer tablet or laptop. Some glare and washed out colors still occur, however, and so direct sunlight should be avoided whenever possible to maximize image quality.

We set our unit to Ultra Performance mode via the pre-installed Dell Optimizer software prior to running any benchmarks below. Users should become accustomed to Optimizer as it controls key aspects of the model including power profiles, audio, microphone, and wireless connectivity. Dell Presence Detection is not supported on the model.

CPU performance is excellent especially after the underwhelming Core i7-1260U that we experienced on the Latitude 7330 . Multi-thread performance is significantly faster than the popular Core i7-1165G7 or i7-1185G7 that powered most Ultrabooks and rugged devices of yesteryear. Perhaps the most important aspect to keep in mind when choosing between the Core i5-1240U or Core i7-1260U is that the raw processor performances between them are nearly identical.

Instead, they differ mostly in integrated graphics performance. If you need the additional GPU power, then the Core i7 option would be best. Otherwise, both processors are neck-to-neck when it comes to single- and multi-threaded CPU workloads.

LatencyMon reveals DPC issues when opening multiple browser tabs of our homepage which is disappointing to see on a rugged device where performance stability is paramount. 4K video playback at 60 FPS is imperfect as well with 2 dropped frames during our minute-long test video. Our test unit ships with a removable WD PC SN740 PCIe4 x4 NVMe SSD for sequential transfer rates of up to 4800 MB/s.

Maximum performance is not sustainable, however, as transfer rates would throttle to as low as 2300 MB/s after just a few minutes as shown by the graph below. Graphics performance underperforms by about 5 to 15 percent when compared to the average PC in our database equipped with the same integrated Iris Xe 80 EUs GPU . Expect overall performance to be about 30 to 40 percent slower than the common Iris Xe 96 EUs .

Fortunately, the model can be configured with the Core i7-1260U which comes with the faster Iris Xe 96 EUs for those who need it as mentioned earlier. System performance appears to be identical between the Optimized and Ultra power profiles. A 3DMark 11 test on both power modes would result in nearly the same final scores between them.

Fan noise is quiet and essentially inaudible during low to low-medium loads. Running the first benchmark scene of 3DMark 06, for example, wouldn’t induce any fan noise until the end of the benchmark. The small diameter fan is unfortunately higher-pitched than on most laptops.

If running very demanding applications akin to games or Prime95, fan noise can be as high as 43 dB(A) to be one of the loudest rugged tablets we’ve tested. You’d have to really push the tablet to its limits to reach such high noise levels, however. Surface temperatures are not an issue because of the thick rugged profile much like on most other rugged devices.

At worst, we’re able to record a high of 40 C along the very edge of the unit nearest the ventilation grilles when the CPU is at 100 percent utilization. When running Prime95 to stress the CPU, clock rates and board power draw would boost to 2. 6 GHz and 30 W, respectively, before falling slightly to 2.

5 GHz and 26 W a few seconds later. Core temperature would stabilize at a very high 97 C which is warmer than we would like. Repeating this test on the larger Dell Latitude 7330 Rugged would result in a much cooler core temperature of just 68 C.

Running on battery power impacts CPU performance slightly. A 3DMark 11 test on batteries would return Physics and Graphics scores of 10743 and 4041 points, respectively, compared to 12765 and 4053 points when on mains. Power consumption is mostly similar to other rugged devices running on older 11th gen CPUs like the Dell Latitude 7330 Rugged Extreme or Panasonic Toughbook 40.

Performance-per-watt, however, can be very different. More specifically, our Latitude 7230 Rugged can offer 40 to 50 percent faster processor performance than the Core i7-1185G7 in the Dell Latitude 7330 Rugged without needing to consume more power. On the other hand, GPU performance is 30 to 40 percent slower.

We’re able to record a maximum draw of 55 W from the small-medium (~13 x 6. 5 x 2. 3 cm) 90 W USB-C AC adapter.

This maximum reading is relatively low when compared to many Core i7 alternatives since our Core i5 has a lower Turbo Boost limit. Note that the model comes with the same AC adapter as found on certain XPS laptops. Up to two removable batteries are supported.

WLAN runtime is almost 13 hours when both batteries (36 Wh x2) are installed. On the other hand, running demanding loads on the maximum brightness level should last for about 3. 5 hours.

Charging both batteries from empty to full is unfortunately quite slow at 4 to 5 hours compared to 1. 5 to 2 hours on most Ultrabooks. The distinguishing features of the Latitude 7230 Rugged Extreme are its full sRGB coverage, fast CPU performance, and low weight relative to other rugged tablets.

Most alternatives have poorer colors and thicker bezels in comparison. We would like to see improvements to the port covers and front buttons which are too slippery and small, respectively. These become even harder to handle if you happen to be wearing gloves.

The excellent battery life, super bright display, and full sRGB coverage of the Latitude 7230 Rugged Extreme set the standard for future rugged tablets. Potential buyers will want to keep in mind that the less expensive Core i5-1240U performs similarly to the Core i7-1260U when it comes to CPU performance. Thus, users should only select the latter if the faster graphics performance is needed.

Expect fan noise to be louder than usual if you plan on running more demanding tasks on the model. Dell is now shipping the Latitude 7230 Rugged Extreme starting at $2700 USD for the base configuration to over $5000 if fully configured. Our review unit retails for around $3200.

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