Acer joins billion dollar ruggedised market with new tablets, laptops

Acer Enduro
(Image credit: Acer)

Acer has launched its new Enduro line of rugged notebooks and tablets which have been specifically designed to meet the needs of professionals working in the field.

In a press release, general manager of rugged computing at Acer, Andrew Chuang explained why the company chose to release its new line of rugged devices now, saying:

“With an increasingly modern workforce, more and more mobile devices are being deployed in the field where they are subject to harsher handling. Enduro, our new line of rugged notebooks and tablets, was created to provide our customers with the durability and performance that gets the job done.”

The Acer Enduro N7 rugged notebook, which is both MIL-810G and IP65 certified, has been engineered to withstand drops onto the hardest surfaces while its 14-inch FHD screen provides excellent visibility indoors as well as outdoors. The Enduro N7 also comes with dual batteries and one is hot-swappable with a 10-hour battery life and the other is a built-in bridge battery.

In addition to its rugged design, the Enduro N7 also packs plenty of power with a quad-core 8th Gen Intel Cor i5 CPU. On the security front, the device includes a hardware-level Trusted Platform Module (TPM) 2.0 and a fingerprint sensor for secure login through Windows Hello.

Acer Enduro

For those looking for something a bit more portable, the Acer Enduro N3 has a thin-and-light frame and weights just 1.985 kg. The device also features Corning Gorilla Glass to protect the display from water and the unique water-resistant Aquafan. Just like its larger sibling, the Enduro N3 is MIL-STD 810 G and IP53 certified. The Enduro N3 comes equipped with a 10th Gen Intel Core i7 processor with 32 GB of DDR4 RAM. It can also be outfitted with a Nvidia GeForce Mx230 discrete GPU and 1 TB SSD.

Organizations in the market for rugged tablets can choose between the Acer Enduro T5 or T1 rugged tablets. The Enduro T5 is a durable and rugged 10-inch Windows tablet with a 10 hour battery that can be swapped out. The Enduro T1 on the other hand, is a flexible and rugged 10-inch Windows tablet that can double as a notebook thanks to an optional portfolio keyboard. The T5 has a 7th Gen Intel Core m3 processor while the T1 sports an Intel Celeron processor. There is also an 8-inch version of the Enduro T1 which runs on Android as opposed to Windows.

All of Acer's new rugged devices can be managed using the Acer Enduro Management Suite (AEMS). The system allows administrators to configure the device's programmable physical keys, I/O control, applications and updates.

The Acer Enduro N3 will be the first rugged device available from the company and it will launch in North America in August starting at $899 and in EMEA in June at a starting price of €999 (£905).

Anthony Spadafora

After working with the TechRadar Pro team for the last several years, Anthony is now the security and networking editor at Tom’s Guide where he covers everything from data breaches and ransomware gangs to the best way to cover your whole home or business with Wi-Fi. When not writing, you can find him tinkering with PCs and game consoles, managing cables and upgrading his smart home.