The Dell Venue 8 7000 Series Review
by Brandon Chester on March 12, 2015 8:00 AM EST- Posted in
- Tablets
- Dell
- Android
- Mobile
- Venue 8 7000
GPU Performance
GPU performance is another important aspect of a device, and with display resolutions increasing there is always a need for more GPU power to drive more pixels. In the eyes of many consumers, Intel is not typically associated with speedy GPU performance, particularly in the mobile space. Many readers commented on the poor performance of Intel's HD Graphics in the Stream 7 review. However, one of the ways Intel's Moorefield chips are differentiated from some other chips in the Atom line is that they use PowerVR graphics. In the case of the Venue 8, it uses the PowerVR G6430 which was used previously in Apple's A7 chip.
There has historically been a noticable gap in performance between a given PowerVR chip implemented in an iOS device, and the same GPU in an Android device. Due to drivers and other software factors, the performance of the Android device is typically slower. Because of this, I've marked the iPhone 5s on all the charts except for the onscreen ones so comparisons can be drawn between the performance of the G6430 GPU on different operating systems. In the 3DMark graphics test, the Venue 8 actually scores higher than the iPhone 5s, and in the GFXBench tests there is not a large difference between the two devices. In Basemark X there is a sizable performance difference between the two devices in favor of the iPhone, but overall I don't think anyone should be concerned about massive differences in GPU performance between the G6430 running on iOS and it running on Android.
When evaluating the Venue 8's GPU performance on its own, it can hardly be said that it's slow. However, it's now competing with Apple's 8 core Rogue GPU in A8X, and NVIDIA's Kepler graphics in Tegra K1. The devices with those GPUs end up performing between two and three times faster than the Venue 8 in many cases, and with Tegra K1 that GPU power is available in NVIDIA's Shield Tablet which undercuts the Venue 8 at only $299. GPU performance has simply moved onward from when G6430 was leading the pack, and although the Venue 8 isn't exactly slow, it's outgunned by other devices that meet and even beat its price.
NAND Performance
The performance of a device's internal storage has never been a large point of focus in the past. Mobile device manufacturers don't advertise anything about their storage beyond the capacity. However, the speed of a device's NAND can have a significant impact on performance. Slow memory can be what bottlenecks a system's performance when any sort of heavy reading or writing is occurring in the background, which occurs more often than one would think due to background applications and tasks like automatically downloading and installing app updates.
In all of our tests, the Venue 8 is decidedly average. There's no situation where it shines at the top, but also no cases where it's significantly worse than the competition. I wouldn't expect the Venue 8's storage speeds to cause any performance issues for users, though it would be nice to see at 32GB NAND option at this price.
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Sushisamurai - Sunday, March 15, 2015 - link
Hell, even CNET and sister sites quoted anandtech when the cheating was found/occurred. That's some pretty big influence there. What about the times when they got GPU architectures from imagination and the like (we still miss u anand), that was also to "OEM recommendations". I feel AT's done some good work in terms of pushing the consumer/review industryaz060693 - Friday, March 13, 2015 - link
Cirrus Logic DAC? I really want to see how good the audio output is.zodiacfml - Friday, March 13, 2015 - link
Dell, why bother? Why not compete with Asus's convertible laptops with this type of hardware.shadarlo - Friday, March 13, 2015 - link
Tablets that cost >$150-$200 should always come with usb-c, HDMI, or display port out. There are basically no exceptions to that, but it's even more true if it's a Windows tablet. Not having a 2nd USB port and a video out port on a windows tablet is beyond stupid.This being android and $400 is a hard sell to me. I just can't understand the purpose of a $400 android tablet unless it had phone functionality built into it. If it was a phone as well it'd be AWESOME.
FXi - Friday, March 13, 2015 - link
Too bad there isn't a Win 8.1 version. Might have actually sold a bunch thenWolfpup - Thursday, March 19, 2015 - link
Regarding that CPU...I thought that all second gen Atoms were going to be using Intel's GPUs from now on? I had no idea they had any running PowerVR still.I thought that sounded like a bad idea for driver support until I realized this was an Android tablet (thought it was Windows 8 at first) and lost interest.
BUT I'm still curious as to why there's a second gen Atom chip shipping with PowerVR instead of an Intel GPU.
All the ones I've seen until this are 4 core parts that are fairly slow clocked. Not exactly great considering a 20 or even 40 core part isn't a powerhouse, but at least it means they're driver compatible with Intel's other GPUs.
Wish that Nvidia had been able to license x86 and we had Tegra K1 tablets running Windows 8, complete with a GPU that would actually run modern games semi-decently. THAT would have been seriously cool (well, assuming the CPU part was fast enough LOL).
Razzy76 - Friday, March 20, 2015 - link
Android ruined this tablet.NamelessTed - Tuesday, March 24, 2015 - link
If this tablet were running Windows it would be much more compelling to me. I got an nVidia Tegra Note tablet when they first launched and it has been a great product. The longer I use it the more I wish I had a slightly bigger screen and that I had the ability to use Windows. Within the next year I really really hope we see a sub-$400 Windows 10 tablet with front facing speakers and an 8-9" display.Angelina Mathews - Monday, July 18, 2016 - link
Hello everyone !! I am really very excited to share my experience of using Dell Venue 8 Pro 3000 Series Tablet. Though it is shocking but also the fact that at starting when I purchased this tablet I was not confident about my decision since I was using tablet of this brand for the very first time but then later on after being a user of it I realize that this tablet is actually highly efficient. It being powered a host of Windows 8.1 business specific features and applications facilitates the users with an amazing working experience. To know more, click here - http://delltablet.laptab.in