Dell Streak Review

Dell Streak is the first Android tablet phone from Dell. Yes, you heard it right. We call it a Android tablet phone because considering the size of this tablet, it is depends upon you as to whether you classify it as a phone or a tablet.  If you want to say it a smartphone, it is pretty big. On the other hand if you want to call it a tablet computer then it is a bit small. However, we will prefer to call the device a tablet rather than a smartphone. When Apple launched it iPhone, its massive 3.5 inch display made the device readable without making it un-pocketable. Dell Streak carried by AT&T boasts of an industrial design and powered by a 1GHz processor coupled with other specs makes the device really enticing. Check out our Dell Streak review to know more about the tablet.

Dell Streak AT&T Looks And Design

Streak Dell measures 152.9 x 79.1 x 10 mm, which make it bigger than iphone 4 (115.2 x 58.6 x 9.3 mm) but smaller than Samsung Galaxy Tab (190.1 x 120.5 x 12 mm). But despite that, Dell Streak easily slips into your pocket. Our unit was decked out in carbon black and the front is dominated by a 5 inch screen. We did not have any problems while gripping the tablet and the rounded edges of the tablet made it quite comfortable to hold. The build quality is sturdy and the design matches up to industrial standards.

Dell Streak Screen

Dell Streak sports a glossy 5 inch display. The screen of the display is quite bright and colorful and since it is made up of gorilla glass it is quite sturdy. We tried to put some scratches by rubbing some objects, but the screen did not give in. The 5 inch display is a typical LCD panel with a pixel resolution of 800x 480. Because of the large size of the display, one can easily read texts. Watching videos and web browsing is a delight on the screen and the colors rendered are quite good. At the same time, wide viewing angles ensure that two people can sit together and watch movies.

Sunlight legibility of the screen is also good and even in direct sunlight we did not face much problems in reading the screen contents. In most of the cases, the touch sensitivity was quite good. On the top of the display, you get a 3.5mm earphone jack, volume control buttons, power button and a camera launch shutter key. Instead of the microUSB port, at the bottom, you get a 30-pin dock connector which looks very much like that of an iPhone.

Dell Streak Keyboard

The tablet does not feature a physical keyboard, but thanks to the large size display there is plenty of space to equip the device with an on-screen keyboard. Just like its 15 inch laptops, the Dell has cramped a number pad along with the keypad. Though this comes in handy, we felt that this reduced the size of the keys. We would have liked the device to be fitted with larger keys than a number pad. However, despite this we did not face much problems inputting texts. But if you happen to be one with large hands, you can face problems inputting text initially. Typing in landscape mode is a better option than typing in portrait mode.

Dell Streak Apps

The applications we downloaded from the Android market worked pretty well on the tablet. However, some of the applications such as Pandora is not optimized for a 5 inch screen which resulted in some of the album art looking tiny. The games downloaded also worked decently. However, we believe that in order to make apps further enjoyable Dell Streak needs a higher definition display. Some of the inbuilt applications in the phone are as follows:

• Google Search
• Maps
• Gmail
• Youtube
• Google Talk
• Photo viewer/editor
• Organizer
• Voice Memo/Dial

Dell Streak Software

Dell Streak runs on Android 2.2 (Froyo). This is quite disappointing considering the fact that Gingerbread and Honeycomb has already hit the market. But we believe that Dell will soon update the OS of the tablet. The tablet offers you six customizable home screens which you can populate with widgets such as Facebook and Twitter. On the main home screen you get shortcuts to Browser, Maps, Android market. There are several shortcuts present at the top of the screen. On far right of the screen Dell Streak shows the status of battery and Wi-Fi. On tapping this area you can quickly set an alarm and toggle with the wireless radios. However, some where we felt that the UI of the tablet is not that robust as that of Evo 4G.

Dell Streak Specs And Performance

With a 1GHz processor and 512 MB ROM, the tablet has comparable specs to high end Android phones. This may be another reason why some may want to call Dell Streak a phone rather than a tablet. The tablet offers an internal storage of 16GB which can be increased to 32GB with the help of microSD card. Most of the apps were launched quickly and while changing display orientation, the accelerometer also kicked in quickly. But on few occasions, the tablet felt a bit sluggish.

AT&T Dell Streak Camera

This tablet phone includes a 5MP auto-focus camera along with a front facing camera for video conferencing. The camera took colorful and sharp images outdoors. However we found the flash to be a bit weak and while clicking photos of close objects in dim lights, the colors appeared to be grainy. Dell has equipped the machine with image editing tools which helps you to fine tune your images. The front facing camera is quite good for carrying out video conferences, but then there is no software to handle this.

Dell Streak 2.2 Video

Dell Streak Froyo captures VGA videos @ 20fps. After the update we wish that the tablet will be able to capture 720p videos. The videos captured were quite decent and the sound was also very loud.

Dell Streak Root

Click on this link as to how you can root your Dell Streak.

Dell Streak Multimedia

There are several multimedia features in Dell Streak. The music player of the device is quite good and is capable of synchronizing music and video files with the Windows media player. Thanks to the large size of the screen, reading ebooks is a great experience on Dell Streak.

Dell Streak Accessories

While unlocking Dell Streak, we found the tablet to be equipped with the following accessories:

• Dell Streak tablet
• Charger for Dell Streak
• MicroUSB cable
• Headphones
• User Manual

Download Dell Streak user manual.

Dell Streak Battery Life

The tablet is equipped with a standard Li-Ion 1530 mAh battery which offers a runtime of around 9 hours.

Dell Streak Price

Dell Streak price in USA is approximately $ 350 while price of the tablet in India is approximately Rs 32,000. This is bit expensive as compared to 7 inch Galaxy Tab which is priced at Rs 29,000.

While competing to smartphones, Dell Streak falls short of expectations because of its OS. The screen of the tablet however is quite good. Though we liked Streak, we feel that Dell needs to a bit more to make this tablet standout among competitors.