Design and Build Quality
The design of the Dell Venue 8 7000 is unique in a lot of ways. Starting with dimensions alone, the device measures just 215.8mm (8.50-in) tall, 124.4mm (4.88-in) wide and 6mm (0.24-in) thick. Dell makes claims that the Venue 8 7000 is the “world’s thinnest tablet” though there is a lot of competition in this area. The iPad Air 2 is rated at 6.1mm thin so expect the comparison to be tough to judge even in side by side photos.
Regardless of superlatives that the Venue may or may not be able to claim, the tablet is striking to look at even when powered off. The screen takes nearly the entire dimensions of the device (expect the bottom where the speaker and camera reside) resulting in an incredibly thin bezel. In many ways, the Venue 8 7000 looks a lot like the XPS 13 notebook we also saw at CES (and are in the process of reviewing).
Apple iPad Air 2 (left), Dell Venue 8 7000 (right)
NVIDIA SHIELD Tablet (left), Dell Venue 8 7000 (right)
The front the Venue is dominated by the large and incredibly bright screen. The bezel around the top and sides is very thin, which is in stark contrast to the bottom of the device. This area below the screen houses the front-facing camera and mono speaker, where two finger widths of space exist between OLED display and bottom of the device. This design gives you just enough space to hold it without blocking much of the screen, but it does give the Venue 8 7000 a rather unbalanced look, portrait or landscape, compared to the iPad Air and other tablets. The rounded corners of the lower chassis do feel better in your palm than the sharper top edges, however.
Edges are at a premium here and on the left hand side you will see the power/wake button, volume buttons (not really a rocker) as well as the singular microphone. The buttons feel great, very clicky and not at all mushy. Because this isn’t a phone Dell opted to reduce costs and not go for a multi-mic array for noise reduction which means your Skype or Hangouts quality might be affected. The bottom right holds the microSD card slot. Power and headphone connections reside on the bottom of the Venue which I have never personally been a huge fan of. Most tablets and phones seem to be opting for that location though, so I am clearly in the minority.
On the back side you’ll find a classy implementation of the Dell and Intel Inside logos, maximizing branding for both companies without being gaudy. Towards the bottom is not just one but three different camera lenses. The center camera is the 8MP primary camera while the two separated inside the black bar are 720p cameras used to integrate depth data into the Dell camera application. Placement here is definitely going to cause issues. Whether taking photos in a portrait or landscape mode, I found my fingers to often block the lenses resulting in either bad images or a warning from the depth software to get the hell out of the way. A top mount to these cameras would have been much better for portrait captures and for landscape mode Dell clearly wants you to support the weight of the device along the thin-bezeled edge at the top.
The cameras have to be setup this way to allow for the 3D technology to work – the primary camera must be centered in between the two depth cameras. And moving that technology to the top of the Venue 8 7000 would have meant a larger bezel along the top (instead of at the bottom). The result though is a camera that has more fingerprints on it than should be allowed by law thanks to the normal usage patterns. Be prepared to wipe off the lenses on the back of the Venue 8 7000 just about every time you want to take a picture with it.
Along with the look of a high quality device thanks to the silver and black tones, the Dell Venue 8 7000 also just feels great in the hand. Weighing just 305 grams (under 11 ounces) the unit is not only light but is strong as well. Picking it up by the very edge at any corner shows no signs of flex and everything feel clean and tight in the design. There are no sharp edges or places where glass doesn’t match the bezel – it definitely gives off the impression of a premium product both visually and in…feels.
I don’t know about perfected,
I don’t know about perfected, MKBHD gave it a lukewarm review.
That’s why we are allowed to
That's why we are allowed to have more than one review of a product. 🙂
Look ’em right in the eye,
Look ’em right in the eye, say “Flagship? 16GB?” and make them eat the damn thing.
I’ll take a look when if and when they ship a 32GB model, but they should never have shipped a 16GB model.
I don’t really disagree, but
I don't really disagree, but all flagship tablets at least come in a 16GB variety.
Yeah, I know. It’s just so
Yeah, I know. It’s just so annoying. Fabulous screen, fast CPU, plenty of RAM, decent battery life, everything is good…
And then the same 16GB of storage as we had in 2012.
Kind of agree there. Does the
Kind of agree there. Does the SD card slot not alleviate this?
To a degree.
The problem is,
To a degree.
The problem is, Android 4.4’s support for removable storage is… Not great. I have an Xperia Z Ultra with 16GB internal and a 128GB Sandisk micro SD card.
The SD card is brilliant. I have a ton of music on there, all the recent episodes from podcasts I follow (including yours, of course!), and a nice collection of audiobooks.
But my apps have to live on the internal storage. So do all my Kindle books.
I’ve been very selective about which apps I install, but I’m down to about 3GB of space on the internal storage. I have 50GB free on the SD card, but I can’t use it for that.
Android 5.0 might be better with SD cards, but I only have it on my Nexus 7 so far, so I can’t test that.
Given that we’re talking about a $400 device, and the price difference between 16GB and 32GB of decent quality Flash storage is $10 retail – and that it would more than double available space because at least 4GB is used by the OS and restore volumes – this ongoing insistence on providing inadequate storage even on flagship devices is really starting to piss me off.
Good point. I’ve lived that
Good point. I’ve lived that too. And considering that they can put 512GB on a micro SDs and M2s, there is little reason why they can’t build that much into these.
Also, considering that this is a recent “flagship” release I’m assuming that the MicroSDs supported are UHS-IIs. I think SDIO may cover the whole lot.
its a pretty steap price for
its a pretty steap price for a tab without lte, only 16 gb onboard storage and a unpractical design. i use my tab only in landscape mode and the single bezel on this tab looks unhandy.
the only plus on this tab is the screen.
but lets talk about the most disappointing part of this tablet. it comes with an outdated version (4.4) of android.
the bottom line for me is:
-expensive
-outdatet software
-lack of featuers
-no ergonomic way to use it
for the same price, you can get a nvidia shield with lte, 32 gb storage, more gpu power, up to date android 5.0.1, a bezel on all sides to get a grip, faster charging times, yes the dell loads rly slow! only the screen on the shield is not so fancy.
so, no.
wont buy. 400 for only a nice screen is too much dell.
you can get for around 230 an
you can get for around 230 an memo pad from asus http://www.asus.com/Tablets/ASUS_MeMO_Pad_7_ME572CL/specifications/ also has lte and most of the stuff you need, well not such a fancy screen, also an outdatet android, probably a bit slower in performance and so on.
also the Lenovo Tab S8-50L LTE http://shop.lenovo.com/gb/en/tablets/lenovo/s-series/s8/#tab-features way less expensive and comes with an lte modul for about 230.
so, a fancy screen costs 170 bucks?
i cant rly understand the excitement.
In many cases, a tablet and
In many cases, a tablet and phone is more about the experience and build quality than specs. Still, I am trying to get these tablets in currently! Thanks for the heads up!
Great review Ryan, and yet
Great review Ryan, and yet another example of why I always check PCPER before buying a piece of tech. Was there any indication that we might expect an LTE variant? With LTE, 32GB and a 256GB SD, this could contend with laptops!
LTE hasn’t been mentioned at
LTE hasn't been mentioned at all yet.
Also wondering what class of
Also wondering what class of MicroSD is supported.
Oh, sorry!
SD, SDHC, SDXC,
Oh, sorry!
SD, SDHC, SDXC, supporting up to 512GB
Good review Ryan . thanks
Say
Good review Ryan . thanks
Say what you will re price and deficiencies and lollipop delay.
I am using this tablet and the screen is as good or better than the rest
No regret
Paul
I swear that when they
I swear that when they unveiled this device at IDF last fall, it was using Cherry Trail, not Bay Trail… hmm…
Nope, it was always Atom
Nope, it was always Atom Z3500 – http://newsroom.intel.com/community/intel_newsroom/blog/2014/09/09/michael-dell-previewed-world-thinnest-tablet-at-intel-developer-forum
16GB of
16GB of storage?
whatyearisthis.jpg
😀
Almost all tablets start
😀
Almost all tablets start 16GB honestly though. I would agree Dell needs more options.
Shame you didn’t take the 8″
Shame you didn’t take the 8″ galaxy tab s along in this compassion. Half curious if it uses the same panel.
Totally agree there.
Totally agree there. Hopefully Samsung will be willing to send us one to compare!
Do you know who supplies the
Do you know who supplies the OLED screen? Was it Samsung? The Samsung Tab S are also OLED and have been reviewed as having the best display out of the tablets currently available. The other internals are a bit more dated however.
I believe another review
I believe another review mentioned it’s probably the identical screen as what is found in the Samsung.
I believe another review
I believe another review mentioned it’s probably the identical screen as what is found in the Samsung.
This review was almost enough
This review was almost enough to get me to purchase this since I’m looking for a new small tablet for my wife after her Memo Pad 7 gave out (just stopped charging), but the Amazon reviews for this are horrible. Great review though … thanks!
Amazon doesn’t sell this
Amazon doesn't sell this tablet, so I don't know what reviews you were looking at…
Purchased this last night
Purchased this last night based on your review.
I’ve had probably a dozen different tablets over the years starting with the first Tegra 2 tablet that I could find (Viewsonic G-Tab) which had the most horrible screen on any device I’ve ever seen.
This one, by contrast, has the best screen I’ve seen on any device. The 3D cameras are uncalibrated out of the box and aren’t all that accurate for the 3D functions, but the software assures me it will get better as I take more photos. It’s not the fastest tablet I’ve used I don’t think, especially in the GPU department, but it’s more than adequate. The build quality is as good as any other I’ve had and better than most. Only the ASUS 10″ tabs come close in comparison to ones I’ve owned.
What it does well, it does VERY well. What it doesn’t, it does well enough to make me believe it’ll keep the top spot on my tablet list for a while.
Going from android 4.4.4 to
Going from android 4.4.4 to android 5 is a huge upgrade performance wise.I own a nexus 4 and it shouldn’t go up so much in performance usually but google has been fine tuning a lot on. The performance side
I felt this thing at Best
I felt this thing at Best Buy, and it is absolutely fantastic to hold. Very thin and it feels like a piece of metal.
My only disappointment is KitKat rather than Lollipop, but I understand the optimizations that must happen. After using Lollipop on my phone now since it was released, KitKat feels like something of an eyesore.
Great review Ryan!
32G came out this week. I am
32G came out this week. I am looking forward to mine arriving 🙂
Having used the 32G version
Having used the 32G version now for several weeks I can say I really really am liking this tablet. Gorgeous screen..it took a couple days to get used to the button location on the left side, but I am fine with them now. Very responsive. I would like to see lollipop soon, but it’s easily my favorite tablet.
Anyone know if the Venue 8
Anyone know if the Venue 8 7840 is fitted with Gorilla Glass? Or anything similar to prevent scratches and breaks?
The tablet scene seems a bit
The tablet scene seems a bit quiet lately outside launches of some larger ‘Pro’ models. I guess tablet sales are a bit soft globally. My 2011 iPad 2 was gimping too badly so I just bought this Dell Venue 8 7000 32GB. Great price discounts are had on it now that it is a year old and it now comes with Lollipop 5.02 that immediately upgrades to 5.1. I would expect an Android 6.0 Marshmallow upgrade over the next 3 months.
Having owned a tablet for years I’m somewhat past the experimentation thing with a gazzillion apps and games and quest for the ultimate specs. I now am more a user of the core types of apps someone uses with a tablet. As a result, my main goals in a tablet are great screen display/readability, snappy and fluid transitions, smooth browsing/reading, smooth video streaming, excellent build quality, excellent battery life, excellent physical usability and overall visual coherence.
This tablet really nails it on most dimensions I’m looking for. As someone else mentioned, where it misses dead center, its definitely good enough. The revue above does a good job of capturing the nuances. I’m sure over time Google will make the Android OS more complex, forcing hardware end-of-life… but for me, Lollipop + Venue 8 addresses all my needs in a tablet already. Marshmallow, if/when it arrives to the V8, will only further improve the SD card functionality in this device. I’m hopeful Dell WON’T keep forcing OS upgrades to this device, making it gimpy, like Apple did to my iPad 2.