Dell Latitude 7424 Rugged Extreme
It’s far from the fastest system out there, but this laptop is versatile and as tough as they come
SCORE
PRICE As reviewed, £ 3,310 (£3,973 inc VAT) from pcpro.link/298dell
Do you need a laptop that can survive 6ft drops, pressurised water jets, dust storms, thermal shocks and explosive atmospheres? For the average consumer the answer is, obviously, no. But then the Dell Rugged Latitude 7424 Rugged Extreme isn’t designed for the average consumer.
Rather, according to Dell, it’s a machine for those who are engaged in the “world’s toughest jobs” – primarily heavy industry, military personnel and others working in hazardous environments. People, in other words, who need a laptop that’s both rugged and capable.
Naturally, those people have varying needs when it comes to power, which is where Dell’s extensive configuration options come in. There are four processor models to choose from, starting with a Core i3-7130U, with memory and storage options ranging up to 32GB and 4TB respectively (although you can easily replace the SSD yourself via a panel on the right-hand side).
It’s even possible to upgrade the ports and networking capabilities of the laptop; the most expensive configurations cost in excess of £6,000, and that’s before you even factor in the numerous warranty options, software and accessories, asset tag and anti-theft features, cases, keyboards and more. All told, there are more than a hundred different configs and packages you can put together for the Latitude 7424 Rugged Extreme.
Rugged looks
Dell isn’t joking when it describes this laptop as “Rugged”. Its innards are encased within a chunky armoured exterior with the result that, although the display is only 14in, the main body measures a sizeable 354.5 x 255 x 51.3mm. That’s two inches thick. It’s heavy too, at 3.45kg, but it does come with a built-in handle. Depending on your outlook, the overall effect is either incredibly cool or horribly dated; either way, its jet-black bulk is certainly eye-catching.
The Rugged Extreme’s various ports and connectors are well protected. All of them sit beneath dustproof, foam-lined, spring-loaded hatches, each of which can be sealed shut by a sliding lock mechanism.
Little wonder then that it’s IP65-rated, while its list of military-grade MIL-STD810G certifications is exhaustive. On top of a 6ft drop test, it boasts a thermal operating range of -29°C to 63°C along with resistance to solar radiation.
So what sits underneath the weatherproof hatches? At the right-hand side of the laptop, you’ll find a USB-A 3 and – believe it or not – a DVD writer, which can optionally be upgraded to a BD-RE drive. This is a rarity in modern laptops, but its inclusion makes sense for legacy scenarios. There’s also an optional smart card reader. The SSD slot is
“On top of a 6ft drop test, the laptop boasts a thermal operating range of -29°C to 63°C along with resistance to solar radiation”
accessed via the right edge too, making data extraction or storage expansion a breeze. To the right of that you can install an optional second storage bay; my model had a dual SD and SIM slot instead. Move around to the rear panel and you will find three more hatches, which open to reveal two serial ports, two RJ-45 Ethernet jacks, one full-sized HDMI 2 connector and a proprietary power socket. That’s a lot of connectivity – and there’s more on the left edge, namely a further two USB-A 3 sockets, a 3.5mm audio jack and a lone USB-C 3.1 port. The front edge of the laptop houses the Rugged Extreme’s single loudspeaker – this isn’t a laptop for audiophiles. Above the display, behind a sliding security shutter, there’s an RGB webcam, which can be optionally upgraded to an infrared model. If you look closely between the two port hatches on the righthand side, you’ll also find a plastic stylus, neatly tucked away in an unobtrusive slot. This works on both the Rugged Extreme’s touchscreen and the touchpad, and is much bigger than the average stylus – it’s about the size of a Biro, which makes it pleasant to write with. Cleverly, the stylus is attached via a stretchy cord, to ensure it won’t ever be lost or blown away.
Sturdy keyboard
A rugged laptop demands a sturdy keyboard, and this one fits the bill. The black-and-white keytops are ever so slightly concave, and produce a satisfying thump with each press. There’s a separate numeric keypad, too, and we were pleased to find that the chunky carrying handle doesn’t get in the way when typing; in fact, it doubles as a comfortable wristrest.
The whole keyboard is sealed to protect it from dust, sand and even jets of water, so you can use it outdoors in the harshest weather. There’s programmable RGB backlighting, too: you can set four brightness levels (or no backlighting at all) and cycle through red, green, blue and white colour schemes by pressing Fn+C.
Below the keyboard, the touchpad sits slightly recessed into the palmrest area. This uses resistive technology, which means it can be used while wearing gloves. However, I found it slower and less responsive than a regular capacitive touchpad: the need to apply gentle pressure makes it harder to move the cursor smoothly, and to register two-finger rightclicks. I quickly reverted to the chunky left and right clickers beneath the touchpad.
Resistance isn’t useless
The Rugged Extreme has a 14in Full HD (1,920 x 1,080) touchscreen. Like the touchpad, this again uses resistive technology, and, as it’s intended for use in the field, the panel has a piercing brightness level of 861cd/m2 – around twice as bright as a typical laptop display. The contrast ratio is high, too, at a poppy 1,497:1. You won’t be squinting at this display, even in glaring sunlight.
The display’s weakness is colour reproduction. sRGB coverage isn’t the best at 85%, and an average Delta E of 2.87 indicates that accuracy isn’t perfect, either. We doubt that will be a big problem for many people: this isn’t a laptop you’re likely to use for editing photos and videos to a professional standard.
There’s also an interesting feature that could help you save battery power, cover up confidential content or simply deflect attention from your laptop: press Fn+F7 and the screen instantly blacks out, along with all other lighting on the laptop. The Rugged Extreme remains functional during this tactical blackout, and applications will continue to run, but note that network connections are also suspended until you tap again to wake the display.
Speedy insides
The Intel Core i5-8350U CPU inside our Latitude 7424 Rugged Extreme is the second-most powerful option Dell offers (the top one being the Core i7-8650U), and it’s supported by 16GB of RAM. Even so, it’s not exactly fast by today’s standards, and the system scored a relatively low 77 in our benchmarks.
If you shell out for the Core i7 version of the Rugged Extreme, you also get the option of a discrete AMD Radeon 540 or RX540 GPU, but the Core i5 model is stuck with the integrated Intel UHD 620 Graphics. Still, this was enough for a playable average of 36fps in the 720p Dirt: Showdown benchmark, although this fell to a juddery 26fps at 1080p. Obviously, the Rugged Extreme isn’t intended as a gaming laptop, but even with integrated graphics it has a usable amount of 3D power for CAD tools and other visualisation applications.
You can buy the Rugged Extreme with up to 4TB of storage, although this comes as a pair of 2TB M.2 drives and requires you to specify a second storage bay when purchasing. The model I tested came with a 512GB NVMe drive, which recorded a sequential read rate of 2,062MB/sec in the AS SSD benchmark – an excellent score. Unfortunately, sequential write speeds aren’t in the same class at 375MB/sec.
With a laptop designed for extreme environments, you might hope for an equally extreme battery life. Disappointingly, Dell’s standard 51Wh battery lasted only 4hrs 58mins in our continuous video playback test. This might not be a problem in an office, but it means this tough notebook may not make it through the day when on the road.
Thankfully, on the underside of the Latitude 7424 Rugged Extreme you’ll find a second battery slot. By default it’s empty, but you can buy an extra battery for only £37 and install both at once to more or less double your runtime. Batteries are hot-swappable, too, so you could even charge up a supply of batteries and swap them as needed for extended use.
Tough decision
When it comes to competition, there isn’t a huge amount of choice – you have the Panasonic Toughbook CF-31, which can be bought from around £2,700, and Getac’s fully rugged B300, which starts at £3,350. Unfortunately, we haven’t tested either laptop, so can’t report on how well they compare to the Dell Latitude 7424.
What we can report is that the Dell is an excellent piece of design. It offers durability combined with a level of customisation we haven’t seen before in a fully rugged laptop: you can spec it up precisely as required, and be confident it will get the job done no matter what the working environment. For the highly demanding, highly specialised market it’s aimed at, the price may well be worth paying.
“As it’s intended for use in the field, the panel has a piercing brightness level of 861cd/m2 – around twice as bright as a typical laptop”