Panasonic Toughbook 55 Review

The major components of the Panasonic Toughbook 55 rugged laptop may be easily removed and replaced thanks to its innovative modular architecture. Not only does it have a modern Processor, but its screen is incredibly vivid and comes with its own pen. Moreover, it is highly resilient, withstanding falls from heights of 3 feet, water spray, and a small amount of dust.

Yet, it can’t quite hold its own against other challenging achievements. Panasonic calls it “semi-robust,” while the Toughbook 31 is its more rugged sibling, capable of withstanding fall from 6 feet and a water cannon blast. Panasonic Toughbook 55 (starts at $2,099; $2,499 as tested) is a superior laptop and receives our Editors’ Choice rating unless you require this extreme degree of protection and are ready to make concessions to achieve it.

Panasonic Toughbook 55 Specifications

Pros of Panasonic Toughbook 55

• The screen is very bright and can be used outside.
• For a rugged laptop, it is pretty thin and light.
• It’s easy to switch out parts.
• Built-in stylus holder.
• Battery lasts for a long time.

Cons of Panasonic Toughbook 55

• They are a step down from other Toughbooks in terms of how rugged they are.
• The cost of swap-in modules can be high.

Buildable and Strong

With so many thin, light, and sturdy laptops on the market, it might seem hard to justify buying a “truly” rugged one like the Panasonic Toughbook 55. With a weight of 4.6 pounds and a thickness of 1.3 inches, it is much bigger than most 14-inch laptops, many of which can also handle everyday accidents like getting wet or falling off a coffee table. Its IP53 rating isn’t very impressive. Even popular phones like the Google Pixel 3 have higher ratings for water resistance. IP68 is a common rating for top-of-the-line phones.

A tough book on the cutting edge

In addition to its swappable bays, the Panasonic Toughbook 55 improves the Toughbook line’s performance and compatibility in a big way. This is important because the Toughbook line is often several generations behind the latest technology. The Toughbook 31 has older 7th Generation Intel processors, but the Panasonic Toughbook 55 has 8th Generation “Whiskey Lake” Core i5 or Core i7 processors that are much more powerful and efficient.

It is also the first Toughbook to have a USB Type-C port, an HDMI video output, and Bluetooth 5.0. All of these are standard features on most consumer laptops, so it’s great to see them added to the Toughbook line.

The Keyboard and Microphone

The Panasonic Toughbook 55 has four microphones that make it easier to hear in noisy places. It also has a gigabit Ethernet port and a backlit keyboard with, surprisingly, programmable colours. When I used the keyboard and touchpad with my bare fingers, I found them to be much more comfortable than the ones on the Toughbook 31.

Many rugged laptops have pressure-sensitive touchpads that are meant to be used with a stylus or with gloves on, and these don’t always work well with bare fingers. An optional module that takes the place of the second battery can be used to add a fingerprint reader.

Processing Power Enough

Our Panasonic Toughbook 55 review unit has a basic Intel Core i5-8365U processor with vPro support, 8GB of memory, and a 256GB SSD. Panasonic plans to sell a configuration that is the same as this one but with a 512GB SSD for $2,499. It will have enough power for basic tasks like writing reports or accessing databases while out in the field. Both the memory and the storage can be changed by the user, just like the rest of the laptop.

Two RAM slots can hold up to 64GB of RAM, and each of the two drive bays can hold up to a 1TB SSD. The drive bays are heated for use in very cold weather. When you order, the only thing you’ll need to choose is the CPU. Panasonic only has one upgrade option, and that is to a Core i7-8665U. This chip also supports vPro.

Performance

The Intel Core i5-8365 vPro CPU, which is in its eighth generation, is a mainstay in laptops because it provides sufficient performance without sacrificing battery life to unnecessary cores or extreme boost clocks. The benchmark results demonstrate that it doesn’t perform particularly well on this particular computer, but it does provide respectable results that are on par with those obtained by other solutions based on the same underlying platform.

The storage-related test results were the only ones that fell short of expectations. This is because the test unit was equipped with a SATA M.2 SSD rather than an NVMe one, limiting both read and write speeds to 540 and 500 MB/s, respectively.

FAQs

The efficiency of the laptop’s processor And Screen

This review version of the Panasonic Toughbook 55 is fitted with a 256GB solid-state drive (SSD), 8GB of RAM, and a base-level Intel Core i5-8365U CPU with vPro capability. Panasonic has plans to provide a model with equal specs to this one, without the SSD, for $2,499.

Suggested retail value and availability

The reviewed machine cost the UK equivalent of £2,476.41 or about $2,195 at today’s exchange rates. Alternatives starting at £1,772 + VAT provide HD and Full-HD resolutions with non-touch panels at a reduced price. The computer is on the market everywhere. However, its memory, storage, and display may vary by area.