Rev3Highlights: The Best Rugged Laptops In 2022

Panasonic Toughbook 40, one of best rugged laptops — (Image credit: Panasonic)

The best rugged laptops provide a high level of protection against damage from accidents, spills, rain, spray, dust, dirt, and extreme temperatures. That makes them the perfect choice for a range of people, including the armed forces, first responders, hospital workers, construction workers, factory and industrial workers, farm workers, and others. They're also a savvy purchase for anyone who's just generally clumsy.

Yes, you can get laptop insurance to guard against accidental breakage. But it's a lot of hassle to make a claim, and you may be without a laptop while you wait. Prevention is always better than cure, and so a laptop that can withstand more of life's knocks will help you sleep sounder at night.

Be warned, though, that not every laptop with 'Rugged' in its name is equal. Some are more rugged than others, and they all loosely sit on a spectrum between fully rugged laptops, semi-rugged laptops, and those with rugged elements.

The former offer the highest degree of protection, but they also tend to be bulky, heavy and expensive. So if you're not actually using one on a battlefield, you may want to compromise and get something that's lighter and cheaper, even if it's a little less robust.

Below, you'll find the best rugged laptops on the market today. We'll share their relevant specs, explain how they differ and which might suit you best, as well as looking at their computing performance in general.

Best rugged laptops in 2022

Product shot of Panasonic Toughbook 40 Rugged Laptop — (Image credit: Panasonic )

1. Panasonic Toughbook 40

The best rugged laptop overall

Toughest on our list

Bright display

Highly customisable

Expensive

On the heavy side

The Panasonic Toughbook 40 is the toughest, most rugged laptop on the market today, period. And while that makes it expensive, it also makes it the best rugged laptop for military personnel, first responders, oil rig workers, or anyone else heading into dangerous and unpredictable territory.

This hugely robust laptop is built to American military standards MIL-STD 810H and MIL-STD 461G, and rated to IP66 level. In practice, that means it can survive a six-foot drop, and offer a high degree of resistance to shocks, vibration, humidity, altitude, rain, dust, sand and water (although it still shouldn't be fully immersed in water). Plus it can operate at temperatures as low as -29°C and as high as 63°C.

The Panasonic Toughbook 40 is a pretty decent laptop in general too. It comes with either an Intel Core i5 or i7 processor, making everything run nice and fast. Its 14-inch, Full HD display offers up to 1,200 nits of brightness, so it's useable even outdoors in strong sunlight. It can support up to four modular xPAK expansion cards, making it nicely customisable. And while it's pretty expensive, and weighs a bit at 3.35kg, you won't find finer in terms of tough protection.

Product shot of Dell Latitude 7330 Rugged Extreme — (Image credit: Dell)

2. Dell Latitude 7330 Rugged Extreme

The best rugged laptop for value

Fully rugged

Reasonable price

Impressive screen brightness

Clunky looks

Want a seriously rugged laptop, but on a limited budget? The Dell Latitude 7330 Rugged Extreme offers a high degree of protection, which is close to that of the Panasonic Toughbook 40, while being significantly cheaper. It's also a little lighter, at just 2.7kg to the latter's 3.35kg.

The amount of protection this laptop offers against accidents and the elements is, as the name suggests, on the extreme side. It’s built to American military standard MIL-STD-810H, and is IP65-certified, which protects it against water, dust, vibrations, high temperatures and six-foot falls. It's not exactly sleek, appearing more like a briefcase than a standard laptop, but as a rugged device it certainly looks the part.

All these things make it a good choice for hazardous environments such as construction sites and industrial facilities, as well as for general hiking, camping trips and other expeditions.

More generally, this is a highly specced machine, with a lightning-fast Intel Core i7-1185G7 processor, a good range of connecting ports (handily hidden behind lockable doors), up to 2TB of storage, and a lovely stylus. Plus the 13.3-inch Full HD display is wonderfully bright, reaching a maximum 1,400 nits.

Product shot of Dell Latitude 5430 Rugged Laptop — (Image credit: Panasonic )

3. Dell Latitude 5430 Rugged Laptop

The best semi-rugged laptop overall

Semi-rugged protection

Lightweight

Affordable

Not fully rugged

Not going into the wilds, and just want a laptop that's got a higher level of drop protection than most, but is still lightweight and powerful? Then the Dell Latitude 5430 Rugged Laptop may hit the perfect sweet spot.

Despite its name, this should be considered a semi-rugged laptop rather than a full-blown rugged device. What does that mean in practice? Well, it's tested to MIL-STD 810H specifications, so it should survive a three-foot drop. It's also IP-53 rated, which offers protection against dust, dirt, and water, although to a lesser degree than the first two laptops on our list.

In other words, the Latitude 5430 Rugged provides more protection than your average laptop, but less than a fully rugged laptop. The payoff is that it's cheaper and lighter (at under 2kg) than the latter.

This makes it a good choice if you're not going anywhere very dangerous, but there are still some potential hazards. Or, if you're just generally clumsy, and worried about having an accident in the office or coffee shop.

It's also very capable in general, with a zippy Intel Core i7 processor, a wide array of ports, a lovely backlit keyboard, a webcam cover, and the option of boosting graphics performance with the addition of a Nvidia T500 discrete graphics card. Plus the all-black design with a carbon fibre lid looks very smart indeed.

See our roundup of the best Dell laptops

Product shot of Panasonic Toughbook 55 Rugged Laptop — (Image credit: Panasonic )

4. Panasonic Toughbook 55 Mk2 (2021)

Another great semi-rugged laptop

Semi-rugged protection

Reasonably priced

Relatively lightweight

Not fully rugged

Here's another good choice if you're looking for a semi-rugged laptop. Like our previous entry, the Panasonic Toughbook 55 (2021) is tested to MIL-STD-810H standards, so it should survive a three-foot drop, and offers IP-53 rated resistance to dust, dirt, and water. And it's considerably cheaper than its fully rugged sibling, the Panasonic Toughbook 40.

It also benefits from a very lovely display, offering close to 1,000-nit brightness, which makes it very useable outdoors. It's relatively lightweight, at just over 2kg. The backlit keyboard is comfortable, with a good degree of key travel. The webcam features an impressively high 1080p video resolution. And there are a good array of wireless and Bluetooth connectivity options, although note that there's no 5G support.

Product shot of Panasonic Toughbook 33 Rugged Laptop — (Image credit: Panasonic )

5. Panasonic Toughbook 33 Rugged Laptop Detachable

The best rugged 2-in-1 laptop

Tablet + laptop in one

Fully rugged

Decent cameras

Expensive

Only 12-inch screen

Looking for a 2-in-1 laptop – a tablet with a detachable keyboard – that's also rugged? Then you want the Panasonic Toughbook 33. This hybrid device is seriously robust, boasting water and dust resistance to IP65 standards, and drop resistance of four feet, to MIL-STD 810G military standards.

As it doubles as a tablet, you won't be surprised that the screen is the smallest on our list, at just 12 inches in diameter. It also has a 3:2 aspect ratio display, which is taller than the normal 16:9 ratio of most laptops, and a fantastically detailed 2160 x 1440 resolution.

Other highlights of this hybrid include impressive connectivity, with ports for Type-A, Type-C (with Power Delivery), full HDMI, Ethernet and headphones. You'll also love the two hot-swappable batteries, to make sure you don't run out of juice while you're out and about. And there are two great cameras: a 2MP/full HD selfie lens, with privacy shutter, and an 8MP rear camera with autofocus.

Also note that if you don't want the keyboard, the Toughbook 33 is also available as a standalone tablet.

Best rugged laptops: G Gram 17 — (Image credit: Dell)

6. LG Gram 17

The best ultralight laptop with rugged elements

Ultrathin and light

Beautiful looks

Powerful processor

No official figure on drop protection

Not interested in purpose-built rugged laptops, with their weird looks, bulk shape and extreme weight? Just want a normal laptop... but want a bit more protection than usual? Well, you can have your cake and eat it, sort of, with the LG Gram 17, one of our favourite 17-inch laptops.

Looking at the image above, you might think this sleek-looking laptop has ended up on the wrong list. It's super-sleek, at just 17.8mm thick, so you'd expect it to be pretty fragile. However, the full metal body is made from the same magnesium alloy used as aircraft material. And that means it meets the MIL-STD-810G military standard, protecting your laptop from everything from shock and dust to extreme temperatures.

Beyond that, LG hasn't actually shared much in the way of specific information about the LG Gram 17's ruggedness. And we're not about to start jumping on ours, or sticking it into the oven, just to find out. But we can assure you that it is a fantastic laptop in general.

After all, you're getting a lovely, big 17-inch display, with a super-high resolution of 2560 x 1600, an 11th Gen Intel CPU to boost speed and performance, a big and beautiful keyboard, impressive sound quality from the two speakers, and up to 19.5 hours battery life... all within a sleek, light and attractive design. And so even a small and loosely defined amount of extra ruggedness represents some great icing on the cake here.

Saturday, September 17, 2022

The Best Rugged Laptops In 2022