Dell Venue Android Smartphone Now Available in T-Mobile and AT&T Versions

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The long-awaited Dell Venue, aka “Thunder”, Android 2.2 Froyo based, smartphone is launching in the U.S. today.  At CES in January, we debuted the Venue and are very excited to now offer it to our customers.  

Today, we’ll be offering the 16GB unlocked Dell Venue for $499.99 on Dell.com. The Venue is available with choice in mind as you can select from two different unlocked models (T-Mobile or AT&T).  For complete technical details on these different Venue models, please see bottom of post.   

The first thing you’ll notice about the new Dell Venue smartphone is it’s drop-dead, gorgeous 4.1” capacitive touchscreen that’s been beautifully crafted with artistic convex curves. The super-crisp 800×400 resolution under WVGA AMOLED is truly superb. And it’s made of Gorilla glass, so you know it’s tough.

Next, when you pick up the device you’ll notice the Venue’s slick, industrial design. In my view, the lines are sleek and highly unique. This is a device that yearns to be in the hands of mobile executives and savvy urbanites alike. The back panel bears a useful, textured design that assists with grip. The 164 gram device has a very solid look and feel that exudes quality throughout. No doubt the Venue was built for serious use and will withstand nearly everything you can expect from a high-quality smartphone.

I’ve been using one for the last few days. One thing that stood out: I was impressed with the snappy speed and performance of the Dell Venue phone. Froyo really comes to life here, especially with the Dell “Stage” UI widgets. Video playback is smooth, photos are crisp and bright and web performance via Wi-Fi and 3G is fast. This is definitely a keeper!

The Venue’s 8MP auto-focus, 4x digital zoom, camera and video quality are pretty solid. The dedicated physical camera button (lower right) is a welcome feature.  Just like the folks over at Engadget noticed, the picture quality on the Venue is pretty impressive. There are a ton of software options as well to adjust the photo, flash and colors. With the option to add up to a 32MB microSD card inside, you can take plenty of photos and video footage, then easily share them online.

Here’s a sample photo I took with the Dell Venue while we were driving through downtown Houston, TX (no, I wasn’t driving -my husband was-so I snapped this picture through the car window).

The only negative I could find with this device was the sound volume is a bit low for my taste. I tested the headphones that shipped with the device, as well as another set I use regularly, and was unable to get the sound volume as high as I wanted.

As a long-standing user of another smartphone, I have to say, I was impressed by the Dell Venue and am gladly making the switch to the Dell Venue as my primary business phone. 

The Venue has some impressive specs and makes my other smartphone jealous. Take a look:

Venue Specifications:

  • Form Factor: Touch Screen Bar
  • Dimensions: 121 x 64 x 12.9mm (≤100cc)
  • Display: AM-OLED 4.1” 800×480 pixels, 24 bit -16M colors
  • Bands/Modes:
    – GSM 850/900/1800/1900
    – GPRS Class 12; EDGE Class 12
    – WCDMA 850/1900/2100 or 900/AWS/2100
    – HSDPA 7.2 Mbps / HSUPA 5.76 Mbps
  • Weight: 164 grams (0.36 pounds)
  • Memory:
    – Internal:   1 GB (Flash) / 512 MB (RAM)
    – External:  available with micro SD up to 32GB
  • Operating System:  Android 2.2
  • Messaging/web/apps: POP3, IMAP, ActiveSync, Push Email, Web mail, Microsoft Exchange, SMS, MMS, Native IM
  • Connectivity: Sync to PC, USB Mass Storage, USB Support, Wi-Fi, AGPS
  • Bluetooth:  2.1 EDR, A2DP, AVCRP, others
  • Ecosystem:   Android and Widgets
  • Internet: Web 2.0 full HTML, WAP Support
  • Audio: standard codecs
  • Video: H.264/MPEG-4 AVC, WMV
  • Camera: 8MP Autofocus, Digital Zoom 4x, Video and Audio Record, Dedicated Camera Key
  • Connector: Micro-USB; 3.5 mm HSJ
  • Other: Predictive text, GMS HW Compliant with G-sensor, E-compass, Virtual Keyboard

AT&T or T-Mobile Versions*

The Dell Venue Smartphone will be offered in two (2) different product versions, one that supports T-Mobile and another optimized for AT&T:

1.   The AT&T version:

  • 2G support: 850/900/1800/1900 MHz (GSM/GPRS/EDGE)
  • 3G support (WCDMA): 850/1900/2100
  • This version supports quad-band 2G and 2100 3G, therefore it has largely global capability in either 2G or 3G. It also supports the 850/1900 MHZ bands required by AT&T in the US. This version would be recommended for consumers with AT&T service.

2.   The T-Mobile version:

  • 2G support: 850/900/1800/1900 MHz (GSM/GPRS/EDGE)
  • 3G support (WCDMA): 900/1700/2100 (1700 is also known as the AWS band)
  • This version also supports quad-band 2G and 2100 3G, therefore it has largely global capability in either 2G or 3G. It also supports the 1700 MHZ bands required by T-Mobile in the US. This version would be recommended for consumers with T-Mobile service.

Pricing
The Dell Venue will be available for purchase for $499.99 direct from Dell at Dell.com or by calling 1-800-308-3355. The Venue can be purchased and operated on T-Mobile USA and AT&T networks, see specifics above.

I would love to hear your feedback, questions or comments below or via the #DellVenue hashtag on twitter.

About the Author: Susan Beebe

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