Reviews

Dell Venue Pro review

Is Dell’s first Windows Phone 7 device a good bet for business users or should they look elsewhere? We find out...

27 Apr 2011

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Sadly, this commendably consistent approach to the interface falls apart when it comes to the third Search button. On the home screen, for example, it brings up a Bing web search page, while in the Mail app it searches mail folders and an app search in the Windows Phone 7 Marketplace.

Still, none of these Windows Phone 7 shortcomings are Dell's fault.

Annoyingly, this same context-sensitive search isn't applied across other apps. A Bing web search is useless in the calendar, for example. That said, the rudimentary calendar app itself is pretty useless, too.

The good news is that a recent update added a copy and paste function to the Venue Pro, but Windows Phone 7 still won't have true multitasking until later this year.

Still, none of these Windows Phone 7 shortcomings are Dell's fault and the Venue Pro is otherwise a joy to use. It feels fast and responsive, and the 4.1in capacitive multi-touch screen responds smoothly to the lightest of touches. The AMOLED screen is bright and vibrant too, and its 800 x 480 pixels resolution renders both text and images sharply. We did find, however, the pixels do give an ever-so-slight moir pattern with expanses of light colour, such as on the main Google search page.