HP Panasonic Toughpad FZ-M1F303AVM Tablet - 7" - 8 GB Review
The HP Panasonic Toughpad is a $2,500 rugged tablet built for survival, not for you. We break down why its terrible value and weak screen make it a hard pass for anyone outside of specialized fieldwork.
Overview
The HP Panasonic Toughpad FZ-M1F303AVM is a $2,500 tablet that makes absolutely zero sense for you. Unless you're a field technician who needs to run Windows 10 Pro while getting sprayed with a fire hose, you should look elsewhere. The one thing to know is this: it's a rugged, specialized tool, not a consumer device. It's built to survive drops, dust, and extreme temps, and you pay a massive premium for that toughness.
Performance
The performance story is weird. It has a decent 256GB SSD and 8GB of RAM, which puts storage and memory in the 75th and 63rd percentiles. But the CPU is in the dismal 34th percentile, and the screen is in the 6th. So you get a machine that can handle basic Windows tasks reliably in harsh conditions, but it'll feel sluggish for anything modern, and you're staring at a low-res 7-inch panel. It's a workhorse, not a racehorse.
Pros & Cons
Pros
- Built like an absolute tank for extreme environments. 75th
- Runs full Windows 10 Pro for legacy enterprise software. 69th
- Storage and RAM are decent for its intended job.
- Connectivity is solid with Wi-Fi ac and Bluetooth.
Cons
- The price is utterly insane for what you get. 6th
- The 7-inch, 1280x800 screen is terrible for any media or design work. 21th
- CPU performance is weak and will feel outdated. 34th
- Heavy and bulky compared to any consumer tablet.
Specifications
Full Specifications
Processor
| CPU | 1.10 GHz |
| GPU | Intel Graphics |
Memory & Storage
| RAM | 8 GB |
| Storage | 256 GB |
| Storage Type | SSD |
Display
| Size | 7" |
| Resolution | 1280 |
| Panel | IPS |
Connectivity
| Bluetooth | Yes |
Physical
| Weight | 0.5 kg / 1.2 lbs |
| OS | Windows 10 Pro |
Value & Pricing
For $2,449, the value is horrific unless your company is buying it for a specific, ruggedized use case. For anyone else—students, artists, general users—this is a complete non-starter. You could buy a top-tier iPad Pro, a high-end Surface Pro, and a nice dinner for the same money.
vs Competition
Compared to the consumer-focused Apple iPad Pro or Microsoft Surface Pro 11, the Toughpad loses in every single category except durability. The iPad Pro's screen, performance, and app ecosystem are light-years ahead. The Surface Pro 11 offers a far better Windows experience in a sleek package. Even the Panasonic Toughbook CF-33, another rugged device, offers a much larger and better 12-inch QHD screen for similar specialist money. The Toughpad only wins if your job involves constant risk of destroying a normal tablet.
Verdict
Do not buy this unless it's issued to you by your employer for fieldwork. For 99.9% of people, this is the wrong tool at a laughably wrong price. If you need a tough Windows tablet, look at the larger Toughbook CF-33. If you want a great general-use tablet, get an iPad Pro or Surface Pro. This niche device has no place in a normal bag.