Dell Venue 8 7000 a Strong Contender in Lightweight Tablet Market

By Don Reisinger

One of the first things to notice about the Dell Venue 8 7000 tablet is its rather interesting design. The device comes with a prominent screen on the front and a thin bezel. Its machined aluminum finish adds a level of character not previously seen in Dell tablets. However, perhaps the most interesting aspect of its design is the extra band at the bottom that houses the device’s speakers. Typically, speakers are hidden from view in tablets, but Dell says its design allows for better sound for its slate.

It’s hard to find fault with the mobility factor built into the Dell Venue 8 7000. The device is just 0.24 inches thin and less than 5 inches wide. It is also 8.5 inches tall, making it one of the smaller devices on the market. Apple’s iPad Mini 3, in comparison, is 0.29 inches thick and has a 5.3-inch width, despite having a smaller screen than the Venue 8 7000.

The Dell Venue 8 7000’s screen is arguably one of the best reasons to buy the tablet. The screen is an 8.4-inch OLED with a 2,560-by-1,440 resolution that supports 10-point capacitive touch. OLED displays tend to deliver outstanding color accuracy and strong black levels. Judging by the Venue 8 7000’s specifications, it delivers on all of that and more.

The Dell Venue 8 7000 has leveraged Intel technology quite effectively. The device is the first tablet to come with Intel’s RealSense Depth Camera, which allows users to snap a photo and then automatically refocus an image by simply tapping on anything in the photo to make it clear. The feature creates a blurring effect in other areas and allows for a wide variety of photo-editing options.

Speaking of Intel, it’s important to note that the Dell Venue 8 7000 isn’t running an ARM-based processor. Instead, Dell decided to go with the Intel Atom Z3580 with up to a 2.3GHz clock speed. In addition, the tablet has Intel HD graphics. Intel has little market share in the mobile space now, but if its components can find their way into strong tablets, like the Venue, the company might expect better success in the coming months.

Although the latest Android version available right now is 5.0 (Lollipop), Dell has decided to go with Android 4.4 KitKat. That’s not necessarily an issue. KitKat is a generally strong version of Android, but it’s something to keep in mind. It’s also worth noting that supporting an older operating system means Android’s fragmentation issues, which have subsided over the past year, aren’t gone just yet.

Dell has a partnership with cloud-based storage company Dropbox to offer cloud storage to customers. So, after users pick up a Dell Venue 8 7000 tablet, they’ll receive 20GB of free storage capacity on Dropbox for a period of one year. After that, those who want more storage can get Dropbox Pro, which provides 1TB of storage for $99 per year.

Speaking of storage, the Dell Venue 8 7000 is a little light in that category. The tablet comes with just 16GB of onboard storage, which might not be enough for the average user. However, like other companies, including Microsoft and Amazon, complementing that with online storage is a solid move. Apple, however, sees it differently and offers three storage options to customers. Keep that in mind before choosing between the two slates.

Those looking to connect to the Web on the Venue 8 7000 while away from a WiFi connection will be disappointed. Since Dell designed the tablet to be affordable and lightweight, the company didn’t include a mobile broadband connection. Several competing products come with cellular connections, however, so Dell may be compelled to make a move in that direction at some point.

Although it has some shortcomings, it’s hard to find fault in the Dell Venue 8 7000’s price-to-value ratio. The tablet comes with a wide range of outstanding features, including a nice display, a great design and solid cameras. And for all of that, customers can buy the device for $399, or $429 with a case.