The Venue Pro is a bit on the chunky side, and it feels plasticky. The glossy black surface with chrome trim gives it a professional appearance (hence the "Pro" in the name, I guess), while the textured battery cover keeps it from looking dull. Measuring 2.5 by 4.8 by 0.6 inches, the Venue Pro isn't exactly petite. It is also somewhat heavy, weighing 6.8 ounces. Like all Windows Phone 7 devices, it gives you the standard Back, Menu, and Search touch keys below the display.

Part of the handset's excess bulk is due to the vertically sliding full-QWERTY keyboard. Like many such keyboards, this one is fairly narrow. Since the keys are right next to one another, I made a few mistakes while typing out long messages. The spacebar is also pretty small, which can be annoying when you're trying to pound out a text or e-mail message.

Perhaps the highlight of the Venue Pro's design is the gorgeous 4.1-inch, 800-by-480-pixel AMOLED display. The display nicely showcases photos, videos, and games, as well as the whole user interface. Colors appeared bright though a little oversaturated, which is normal for AMOLED displays.