The Xplore XSlate B10 ($2,799 as tested) is a rugged Windows tablet that's designed to be used in the elements. It has submarine-like latches and sealed I/O ports to keep dust and water out, and its Intel Core i5 processor is ready for business. It features excellent connectivity, including optional 4G LTE. However, short battery life and a high price keep it from supplanting our current Editors' Choice for rugged tablets, the Getac F110. It's still suitable if you work in, say,   the government, engineering, or police fields, as a tough Windows Pro tablet that will survive extreme conditions.

Design and Features
The XSlate B10 certainly looks rugged. It has rubber bumpers protecting each of the corners of the tablet, along with a magnesium internal frame rated for 5-foot drops. The front bezel is molded polycarbonate that resembles carbon fiber. Xplore claims that commonly used ports, such as the Ethernet jack, are also sealed internally, so they prevent intruding dust and water from damaging the interior components, like the CPU, the motherboard, and the system's solid-state drive (SSD). The tablet measures 0.86 by 11.05 by 7.07 inches (HWD) and weighs in at a manageable 2.57 pounds. That's slimmer and lighter than the Getac F110 (0.96 by 12.3 by 8.15 inches and 3.1 pounds) and the Dell Latitude 12 Rugged Tablet (7202) (8 by 12.3 by 0.96 inches and 4.46 pounds).

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The tablet is designed to withstand vibrations, drops, shocks, temperature extremes, humidity, and the other hard knocks. The system is tested and certified for MIL-STD-801G and IP65, so you can accidentally drop it in a mud puddle, rinse it off, and it's ready to go after it dries. It's not quite waterproof (that would be IP68), but it's close enough that you won't have to worry if it starts raining. Just don't drop it off the side of a kayak into a stream.

The 10.1-inch screen has a 1,366-by-768 resolution, fairly common in rugged tablets and similar to rivals like the Dell Latitude 12 Rugged, the Getac F110, and the Panasonic Toughpad FZ-M1. The Dell Latitude 12 Rugged and the Getac F110 have 11.6-inch screens, while the Panasonic FZ-M1 has a smaller 7-inch display. The XSlate B10's screen is bright and clear, even in a brightly lit room or in direct sunlight. If you're using a menu-based data-entry system for information retrieval, like looking up a driver's records, the resolution offers more than enough screen space. If you need a 1080p display for full HD movies or large spreadsheets, you'll want a larger rugged tablet, like the 12.5-inch Motion Computing R12 (now known as the Motion R12 by Xplore).