Hardware

Dell Venue 11 Pro Review: Better Battery Life, HD Display, and Much More

The Dell Venue 11 Pro's near-field communication capabilities let users easily transfer content and wirelessly stream high-definition video to a second monitor.

John Breeden II

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John Breeden II is an award-winning reviewer and public speaker with 20 years of experience covering technology.

Finding the right equipment to balance office work with the demands of telecommuting has never been an easy task. The Dell Venue 11 Pro is designed to bridge that gap.

The Venue 11’s ability to switch from a tablet to a desktop (with an optional keyboard) or a notebook in just a few seconds offers users versatility and work-friendly options.

Our test unit came with the 64-bit version of Windows 10 and the optional keyboard. One of the best features of this device is its 10.8-inch, 1920x1080 native resolution touch screen, which renders high-resolution, full HD content at 1080p. We watched amazing PowerPoint presentations and videos displayed in widescreen format, without adverse effects on battery life.

SPECIFICATIONS: Processor Intel Core i5 1.5GHz i5-4210Y, Display 10.8-inch IPS, Hard Drive 128GB, Memory 4GB DDR3 SDRAM, Dimensions 11x7x0.6 inches, Weight 1.74 pounds

Dell Venue 11 Pro's Battery Life

When running disconnected from power in notebook or tablet mode with a movie steadily streaming, the Venue 11 lasted for 7 hours and 14 minutes before the low-battery alarms chimed. Under normal use, with power-saving features enabled, our runtime was extended to almost 10 hours. Charging the Venue back up to full power took about 40 minutes.

The 128-gigabyte solid-state hard drive is quick to read and write, and has more than enough space to support the operating system and a suite of office programs. If storage becomes an issue, the Venue 11 comes with PocketCloud 2.0, which can serve up content and provide a quick way to offload and share excess data.

An integrated card reader supports microSD, microSDHC and microSDXC cards, and allows for quick data sharing locally. A micro-HDMI slot can connect to a second monitor, and a USB 3.0 port is available for other peripherals, such as hard drives, which can take advantage of the speed that the 3.0 format supports.

NFC Technology Allows Dell Venue 11 Pro to Share Content

One surprising extra inside the Venue 11 Pro is the ability to share and stream content wirelessly. Some smartphones, such as the Samsung Galaxy line, support near-field communication (NFC), but that technology is seldom standard in tablet devices.

We loaded up our Venue 11 with several PowerPoint presentations and then enabled its NFC capabilities. After that, we held the Venue 11 close to another device with NFC to beam those PowerPoints to the other system. Most transfers took place nearly instantaneously, taking less than a second to transfer files up to 10 megabytes in size. Users do need to perform the transfers in very close proximity to the other device — within a couple inches — for the technology to work. Users also must authorize the transfer or receipt of a file, a nice security feature. NFC could become an incredibly useful collaboration feature in an office where many Venue 11s are deployed.

The device can also stream high-definition content wirelessly to a second monitor. The micro-HDMI slot and a wire can be used instead, but the Venue 11 also allows streaming, which can be a huge help in dynamic presentations, or for presenters who prefer to walk and talk. It can also be helpful if the presentation device, such as a projector, and the Venue 11 are separated by more space than a typical cable can bridge.

Testing the HD streaming, we found that the Venue’s remote display was just as crisp as when using a cable to connect the device to a larger screen or projector. And, if the target monitor can process HDMI sound, the entire presentation (including the soundtrack) will be integrated into the local audio-video setup.

Adding NFC and wireless HDMI streaming to a tablet device may be a bit unusual, but the technology offers another advantage for businesses that choose to deploy Dell Venue 11 tablets to all parts of their workforce.

Dell