Dell's new Venue 8 tablet is a pure Android tablet

Since Google launched Nexus 7, more diverse sizes and more affordable prices have become the highlights of Android tablets to attract consumers.

Now, Dell has also fully upgraded its Venue 8 series of Android tablets. In some respects, this product is quite similar to the concept of Nexus, focusing on presenting the original Android to users.

Appearance design: strong "Google style"

The outer packaging of Dell Venue 8 is similar to that of Google's second-generation Nexus 7, except that the background color has changed from blue to white. The half body exposed on the front of the box and the green robot logo that can be seen everywhere indicate that this is a standard Android device.

The product packaging includes the host, a data cable, a 10W charger with an output specification of 5V/2A, and some simple paper materials. It is worth mentioning that the Dell Venue 8 also comes with a bag of anti-mildew desiccant inside the packaging box, which is not uncommon in tablet products.

The overall style of the machine is exactly the same as that of the Nexus series of tablets. Compared with the fashion sense of Apple iPad, this design reveals a sense of technology.

Taking the second-generation Nexus 7 tablet we have for a head-on comparison, the most intuitive difference between Dell Venue 8 and Nexus 7 is that it has a larger screen. It is a size larger than Nexus 7, and also has no logo elements. Even the treatment of the corners is very similar.

The interfaces and buttons of Dell Venue 8 are mainly concentrated on the side of the body. The headphone and power buttons are on the top, the mono speaker is on the bottom, and the volume adjustment button, microphone pickup hole, MicroUSB interface and expansion card slot are on the right side of the body. There is also a color-changing charging indicator light on the side of the MicroUSB interface.

Since the machine we have is a version that supports mobile data network, there is also a SIM card slot next to the SD expansion card slot, which is a MicroSIM card type.

The product itself is less than 9mm thick and weighs less than 340g, making it light and portable overall. The sides and back of the body are coated with a skin-like coating, which feels comfortable. This is the same feature as Nexus products, and it can also be held in one hand.

The design of the back of Dell Venue 8 is much more exquisite than the front. The circular texture spreads out from the DELL logo, showing that the workmanship is very delicate. Users also have a more eye-catching "Xun Red" version to choose from.

The 5-megapixel rear camera on the top of the back protrudes slightly, and its imaging capability is more than enough to meet the needs of shooting QR codes. The "intel inside" logo printed below shows that this is an Intel "core" tablet. From the network access license sticker, it can be seen that the Dell Venue 8 supports HSPA+ mobile network and does not support 4G network.

Hardware performance: Full HD screen + new ATOM processor

Compared with its predecessor, the hardware upgrades of the new Dell Venue 8 are mainly concentrated in the screen and processor chip.

First of all, the Dell Venue 8 is equipped with an 8-inch 1920×1200 resolution full HD display. The 283PPI display fineness makes a qualitative leap in the expressiveness of the picture.

As an IPS display that uses full-lamination technology, the screen also has a good viewing angle, but it should be noted that in terms of color adjustment, the screen brightness of Dell Venue 8 is slightly insufficient, and the screen color temperature is warmer, which can be clearly seen in the comparison with other devices on white screens.

In addition, in terms of processor chip selection, the new Dell Venue 8 is equipped with Intel's latest ATOM Z3480 processor released this year, with a maximum frequency of up to 2.1Ghz, continuing Dell's Android tablet's style of choosing X86 chips. The processor is based on a 22nm Silvermont microarchitecture dual-core design. Better manufacturing technology will bring better power consumption control, and the GPU is Imagination PowerVR G6400, which is at the same level as mobile chips such as Apple A7 and Qualcomm Snapdragon 800.

The machine comes with 16GB of internal storage, but unfortunately the new Dell Venue 8 only has 1GB of RAM, which makes system optimization more difficult for Android devices that take advantage of multitasking and have a high memory usage, especially under the load of a full HD resolution screen.

In terms of battery life, the Dell Venue 8 has a built-in battery capacity of 4550mAH, and it takes less than three hours to charge using the standard 5V/2A charger.

We played a 45-minute 720P resolution MP4 video with the screen at automatic brightness and 50% external volume, and the power consumption was about 9%. It can be seen that there is not much pressure to achieve the officially advertised 10-hour battery life. I would like to add that the external volume of Dell Venue 8 is quite "conservative", and 50% external volume is roughly equivalent to silence in general indoor occasions.

User experience: Nearly native system runs smoothly

Dell Venue 8 runs the latest version of Android 4.4.4. Since it is equipped with an X86 architecture processor that supports 64-bit instructions, we have higher expectations for its future upgrade to 64-bit Android 5.0. Not long after we turned on the machine, we also received a small system update.

The Dell Venue 8 is "like" Nexus not only in appearance. Its system main interface is also completely Android-native. However, since the built-in launcher still uses the old version of Jelly Bean, the virtual buttons are not yet transparent. Of course, users only need to install a launcher application themselves to enjoy the complete KitKat.

With a "non-mainstream" combination of full HD screen + 1GB RAM, "Will it be slow to use?" is naturally the biggest question in our minds.

In fact, this worry is unnecessary, because the system burden brought by other third-party UIs is eliminated, and the Dell Venue 8's system, which is close to the native Android, runs extremely smoothly. With a moderate number of background programs, the multi-task switching responds quickly. However, because it is aimed at the Chinese market, the system has simplified Google's related services, and maps, input methods and quick searches have also been replaced by "Baidu" products that are more in line with the domestic situation.

However, the Dell Venue 8 system has more than 10 pre-installed software programs that cannot be uninstalled, which is really hard to accept. Although in actual use, it does not have much impact on the fluency of the system, the "ability" to fill up the notification bar in a short time is still quite maddening. If you don't want to be disturbed, you might as well turn off the app notifications; if you are a "computer enthusiast", you'd better ROOT!

With an 8-inch full HD screen, I believe that movies and games are the main reasons why many users choose Dell Venue 8.

Dell Venue 8 is pretty good for watching movies on a tablet. The built-in player has good support for common video formats with resolutions of 1080P and below. Why not use MX Player? Because it is not easy to open.

In fact, the compatibility issues of Android based on X86 processors, from the initial Lenovo K800 to the current wide variety of Intel chip tablets, have been greatly improved. The video and social software that comes with Dell Venue 8 also perform normally. However, some third-party apps occasionally "stuck" in places such as the option menu, which shows that under the Android system, there is still a certain gap between X86 and ARM. In terms of the gaming experience, the performance of the device is also not optimistic.

Since the domestic network environment is not "friendly" to Google's official Google Play, we downloaded games from the common game download platforms for Android users for testing. Among them, popular games such as "Need for Speed" and "Modern Warfare" were unable to be installed or crashed, and "Real Racing 3" was abnormally stuck in the options menu. It seems that if users want to bring out the gaming strength of Dell Venue 8, it is best to find X86-specific game installations. Of course, some online casual games should still run without any problems.

Finally, the 3G version of Dell Venue 8 reviewed this time supports phone functions, and the dialing interface is also in the native Android style. Since there is no handset on the front of the machine, the default state is hands-free mode after the call is connected. If you are in a public place, it is better to use headphones when using Dell Venue 8 to make a call.

Summarize:

After a round of experience, the most profound impression of the new Dell Venue 8 comes from its international-level high-quality workmanship and the full HD screen after the upgrade. Although Android devices with X86 architecture processors still have shortcomings in the software level and the compatibility issues with large-scale games make Dell Venue 8 not necessarily a good choice for gamers, but for an entry-level tablet computer that starts at 1,399 yuan and can be selected for the 3G version at 1,799 yuan, the comprehensive performance of the product has reached the mainstream level. In terms of positioning within 2,000 yuan, it is generally worth the money.

As a winner of Toutiao's Qingyun Plan and Baijiahao's Bai+ Plan, the 2019 Baidu Digital Author of the Year, the Baijiahao's Most Popular Author in the Technology Field, the 2019 Sogou Technology and Culture Author, and the 2021 Baijiahao Quarterly Influential Creator, he has won many awards, including the 2013 Sohu Best Industry Media Person, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Beijing Third Place, the 2015 Guangmang Experience Award, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Finals Third Place, and the 2018 Baidu Dynamic Annual Powerful Celebrity.