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Tablets, more than anything else, are gadgets of convenience. What makes this genre of mobile computing easy is one specific aspect – its screen size. A 6-inch tablet can feel too small, a 10-inch one way to ungainly. What might seem like the perfect middle ground is an 8-inch tablet. In the Indian market, there were only two such – both from Samsung - the Galaxy Tab 3 and the Note 8 (Android tabs) and the Apple iPad Mini (iOS-based). That’s until now. Dell introduced the Venue 8 combining a gimmick-free pure-Android interface with an 8-inch form factor.
As a tablet, it’s as simple as it gets – an 8-inch IPS display surrounded by a reasonably thin bezel, and weighing 372 grams and being 9.5mm thick. The display supports a resolution of 1,280x800, which is quite decent for any multimedia you might want to view. The bright display and wide viewing angles help the cause. Sadly though, the speakers aren’t just up to the mark as they aren’t loud enough, and lose out a bit of clarity on higher volume levels.
The dual-core Intel Atom Z2580 processor can clock up to 2.0GHz and combined with 2GB of RAM and Intel HD graphics, handles all kinds of games and apps very efficiently. Multitasking on the Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean OS is quite breezy and we didn’t find any flaws with the performance at all – there are absolutely no lags or freezes. There’s ample internal storage (you get options of 16 and 32 GB) and also get a microSD slot for additional expansion up to 32GB. The Quadrant score is a whopping 8829 points, about double the points Samsung’s Galaxy Tab 3 311 scores.
The 5MP rear camera is just about average, but the 2MP front camera is brilliant for making video calls, and the 4,100mAh battery delivered about 8 hours of hardcore usage.
For its price, the Dell Venue 8 offers brilliant value for money. The performance is splendid, the design and interface are simple, and you can also opt for getting 3G support by paying a bit more. Until Google itself comes up with an 8-inch Nexus tablet, this is your safest bet if you want a simple and hassle-free 8-inch tablet.
₹ 17,499 onwards
Love – Brilliant performance; raw Android experience
Hate – Mediocre speakers; average camera
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