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Dell Venue, $500 unlocked for AT&T or T-Mobile.
On heels of its Windows counterpart comes the Android-based Dell Venue, which, like the Windows version, is neither svelte nor lightweight but does pack a punch. The Android variant of the Venue lacks the physical keyboard found in it's Windows cousin, but beneath the glass lurks an Android soul (version 2.2) wrapped in Dell's Stage software for managing apps and media.
The Venue is available unlocked for use with either AT&T or T-Mobile, though there are two different models so make sure you get the right one for your carrier.
The Venue features a large and chromatically rich 4.1-inch, 800 x 480 AMOLED touchscreen. The Venue's all-black-and-chrome looks are rather austere and conservative. It's the Ford Crown Vic of Android phones, more likely to show up in the hand of an MBA than a tween. Everything else on the handset is efficient and understated -- from the flush volume rocker to the succinct Back, Home and Search capacitive buttons. The dedicated camera button is also a welcome touch, though it requires a good bit of precisely applied force to work properly.
Although the nice rounded edges, textured back and glossy screen make the Venue a pleasure to hold, it is unquestionably a large phone. The width and height aren't too far off other phones in the same range, but the thickness makes the Venue feel like a bit of clunker in your pocket. On the bright side the Gorilla glass screen held up well against keys, a money clip and the loose change rattling about in my pockets.
The Dell Venue packs 1GHz QSD 8250 processor under the hood, and can potentially carry up to 32GB of data via an extendable microUSB card. The Venue handled Android 2.2, Froyo, without any freezes, stutters or other hiccups, though it's not quite as fast when it comes to rendering web pages. Despite the solid specs, similarly-priced dual-core devices are already beginning to arrive on the market, which may soon leave the Venue feeling like a bit of a laggard.
The Venue ships with Android 2.2 Froyo, which is the most common Android release at the moment, though the Nexus S offers Gingerbread (Android 2.3). Unfortunately Dell doesn’t have a great track record with Android upgrades (some Dell Streak users have only recently made the jump to the nearly year old Froyo) so the upgrade future of the Venue is uncertain.
All of Dell's phones come with the Dell "Stage" Android skin that offers some custom apps like Dell Video Stage for managing and downloading movies, and Dell Sync for syncing multimedia content between your PC and phone. The movie syncing options in Dell Video Stage work well enough, but you'll need to have the desktop app installed on your PC.
Other than the two applications and few visual tweaks, Dell's Android install is pretty close to stock. Out of the box, the major difference between the Venu and stock Android install is several screens of custom widgets. The widgets work well enough, but they're a bit oversized and not the most attractive thing to look at. Fortunately they're easy to get rid of. The phone ships with a nice compliment of Android apps, including favorites like the Kindle app, Evernote and the official Android Twitter client, as well as some useless junk like the Zinio magazine reader and the Dell Welcome app.
The Venue's 8-megapixel camera is a mixed bag. Dell has done a good job of packing the camera app full of settings -- white balance, flash, exposure, multiple focus modes and color effects all make the Venue's camera one of the most full featured phone cameras around. In bright lighting the results were excellent (both video and still images), but bring it indoors or use it in the evening and the noise levels go up dramatically. Not enough to ruin your Flickr posts, but a long way from images you'd want to print out.
We did our standard battery run-down test — playing a video on a loop with the brightness cranked and all the radios on — and the Venue lasted a little under four hours. Just making calls, browsing the web, using apps and talking to some Bluetooth speakers, the Venue has no trouble making it through the day.
The Venue isn't going to lure anyone away from higher end Android phones, but for those that like the brand and want something that's good enough, the Venue delivers. Unfortunately the high price -- yes it's unlocked, but still -- means you're probably better off spending your money elsewhere unless having an unlocked phone is your top priority.
WIRED Unlocked. Tough Gorilla Glass screen takes all kinds of abuse. Huge screen is great for those with man hands. Did we mention it's unlocked?
TIRED Android 2.2. Poor camera performance in low-light settings. Dell's skin on top of Android isn't terrible, but most applications are better replaced with third-party offerings.
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