Gladius GT-500 Product Review
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Technical White Paper Tough and Impressively Rugged 5-inch Android Handheld Computer with WorldMode Communication for Mission-Critical Deploym

ARBOR Technology, a Taiwan-based ISO-9001 certified embedded and networking manufacturer founded in 1993, announced the Gladius GT-500 early 2016 as a modern, general-purpose rugged Android handheld computer with comprehensive communications capabilities and integrated barcode scanner. Intended uses are, among many others, warehouse management systems, postal and shipping operations, government deployments, and public safety applications. This report presents our review and observations. Contemporary smartphone footprint, but much tougher...

snag sales from larger "real Windows" computers, makers of modern Android devices don't have such limitations. They create whatever, in their opinion, works best for their customers, and whatever makes the most sense. In the case of the Gladius GT-500 that meant a handheld that's the size of a contemporary smartphone, but tougher and including features that extend functionality on the job and into the field. The picture to the right shows where the Gladius GT-500 fits in terms of size. The lineup shows — from left to right and in scale —...

Gladius GT-500 technology With the Gladius GT-500 specifically designed as a tough, solid handheld mobile computer with worldwide appeal, what specs and technologies did ARBOR employ to help the device address all these target requirements? Processing power is supplied by a 64-bit 1.3GHz quad-core Cortex-A53 (the successor to Cortex-A7) MediaTek MT6735 processor that's based on the ARMv8-A instruction set. It also includes an ARM Mali-T720 GPU running at 600MHz. The MT6735 was introduced in mid-2015 as a "WorldMode" smartphone platform enabling devices to seamlessly roam across high-speed...

While capacitive multi-touch in industrial devices is still new (and only came after much discussion of the technology's pros and cons), it's now pretty much standard, and especially so on Android devices. Wired connectivity is via OTG-compatible micro-USB 2.0. For wireless connectivity there is Bluetooth v4.1, dual-band 802.11a/b/g/n WiFi, NFC, global positioning supporting GPS/GNSS/Beidou, and, of course, that "WorldMode" mobile

The picture to the right shows the Gladius GT-500 from the front and from all four sides. It's an attractive design that merges the all-black glossy look of a modern consumer smartphone with all-business protective rubber-cladding, meticulous sealing, and space for the big battery and industrial grade expansion scanning. Going around the Gladius GT-500 you find a small number of physical controls but not much in terms of ports. This is a sealed device, and that means the fewer openings that must be protected against immersion the better. The left side has a volume controls and a yellow...

The pictures below show the backside of the Gladius GT-500, what it looks from the outside (left), an then from the inside (right). The nicely contoured backside are a welcome change from the featureless flatness of any contemporary smartphone. Screws are in plain sight, which adds a nice mechanical touch to the design and also makes it so much easier to open the housing should the need ever arise. The poly-carbonate housing has fused black rubber overmoldings that make the device grippier and easier to hold, and they also provide extra...

The GT-500's battery is replaceable and externally accessible. The polycarbonate battery compartment cover has its own replaceable yellow rubber seal, but here it serves as a friction seal rather than a tongue-and-groove seal, and for that we'd much rather see a conventional o-ring with a round cross section. A rectangular cross section is prone to twisting and thus losing its sealing properties, which is important here as the inside of the battery compartment is open to the interior of the device. The battery compartment cover is held in...

As you can see, it's a comparatively simple and very clean layout with an absolute minimum of wires than can get in the way or come loose. Note the cutouts and conduits in the magnesium frame, and also how ARBOR's designers made sure the screws that hold the device together are actually outside the seal. That way, there is no danger of water penetrating through screw holes, which we've seen on many other devices. Unlike consumer products where scanning is done via 3rd party apps that use the integrated camera, the Gladius GT-500 relies on...

iPhone (163 dpi), and even the 5K Retina iMac27 this review was written on (218 dpi). And it's an IPS (In-Plane Switching) screen, which means it has perfect viewing angles from all directions, without any color or contrast changes. The pictures below show a comparison between an iPhone 6 Plus and the Gladius GT-500 outdoors, both at automatic brightness. Apple's big 6 Plus is said to have a maximum screen brightness of 550-600 nits. The Gladius 5 specs claim 400 nits, but under most conditions, the Gladius looks as, or almost, as bright....

very large number of apps are available for download. Android software development and expertise is commonly available, and making Android devices available on the job can save training as well as deployment costs. Additional Android contemplations This section is not specific to the Gladius GT-500; it's a general assessment of Android suitability and appeal in vertical and industrial markets. Undeniably, the total number of available apps for a handheld software platform has become a crucially important marketing issue, as is how easily...