Oukitel Industry RT10 rugged tablet review

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Oukitel Industry RT10: 30-second review

The Oukitel Industry RT10 is the latest in the company’s line of rugged tablets, and with a large 11″ FHD screen, tough design, 5G connectivity and a barcode scanner built in, it instantly looks set to impress.

The large screen is instantly pleasing with a relatively decent brightness that makes it clear to see in bright conditions. The resolution for this size of screen is, however, limited to FHD. So, while the screen is pleasing to look at, the resolution is relatively low, resulting in workflow applications such as Google Docs and Sheets feeling a little more cramped on screen than you might expect for the size of the screen.

The touchscreen is good and responsive, and while that responsiveness is affected by moisture, through the test, it proved to be solid in performance. The only other slight quirk with the screen is that the surface is quite reflective, so while the display is clear, those reflections can be troublesome out in the field.

In use, the Google apps all work smoothly, as does browsing the internet both through the WiFi signal and when connected to a 5G network using a Vodafone SIM.

Adobe Lightroom runs fine and is generally fast, but as you start to push the system with complex video edits in CapCut or playing graphically intensive games, you will start to see the limits of this tablet. Straight CapCut edits with footage shot on the phone, however, are fluid enough.

Where this tablet really excels is with its rugged credentials. It survived some time underwater, being dropped, and left out in the rain with no adverse effects on performance or functionality.

The battery life was also exceptionally good, with the 15,000mAh battery keeping the tablet powered for several days between charges with mid to heavy use. There’s also a dedicated barcode scanner on the side unit. This has been designed to work with dedicated industry apps and isn’t an out-of-the-box solution. Essentially, Oukitel has supplied the industry hardware; you need to provide the software solution for your business.

If you need a robust tablet for work and don’t need cameras or huge amounts of processing power for anything more than evaluating documents, getting online, and sending back site images, the Oukitel Industry RT10 is one of the best rugged tablets in its price range.

manufacturer’s website here – with a discount price of $999 / £733 until February 16.

Oukitel Industry RT10: Design

Robust
Touch Screen
Bar Code Scanner built in

As you’d expect from a rugged tablet, the design and build all support this device being used in situations that would ordinarily see any other tablet break. The outer edges are reinforced with rubberised plastic, and the overall design mixes metal panelling and tough plastic to ensure a robust build designed to be ready for any environment.

While most tablets are slimline and feature a stylish, minimalistic look, the Oukitel Industry RT10 is somewhat more bulky. The mix of rubber, metal, and plastic enables a far easier grip on the exterior and ensures that, whatever the weather, you’ll always have a good purchase on the casing. When it comes to size, it measures 266.5 × 178 × 22.5 mm and weighs 1.28 kg, substantially more than most.

While my review sample arrived as just the tablet, as with previous iterations of the Industry RT range, there will be cases and other accessories available. A row of Pogo Pin contacts along the base makes it likely that a keyboard will also be an optional accessory.

The front of the RT10 is dominated by the large 11″ screen with FHD resolution. Whilst this is lower than most modern tablets, it’s around average for this style of tablet.

Taking a look around the tablet body, on the first of the longer edges, there’s a USB-C port for data and charging alongside a 3.5mm audio jack for headphones; both of these ports are covered by a rubber flap to stop water ingress. Next to these are the TF/MicroSD and SIM card slot.

On the other side is the barcode scanner, microphone, two multifunctional buttons that you can assign your own apps or functions to, volume up and down, and the power/biometric fingerprint button.

On top, there’s a LAN port, which is unusual for a tablet but reinforces the industrial use, and a USB Type-A port. Finally, on the side is the POGO pin contact interface for connection to accessories such as a keyboard.

On the back of the tablet are two large speakers, an industrial fingerprint scanner, again, as with the barcode scanner, dedicated software is required, a main camera, a macro camera, and a night vision camera.

There’s also an NFC contact point for wireless communication between devices.

While the tablet is large and bulky, it is comfortable to hold, and in the box, along with the tablet, is a metal handle that can be easily attached.

Oukitel Industry RT10: Features

This is a tablet that has a focus on industrial use, with barcode and finger print scanners, cameras, a battery, LAN ports, and SIM card compatibility, fulfilling a feature set that will be required by anyone working on site. The tablet is also IP68/IP69K certified, so if you get caught in the rain or even drop this tablet into a puddle, it’s fully waterproof.

Taking a look at the hardware, inside the heart of this RT10 is a Dimensity 7300 SoC CPU, coupled with a Mali-G615 MC2 GPU. This combo is decidedly mid-range, so while it should provide the power required for work-based apps, for anything that requires more graphics or processing power, it is likely to struggle.

The CPU and GPU combo is backed by 16GB of 3200 MHz RAM and 512GB of internal storage, and you can boost this with a 1TB MicroSD card.

One of the big features of this tablet is the battery capacity at 25,000mAh, which will keep this tablet running without issue for a full day’s work and performed impressively throughout the test. This battery also supports up to 33W fast charging.

Connectivity is a major factor in this tablet. As well as WiFi 6, it also supports 5G with a SIM inserted. Through this test, I utilised a data SIM with unlimited data and no cap to maximise the full potential of the tablet.

As well as the more standard features of a tablet computer, the RT10 includes a few additions that tailor it to industry. These include the fingerprint scanner on the back, the barcode scanner on the side, and the RJ45 Ethernet port at the top. This means that if you’re gathering on-site data or running industrial software, this tablet is designed to easily integrate into your workflow and bespoke software.

Supporting the hardware is an array of three cameras, main, macro, and night vision, which again have been designed for data capture, on-site images, and recording, rather than for content creation.

Oukitel Industry RT10: Performance

Disk Speed Read: 2032 MB/s
Disk Speed Write: 449 MB/s
Geekbench CPU Multi: 3161
Geekbench CPU Single: 1021
Geekbench GPU: 2504
Solar Bay: N/A
Slingshot: 7165
Slingshot Extreme: 5361
Wild Life Extreme Overall: 3296
Wild Life Overall: 3303
Steel Nomad Overall: 359

While other rugged tablets are a blend of consumer and industrial, with simply the rugged outer shell differentiating them from standard devices, the RT10 is very different when it comes to some of those added extras such as the scanners and ethernet port.

The design and aesthetics are, however, very stereotypical of the genre, with large rubberised corners and a mix of metal and plastic that make it heavier and bulkier than its consumer equivalents.

It feels solid, and throughout the test I dropped, submerged, and left it in the rain, all of which had little effect on the actual working of the device. It is simply designed to withstand a lot more than most. However, as so often with the design of these rugged tablets and phones, there’s just a bit too much styling. The metal grids that protect the speakers on the back are a catch-all for mud and grit, and even after a good clean, it was nearly impossible to fully rid them of dirt.

While the mud encrusted on the back doesn’t affect performance, it just feels like a bit of an oversight for something that’s designed to be used outdoors.

The exterior has a few additional features that make it very handy, including a large camping-style light on the back. This kicks out plenty of illumination and is great for ambient lighting. It’s similar to the lights that have been appearing on the backs of rugged smartphones over the past few years and is a welcome addition.

The array of cameras is also useful and very functional. It’s worth noting that there’s a professional edge to these, while they’re good, they’re designed for documentation rather than creative endeavour. Essentially, they’re fine for taking images on site, and quickly enhancing those images using Lightroom was all smooth, with the CPU and GPU handling the image data without issue.

Likewise, the video quality is OK, with definition and clarity looking good in bright conditions, but struggling under lower light. The footage can appear grainy and lack detail. Again, in bright conditions, the quality is good enough for site visits and recording rather than content creation.

While shooting video, I was interested to see how the tablet would handle light video editing using CapCut. As the application is highly optimised, editing footage shot on the tablet was smooth, and effects could be applied with ease. This footage was all HD, so far from taxing the mid-level processor.

Moving to more everyday use, the tablet handled Google Docs and Sheets with ease. It’s a bit of a shame that the screen is limited to FHD resolution, as while that does make everything nice and easy to read, it doesn’t offer much screen real estate for navigating documents.

Through daily use, the battery life stood out. As I shot video and images, edited, browsed the internet, and answered emails, the battery slowly depleted. But used over an average working day, it should be more than enough to last several days between charges under intensive use.

Some of the more industry-focused features, such as the barcode scanner on the side and finger print scanner on the back, will need compatible software in order to function. Unfortunately, there’s nothing installed on the tablet by default that enables this feature and most off the shelf apps tried wouldn’t recognise the scanners as a more bespoke solution is required.

Overall, for a rugged tablet, the focus here is very much on industry, with solid all-round performance when it comes to computing power and additional specialist features that will appeal in certain sectors.

Oukitel Industry RT10: Final verdict

There are plenty of rugged tablets on the market, many offering individual features that stand out to very specific market sectors. The RT10 is a great example of a rugged tablet with a very defined audience, with the barcode scanner on the side and finger print scaner for security on the base, which, with the correct app installed, enables fast scanning and data collection.

The fact that it has a decent array of cameras, mid-range processing power, and a LAN port, as well as the ability to utilise both WiFi and cellular networks, makes it an extremely versatile option for a multitude of industries.

While throughout the week of use, there were plenty of features I liked about this tablet, I was disappointed by the lack of screen resolution. While the screen is bright and crisp, at this size, it makes the contents appear overly large, resulting in Google Docs and Sheets feeling bigger on screen than they need to be. That said, it does have the side effect of making everything very easy to read and edit.

The barcode scanner is a major feature of the tablet, but with no app installed or option to activate it in available apps, it looks to be a feature that needs to be integrated into custom applications or enterprise-level software. During the review, I tried several standard solutions but was unable to get the scanner to activate.

Likewise, the computing performance is mid-range, but for a tablet aimed at the commercial sector, the fact that it handles workflow apps smoothly while struggling a bit with higher-end graphic processing isn’t an issue.

For more intensive apps, such as Lightroom and CapCut, that use images and video shot on the tablet, it handles the data with ease. Essentially, if you’re recording on-site imagery, this is a great solution if you’re wanting a rugged tablet for content creation then it’s not.

If you need a rugged tablet that can be used in the field, withstands more than most, has a dedicated barcode reader, LAN port, and a battery life that far exceeds the longevity of most tablets, then this is a great option.

Should you buy an Oukitel Industry RT10?

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Value	Relatively expensive for the processing power, but has features that few other tablets offer	4 / 5
Design	Standard tough design that’s a little overstated with the rear metal panels	3.5 / 5
Features	Excellent range of features with the battery and dedicated scanner, although software integration is needed	4 / 5
Performance	Average tablet performance and a platform that’s primed for business-tuned software solutions	3.5 / 5
Overall	Niche tablet designed to integrate with your company’s dedicated software platforms	4 / 5