Dell Venue Pro: Lightning Strikes
by Vivek Gowri on March 14, 2011 3:01 PM EST- Posted in
- Dell
- Windows Phone 7
- Smartphones
- Venue Pro
- Mobile
Dell Venue Pro - Keyboard and Screen
Slide up the Venue Pro’s screen, and you get to the portrait QWERTY keyboard. There aren’t too many portrait QWERTY sliders out there in the smartphone world - Palm has the Pre/Veer family, Motorola recently announced the XT300 Spice slider, Samsung supposedly has an Android portrait slider in the works, and that’s basically it.
So the Venue Pro uses one of the more unique smartphone form factors out there, and as far as physical portrait QWERTY keyboards go, I think the Venue Pro is one of the best. My previous favorite was the BlackBerry Curve, but in my opinion the Venue Pro surpasses even that. The keyboard was very tactile, with good key sizing and spacing (always a concern with portrait QWERTY devices). Coming from the HTC G2’s awesome landscape keyboard, it took me very little time to adjust to the Venue Pro’s keyboard.
I did try out the Windows Phone 7 virtual keyboard, but there’s not too much to report here - it’s pretty similar to using the keyboard on a Focus or HD7. I prefer the physical keyboard, but the default Windows Phone 7 keyboard is definitely pretty good.
The screen is also pretty good - it’s an AMOLED display, with a WVGA resolution. It’s actually pretty dim compared to some of the other AMOLED displays we’ve seen, with the HTC-built AMOLED devices 10-20% brighter, the Focus 25% brighter, and the rest of Samsung's Super AMOLED displays 70-100% brighter than the Venue Pro. The colours are noticeably more vibrant than the HD7 when side by side, though a touch cooler than most LCDs.
The 800 x 480 resolution on the 4.1” display gives it a pixel density of 228 pixels per inch. That’s not quite as high as the Surround or other Windows devices with smaller screens, but not a problem overall. The curvature of the display is convex, in contrast to the slightly concave display in the Nexus S. In the Nexus S, the curve serves an ergonomic purpose, but the Venue Pro’s curved display is purely aesthetic. It definitely plays into the rest of the Venue Pro’s industrial design, and my initial concerns about the glare and reflections went unfounded.
Facebook
Twitter
RSS
38 Comments
View All Comments
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 reviewcj100570 - 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 FlashMagic OZ
https://www.magicoz.co.uk
https://www.magicoz.co.uk/magician-surrey