Our team at BlueFletch reviewed the new Zebra EC30 Enterprise Companion device from Zebra Technologies. To summarize our analysis into one sentence: don’t let the size of the device deter you from its functionality.
With its voice and data capabilities, such as secure messaging and 1D/2D barcode scanning, we expect it to boost productivity for front-line retail and hospitality workers when completing simple task applications.
Patrick McGlynn
Hey everyone. I’m Patrick McGlynn, a project manager at BlueFletch. Today I’m gonna show you the Zebra EC30, a new device from Zebra in a new family called the Enterprise companion. This device was released late in 2019. And expect to start rolling out at retailers and logistics companies in 2020. The first thing you’ll notice about this device is the small screen size. However, don’t let that deter you from its functionality. Think of this device as a modern walkie-talkie with a screen. It has a built-in Imager for 1d and 2d scanning, as well as voice capabilities and Google Assistant. The Zebra EC30 is meant to be a low-cost alternative to the other touch computer series from Zebra. While the device is much smaller, you can still interact with this and very creative ways. One thing we’ve POC is the ability to use it as a voice assistant and control it with a Siri or Alexa-like experience. Since the screen is so small, it’s very difficult to type on the device. But that doesn’t mean it can’t be used for the 21st century as a walkie-talkie. The internal components of the EC30 are very similar to the zebra TC 52 and have impressed our developers and engineers with the performance ability of the device.
BlueFletch tested this device with the enterprise launcher to see how it performed. As far as performance and usability. The first thing we had to do was consider the smaller screen size. So we added the ability to use voice commands to control the device. For example, Open Mobile orders, you’ll see that we’re able to quickly jump into an application versus interacting with the screen to find the icon and launch it. We’ve also worked on trying some creative alternatives to the keyboard. One engineer has said he’d like to see a throwback to the old t nine predictive texts for input. However, we thought it would be best in the demo to show a landscape keyboard to show that you could still easily type in credentials. However, it’s still not as easy as you might expect with some of the newer devices out there. The ECE30 is the smallest device with the 1D, 2D scanner I’ve come across. In my experience with rugged Android devices. It might not perform well in long-range scannings, such as the other TC-series devices from Zebra, but it does perform well enough to perform some basic tasking functions that a user might have for an in-depth review of how BlueFletch rates the EC30 Click the following video to see how it works with our EMS software and how we can lock it down and secure it.
Want to know more information? Email us at info@bluefletch.com
