Panasonic has launched a rugged Toughpad phone for the Australian market

Let’s say this at the outset: very few people will have a need for a phone such as this, the new Panasonic FZ-N1 Toughpad. Despite the name, this is a mobile phone-shaped and sized device, designed for ultraportable toughness like its bigger tablet-sized cousins. Panasonic bill this as a 3-in-1 device, combining a mobile barcode reader, smartphone and tablet, but we’re not so sold on the tablet part.

Regardless, this is a device designed to survive drops, heat, cold, vibration, dust and rain … and probably a nuclear apocalypse. Primarily, Panasonic sees a device like this being of most use in the transport and logistics sectors, in manufacturing and retail, with a variety of conceivable uses including inventory management, shipping and receiving, parcel tracking and routing and retail store use.

At $2,799, we don’t expect any consumers will be heading out to buy one, but the Panasonic FZ-N1 will undoubtedly appeal to certain markets. The phone is a 4.7-inch dual-SIM 4G mobile terminal, running Android 5.1.1 Lollipop with 16GB storage and 2GB RAM. The battery is rated for standby up to 700 hours, and it weighs around 277 grams.

Look, we can’t think of a conceivable reason any consumer would go and buy one of these; Panasonic’s Toughpad customers are going to be enterprise, industry, government and perhaps even defence industries / agencies. Regardless of who you are, you can find out more information on Panasonic’s product page.