It’s been a couple of years since Dell tried its hand at making Android tablets. The Dell Streak 7 followed on the hells of the Dell Streak 5-inch smartphone,
neither of which anyone wanted, in the end. Between then and now Dell
seems to have spent time learning what regular folk want in a tablet, be
they Android or Windows-based. The result is the Dell Venue series.
The Dell Venue 8 is one of two Android tablets-the other being an
almost identical 7-inch version coming in at the budget price of $180.
We’ve seen our share of sub-$200 Android slates lately and found that
the price point doesn’t dictate quality. Can the Venue 8 balance price
and value the same way tablets like the Asus Memo Pad HD 7 or is it not even worth the relatively low price like the HP Slate 7?
Kind of a fingerprint magnet
Dell kept the design basic on all of the Venue tablets, opting for a simple, streamlined look similar to the Nexus 7.
The Venue 8 won’t win any beauty awards but it won’t be embarrassing to
use in public. The soft-touch coating on the back curves around the
edges, creating a device that’s comfortable to hold and won’t slip from
your fingers easily. The only drawback is that fingerprints show up
easily.
The Venue 8 won’t win any beauty awards but it won’t be embarrassing to use in public.
If the Plain Jane-osity of the Venue puts you off, you can opt for
the red version. Sometimes a dash of color makes a big difference.
The Micro USB port is on the upper left edge instead of the bottom,
making it a little hard to use universal docks with this tablet. Other
than that, all the other slots and buttons are where we expect them.
Bonus: the MicroSD slot will take cards up to 128GB.
It would be nice if the bezel in front blended seamlessly with the
screen, though we do like that it’s wide enough give fingers a place to
rest when not tapping.
The 8-inch display is a fingerprint magnet, too. We needed to use the
cleaning cloth at least every day, sometimes more than once. The
brighter the screen, the less we noticed this. The Venue 8 doesn’t get
super bright – just bright enough for use in the sun as long as it’s not
a tropical island sun. For its price, the 1280 x 800 pixel resolution
is acceptable.
Colors don’t pop as much as they do on the Nexus 7. They are accurate
with enough contrast and saturation to make watching video a pleasant
experience as long as you keep the screen in a reasonable range. Viewing
angles are also not as wide in well-lit rooms as in dim ones because
the glossy screen catches reflections easily when off-center. The colors
don’t distort, so eliminating bright lights helps.
We’ve said before how much we like 8-inch size for small tablets, and
the Venue 8 is a testament to the size. It’s just over 5 inches wide
and still in the range where most can wrap a hand around it. Holding it
for long reading sessions or hours of gameplay won’t be a problem; the
0.77lbs weight is just right for the size.
You’ll want to grab some headphones
or a good Bluetooth speaker for games or watching video because the one
speaker on the bottom edge is not your best option. It gets plenty
loud, so it’s fine for sharing a short viral video with a friend, but
the quality of the audio isn’t great at 100 percent volume and is flat
and tinny overall.
It runs a clean version of Android
People who see Android tablets as a blank slate that they can impose
their personality upon will appreciate the bare bones approach Dell took
with the Venue 8. There’s no skin over Android 4.2.2 nor even a hint of
the Dell logo on wallpaper. When you first turn it on you won’t be
greeted by a Home screen full of widgets, just a few apps in the dock
and the Google
search bar. The only two apps Dell added are PocketCloud for remote
connection to a PC and PocketCloud Explore for grabbing and sharing
files from the same. Otherwise, the tablet is almost as stock as a Nexus
device.
This approach has pros and cons. People familiar with Android will
fire up the Play Store and download their favorite apps right away.
People completely new to Android might feel a bit adrift thanks to the
lack of apps and content.
PocketCloud isn’t as robust as other remote access apps like
SplashTop nor is it as easy to use. However, we do appreciate the
inclusion of the free version since it does have some uses.
It has Intel inside
Most Android tablets run on ARM-based chips such as Qualcomm’s
Snapdragon or Nvidia’s Tegra. A dual-core Intel Atom processor drives
the Venue 8 backed by 2GB of RAM. Atom is the same family of chips that
run low-priced Windows tablets and first came to most people’s attention
with the netbook craze. A CPU made for computers should be powerful
enough to run an Android tablet, right? Yes, though not any better than
competing ARM processors.
The Venue 8 is fast, but it’s not blazing or remarkable either.
Overall, the Venue 8’s performance was fast enough that we can’t call
it sluggish, but it’s not blazing or remarkable either. Apps took too
long to load and the screen sometimes didn’t pick up a swipe or tap the
first time. These issues weren’t so endemic that the Venue 8 got too
frustrating to use, so it won’t drive you nuts. For a budget tablet the
performance is average.
Our unit was Wi-Fi only, though there is room for a Micro SIM in the
same area as the SD card slot. It’s an option that will be available in
the US but not yet. Other than b/g/n Wi-Fi, it has Bluetooth 4.0 and GPS
that works even when offline.
Not such a great camera
The rear 5-megapixel camera is unremarkable, like most tablet
cameras. Dell didn’t mess with the camera app at all, so there are
hardly any settings or features to try and make pictures better. You
can’t even tap to focus. In decent light, our pictures came out dark and
lacked sharpness. Outdoor pictures weren’t much better. This camera
will let you barcodes and play augmented reality games, but that’s about
it.
The 2-megapixel front camera is also average. Video chatting in
well-lit rooms is best since noise is noticeable even in the best
conditions.
We feel compelled to note that few, if any, tablets have great rear or front-facing cameras.
Battery Life
The Venue 8 lasted about a day with on and off usage and for a little
under 7 hours with continuous mixed use that included videos, music,
games, and web surfing. This isn’t as impressive as the Memo Pad HD 7 or
the Samsung Galaxy Tab 8.0. It will do for most of you, but don’t count on it for video on a trans-Atlantic flight.
Conclusion
If Dell set out to make a decent middle of the road budget tablet
with the Venue 8, it succeeded. It’s not going to wow customers with
looks (unless they see the red one) or with performance. It does balance
value and price well for people who have to keep to this price point.
We still like the Asus Memo Pad best among the small screen budget
crowd. If a slightly bigger display is more important to you and the
Galaxy Tab 8.0 is outside of what you can afford, the Dell Venue 8 is a
workable option.
Highs
- Comfortable and lightweight design
- Stock Android 4.2.2 and minimal pre-loaded apps
- Decent battery life
Lows
- Screen is a fingerprint magnet
- Glossy display is too reflective at some angles
- Performance is only average
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