Using a Rugged Tablet with Work Gloves and Wet Hands

The short answer: none of the devices in our range lists a glove mode or a wet touch mode, so do not buy one expecting the screen to work through thick work gloves or in driving rain. What is listed is narrower. The Tuga A6 has two side scan keys that work with gloves on, and a Capacitive Stylus at £14.99 fits the Tuga A8, the Tuga A10 and the Windows models. Beyond that, the answer is down to the gloves you wear and how you set the device up, and this guide covers both.

Why Gloves and Touchscreens Do Not Get On

Almost every tablet and phone screen, ours included, uses a capacitive touchscreen. In general terms, the glass carries a grid of electrodes that hold a small electrical field. Your fingertip is conductive, so when it touches the glass it changes the field at that point, and the device reads that change as a tap.

A normal work glove is made of leather, cotton, nitrile, rubber or a synthetic knit, and most of those do not conduct. The glove keeps your fingertip away from the glass, the field does not change enough, and nothing happens.

Some devices offer a glove mode, which raises the screen's sensitivity so a touch through thin material registers. We do not list one on any model, so we will not claim it. Whether a particular glove works on a particular screen is something to test, not assume.

What Is Listed for Gloved Use

The A6 Side Scan Keys

The A6 is a 6 inch Android 15 handheld at £349 with a built-in 2D barcode scanner. Its two side scan keys are listed as working with gloves on. They are physical buttons, so they do not depend on the touchscreen at all.

That matters if most of what you do on the device is scanning: stock checks, asset tags, proof of delivery, kit going out of the yard. You can trigger a scan with a gloved thumb, and if your scanning app moves to the next item on its own, a lot of the job needs no screen tap. You will still need the screen for anything typed, signed or selected from a list. Our guide to rugged tablets with barcode scanners covers the scanning side in more detail.

No such keys are listed for the A8 or the A10. They have no built-in scanner, and no programmable buttons are listed for them, so assume everything on those two goes through the touchscreen.

The Capacitive Stylus

Our Capacitive Stylus is £14.99 and is listed for the A8, the A10, the W8, the W10 and the WH6. It is not listed for the A6. Its description pitches it for signatures and detail work "when the gloves are off", and it has a clip for a pocket or case.

So be clear about what it is for. It is not sold as a way to use the screen with gloves on, and we do not list it as working through gloves. Where it helps is the moment after you pull a glove off: a stylus tip is more precise than a cold or grubby finger on a screen full of small boxes, and it keeps dirt and moisture from your skin off the glass. For customer signatures it gives a neater result than a fingertip.

The Car Phone Mount

One more listed item mentions gloves. The Car Phone Mount is £17, fits the A6 and the WH6, and is described as one handed with gloves on. That refers to putting the handheld in and taking it out of the mount, not to using the screen.

Conductive Fingertip Gloves

The most practical fix for a capacitive screen is a glove with conductive fingertips. In general terms, these gloves have a conductive thread or coating woven or printed into the thumb and one or more fingertips. That patch carries the touch from your finger to the glass, so the screen sees it much as it would a bare finger.

Things to know before you buy a pair:

• Check which fingers are treated. Some gloves treat only the thumb and index finger. If you type with two thumbs, both need the patch.
• Thinner works better. A thin knit glove with a conductive patch tends to be more reliable than a thick insulated or heavily padded one.
• Accuracy drops. A gloved fingertip is wider than a bare one, so small buttons and on screen keyboards are harder to hit.
• The patch wears. Conductive coatings can wear off with use and washing, so a glove that worked in October may not in February.
• Protection comes first. If your job needs cut resistant, chemical resistant or insulated gloves for safety, choose the glove for that job. Touchscreen compatibility is a bonus, not a reason to change what keeps your hands safe.

Whatever you buy, test it on your own device when it arrives. Try a tap, a swipe, a few lines of typing and a signature.

Wet Hands and Rain

What Water Does to a Touchscreen

Water conducts, so the same field that reads your finger can also react to water on the glass. In general terms, that shows up two ways. Droplets or a film of rain can register as touches you did not make, so the screen scrolls or opens something by itself. And a wet finger dragging through water can be misread, so taps land in the wrong place or a swipe does not register cleanly.

No model in our range lists a wet touch or rain mode, so expect a capacitive screen to behave like one in the rain. The fix is not complicated: dry the glass and dry your fingertip.

What the IP Rating Does and Does Not Cover

The A6 and the A8 are rated IP67 and the A10 is rated IP68. The 7 and 8 refer to protection against immersion in water. Our guide to IP68 vs IP67 explains the system. The point here is that an IP rating is about water getting inside the device. It says nothing about how well the touchscreen works when the glass is wet. A device can be fully sealed and still be awkward to use in the rain.

Practical Habits for Wet Days

• Carry a dry cloth. A microfibre cloth in an inside pocket, used before each task, solves most wet screen problems.
• Work under cover where you can. A van door, a porch or a scaffold board above you keeps the worst off the glass for the minute you need it.
• Lock the screen when you put it away. Rain on an unlocked screen can tap things for you. A quick press of the power button before it goes back in a pocket or holster stops that.
• Use a PIN or pattern. None of the A6, A8 or A10 lists a fingerprint reader or face unlock, so unlocking is by screen. A short PIN is easier to enter with a wet or gloved finger than a long password.
• Dry the port before charging. As general good practice, let a wet USB-C port dry before plugging in a charger, and follow the quick start guide in the box.

Setting the Device Up for Gloved and Wet Use

Some of the biggest gains come from software, not hardware. These are general Android settings and app choices, so check what your device and apps offer.

• Make things bigger. Android lets you increase display size and font size. Bigger buttons are easier to hit with a gloved or wet finger.
• Use voice typing. Most Android keyboards offer voice input, which saves typing notes through a glove. Check it works in your job sheet app.
• Choose apps with large controls. If you are picking a forms or job sheet app, try it on the device with your gloves on before you commit your team to it.

Grip: Holding the Device with Gloves or Wet Hands

Gloves and rain also make a device easier to drop. The surface texture of each model is not listed, so we cannot tell you how grippy each one is. What is listed is the strap situation:

• The A6 and the A10 come with a hand strap in the box.
• The A8 does not. The Hand Strap is £24, is listed for the A8, A10, W8 and W10, and rotates through 360 degrees.
• The A6 lists a 1.5 metre drop rating and the A10 is tested to MIL-STD-810H. The A8 lists neither, which is a reason to add the strap if you use it in wet or gloved hands.

Our guide to screen protectors, cases and straps goes through each accessory and when to skip it. One related point: the Tempered Glass Screen Protector (£14 for two) fits every model, but its listing does not say how it affects touch through gloves or in the wet. If you rely on a particular glove, test it again after fitting the protector.

Which Device Suits Gloved Work?

• Mostly scanning, gloves on all day: the A6 at £349. The side scan keys are the only listed glove friendly controls in the range. It is IP67, rated for 1.5 metre drops and weighs 277g. The stylus is not listed for it.
• Forms, photos and quotes, gloves off for typing: the A8 at £379, with an 8 inch screen, IP67 sealing and a removable 8000mAh battery. Add the Hand Strap and, if you take signatures, the stylus.
• Drawings and bigger forms: the A10 at £449, with a 10.1 inch 1920 x 1200 screen and IP68 sealing. Bigger targets are easier to hit with a gloved fingertip, and the hand strap is included.

If you work through the winter, our guide to using a rugged tablet in the cold covers the battery side of the same problem.

The Short Version

No model lists a glove mode or a wet touch mode, so plan around the screen rather than expecting it to cope. Buy thin gloves with conductive fingertips and test them on the device. Keep a cloth for rain and lock the screen when it goes away. Use the A6 side scan keys if scanning is most of your day, and the £14.99 stylus on the A8, A10 or Windows models for signatures once the gloves are off. All devices are delivered free to UK addresses in 7 to 10 working days, with No VAT to add.

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