Saturation of the tablet marketplace arguably couldn't have come at a worse fourth dimension. I don't say that because of a lack of slates to choose from (quite the opposite, really), only rather because almost manufacturers are just now finding their stride in the industry.

Tablet turnover rates are pretty low due to their very nature. People but aren't replacing tablets as often as they do smartphones, a fact that doesn't bode well for hardware makers. It'south not all doom and gloom, nonetheless, as in that location are still plenty of potential buyers in the wild. In improver to those that take sat on the sidelines during the maturation process of the modernistic tablet, some early adopters volition desire to replace their tired tablets with something shiny and new.

What they'll find is a selection that's vastly different compared to what was offered half a decade ago. Android is all grown up and tablets now have a defined purpose backed by a deep ecosystem of apps. The hardware is equally as impressive equally components like high-resolution displays and quad-cadre processors are the norm.

Hoping to highlight how far the manufacture has come is the new Dell Venue eight 7000. First shown off at Intel's Developer Forum terminal year, the new Venue 8 arrived to shop shelves well-nigh a month ago with a unique form factor and a chassis that'due south thinner than any other tablet in the world.

The device is powered past Intel's Atom Z3580 quad-cadre processor with a outburst frequency of 2.33GHz and an Intel Hard disk drive Graphics (PowerVR G6430) GPU alongside 2GB of DDR3 RAM and 16GB of flash retentivity. Wireless connectivity includes Intel's 7260 1x1ac 801.11ac and Bluetooth 4.0.

Our price as tested hither today including the tablet ($399), Dell Cast accompaniment ($59.99) and wireless keyboard and mouse combo ($45.99) comes out to $504.98.

Hardware Tour

With the Venue 8 in your hands, you lot tin can immediately notice just how sparse it is. Measuring merely 6mm thick, it's more than than a full millimeter thinner than the iPhone 6 Plus and is the thinnest mobile device I've tested to engagement.

Dell has equipped their latest tablet with an impressive viii.4-inch OLED touch display (2,560 x ane,600, 361 PPI). It'southward described as an edge-to-edge infinity brandish merely the reality is that the screen is framed past narrow bezels on 3 sides with a large "handle" along the bottom that houses the speaker organisation and two-megapixel front-facing camera. Information technology'southward a unique layout that is certainly visually appealing although usability (property information technology) could be a existent business organisation for some.

Forth the left side is where you'll detect the power push, a volume rocker and a tiny opening for the microphone. The opposite edge is button-free, featuring only a microSD bill of fare slot and a SIM menu slot on LTE models.

Along the bottom are a headphone jack and a USB port while the height edge is free and clear of whatever buttons or slots. The edges are more or less squared off with no rolled edge on the peak and a very subtle bend along the bottom. While information technology looks great, it's not exactly the almost comfy tablet to concur – especially for long periods of time.

Around back, we find two 720p cameras besides equally the primary 8-megapixel camera most the bottom. The two 720p cameras are separated by 80mm and together with the master camera, brand up Intel's new RealSense Snapshot Depth Camera.

Similar in theory to the Duo photographic camera on the HTC One M8, this trio of cameras capture a stereographic image with each photograph that allows for some nifty afterward-the-fact effects which we'll cover in merely a bit.

The Venue 8 7000 measures 124.4mm wide by 215.8mm alpine by 6mm thick and is constructed primarily of aluminum with plastic and glass accents. At only over 300g (306g according to specs and 310g every bit measured on my kitchen calibration), information technology's hardly whatever heavier than a seven-inch class tablet.

In terms of pure aesthetics, information technology'south one of – if not the – best looking tablets currently on the market. Of grade, looks can only become you so far; the real exam will be how it handles everyday apply.

Software, Camera

Dell's Venue eight 7000 comes preloaded with a mostly vanilla installation of Android iv.4 KitKat. In fact, you lot'll just observe a handful of Dell-branded applications such as Dell Cast – the company's business organization-minded Chromecast solution – and Dell Gallery, a custom photo gallery where all of the RealSense camera tools live.

Dell Gallery is unique in that it pulls in images from multiple sources such as your smartphone and various social media accounts (in addition to those you snap with the tablet) and arranges them all into user-friendly categories such as engagement taken (timeline), location and people.

Every bit the first tablet to use Intel's RealSense Snapshot Depth Camera, it goes without saying that it is 1 of the flagship features of the Venue 8 7000. It uses three separate cameras to capture a 3D prototype with depth data which allows for iii unique editing methods.

The first is the refocus tool, a capability fabricated famous past Lytro a few years dorsum that has since been replicated – albeit in different manners – on the HTC One M8 and even any Android device using the Lens Blur effect in Google'south Camera app. This allows you to snap images without the need to focus on your subject as such duties can be taken care of later after the fact. You can even control the strength of the out-of-focus areas oftentimes incorrectly referred to equally bokeh (the term really ways the quality of the mistiness produced, not the mistiness itself).

The effect certainly works on the Venue 8 although it'south far from perfect. In some photos, for instance, undesired areas will be blurred while on other images, it'due south overly obvious that they've been tampered with equally the effect looks unnatural – specially around the edges.

The aforementioned tin can be said nigh the selective editing furnishings that allow y'all accommodate colors and brightness or apply filters to select parts of an image based on distance. It'south a neat concept but it'due south non quite there nonetheless.

There'southward also a measurement tool which allows users to deduce measurements such as altitude and surface area from a 3D-captured prototype. This tool works best when you lot snap photos straight on (not at an angle) continuing between 3 to fifteen feet away from your subject. Dell says to avoid reflective surfaces and cull subjects that are a different colour than the background.

As a photography enthusiast, I capeesh that Dell is investing time and effort into improving mobile photography. In the same respect, it'southward still a tablet and while such a device is neat for viewing images, it'southward not ideal for taking them and most likely never will be.

In the instance of the Venue 8, it's a chip of a double-edged sword. By focusing on photography, Dell has really made information technology more than difficult to employ the camera system as you have to constantly brand certain your hands and fingers aren't blocking any of the 3 rear cameras. It may sound trivial but it happens more ofttimes than not and is rather annoying.

Intel'due south RealSense technology is certainly worth developing further but I simply don't experience that a tablet is the right platform for information technology.