Carrying the Unihertz Tank Pad 8849 provided me with a full workout

It’s heavy, and Unihertz has yet to release its badly needed accessories, but the Unihertz Tank Pad 8849 ticks many boxes for being exceptionally rugged and feature-filled. The DLR projector does not entirely convince me, but the rest of this design is solid. Uber robust. Excellent battery life. Powerful SoC. DLP projector inbuilt. Large and heavy. Lacks needed accessories. Expensive for an Android tablet. Why you can trust TechRadar We spend hours testing every product or service we review, so you can be sure you’re buying the best. Find out more about how we test.

Unihert has an excellent track record of rugged phones and tablets and has partnered with 8849, aka Shenzhen OBlue Communication Technology Co., a prominent mobile phone design company founded in 2012 and based in Shanghai. One of the first products resulting from this synergy is the Tank Pad 8849, an 11-inch Android tablet with a modern SoC supporting 5G comms and the unique feature of an inbuilt projector.

This is easily one of the most robust tablets I’ve encountered, as it features plenty of metal and polycarbonate surfaces that should withstand the roughest handling. Designed for the great outdoors, the Tank Pad 8849 incorporates a powerful Dimensity 8200 SoC, 21000 mAh of battery, 16GB of RAM and 256GB of storage, all protected within a shock, temperature-resistant, and waterproof case. As you might reasonably expect with a device of this specification, a starting price of around $600 is the entry fee for something this industrial.

However, for those working outdoors or for dedicated campers, the investment in something this flexible may be worthwhile. This might not be one of the best tablets for all applications, but it's easily one of the best rugged tablets for the specs. For US and European customers, the Tank Pad 8849 is available directly from 8849 Tech for $599.99 or €599.99 - check it out by clicking here. There is only one SKU with 16GB of RAM and 256GB of storage.

It can be found through online retailers, like Amazon, and at the time of writing, this is the cheapest way to buy the tablet, with a $40 discount coupon offered on Amazon.com. There are much cheaper 5G-capable rugged tablets, like the Ulefone Armor Pad 4 Ultra I reviewed, that are around $350. However, none of them exactly match all the features of this almost unique design. With a unique offering, Unihertz can ask what it likes for this device, and the $600 price point isn’t crazy when compared to some portable device brands.

Dimensity 8200. Arm Mali-G610 MC6. 16GB LPDDR5. Storage:. Screen:. 10.95-inch FHD 120HZ IPS. Resolution:. 1920 x 1200. Dual Nano SIM + MicroSD. Weight:. 1120 grams. Dimensions:. 269.4 x 171.4 x 19.4 mm. Rugged Spec:. IP68, IP69K and MIL-STD-810H. Rear cameras:. 50MP Sony IMX766. Front camera:. 32MP Sony IMX616. Networking:. WiFi 6E, Bluetooth 5.3. Android 14. Battery:. 21000 mAh battery (Max 18W charge). When picking this tablet up for the first time, its weight of 1.1kg or 2.47 lbs is a significant weight that those without robust wrists should tactically avoid. But it’s difficult to ignore the rugged credentials of this design. With the exception of the screen, every surface is solid metal, polycarbonate, or carbon fibre.

The rear layout appears to have something of a split personality about the orientation in which the machine is meant to be held. The central-top positioning of the camping LED is intended for landscape use, though the idea of walking in the dark with both hands holding the tablet seems a poor plan. But the cameras are in the middle, suggesting portrait orientation. To use the projector, this machine must be laid flat, even if the controls allow for a degree of keystone control.

It has an air vent in the upper left corner to keep it from overheating and a focus wheel on the upper left side. On the rear is a mounting for a stand or a vehicle, but these items don’t come with the tablet, and 8849 Tech does not currently list any accessories for it. Having reviewed countless tablets and phones, I was expecting the standard button layout where the power button is near the volume rocker, with a custom button near the SIM tray.

That would have been fine, but 8849 Tech engineers decided otherwise and the power button that doubles as a fingerprint reader is actually where the custom button generally goes, and there are two buttons next to the volume rocker. Both are user-definable, and one is red to distinguish it from the other. On the left side is a large and easily removable rubberised plug that protects both the USB-C port and a 3.5mm audio jack. While this plug doesn’t seem replaceable, it forms a good seal with the case when the tablet is new.

Charging is exclusively wired, so this protective plug must be removed every time the device is charged, or you want to use wired headphones. While I’m not a huge fan of moving all the buttons around randomly, the rest of the design isn’t terrible, but this weight isn’t helpful if you are hiking on that wilderness adventure. Design score: 4/5. This is one of the first Android 14 devices I’ve seen with the Dimensity 8200 Ultimate SoC, and, spoiler alert, it lives up to its benchmark billing.