Best Rugged Tablets for Painters and Decorators

For most painters and decorators, the Tuga A8 is the one to look at: an 8 inch screen for colour schedules, quotes and snag lists, IP67 sealing against sanding dust and splashes, a removable battery and a price of £379. If the device only needs to take photos and tick off a snag list from your pocket, the Tuga A6 handheld at £349 does that for £30 less. Neither will tell you what colour a wall really is, and this guide explains why that is fine.

What a Decorating Job Does to a Tablet

Decorating is cleaner than a building site, but it has its own ways of ruining a screen. A normal week might include:

• Sanding dust. Sanded filler and old paint produce fine dust that settles on everything, including the ports of anything left on the dust sheet.
• Splashes and drips. Emulsion off a roller, a drip from a brush on a ceiling, a knocked tin. Sooner or later something lands on the screen.
• Paint on your fingers. You will reach for the tablet halfway through cutting in, and whatever is on your hands ends up on the glass.
• Ladders and towers. Checking a measurement or a colour reference while you are up a ladder, with one hand on the rung.
• Exterior work. Masonry, fascias and windows in full sun, and the odd shower that arrives before the paint is dry.
• Clients' homes. Furnished rooms where you need to show a quote or photos without putting a dusty device on the sofa.

The Specs That Matter for Painting and Decorating

Dust and Splashes: The IP Rating

The A6 and the A8 are both rated IP67. The first digit, 6, means dust tight, the highest dust rating there is, which matters more to a decorator than the water rating. The second digit, 7, means rated for immersion. Our guide to IP68 vs IP67 explains the full system.

What the rating does not tell you is anything about paint. An IP test uses dust and clean water. It says nothing about emulsion, gloss, primer, filler or the solvents used to clean them up, and our product listings show nothing on chemical resistance for either device. So treat paint as something to wipe off quickly rather than something the device is rated for.

A rating also describes a closed device. Keep the port covers shut while you are sanding or rolling, and check the charging port for dust or dried paint before you plug a cable in.

Wiping a Screen Clean

This is where a decorator's habits matter more than any spec. A few rules that apply to any device, rugged or not:

• Wipe wet paint while it is wet. Water based paint comes off glass with a damp cloth in seconds. Once it dries, getting it off means scraping or scrubbing, and that is how screens get scratched.
• Use water, not solvents. We do not list any testing against white spirit, brush cleaner or other solvents, so do not use them on the screen or the seals. A cloth with plain water is the safe option.
• Keep a cloth for the tablet. A rag that has been used on brushes carries grit and dried paint, and drags both across the glass.
• Let it dry before charging. If you have rinsed or wiped round the ports, give them time to dry before you plug in.

The simplest protection is a screen protector. The Tempered Glass Screen Protector comes in a pack of two for £14 and fits every device in our range, including the A6 and the A8. If paint dries on it or scratches it, you peel it off and fit the second one, which costs a lot less than a new screen. Our guide to screen protectors, cases and straps covers when each is worth having.

Screen Size and Brightness

The A8 has an 8 inch IPS screen with AGC glass at 1280 x 800, rated at 1000 nits and listed as sunlight readable. That is the figure that matters for exterior work, where a dim screen washes out against a white render in summer. The A6 has a 6 inch FHD+ IPS screen at 2160 x 1080, but no brightness figure is listed for it, so if you do a lot of outside work, try it in daylight within the returns window.

Indoors, screen size matters more than brightness: a colour schedule for a whole house, or a quote with several rooms on it, is easier to read and show to a client on 8 inches than on 6.

A Word on Colour

No screen is a reliable way to judge a paint colour, and we list no colour accuracy figure for any of our devices. What a wall looks like depends on the paint, the light in the room and the finish, and a photo of a colour card on a tablet screen adds a camera and a display to that list. Use the tablet to hold the schedule as text: room, surface, product, colour name and reference, finish, number of coats. Agree the colour itself from a physical card or a sample patch on the wall, and photograph the client's signed off sample so you have a record of what was chosen.

Drops and Ladders

The A6 lists a 1.5 metre drop rating. The A8 lists no drop rating and no MIL-STD test, so if it is coming up the ladder with you, put it on a strap. The Hand Strap (£24) and the Shoulder Strap (£19) are both listed for the A8, not the A6. For the A6, the Belt Holster (£22) keeps it on your hip and off the top step.

Battery

Both batteries are removable: 8000mAh in the A8 and 5050mAh in the A6. Spare batteries for both are available on request, priced on application, from the accessories page. The 12V DC Car Charger (£26, fits every model) tops up either device in the van.

Using a Tablet in the Trade

Colour Schedules

A colour schedule on a tablet does not get lost, rained on or painted over. Keep one per job, room by room, and update it as the client changes their mind. A notes app or a spreadsheet is enough. Whatever you use, check that the specific app runs on the device before you buy: the A8 runs Android 12 and the A6 Android 15. Android 12 is the older release, so newer apps are more likely to drop support for it first.

Quotes

Measure the rooms, note the condition of the surfaces, photograph anything that needs extra prep, and price it before you leave. On an 8 inch screen the client can read the quote with you and, if your quoting app supports it, sign it there. The Capacitive Stylus (£14.99) is listed for the A8 and not the A6, which makes signatures neater. Our guide to going paperless covers setting up quotes, job sheets and invoices in a sensible order.

Snag Lists

At the end of a job, walk round with the client, photograph each snag, add a line of text, and you have a list you can both refer to. This is where the A6 does well: it lives in a pocket, comes out for each item, and goes back without anything to put down on a dust sheet.

Photos Before and After

Before photos protect you. Cracks, blown plaster, stains and damaged woodwork that were there before you started are much easier to discuss with a dated photo than from memory. After photos from the same spots show the finished work. Our guide to taking site photos that hold up covers what to shoot and how to keep it.

Both devices have a 13MP rear camera with flash and a 5MP front camera. The A8's rear camera is listed as autofocus, which helps with close-ups of cracks and edges. The flash helps in dark stairwells.

Our Picks for Painters and Decorators

Tuga A8: For Quotes, Schedules and Exterior Work

The Tuga A8 suits a decorator who quotes, keeps colour schedules and works outside as well as in.

• 8 inch IPS screen with AGC glass, 1280 x 800, 1000 nits
• IP67
• 8000mAh removable battery
• 6GB RAM, 128GB storage, microSD slot
• 13MP autofocus rear camera with flash, 5MP front camera
• 4G LTE with dual SIM, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, NFC
• Android 12
• £379

The trade off: no drop rating, weight or operating temperature is listed, so keep it on a strap, and it runs the older Android release of the two.

Tuga A6: For the Pocket

The Tuga A6 is a 6 inch handheld rather than a tablet. It suits a decorator who mainly needs photos, snag lists and job notes, and wants the device on their belt rather than on the dust sheet.

• 6 inch FHD+ IPS screen, 2160 x 1080
• IP67 and a 1.5 metre drop rating
• 5050mAh removable battery
• 4GB RAM, 64GB storage, microSD up to 256GB
• 13MP rear camera with flash, 5MP front camera
• 277g, Android 15
• £349

The trade off: the screen is small for showing a client a quote, no brightness figure is listed, and the stylus and hand strap are not listed for it. It also has a built-in barcode scanner, which most decorators will never use.

When Something Else Is the Better Buy

If you only take photos and send messages, a phone you already own, in a good case with a screen protector, may be enough. A rugged device makes sense when phones keep dying from dust and drops. If you want a bigger screen for detailed schedules or specifications, the 10.1 inch Tuga A10 at £449 is £70 more than the A8 and rated IP68, but at 350 nits it is a screen for indoors, and its battery is not removable.

Buying Notes

Every device comes with a 12 month warranty against defects in materials and workmanship. A paid 3-Year Warranty is £65 on the A6 and the A8. Both cover faults, not accidental damage, and the 3-Year Warranty also lists liquid as excluded, so a tin of paint over the device is not a warranty claim. Delivery is free to UK addresses in 7 to 10 working days, and there is No VAT to add. If you are equipping a team, see our bulk pricing.

Compare head to head: A6 vs A8 · A8 vs A10 · A6 vs A10