At a mere 6mm, the newly announced Dell Venue 8 7000 series tablet is one of the world's slimmest tablets. Apart from the form-factor, the Dell Venue 8 is the World's first tablet to offer Intel Real Sense technology along with an 8.4-inch 2K OLED display.
We tried out the Dell Venue 8 at the Intel IDF 2014 (happening in San Francisco) and came out impressed. Here's a closer look at the Venue 8 along with our first impressions of the Intel Real Sense technology
The first thing you notice about the Dell Venue 8 is its razor-sharp and vibrant 8.4-inch OLED display. It is a 2K panel offering 2560 × 1440 pixel resolution. And, while 2K displays don't really make their presence felt in case of smartphones, on an 8.4-inch screen, 2K goodness is clearly evident when compared to 1080p screens. Running on the very latest version of Android KitKat, the Venue 8 houses Intel Atom Z3500 series SoC (processor) based on Intel Morrefield platform. This is the latest Atom SoC offering true quad-core processing unlike the previous gen Atom Z2500 series that came with dual cores. We expect a good bump in performance over the previous gen in terms of overall processing and graphics, rightly needed to feed the 2K display.
Intel Real Sense 3D Technology: The Dell Venue 8 houses 3 cameras at the back, an 8MP primary camera along with two 720p cameras that are used to calculate and measure the depth. Intel Real Sense software platform to capture photos Apart from selective focusing, Intel Real Sense platform offers numerous other possibilities like measuring dimensions of an object or creating three dimensional photos by introducing interactive elements in a photo via depth sensing and mapping techniques. With the Venue 8, Intel is inviting developers to use the Real Sense platform to develop interactive apps that can leverage the full potential of the platform.
We captured a sample image and tried shifting focus to the closest object. You also have the option of using a slider to adjust the depth of field.
The same image with focus shifted to a distant plane. The overall image quality of the camera system isn't stellar and the tablet form factor makes it difficult to use the Venue 8 as a regular imaging device.
Yes, the actual camera count is 4! You also get a front camera for those selfie moments!
Design and esthetics: The build quality and finish feels premium with good attention to detail. Thanks to the clean edges and a matte finish, the Dell Venue 8 looks sharp and bares a distinct personality when compared to the Samsung and Apple tablets. While we aren't sure about the exact weight, the tablet is pretty light for an 8.4" device. The reduction in dimensions and weight can be largely attributed to the use of OLED display, which are lighter and slimmer than LCD displays, while being more efficient.
Overall, the Dell Venue 8 7000 series does impress us on first encounter. We should see the tablet hit the Indian market soon, currently there is no word on the pricing, we estimate the price to be in the $400-$500 range in the US.