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Dell Venue Pro: Lightning Strikes

 by Vivek Gowri on March 14, 2011 3:01 PM EST
38 Comments | Add A Comment
38 Comments

Dell Venue Pro - Conclusion

I’m going to put this one out there - of the current crop of Windows Phone 7 devices, the Venue Pro is my favorite. It’s exceedingly well designed and well built, but the biggest difference between this and similarly well designed products from HTC and Samsung is that the Dell is the one device that’s really new. The remainder of the launch devices are pretty much rehashes of previous devices, while Dell basically started from scratch with the Thunder/Lightning platform, though why they decided to rechristen them the Venue and Venue Pro on the way to production is anyone’s guess. 

The Venue Pro is a pretty chunky phone though, and the size will probably turn some people off. But in exchange for larger dimensions, you get an excellent hardware keyboard, a robust slider, and (most importantly) a large, 4.1” AMOLED display. If the Surround is the best WP7 device for music, the Venue Pro is definitely the best for messaging and email, at least until the 7 Pro hits market, and even then I’m not convinced that it’ll be better than the Dell. The Focus is probably still the most balanced WP7 device, the HD7 is probably the best equivalent to it. But I’m a fan of the Venue Pro. If Dell can manage to slim it down and give it a dual core processor while maintaining the style and build quality for the next generation, they might have a real winner on their hands. 
Dell Venue Pro - Performance and Battery Life
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  • monty1854 - Wednesday, March 16, 2011 - link

    Hi I am from India and I had recently bought the Dell Venue Pro with NO-DO update the problem which is not mentioned in this review is that the 16GB variant has issues of hanging up Freezing and even rebooting this is by far the worst performing phone I have come across. I had mailed this to Michael Dell directly and after which a replacement unit was arranged even that had similar issues i have posted videos of this on youtube.http://www.youtube.com/user/monty1854#p/a/u/1/WvdU... Please post the real review

  • cj100570 - Wednesday, March 16, 2011 - link

    Although I'm currently firmly entrenched in the Android camp I've historically been a Windows Mobile user and have owned numerous WinMo devices. I've used a WP7 device extensively and I think MS made way too many sacrifices with the platform and has done a lousy job at selling it to the public. The Venue is a very nice phone but ultimately it's doomed to failure because of WP7. Dell should have thrown WebOS or Android onto this fabulous piece of plastic and metal.

  • Crono - Thursday, March 17, 2011 - link

    I've named my phone "Lightning" under Zune.

    Though not entirely original, they really should have kept that name, like they did "Streak" for their tablet.

  • softdrinkviking - Thursday, March 17, 2011 - link

    i think it's a stretch to call WP7 a first effort for microsoft mobile.

    but i guess it sounds too sarcastic to congratulate them for finally getting it right, huh?

  • synaesthetic - Sunday, March 20, 2011 - link

    I don't understand this.

    Smartphone keyboards are hard enough to use landscape. Why voluntarily make them EVEN SMALLER?

  • SkuLLyRT - Saturday, March 26, 2011 - link

    I've had my 16GB DVP for 2 weeks, and it has crashed while downloading/streaming things off WiFi almost every time. I get at least 2-3 crashes a day, easily. From reading the Dell / XDA forums, I'm not alone.

    You didn't encounter anything like that during your time with the review unit?

  • crisscross - Tuesday, August 30, 2011 - link

    How can you do a review of a phone and yet write nothing on the phone's talktime, reception or speakers?

  • tricku2 - Wednesday, September 14, 2016 - link

    I loved Flash
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    https://www.magicoz.co.uk
    https://www.magicoz.co.uk/magician-surrey
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