The Trimble TSC7 and it's counterpart, the Ranger 7, were updated in late 2022, but should you consider upgrading to the latest iteration - and how does the Ranger 7 compare to Trimble's flagship TSC7 controller?
The TSC7 and Ranger 7 are identical in performance. The only physical difference is the color of the keyboard and the logos. Both units are fully compatible with Trimble Access and Trimble Siteworks with the Ranger 7 also offering compatibility with Spectra Origin software.
Both units are built to the same military specifications to handle vibration, humidity, operating temperatures and solar exposure – and both units include integrated EMPOWER bays for adding external devices like the EM120 (long-range 2.4GHz) and EM940 (dual-band 900Mhz / 450MHz).
Ranger 7 v2 and TSC7 v2 Key Features:
- Award winning design with ergonomic grip zones
- 7-inch sunlight-readable touchscreen
- QWERTY keyboard with backlight
- Front and rear-facing cameras
- Dual Empower module expansion bays
- Dual hot-swappable batteries
- 128 GB onboard storage SSD
- Military-spec rugged design
- Windows 10 Pro, 64 bit
- AT&T and Verizon certified LTE WWAN
- USB 3.0 port
- Bluetooth 5.1
Field Software Compatibility:
- Trimble Access
- Trimble Siteworks
- Spectra Geospatial Origin (Ranger 7 only)
Version 2 updates:
According to Trimble, the new “version 2” of the TSC7 and Ranger 7 offer longer battery life, increased internal storge (SSD) and of course a new updated look of the QWERTY keyboards. In addition, the v2 is now running Bluetooth 5.1 compared to 4.1 found in the previous Ranger 7 / TSC7s.
While increased battery life and double the storage are obviously great news, we found it underwhelming that neither controller received any real performance upgrades compared to the original “version 1” which was released in 2018. And like it or not, while Windows 11 launched in 2021, at the time this article was written, the TSC7 and Ranger 7 v2 are still shipping with Windows 10. Additionally, both v2 controllers still run on the old Intel Apollo Lake N4200 processor and offer 8GB of RAM.
What’s interesting about the increased battery life is that the the batteries have not changed. They are the same 3100mAh batteries that were sold with the original v1, and the handheld hardware is basically the same, so we’re not quite sure how battery life has increased from “typically 5 hours” on the v1 to “typically 8 hours” on the v2.
Additionally, if your using either controller for scanning projects or if onboard storage is a problem, you can easily expand storage capacity through the integrated micro SD card slot found underneath the EMPOWER bay covers (same place your SIM goes). The integrated micro-SDXC slot can increase storage space by another 2 TB on the v1 and 512 GB on the v2.
Bottom line
The Ranger 7 offers the exact same performance as the TSC7. The latest “version 2” of either controller offers increased battery life and additional SSD storage, however we don’t see any real reason to upgrade if you’re currently running the version 1.
The Trimble TSC7 is sold exclusively through Trimble-only dealers, while the Spectra Geospatial products are typically sold through resellers that don’t offer the Trimble brand exclusively – like PositioningSolutions.com.
If your looking to purchase a new Ranger 7 v2 or if your looking to save money on a used TSC7, click the link below to check our current inventory and prices:
Datasheets / brochures:
TSC7 v2 datasheet >> | Ranger 7 v2 datasheet >>
TSC7 v1 datasheet >> | Ranger 7 v1 datasheet >>
Additional images:
TSC7 v2 controller on the left, Ranger 7 v2 controller on right
