NEW YORK: Dell added another tablet to its Venue lineup with the Venue 10 7000, but whereas the Venue 8 7000 is a consumer-focused device, this one seems to be work-focused. The new tablet will run on Android 5.0 Lollipop and include the new business-centric Android for Work, which creates work profiles on your Android device to separate work data from personal data. This allows IT management to make changes remotely on your work profile while keeping your personal data safe from prying eyes.
Compared to its predecessor, the Venue 10 5000, this latest is a bit of an upgrade. Dell replaced the Intel Atom Z3735F processor with the Intel Atom Z3580 (up to 2.3 GHz, Moorefield), the same processor that powers the Dell Venue 8 7000.
Another upgrade is the screen size and resolution. The Venue 10 7000 has a 10.5-inch OLED screen with a 2560 x 1600 resolution compared to the Venue 10 5000’s 10.1-inch IPS screen with a 1280 x 800 resolution. The memory capacity is still the same at 2 GB, but the memory type was switched from DDR3L-RS to LPDDR3.
Storage is also the same with 16 GB eMMC to start and the option to upgrade to 32 GB eMMC. Wireless connectivity includes 802.11 a/c, Bluetooth 4.0 and Miracast. The Miracast connection is used for a connection to Dell Cast, the company’s wireless display stick, which connects to a display, such as your TV, with an HDMI port.
Ports on the Venue 10 7000 include a MicroSD card reader (which supports SD, SDHC and SDXC formats up to 512 GB), a micro-AB USB 2.0 port, and a headphone and microphone combo jack. With so much power inside a tablet, Dell still managed to give it a 7000 mAh battery with seven hours of battery life.
Although this is more of a work-focused tablet, the most impressive feature is the camera. As in the Venue 8 7000, it features a RealSense Snapshot Depth Camera. For those who don’t know, the camera is quite the innovation from Intel. It’s actually three cameras, the main 8MP camera and two 720p cameras, spaced 80 mm apart from each other.
This allows the user to not only capture length and width in a photo, but also depth. You can also adjust the focus of the image after the picture is taken. The measurement tool can also be used to measure the length of a table or the height of a person. (However, the feature wasn’t performing at its best when we tried it out in January on the Venue 8 7000.)
Dell was able to fit all of these features in a relatively slim tablet; at 6.2 mm, it’s considerably thinner than the Venue 10 5000, which is 10.49 mm thick. One side of the tablet has a barrel-shaped edge, which the company says helps with holding and carrying the device. More importantly, it’s also used to attached the optional keyboard.
When combined with the keyboard, the tablet can be used in multiple modes, such as a clamshell mode, stand mode or tent mode. Although the Venue 10 7000’s design language is similar to the Lenovo Yoga Tablet 2, it lacks the Yoga’s kickstand, which means that you’ll have to rely on the attached keyboard to enjoy any standalone modes.
A basic Venue 10 5000 will cost you $299 ($349 with the keyboard), but if you want the new Venue 10 7000 when it arrives in May, you’re going to pay $499. For $629 total, Dell will throw in the keyboard attachment, too. This is Dell’s most expensive tablet to date, but considering what it offers, it might be someone’s perfect tablet for both home and office.
