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It’s a tough climate for premium Android tablets. There simply isn’t the demand to support a thriving market, especially at a time when even iPad sales are beginning to stagnate. But don’t tell that to Dell—priced at $499 for the tablet alone, its new Venue 10 7000 Series is aimed at the high-end, business market. A clever, well-built keyboard attachment is one of the biggest draws here, but it’s not included, so you’re really looking at $629 for the full experience. Positioned as a productivity-focused tablet, the 7000 Series is a tough sell compared with more capable Windows hybrids that are simply better equipped for getting serious work done. The bold design, sharp display, and sleek keyboard are all nice to have, but not remotely unique or limited to tabs in this price bracket. Go for the Microsoft Surface 3 ($688.00 at Amazon)(Opens in a new window) if work is your primary concern, or the Apple iPad Air 2 ($445.00 at eBay)(Opens in a new window) if you’re looking to balance work and play.
Design, Features, and Keyboard
With the Venue 7000 series, Dell puts the generic, uninspired designs of the past in the rearview mirror. Cheap, thick plastic construction has been replaced by sleek metal lines and bold design choices like the cylindrical bulge on one end—it’s not dissimilar to Lenovo’s Yoga Tablet 10, but it’s still refreshing in the grand scheme of tablet design. At 9.58 by 7.69 by 0.24 inches and 1.32 pounds, the 7000 is a bit on the heavy side, but it feels solidly built. On either end of the cylinder are locking hinge mechanisms that hold the keyboard accessory in place.
The 10.5-inch, 2,560-by-1,600 AMOLED display looks vibrant and sharp. It doesn’t get quite as bright as the iPad Air 2’s display, but it holds an edge with inky blacks and high contrast. Colors are oversaturated, as is typical with AMOLED panels, but it’s not garishly off-balance. Below the display, built into the cylindrical end, are two speakers that get loud and sound good for a tablet.
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Dell Venue 8 7000
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A thin, lightweight keyboard latches on magnetically to the 7000’s built-in hinge mechanisms. Unfortunately, the Venue Keyboard(Opens in a new window) will run you $159.99 (direct) if you buy it separately from the tablet. You still have to go through the Bluetooth pairing rigmarole of any third-party keyboard, but once paired, the keyboard will automatically connect with the 7000. The 7000’s hinge folds back 360 degrees, and is still very slim when closed. The full-QWERTY keyboard is cramped and the keys are pretty shallow, but it’s still far more comfortable than typing using the on-screen keyboard. It’s also much more convenient than carrying around two separate pieces everywhere. A small trackpad allows for pointer navigation, which is useful for precise text editing.
The 7000 connects to 802.11b/g/n/ac Wi-Fi networks on the 2.4GHz and 5GHz bands, and supports Bluetooth 4.1 devices.
Performance and Android
Equipped with an Intel Atom Z3580 processer and 2GB RAM, the Venue 10 7000 performed well on our benchmark tests. Processor-intensive tasks, especially, proved to be a strong suit for the 7000, which kept pace with the latest Qualcomm- and Samsung-powered devices. Unfortunately, those synthetic benchmark results don’t quite translate to perfectly speedy real-world performance. I noticed some hang-ups even during basic UI navigation, with stuttering animations or momentarily blank home screens. There were also a few instances when the 7000 crashed outright and needed a hard reset to return to functionality. Many apps worked without issue, and browsing the Web was usually quite fast in my tests, but the small bugs start to wear on you.
See How We Test Tablets
Dell doesn’t modify the Android 5.0 software much—there’s a persistent audio widget in the notification shade, but aside from some preloads and custom Dell apps, the Android experience is basically stock.
Our 32GB review unit came with 23.3GB free out of the box. During the initial setup, Dell gives you the option to select or deselect pieces of preloaded software, which is a nice touch. There are 13 optional preloads, ranging from useful, like Adobe Acrobat and Facebook, to useless, like Ice Age Adventures and Uno.
In a battery rundown test, where we stream a YouTube video over Wi-Fi with screen brightness set to max, the Venue 10 lasted only 4 hours, 43 minutes. That’s a pretty disappointing result, especially compared with its smaller sibling, which lasted 6 hours, 5 minutes in the same test with a smaller battery.
Camera and Conclusions
The 8-megapixel “RealSense” camera appears unchanged from the Venue 8 7000. That makes for rather lackluster still image quality and some gimmicky post-processing tricks. Things look fine in bright outdoor light, but that’s table stakes at this point. Indoors and under less-ideal lighting, image noise and slow shutter speeds render photos grainy and soft. RealSense leverages the pair of image sensors on the back of the 7000, not unlike the HTC Duo camera.
Camera applications are interesting in theory, but not all that reliable in practice. Ruler, for instance, lets you use the camera to take measurements of objects in the camera’s view, but it was way off on a number of occasions in my testing. It might be useful for quick, rough measurements, but anything that requires precision should be left to good old-fashioned measuring tape. The focus adjustments and color filters are nice, but old hat at this point, and can be achieved convincingly on other devices that don’t have two image sensors.
Don’t judge a tablet by its cover—the Dell Venue 10 7000 may feature one of the more intriguing tablet designs out there, but it’s simply average in most other respects. And then there’s the price: At $629 for the tablet with keyboard, it’s just too expensive—and too average—to recommend. The business and productivity focus is nice in theory, but even with Google’s push for Android for Work, Windows tablets and convertibles remain the go-to choice for on-the-go productivity. For high-end Android slates, we still recommend the Samsung Galaxy Tab S 8.4 ($599.99 at Samsung)(Opens in a new window) as our Editors’ Choice. But if you’re serious about work, you’d be much better served by the Windows-powered Microsoft Surface 3 or one of our picks for Best Windows Tablets.
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Source link : https://www.pcmag.com/reviews/dell-venue-10-7000-series