Review: Hotwav R9 Plus rugged tablet

Review unit provided by Hotwav

The Hotwav R9 Plus is a rugged Android 14 tablet released in June 2025.

This tablet is an upgrade over the Hotwav R9 Pro released in late 2024. The upgrades include the more powerful Unisoc T7280 processor, 8GB RAM (from 6GB) and 512GB storage (from 256GB). And there's now an included kickstand that can be screwed onto the back of the tablet.

Official retail price of the tablet is US $329.99. The launch promotion price is US $224.99 from 23 June to 2 Jul 2025.

The normal price would be US $300+. During the launch sale from June 23 to July 2, 2025 on Amazon, you can get this at US $203 (limited to first 200 pieces) using the coupon codes:

Black: TeoHTR9PS1
Red: TeoHTR9PS2

Bottom line

This is well made rugged tablet designed for extreme outdoor use and durability. The weight of 1.066kg is heavy but not unexpected considering the bulky exterior protection this tablet has. And finally Hotwav has included an optional kickstand which is so convenient.

Overall performance is smooth enough for general use. Don't expect this to be a gaming tablet because it's not.

Battery life can last for several days.

Other nice to have features are Widevine L1, face unlock, 4G cellular support, 350 lumens flashlight.

This is the rugged to consider if you need a rugged tablet.

Specifications

• Display: 11-inch IPS, 1920 x 1200 pixels
• Processor: Unisoc T7280 (2x 2.2 GHz Cortex-A75, 6x 1.8 GHz Cortex-A55)
• GPU: Mali-G57 MP1 @ 850 MHz
• RAM: 8GB (+ 16GB virtual RAM)
• Storage: 512GB (Supports microSD expansion)
• Battery capacity: 20,080mAh battery with 20W charging
• Camping light: 350 lumens
• Operating system: Android 14
• Rear camera: 64MP
• Front camera: 16MP
• SIM card: Dual Nano-SIM / microSD
• Connectivity: Wi-Fi (2.4GHz & 5GHz), Bluetooth 5.0, GPS, A-GPS, GLONASS, BeiDou, Galileo
• USB: USB Type-C 2.0
• Dimensions: 269.6 x 182 x 17.8 mm
• Weight: 1066g
• Durability: IP68, IP69K, MIL-STD-810H certified
• Stand: Detachable stand and wrist strap

Things included

• Tablet
• 2 metal brackets for the hand strap
• Hand strap
• Screws for the metal brackets
• Screw driver
• Glass screen protector
• Wet and dry wipes for screen protector
• USB-C to USB-C charging cable
• USB-A female to USB-C adapter cable
• 20W charger
• User guide

Design

This tablet has certification for IP68 & IP69K & MIL-STD-810H and is designed to withstand water, drops and knocks. The exterior hard plastic case that's fused with the tablet looks and feels TOUGH.

Corners have extra thick bumpers to protect against drops. Note the LCD with rounded corners.

All the edges are thicker for protection.

The SIM tray can hold two nano SIMs, or one microSD card and one nano SIM. Having 4G cellular support is quite convenient. A plastic screen protector is already applied, and there's an extra glass screen protector in the box.

Audio quality from the speakers sounds hollow and that's not surprising.

The kickstand can be screwed onto the back easily. The kickstand is made with metal and will add even more weight to the tablet. This is an essential accessory since the tablet is heavy to hold comfortably for extended time.

The kickstand can also be used as a handle to carry the tablet around.

There's an optional hand strap that can be installed on the back too, but the kickstand is still more convenient.

The 350 lumens camping light is really bright. You have to use the included "camping light" app to use the camping light. For brightness, there's full, half and quarter options, and you can have the light flash too.

Display

The 11-inch LCD has 1920 x 1200 resolution with 16:10 aspect ratio. Visuals look sharp enough so pixelation is not an issue. Colours look vibrant. Refresh rate is just 60Hz, not surprising.

The display using Corning Gorilla Glass 3 for extra scratch resistance and durability.

The brightness is not listed but the display looks bright enough to me, but won't be bright enough under direct sunlight.

This display looks quite good.

Performance

I don't have any benchmark tests for the Unisoc T7280 processor as numbers sometimes don't matter as much as user experience. Good news is overall performance is smooth enough.

Apps are able to launch quickly. Webpages download fast. 8GB RAM is more than sufficient for multitasking. The company listed an additional 16GB virtual RAM but I'm not sure how that works.

Gaming is possible but don't expect to play games at highest graphics settings. Genshin Impact graphics was set to lowest quality by default with noticeable pixelation, gameplay seems smooth at 30 FPS and I don't see dropped frames.

OS and software

The tablet runs on Android 14 and there's Google Play Store. Hotwav's UI is quite basic so there aren't many features but at least there's face unlock. Unfortunately there's no auto-brightness.

If you need more features, you'll have to find an app to give you that feature.

There's Widevine L1 so streaming 1080P HDCP videos from streaming services is possible.

Battery life

Battery capacity of 20,080 mAh is huge. According to my calculations, battery life is 20 - 25 hours at 75% brightness, and battery life is usually longer than expected.

Conclusion

I've reviewed several Hotwav rugged tablets and they are well made rugged tablets. Performance is smooth for general purpose use. Having 4G cellular is convenient. Display quality looks good enough.

The main downsides or limitations comes from the budget price point. Speaker is usually the first sacrifice and the audio sounds hollow, which I kinda expected. This tablet isn't going to have as many features as more expensive tablets or non-rugged tablets but you already know that from reading the specifications.

As a rugged tablet, it looks and feels the part. This tablet is designed to be durable and for use in rough environment, especially outdoor environment, which is why it even has a 350 lumens flash light.

This a tablet work considering if you need a rugged tablet. If you can get it at US $100 off during the launch promotion, it's a pretty great deal.

Pros and cons at a glance
+ Extreme rugged design for outdoors
+ Optional hand strap included
+ Optional stand included
+ Vibrant, bright, sharp enough display
+ 1920 x 1200 resolution
+ 350 lumens flash light
+ Laminated display
+ 20-25 hr battery life
+ Supports reverse charging
+ Has microSD and nano 4G 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
- 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 Plus rugged tablet is available from Hotwav online store.

The normal price would be US $300+. During the launch sale from June 23 to July 2, 2025 on Amazon, you can get this at US $203 (limited to first 200 pieces) using the coupon codes:

Black: TeoHTR9PS1
Red: TeoHTR9PS2