Rugged Tablets & Devices

The Rally Roadbooks app can run in almost any device, but it doesn’t mean you should take your daughter’s tablet and strap it to your rally machine – it won’t survive.

For a good rally raid experience, out in the desert or deep in the forest trails, we need perfect screen visibility and GPS precision. A stable operating system and a reliable power source completes the package. Rugged tablets seem to be an easy answer, readily available and cheap as chips from several manufacturers.

BUT ARE THEY ANY GOOD?

We set out to test a myriad of devices in real world conditions, from rainy rally raids to summer time mid noon rides. We crash them, we rode them fast, we rode them hard. And this is what we have to say about them.

All devices were tested several times, by different riders in different motorcycles and conditions. Some devices didn’t survive and some riders got injured.

Samsung Active 2/3

High end rugged tablet from Samsung, water and dust proof, readable in direct sunlight and with a decent GPS chip. Some have a slot for a sim card. The Active 2 can be a good bugdet solution, if you can find one refurbished. We find the Active 3 very similar in features, but with a big advantage – more robust. The charging port on it just handles better the violence of Rally Racing.

Good GPS chip, never failed, very low drift.
the Android feels fast and fluid, even in the Active 2
Never got loose from amy of the cradles we used (Brodit, Ram and OneAdventure)
It can take a beating
Pogo Pins stopped working after 1 ride
USB-C port damages easily, and can let water in. Make sure you use a 90º angle fast charge cable. Use duct tape to minimize vibrations.
The 8″ screen isn’t very good with direct sunlight, but it’s surprisingly good for 550 nits
Price range: Active 2: 100 € – Active 3: 400 €

Thork DMD-T865X

With a modern and sleek design, this rugged tablet from Thork Racing is water and dust proof, and has a brighter screen than the samsungs. It comes with a special cradle that handles charging via pogo pins, which can only be mounted in landscape. Unfortunately, ours jumped off the bike and didn’t survive.

Since then, Thork Racing has came up with a special Rally cradle, designed for offroad usage. We’ll update this page when we get our hands on one.

Designed for motorcycle usage
Good solution for on road usage, or light rally, but not for hardcore rally.
8″ screen is visible in direct sunlight – 1000+ nits
Light and slim
Integrated SOS, fall detection and auto turn on/off with the motorcycle’s ignition
We didn’t like the cradle (only landscape)
Charging via pogo pins stopped working
Compatible with DMD Wired Remote
Price range: 850 €

CrossCall T4 & T5

Industrial grade french tablets from CrossCall, that handles low and high temperatures. Very popular in the amateur rally scene in Spain, it can be an entry level device. You can get a motorcycle cradle for it from HesaParts.

The magnetic change port works great even under rain.

A different design, sleeker, than the tradicional formats, adds some style to the cockpit
8″ screen with sub par brightness – 450 nits
Huge battery capacity (7000mah) let’s you ride without charging
Magnetic charge port, fits perfect with the Hesa Parts cradle
Price range: T4: 300 € – T5: 600 €

Carpe Iter V4-C

The original motorcycle tablet, with it’s latest upgrade from Carpe, brought it’s flagship product to Android 13, and it’s now compatible with TerraPirata. This 7″ screen rugged tablet features an M8 charging port and a bright screen. The GPS chip is better and faster that your average rugged tablet, and the chassis handles sudden decreases in speed (crashes..).

Feels a little but outdated, but maybe that’s just because it’s been around for some years.

Beefed up chassis, looks the part.
The M8 charging port is prepared to endure extreme conditions
Protected USB-C charging port
7″ screen, great visibility under sunlight – 2.600nits
Great GPS chip with 5Hz
Heavy, and cumbersome to take around with you, compared with it’s modern sexy peers
Price range: 600 €

The Rally Tab

South-african Willem Avenant Racing sells a rugged tablet that he’s personally using to win rallies across the America. It’s also a 7″ screen, ships with standard android and has a fast GPS chip. There’s also a different model, cheaper and less rugged – they call it the Adventure model.

Endured the Baja 1000, the Coast to Coast Rally and the desert of Abu Dhabi.
7″ screen, visible under sunlight – 1.000 nits
Dust proof, water proof and rally proof
Great support from seller
Ships from the USA
Heavy duty, lockable cradle
M8 charger
Price range: 900 $ (USD)

Hugerock X70

From China we’ve got Hugerock, that builds the motorcycle rated X70 tablet. With 7″, this rugged beast has an internal battery capacity of 10.000mAh and a maximum brightness of 2600 nits.

Heavy (800gr), bulky and with a big carcass for the screen size
Some thinkering required. The motorcycle holder isn’t that great.
Android 13 that feels fast
Very bright screen, always visible under any sunlight conditions
7″ screen display with a ratther large carcass
IP67
3 Charging options: USB-C, Pogopins and M12
Price range: 500-600€

F2R Y1000

From F2R we have a digital roadbook device call F2R Y1000, designed and built for rally raid. It runs with a lightweight version of Android 13, and it’s beyond rugged. With a bullet proof screen this beast can endure the hardest conditions. Weighs slightly less than the paper roadbook setup it replaces.

Hardware, Firmware and Software made in Portugal.
Compatible with TerraPirata’s RDS Roadbook Delivery System
8″ screen, ultra bright, visible under all conditions
4:3 aspect ratio – perfect for roadbooks
Compatible with Bluetoooth Remotes and with F2R Wired Remote
Ultra precision GPS Chip with several updates per second
Runs Android 13 and you can install any app via PlayStore
No battery – connects directly to motorcycle
Price range: ~1.700€

FINAL CONSIDERATIONS

These devices come in a variety of specs, colors and features. But in the end the only thing that matters is the ability to endure the vibrations and abuse during a rally.

Our reviews focus exactly on that – will it survive? Will I be able to finish the Rally without any problem? Can I read the roadbook under the sun? In the end, that’s what really matters!

We tested more devices than the ones presented here. This are just the ones we consider to be able to endure a Rally Event.

Device Name	Screen Size	Readability	Ruggedness	GPS	Charging
Active 2	8″	★☆☆☆☆	★☆☆☆☆	★★☆☆☆	★☆☆☆☆
Active 3	8″	★★☆☆☆	★★☆☆☆	★★☆☆☆	★★☆☆☆
CrossCall T4	8″	★☆☆☆☆	★★☆☆☆	★★☆☆☆	★★★★☆
DMD-T865X	8″	★★★☆☆	★★★☆☆	★★★☆☆	★☆☆☆☆
Rally Tab	7″	★★★☆☆	★★★★☆	★★★☆☆	★★★★☆
HugeRock X70	7″	★★★★☆	★★☆☆☆	★★★☆☆	★★★☆☆
Carpe Iter v4C	7″	★★★★☆	★★★★☆	★★★★☆	★★★★☆
F2R Y1000	8″	★★★★★	★★★★★	★★★★★	★★★★★

TESTING CONDITIONS

Units were tested with different mount options on different KTM 500EXC, KTM 690 Rally, Honda CRF450RX, Honda CRF300L, Sherco 450, Kawasaki KX450, XR650R, Husqvarna 501 with different riders, all with their own riding style. The feedback we present here is cumulative, starting in 2023 until the present date.

We rode backyard trails, participated in Rally Raid events (Hellas Rally, SoCal Rally, Xtrem300, Baza500, Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge, Fenix Rally, Carta Rallye, Breslau Rally, Baja Portalegre 500, etc). We rode them hard, in the heat of the sand, flying over the whoops, crossing rivers that were too deep to be crossed and rode them in the pouring rain. We even left them in the sun while we were inside drinking cold beers in the summer. Some rugged tablets did not survive. Here’s the death toll:

1x Samsung Active 2 died after 2 hours riding in the pouring rain (water got in via the charging port)
2x Samsung Active 2 charging port started having connections issues (a 90º cable seems to prevent this)
1x Samsung Active 3 had a close encounter with a todler and had his screen smashed. Still, was working fine-ish.
1x HugeRock X7 was making a weird noise (something was loose inside) and eventually just died
1x HugeRock X7 was left on a window sill, inside, and the touchscreen stopped working due to overheating.
1x DMD-T865 jumped out of the cradle and something broke inside. GPS and Bluetooth stopped working from then on.
1x Rally Tab started showing chinese text scrolling up and didn’t start the Android
4x Carpe Iter v4-B (Android 9) had problems with Google Play Store, and some apps couldn’t be installed

Did we miss something? let’s us now!