It was no surprise that the launch of Apple’s iPad Air 2 was the tablet event of 2014 – this is to be expected whenever Apple reveals a new device. It may have only taken place a few weeks ago, but already we may have a rival for hottest tablet of the year. At least we would do, if anybody had known about it.
The Dell Venue 8 7000 is the new world’s thinnest tablet. The iPad Air 2 measured in at 6.1mm thick, whilst the Venue 8 7000 is only 6mm. Is that a huge difference? No, but is it an almost alarmingly thin device? Oh yes.
It’s almost three-quarters of the weight of the iPad Air 2 too, at just 310g versus 437g. Enough of the comparisons though, the Venue 8 7000 is an outstanding tablet in its own right.
There’s been no spec sacrificed to make up for super-slim body. What you might notice first is the 8.4-inch display, which boasts quad-HD resolution for a rather outstanding 359 PPI. The chassis is all-metal, too, so the whole thing feels nice and solid in your hands. A premium device all-round.
The bezels around three sides of the tablet are extremely thin, the whole screen shifted upwards with one extra large bezel at the bottom of the device (where the front-facing camera is also housed). It’s a look a little reminiscent of the Sharp Aquos Crystal.
The processing architecture inside is all Intel, so you get an Intel Moorefield SoC and a quad-core Dual Atom processor. We’re not sure exactly what the clock speed would be at this point, but rest assured it’s no slouch.
Despite all this, it may actually be the Venue 8 7000’s camera that’s the most impressive bit of hardware. The tablet actually has two 720p rear-facing sensors to complement its 8MP rear-facing camera, which allows it to do something rather impressive.
Within an app built-in to the tablet you can open up any photo you’ve taken on your Venue 8 7000. You can then draw a line across any object on the screen and the app will tell you its real-life dimensions. It’s rather remarkable, and actually works to a pretty high standard. This technology is something that’s been developed exclusively by Dell and we were told has already been picked up on by companies like Ikea for their own apps (imagine picking a sofa out online and then being able to see how it would actually fit into your lounge). Whatever the item, as long as it’s less than 10m away you can measure it.
It’s worth pointing out that the tablet runs Android, not Windows as is often the case with Dell tablets – and that’s fine by us. You get 2GB of RAM with internal storage limited to 16GB due to its minute physicality, but that’s expandable via microSD card.
There’s no official word from Dell on a release date yet, but you can expect some time in the next two months or so. As for pricing, we were told it would be in line with the other flagship tablets on the market like the Samsung Galaxy Tab S, so think somewhere close to £400.
We’ll keep you updated as we learn more about it, and hopefully you’re as excited as we are.
