Dell Dell Latitude 12 7212 Rugged Extreme Tablet Review

Only buy this if your job involves mud, gloves, and dropping things. It's a rugged shell from 2017 with painfully slow internals. For normal use, it's a terrible tablet.

Let's be clear about what this is: it's a rugged Windows tablet from 2017 that's been refurbished. The one thing to know is that you're not buying this for speed or a beautiful screen. You're buying it because you need a computer that can survive being dropped in a puddle or used with gloves on a construction site. For that specific job, at $395, it's a surprisingly decent deal. Just don't expect it to feel like a modern tablet.

The performance is exactly what you'd expect from a 7th-gen Intel Core i5-7300U. In our database, its CPU lands in the 4th percentile, which means it's slower than 96% of other tablets we track. It's fine for basic Windows tasks, web browsing, and running specialized field software, but it'll chug if you try to do too much at once. The 8GB of RAM and 256GB SSD are actually solid for this category, sitting in the 70th percentile range, so at least storage and multitasking aren't the bottlenecks.

At $395, the value is entirely situational. If you need a rugged Windows device and your budget is tight, this is a legitimate option. If you want a tablet for anything else—streaming, drawing, general productivity—it's a terrible value. You're paying for the rugged shell, not the tech inside.

Don't even compare this to an iPad Pro or a Surface Pro. They're in a different universe for performance and screen quality. The real question is whether you need Windows. If you do, and you need rugged, your other option is spending $1,500+ on a new Panasonic Toughbook. This Dell undercuts that by a mile. If you don't need Windows, a modern Samsung Galaxy Tab with a good case is cheaper, faster, and has a way better screen for everything except surviving a fall.

If you're looking for a tablet for Netflix, drawing, or general web browsing, this isn't it. It's heavy, slow, and has a mediocre screen. Go get a base model iPad or a Samsung Galaxy Tab instead. You'll be much happier.

We can only recommend this to a very specific person: someone who needs a certified-rugged, full Windows tablet for fieldwork on a strict budget. For them, it's a smart buy. For literally everyone else—students, artists, casual users, people who want a fast device—this is the wrong tool for the job. It's a specialized wrench, not a daily driver.