Whether your teams work on retail floors, in warehouse aisles or delivery routes, they have one thing in common – they are where strategy meets reality. It’s where planning is tested and where decisions are made in seconds. More importantly, it’s where digital transformation is made or broken.



In recent years, organisations have poured a lot of money and time into cloud platforms, analytics and AI. In doing so, many are uncovering an uncomfortable yet eerily familiar truth; the back office has all the intelligence it can dream of, yet frontline teams are navigating environments that adapt and change constantly with tools that don’t.

That disconnect is now becoming impossible to ignore.

The new TC501 and TC701 touch computers from Zebra are built with this frontline at its core. They’re not consumer-style devices repackaged for work (although they are so easy to use that you might think they are). No, they’re purpose-built platforms designed to make that back-office intelligence readily available at the edge.



Frontline enablers that work where the work happens

We all know AI is here and that organisations are racing to do the most for less with it. It is also, however, increasingly an expectation for modern tech to come with it, or to at least work with it. But many organisations have learned the hard way that simply bolting general-purpose AI tools onto existing workflows doesn’t deliver meaningful results.

Privacy, latency and connectivity are rarely spot-on, which leads to user frustration quickly. This is why Zebra has taken a very different approach with the TC501 and TC701 to improve user productivity, drive digital transformation and enhance employee and customer experience.

While some businesses may be tempted to treat AI as a cloud-only layer, the TC501 and TC701 are built to run Zebra Frontline AI Enablers directly on the device. This enables frontline workers to access the information and answers they need in seconds, wherever they are and whatever task they’re performing. Both devices also integrate seamlessly with Zebra’s Frontline AI Suite and AI Data Capture SDK, further extending support for Zebra Frontline AI Enablers.

Here’s an example: a delivery driver with a tonne of parcels to drop off in the back of a van. Rather than scanning each label manually the boring, old-fashioned way, or worse, guessing under pressure, leveraging on-device AI can help the user identify the right barcode with the camera and then guide the worker to the package in question. The result is speed, fewer errors, less rework and crucially, happier customers.

This also applies to retail, manufacturing or field service. It doesn’t really matter what your teams are doing; whether they’re organising products for display, extracting handwritten text from a delivery note or just validating addresses, AI becomes the quiet assistant that elevates workers.

Scalable, human-centric design

No matter how much intelligence you give frontline teams, hardware is just as important. The new TC501 and TC701 devices are Zebra’s most futureproof touch computers yet. They combine enterprise-grade ruggedness with ergonomic efficiency.

Despite the increased drop specifications and durability of the TC501 and TC701 devices, they’re also lighter than previous generations. You might think this is insignificant, but the difference is drastic for someone using them for a whole shift. In addition, Zebra’s ultra-bright hybrid OLED screen delivers excellent visibility in direct sunlight or dimly lit environments, while power requirements are reduced up to 40%.

The result is longer battery life and fewer interruptions, which is non-negotiable in roles where downtime is not an option. We’ve also kitted both with a 50MP rear camera which provides crystal-clear image capture for delivery proof and inspection workflows. Optional ultrawide and time-of-flight sensors enable advanced use cases. To top it all off, built-in short-range UHF RFID capabilities bring asset visibility into a single device.

We build for the long term by making obsolescence obsolete

It’s a tale as old as time; tech companies building-in obsolescence so you’re forced to buy new devices way too soon. In fact, in frontline technology, something that’s often overlooked is churn. Think devices that age too quickly or refresh cycles that require ridiculously early reinvestment.

The TC501 and TC701 are designed to be the ultimate long-term platforms. They come with support for future Android releases, Wi-Fi 7 and next-gen 5G support, ensuring that organisations are locked into today’s requirements as well as tomorrow’s.

Zebra’s ShareCradles, alongside the new TC501 and TC701, address a longstanding pain point for IT and ops teams – charging without accessory sprawl. A new modular design allows customers to house multiple generations of devices and batteries on a single base. In practical terms, that means lower total cost of ownership, simpler deployments and less disruption during refresh cycles. In a similar vein, users can hot swap the TC501 and TC701’s batteries which means no downtime for battery changes, and they can charge batteries from 0 to 70% in 45 minutes with new fast charging options.

Sustainability is a license to operate today. The TC501 and TC701 reflect and embody this, incorporating recycled plastics, energy-efficient components and EPEAT certification. Importantly, these gains don’t come at the expense of performance. Instead, they reinforce a simple idea: durability, efficiency and sustainability can – and should – coexist.

Why does this really matter? Frontline confidence.

Ultimately, the value of the TC501 and TC701 isn’t defined by any single feature. It’s defined by how those features come together to remove friction from frontline work.

When frontline devices respond instantly, when guidance is embedded in workflows, when time to train drops and when errors fade into memory, the resulting confidence is hard to quantify. Frontline teams with that confidence deliver faster, better outcomes for businesses and customers.

As businesses tackle 2026 and the years ahead, the question is no longer if teams on the ground should be connected and empowered. It’s whether the tools in their hands are truly designed to support that reality.

It’s in Zebra’s DNA to solve challenges like this and with the TC501 and TC701, Zebra’s answer is clear. To learn more, please don’t hesitate to reach out to us.

Author: David Gibbs, Senior Regional Product Manager at Zebra Technologies

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