Hands on: Getac ZX80 Rugged Android Tablet

Getac ZX80: 30-second review

Getac has built a good reputation for making laptops ideal for challenging environments that have excellent accessories and come with specialist service contracts.

These devices are mostly based on Intel silicon, but the ZX80 (no, not that ZX80) tablet is something of a departure from the norm for this hardware maker.

The ZX80 is an 8-inch Android tablet, but sporting all the typical design choices that a laptop from this brand comes with. Those include a robust polycarbonate shell, water-resistant ports, specialist connectors for vehicle or workspace mounting, and modular features to add specific functionality.

The review model came with a module for barcode scanning, demonstrating that this hardware would be at home in a warehouse, but other modules can be mounted with various capabilities.

Its design differs even more significantly from typical rugged Android tablets in that it has two batteries, one of which can be hot-swapped out, enabling it to remain operational for prolonged periods.

As we'll cover in the review, the ARM SoC at the heart of the ZX80 is much more potent than a typical Android tablet might receive. Conversely, the inbuilt cameras are lower specification than even entry-level phones get these days.

This feature set makes the ZX80 highly suitable for certain roles in the manufacturing and logistics sectors but not ideal for those where high-quality photography might be a requirement.

Those who might consider a device like this have one final hurdle to clear: the disturbingly high price of the machine and its accessories. A typical rugged Android tablet costs between $200-300, and even premium devices topping out at $500-600. Getac wants around $1500 for the machine and equally elevated prices for the extra batteries and other accessories. However, exact prices can vary since this is a solution where you contact a reseller and ask for a quote.

Getac ZX80: Price and availability

•  How much does it cost? From around £1,300
• When is it out? Available now
• Where can you get it? From a Getac reseller

Unlike most tablets we cover here, the Getac ZX80 doesn't have a quotable cost since each device is customised specifically for that customer.

A machine like the review hardware will likely cost more than $1500, but without any accessories, a service contract, or enhancements. Various sensor options, cradles, more batteries, and external chargers can significantly increase that number.

If your accounts department gets nervous at Apple iPad prices, it might need some preparation for an investment in this equipment.

Getac ZX80: Specs

Getac ZX80: Design

• Sturdy built
• Unusual layout
• High brightness screen

When picked up for the first time, the ZX80 exudes solidity with what appears to be a glass-reinforced plastic case and bold impact-resistant corners. At just 590g, it's also much lighter than expected, given that this design has two batteries.

Instead of the typical edge buttons, Getac went with an alternative approach where all the buttons are on the face of the tablet, although they are so small that it hints this machine was made specifically to use a stylus.

The power button is only a few millimetres across, and pressing it with the tip of a finger isn't straightforward.

Each side of the ZX80 has a purpose, with the exception of the right, which has no ports or capabilities. The bottom edge has various connectors for a docking station. The left has a USB-C port and an audio jack, covered with a locking weatherproof cover. The top edge of the review hardware has a barcode reader, but from what we understand, this feature is modular.

The back has a catch system for removing one of the batteries, and the SIM tray is hidden inside that battery pocket. This machine can take one 5G SIM and a MicroSD card, but changing either requires the removal of the battery.

Most rugged tablets are larger than this one, and there is a good reason why. The 8-inch corner-to-corner display is exceptionally bright, with a quoted brightness of 1000 nits and an anti-reflection coating.

That specification should make the screen suitable for UAV use, although the coating tends to soften the image in a way that most drone pilots wouldn't appreciate when trying to detect thin obstructions, such as wires. Given that most drones now come with dedicated Android controllers with an in-built display or larger than 8-inch screens, the ZX80 might not sell well to the professional UAV crowd.

The biggest issue with the screen is that using it with fingers isn't elegant, even if it has settings for fingers, gloves or a stylus. The icons are just too small, and using the on-screen keyboard is a trial-and-error exercise.

The ZX80 should have had an inbuilt stylus out of the box and not one you must purchase as an optional accessory.

Getac ZX80: Hardware

• Powerhouse
• Limited battery capacity

The best aspect of the ZX80 is the SoC that Getac used. That statement assumes that the retail version of the ZX80 will have the same SoC as the pre-production sample.

There are no guarantees, and the Getac website describes the ZX80 as having 8GB of RAM and 256GB of storage, whereas the sample we used only had 6GB and 180GB, respectively.

If Getac sticks with the Qualcomm sm7325, aka the Snapdragon 778G 5G Mobile Platform, this is easily the most powerful rugged Android tablet we've ever tested. This chip has seen service in the Samsung Galaxy Tab Active4 Pro, which was launched in 2022.

The downside of such an impressive chip is that this tablet consumes the contents of its dual batteries at a gallop.

Capacity is split between the 4060mAh internal and unswappable module and a 4990mAh swappable battery, the default option. A bigger swappable high-capacity battery, 9980mAh, can be specified, larger than the total capacity of the sample machine.

The default battery and internal source provide enough power for a working day, but forgetting to recharge could be a big problem for those on a later shift.

We should also mention that the hardware we received, marked as a 'Pre-production Sample', exhibited a few less-than-ideal power management issues.

In short, with the tablet asleep, its entire battery capacity would leak away over about two days, with no indication in the battery use panels as to where that power went.

That's not ideal, especially if someone forgets to charge the tablet at the end of a working day. We can only hope that whatever the problem might be, it is resolved in retail production models.

Getac ZX80: Cameras

• 16.3MP sensor on the rear
• 8MP on the front
• Two cameras in total

Someone in the technical department of Getac decided that photo taking wasn't important and gave the ZX80 two sensors that probably wouldn't be good enough for a budget phone.

And, the specifications don't say what the sensors are, with the Android distro having been compiled with a wide selection of options, many being a much higher resolution than the two used.

It's an educated guess, but the rear sensor is probably an Omnivsion ov16a10, and the front sensor is an Omnivsion ov8856.

The one redeeming feature of the rear sensor is that it records 4K video at 30 fps, although there are no frame rate controls at the resolution.

But for still image control, you get a resolution selection and a digital zoom. That's about it. There are no special shooting modes and no 'Pro' option for manual settings.

We've complained plenty about Chinese mainstream brands not exploiting the sensors they include, but at least these put a few photography and video options on their devices.

We've included a selection of images taken on the ZX80, and the results are generally crisp, but the software is poor at deciding where in the scene to focus without encouragement and is equally woolly about adjusting brightness in a balanced way.

With this hardware, you can take some decent images, but it's more about luck than intention.

Image 1 of 12

Getac ZX80: Performance

For comparison, we placed the Getac ZX80 up against the Ulefone Armor Pad 2, a device that is about 30% of its cost.

And, given that the Ulefone device is so much cheaper and not designed for the same market slice, its performance is predictably much less than the Snapdragon-powered ZX80.

It truly shines when the Adreno 643 GPU kicks into high gear, and in a few of the 3DMark tests, it was so fast the benchmarks aborted with 'Maxed Out' being reported.

That is part of the results we expected, but the battery life of the Getac isn't wonderful, even with two batteries.

However, this isn't an apples-to-apples comparison since the Pad 2 has an 18600mAh battery, while the combined battery capacity of the ZX80 is only 9050mAh.

If the ZX80 had the same 18600mAh capacity, based on what it achieves with 9050mAh, it would probably last for more than 30 hours.

If this device is used for multiple shifts and is not being charged in its dock, does it have enough battery power to cope? The answer is 'no', but it has the hot-swappable battery to help mitigate that problem if the budget can cope with the high cost of the batteries and the separate charger needed to recharge them away from the tablet.

Getac ZX80: Verdict

There are some great things about this tablet, including the Snapdragon processor and the modular add-ons. It's also nice to see a replaceable battery, although only one is replaceable, which begs the question of what happens when the internally mounted one starts to wear out.

For whatever reason, Getac decided that its core market for the ZX80 wanted some things and not others, which explains why the cameras are so poor. But frankly, if you've spent this much on a tablet, you have a right to expect better sensors than the ones the ZX80 got saddled with.

But the elephant in this room, a somewhat constant companion for Getac, is the cost of an Android tablet when the marketing hype is stripped away. It's a special one, but not so unique that it justifies these price points we'd contest.

The cost might not be an issue for corporate customers who might write off these purchases against budgets and tax deductions if they fulfil their purpose. But, any business involved in cost cutting might be advised to consider less ambitious devices.