Ultra-thin Dell Venue 8 7000 Android tablet featuring Intel's RealSense camera now available in US and Canada for $400, more countries coming soon
Micah Singleton / The Verge :
Context & Ripple Effects
At CES-adjacent timing, Dell ships the Venue 8 7000, an ultra-thin Android slate whose headline feature is Intel's RealSense depth camera rather than raw specs, priced at $400 in the US and Canada with international rollout promised. Ars Technica's follow-up review confirmed the pitch held up — solid build, thin bezels, near-ten-hour battery — validating the hardware bet.
The launch set up Dell's tablet line as a family rather than a one-off: three months later the company stretched the design into the larger Venue 10 7000 with an optional keyboard dock at $499-$629, while HP answered at the low end with the Envy Note 8 at $429 and Google went premium-detachable with the Pixel C. The $400 RealSense tablet is the opening data point in that year-long repositioning of Android slates toward productivity hybrids.
First-order effects
- US and Canadian buyers can now get depth-sensing RealSense imaging on a mainstream-priced Android tablet instead of waiting for a niche or flagship-only device.
- Intel gets its first broad consumer distribution channel for RealSense outside reference designs, with Dell carrying the sensor cost inside a $400 bill-of-materials-constrained product.
Second-order effects
- HP's Envy Note 8 undercuts the differentiation angle directly at $429 with a keyboard dock, forcing the comparison onto software ecosystems (Windows vs. Android) rather than camera hardware.
- Dell's own response was to extend the line upward: the keyboard-docked Venue 10 7000 targets the same lap-and-couch buyer, signaling that RealSense alone wasn't enough to hold the premium position.
Third-order effects
- If the pattern holds, tablet makers stop competing on screen size alone and differentiate through sensors and attachable keyboards — the trajectory the Pixel C and Miix 630 detachable both point toward, where the tablet is a component of a laptop replacement rather than a standalone category.
The trend: Android tablets are being pushed toward laptop-hybrid territory through keyboard docks and sensor-based differentiation, with each 2015 launch raising the floor for what counts as competitive.