Aside from being tough as nails, rugged gadgets typically prioritize long battery life, but increasingly, newer models have been adding in specialized tools for fieldwork. A projector, for example.
China’s 8849 claimed the crown for the first 5G rugged tablet with a built-in DLP projector back in 2024. It wasn’t particularly bright, and the resolution maxed out at just 854 x 480, but the original Tank Pad might just save colleagues from having to bunch up around a small screen to view content – in the right conditions.
Blackview followed up with the first 1080p projector in a rugged tablet almost a year later, managing to double the brightness of 8849’s effort. Now there’s a new Tank Pad in town that’s claimed to feature the brightest pico projector you can currently find in a rugged tablet. The built-in DLP projector offers 1080p resolution, 260-lumen brightness, and auto-focus across a 0.5 to 4-meter range, enabling impromptu projection when you need it.
8849
This could prove useful in the field, whether it’s for a presentation, collaboration, or outdoor media viewing. It remains to be seen how well daylight-viewing will work, though, despite the company’s claims. Portable projectors with more than 260 lumens have been known to struggle in bright conditions. Still, it’s good to see such capabilities improving.
Elsewhere, the Tank Pad Ultra combines a number of other useful features into a single device, becoming less of a standard rugged tablet, and something closer to a multi-tool for tradespeople looking to consolidate their gear. The outdoor-friendly 10.95-inch FHD+ display is home to a 32-megapixel front-facing camera, with a 50-MP main camera, plus a 64-MP night-vision camera supported by infrared LEDs, completing a setup designed to capture images both in normal and near-total darkness – making it useful for inspection and documentation tasks. A built-in 4-m (13-ft) laser rangefinder adds measurement capabilities, allowing users to calculate distance, area, and volume on-site. This suite of features position the device as a field-ready tool that can tackle all sorts of tasks – assuming, of course, its accuracy is up to scratch.
Under the hood, a MediaTek Dimensity 8200 chip drives the rugged Android tablet, boasting 5G connectivity and Wi-Fi 6 support. The tablet pairs this with up to 32 GB of RAM (including virtual memory) and 512 GB of storage, which can be expanded via microSD.
A huge 23,400-mAh battery means the tablet can be used for several days without needing a recharge – though heavy projector use will likely drain it a lot faster. When the device does need to be topped up, 66-W fast charging means it shouldn’t take long.
8849
As with 8849’s previous devices, the Tank Pad Ultra is designed to withstand harsh conditions, with IP68 and IP69K ratings, a shock-resistant and water-proof body, and extras like integrated camping lights and a suite of 20+ utility tools. At just over 1.3 kg (2.8 lb), though, it’s no lightweight; it’s clearly built for endurance rather than portability.
Pricing starts at US$599 for its base configuration, positioning it well below many other industrial-grade rugged tablets.
For many users, the “everything device” pitch could be appealing, despite its size and weight tradeoffs. Ultimately, the tablet’s true value, and its success, will depend on how well it performs in practice, outside the spec sheet.
Product page: Tank Pad Ultra
