Review: Hotwav R9 Pro rugged Android tablet with 20K mAh battery

Review unit provided by Hotwav

The Hotwav R9 Pro is the latest rugged 11-inch tablet from Hotwav released in November 2024 that runs on Android 14, comes with a 20,080 mAh battery and a huge flash light.

Price of this tablet is USD 279 but early bird price is USD 229 after a USD 50 coupon on Amazon.

Bottom line

This is a tablet for people who need long battery life (20hr), a rugged design, huge flash light, GPS and LTE connectivity. The bonus is the display is big, vibrant, bright and sharp enough.

Main downside, a compromise really, would be the weight which is 1.066kg.

The other downside comes from the Unisoc T606 processor. Responsiveness of the tablet is alright but it's certainly not as responsive compared to more expensive tablets, and that's to be expected. Overall performance is still smooth and I don't encounter any frustrating lag until you have way too many apps opened since there's only 6GB RAM (not including the 14GB shared "RAM").

From what I see, this tablet is made for the outdoors where you may not have access to electricity, and conditions for external environment may be unknown.

Specifications

• Processor: Unisoc T606
• CPU: Mali G57
• OS: Android 14
• RAM: 6GB (+ 14GB shared)
• Storage: 256GB
• SIM tray: microSD and Nano SIM
• Connectivity: Wifi, Bluetooth, LTE 4G
• Dimensions: 269.6 x 182.0 x 17.8mm
• Weight: 1.066kg
• Protection level: IP68, IP69K
• Display size: 11-inch LCD
• Resolution: 1920 x 1200, 207 PPI
• Refresh rate: 60Hz
• Brightness: 400 nits minimum, 450 nits typical
• Contrast ratio: 1500:1
• Front camera: 16MP, no OIS
• Read camera: 64MP, no OIS
• Camping light: 6W
• Battery capacity: 20,080 mAh
• Port: USB 2.0 Type C
• Face unlock: Yes
• Fingerprint unlock: No
• NFC: No
• GPS: Yes

Things included

• Tablet
• Plastic screen protector (already applied)
• Glass screen protector
• Hand strap
• 2x metal brackets for hand strap
• 4x screws for metal brackets
• Screwdriver
• SIM ejection tool
• Wet and dry wipes
• USB-A (female) to USB-C cable
• USB-C to USB-C cable
• 20W USB-C charger (double round pin)
• Manual

Design

The plastic screen protector has already been applied and unfortunately the application is not perfect as there are bubbles and dust under at several locations. I tried to re-apply but ended up adding more bubbles.

Visual quality of the display is better than I expected. The colours are vibrant, sharpness is adequate, brightness is high, viewing angles are good.

Only downside is the screen protector is very glossy, which is not surprising.

This is a rugged tablet and it does look like a rugged tablet.

The body is made with Thermoplastic Polyurethane (TPU) and looks and feels really durable. There are extra bumpers at the corners to protect the tablet from drops. I don't think you'll need a case with this tablet.

The bumpers are also raised so the tablet can be placed with display facing down and display won't touch the table.

There's one huge 6W LED flash light on the back that can be switched on with its dedicated app. Shown above is me using the tablet as bicycle light which had to be pointed down so that I don't blind pedestrians.

There's also a smaller flash light for the 64MP 27mm f/1.8 camera on the back.

Audio only comes out from two of the four speaker grilles behind. Audio is loud enough but sounds hollow, especially since the speakers are back facing.

Four screws on the back can be removed so that you can install the metal brackets and hand strap which you will most likely need because the tablet weights 1.066kg.

The target customers for this type of tablet are those who need the extra long battery life and rugged design that can withstand extreme outdoor conditions. The heavy weight is the compromise.

There is IP68 rating for dust and water resistance (submerge for 1m). There's also IP69K rating for dust resistance and can withstand high-pressure and high-temperature water jets from any direction.

The USB-C charging port only has USB-2 transfer speeds and cannot output video.

The SIM tray is recessed quite deep so the SIM ejection tool is needed also to push the tray back in. There's support for one microSD card and one nano SIM.

Power button is in red, and volume controls are beside.

Performance

Unisoc T606 is a 12mm processor with 2 x A75@1.6GHz + 6 x A55@1.6GHz. It's a budget processor so it's not that powerful, but works fine with this tablet.

Overall responsiveness is alright but certainly not as responsive compared to more expensive tablets with better processors. Overall performance is smooth until you have way too many apps opened. Multi-tasking seems fine with 6GB RAM. Webpages are able to load fast enough.

For gaming, don't expect to play graphics intensive games at high visual settings.

Android 14 and the UI running on top do not come with many features. If you need more features, you can always install other apps from the Google Play Store. I don't see much pre-installed bloatware so that's great.

Battery life

Battery capacity is 20,080 mAh and battery life is around 20 hours at maximum brightness. The battery life can last for several days as long as the display is not on all the time.

This tablet cannot be used to charge other devices.

A full charge takes around 6 - 9 hours depending on whether the display is on.

Conclusion

As mentioned early, this tablet is targeting specific people who need the battery life and rugged build quality. Everything else is a bonus or compromise.

If you need such a tablet, you'll know instantly.

Pros and cons at a glance
+ Extreme rugged design for outdoors
+ Optional hand strap included
+ Vibrant, bright, sharp enough display
+ 1920 x 1200 resolution
+ Laminated display
+ 20 hr battery life
+ Has microSD and nano SIM support
+ Decent performance for non-processor intensive work
+ Overall smooth performance
+ Has face unlock
- 6 to 9 hours full charge time
- No auto-brightness
- Cannot be used to charge other devices
- Heavy
- USB-C with USB 2 transfer speed
- Speakers sound hollow
- No 3.5mm audio jack
- Stock Android has limited features
- Performance can be sluggish when too many apps opened

Availability
The Hotwav R9 Pro tablet is available from Hotwav online store, Amazon (US | CA | MX).

And here are 5% discount coupon codes valid from Nov 21 to Dec 2, 2024.

Black: https://amzn.to/4hSgvu9
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Red: https://amzn.to/4fVLbsv
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