IT Pro Verdict

Although a little chunky, the Dell Venue Pro is solidly made and exceedingly stylish. As such, it makes for an extremely tempting Windows Phone 7 smartphone. The physical keyboard should appeal to anyone tuned off by the virtual offerings used elsewhere, but Windows Phone 7 isn’t yet the same business proposition as its predecessor.

By Julian Prokaza

published 27 April 2011

in Reviews

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.

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