Dell Venue 8 Pro: In-depth Analysis / BenchMarking & Game Play
Earlier, we wrote about Dell Venue Pro 8, covering various aspects of this marvelous device and in this article we plan to explore more features and functionality of Dell Venue Pro 8. Talking more about the Venue Pro series, it consists of an 8 inch and a 10 inch model. They come bundled with Atom Z3740D processor, a 2 GB of Ram, 32 GB of eMMC flash storage and a Windows 8.1 operating system.
Now, where does the Venue Pro series stands apart? We have seen that users have been using android based tablets so far and the tablets have proven to be perfectly great, well, Dell’s Pro series is painting a different picture. It is targeted to adhere business needs by having advanced security features, services like TPM and Dell Enterprise, full compatibility with advanced security features, and Microsoft Office integration as well.
Adding more differentiators to its competitors, Dell also offers an accessory from Synaptics which is a digitizer pen. The base price of Venue 8 Pro is $300 while along with the case it costs at $340, also another variant with a case and a Bluetooth keyboard will cost $390. While the active stylus adds an amount of $30 to your selected package. Well, my main focus in this article will be how well this Windows tablet give competition to its Android peers and what significant advantages can be extracted out of Venue Pro series.
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The MicroSD slot has been placed at the lower right edge which supports a 64 GB of extra storage while the single mono speaker sits at the bottom edge
There is a front facing camera at the top along with a white LEDD light and a 5 MP rear camera sitting at the middle top position.
There might not be a physical video out, but Dell PRO supports Miracast wireless technology to stream to TV and monitors but the external devices must have a receiving adapter. A Bluetooth 4.0 is there to support external Bluetooth supported hardware and it works pretty well.
Distribution of brightness
We got our hands dirty with Asphalt 8 : Airborne on Dell Venue 8 Pro. The video below shows game-play of the same, where we are driving an Audi R8 V10 Spyder on busy roads of Tokyo.
Now, where does the Venue Pro series stands apart? We have seen that users have been using android based tablets so far and the tablets have proven to be perfectly great, well, Dell’s Pro series is painting a different picture. It is targeted to adhere business needs by having advanced security features, services like TPM and Dell Enterprise, full compatibility with advanced security features, and Microsoft Office integration as well.
Adding more differentiators to its competitors, Dell also offers an accessory from Synaptics which is a digitizer pen. The base price of Venue 8 Pro is $300 while along with the case it costs at $340, also another variant with a case and a Bluetooth keyboard will cost $390. While the active stylus adds an amount of $30 to your selected package. Well, my main focus in this article will be how well this Windows tablet give competition to its Android peers and what significant advantages can be extracted out of Venue Pro series.
The Case
The outer appurtenance looks more or less the same of existing tablets like Acer Iconia. The dimensions of Venue 8 Pro are 216X130X9 which are similar to that of Acer’s but when we compare the weight it come to be a 20% lighter, as it is 395 grams while the Iconia weighs about a 100 grams more. The spiral edges on the back and soft touch finish lets us make a good grip on the tablet even when the hands are wet. When comparing with iPAD mini, it is significantly less rigid but significantly lower on cost too.Look & Feel
One thing, as I have already mentioned is the sudden change of the placement of the Home button from the well-known spot on the bottom middle to top right edge is a bit of complicated position for initial usage, but eventually you will get used to it. Next to the home button, a micro combo jack is located whereas, the power button, volume controller and micro USB can be found towards the top right hand edge.There is a front facing camera at the top along with a white LEDD light and a 5 MP rear camera sitting at the middle top position.
Communication
For Communication, the main connectivity option in Venue pro is a dual- band 2x2 MIMO 802.11 a/b/g/n (QCA6234) wireless module. The specification sheet also mentions a Wireless 5570E (HSPA+) Mobile Broadband 2 or Dell Wireless 5808E (4G LTE/HSPA/EVDO) Mobile Broadband module (for the US market) but they are still not found in conventional tablets.There might not be a physical video out, but Dell PRO supports Miracast wireless technology to stream to TV and monitors but the external devices must have a receiving adapter. A Bluetooth 4.0 is there to support external Bluetooth supported hardware and it works pretty well.
Security
The security is addressed by TPM firmware Dell Data protection and encryption Security tools. Since, it is more of an enterprise tablet and multifactor authentication is must.Warranty
Dell Venue PRO comes with a 12 month limited hardware warranty and a 12 month “return for repair after remote diagnostic service”. Options are also available for customers to buy an extended warranty, accidental damage protection or a premium phone support.Display
Venue Pro has an IPS display which has a resolution of 1280 x 800 pixels. The display is very bright at an average brightness of 365 nits. On comparing and analyzing both the black point of 0.312 cd/m² and the resulting contrast of 1219:1 are amazingly excellent.
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Information
X-Rite i1Pro 2
Maximum: 382.1 cd/m²
Average: 365.2 cd/m²
Brightness Distribution: 86 %
Center on Battery: 336.4 cd/m²
Black: 0.312 cd/m²
Contrast: 1219:1
ICC File (X-Rite i1Pro 2)
Processor & Performance
Explaining the technical nutty gritty, it has a quad core Intel Atom Z3740 processor which features a clock rate of 1.33 GHz, a Turbo Boost of 1.86 Ghz max and a TDp of 4 watts. We used the Cinebench R10 bench mark test to compare the performance of the processor used in Acer Iconia which is a previous generation Intel Atom Z2760 and the test showed a significant performance of the predecessor by 57 % thus rating the venue Pro much higher.
Click in Images to Enlarge
Benchmarks
Cinebench R10 Rendering Single 32Bit
961
Cinebench R10 Rendering Multiple CPUs 32Bit
3219
Cinebench R10 Shading 32Bit
1936
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Gaming Performance
From the above measurements it should come as no surprise that Dell Venue 8 Pro won't do justify to very high end, resource intensive modern games . Even Fifa 14, which is a bit resource intensivel, topped out at a paltry 19 fps at a resolution of 1024x768 pixels and low preset, but that's fine as these tablets are not meant for high end gaming. However, you can still have many options like the Asphalt 8 : Airborne which offers serious graphics and great performance on Dell Venue 8 Pro.We got our hands dirty with Asphalt 8 : Airborne on Dell Venue 8 Pro. The video below shows game-play of the same, where we are driving an Audi R8 V10 Spyder on busy roads of Tokyo.
Benchmarks
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Battery Life
Ok, the important part form most of us business travelling user, the battery life. Well, Dell Pro uses a 18 Wh (4830 mAh) 2-cell battery , which makes the tablet last for 13 long hours when we run the Battery Eaters Readers test on it. This is extremely decent when compared to most of the Samsung tabs and Galaxy Note 8.Battery Runtime
| Idle (without WLAN, min brightness) |
| 13h 02min |
| WiFi Surfing |
| 6h 13min |
| Load (maximum brightness) |
| 2h 33min |
The Verdict
In short, Dell Venue 8 Pro offers a good performance when exposed to tests like stress, battery, gaming, performance, camera and connectivity. The active stylus, Bluetooth integration, Windows Compatibility are all the added advantages from a basic Android Tablet offered at a price of the Venue 8 Pro. Thus, concluding it as a great deal to consider at.
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