REVIEW:DELL STREAK

Verdict: Great in the looks and hardware department,
but lacks in performance and features.
Specifications
Rs 34,990
www.dell.co.in/streak
Dimensions (WxHxD): 79x153x10 mm;
Weight: 220 g;
Display: 5-inch 480x800 TFT Capacitive;
Memory: 16 GB internal;
CPU 1 GHz;
OS: Android: 1.6;
DATA: GPRS,EDGE,3G,Wi-fi-b/g,
Camera: 5 MP
Contact: Dell India
Phone:1800-425-4050
EMAIL: NA
The Dell Streak is a lot smaller than your average
tablet and a lot bigger than a large touchscreen mobile
phone. So the question is, just where does it fit in?
Dressed in all black, we have to admit that it ’s quite a
looker. It’s just 10 mm thick, which actually makes it a
lot slimmer than quite a few smartphones. Weighing
just 220 g, it ’s comfortable to hold as well. It’s got 2.2
GB of internal memory and it also supports microSD
cards of up to 32 GB. Although there ’s a hot swap
under the rear panel for the memory card, for some
strange reason, the handset tends to auto switch-off if
the panel is opened. The 3.5 mm hands-free port is
located on one side, or rather the top of the device,
since it ’s typically supposed to be used in landscape
mode like the Nokia N900. The volume/zoom keys,
screen lock and the camera ’s shutter release are also
located on this side.
Dell ’s first mistake is incorporating a proprietary USB/
charging port (bottom) into the Streak. Since it’s pretty
much a large mobile handset, it would have been a
whole lot simpler on us if they went with a standard
micro USB socket. Dell has gone with touch-sensitive
buttons on one side of the display. A microphone is
also located on the same side. A light sensor and front-
facing VGA camera are located on the other side just
near the phone’s speaker. Using this rather large
device to answer calls takes a lot of getting used to, so
we ’d recommend using the hands-free instead. The
large 5-inch touchscreen display sports a 480x800 pixel
resolution, which makes it clear and easy to view
even in the bright outdoors.
Dell ’s second mistake is launching a device like this
with an outdated version of the operating system. The
Streak comes with Android 1.6 and we were told that
it ’s upgradeable to 2.1 (although we were unable to do
so). Donut just doesn’t cut it anymore, and while Éclair
has its flaws, it left 1.6 in its dust long ago. If you’re
removing shortcuts/widgets from the desktop, there’s
no click-and-drag-to-Trash option; you’ll have to select
the icon and then select the menu button to remove
the item. It allows you to create multiple desktops,
and wallpapers can be set individually to each. The
drop-down menus make it easy to access various
options, notifications and settings.
We had a couple of issues with the UI. Firstly, multi-
touch wasn’t a universal function. On any Android
2.1+ handset, Angry Birds would allow you to pinch
zoom out so you can see just where you ’re firing.
Thankfully, the browser and image gallery allow for
multi-touch zooming without a hitch. It still isn ’t as
smooth as the iPhone’s, but it’ll do. We expected a bit
more in terms of speed from the Qualcomm
Snapdragon 1 GHz processor. It ’s not a slow handset,
but activating apps and opening menus wasn’t as
smooth as we’d hoped. The keypad could also have
been a little better designed. With the num pad on the
side, it means your right thumb is going to have to do
a bit of stretching. In portrait mode, the Zero and ‘O’
are too close together since the num pad moves above
the QWERTY keypad. It ’ll take some getting used to.
There was quite a bit of confusion while syncing
Facebook and Google accounts with the device ’s
phonebook. Most contacts that were downloaded didn’t
allow us the option of sending them text messages until
we had synced them with those transferred from the
SIM phonebook, which is strange.
The music player is pretty standard in functionality,
and it ’s loud enough to listen to comfortably in a
crowded train. The problem is that neither the hands-
free nor the device ’s earpiece provide proper clarity on
calls. The volume on calls was just too low most of the
time. The device also features a voice recorder, but no
FM radio. Dell has included an MP3 Store application
with the Streak that lets you search for music files and
albums to download for a fee. The media player has
no frills, except that it allows you to create playlists on
the go. Sadly, the device doesn’t support DivX or XviD
formats, so you’re going to have to convert videos
before you can play them on the Streak. Once
converted properly and optimized for the resolution,
though, the viewing experience is not bad at all.
Like any high-end mobile phone, the Dell Streak is also
well equipped for connectivity. From 3G (HSDPA,
HSUPA), EDGE and Wi-Fi to Bluetooth (just version
2.0) with A2DP and USB 2.0, it’s all packed into this
device. The Streak also comes with support for
Microsoft Exchange and regular POP/IMAP accounts.
For added functionality for Exchange, Dell has thrown
in the TouchDown App with Active Sync support.
Browsing the Internet on the large screen is absolute
bliss and the native Android browser works just
perfectly for rendering pages in a convenient, easy to
read format.
While the integrated Facebook widget worked out just
fine, the one for Twitter refused to let us sign in.
Images can be easily shared or sent to email accounts,
posted on Twitter, Facebook, Picasa or Flickr with just
a couple of easy clicks. The Streak also has a GPS
module, but there ’s no preinstalled application other
than Google Maps. There really aren’t too many other
extras thrown in that are worth mentioning. A sync
option for your Outlook Notes and tasks is available,
Voice Control (which incidentally works really well)
from Nuance Technologies, and Google Voice Search
are on board as well. Productivity app QuickOffice is
also available.
The 5 megapixel camera on the Streak comes with a
dual LED flash and features that include a few scene
modes, white balance, multi-shot, self timer and flicker
adjustment. Image quality is not bad at all. Whether
outdoors or indoors, colors remain quite vivid and the
details are quite good for a mobile phone sensor. The
Streak isn’t going to win any awards for its 1530mAh
battery. Thanks to its large display, battery life is quite
low. On an average, it ran for a little over a day and a
half with just over three hours of talk time.
So here ’s the Rs 35,000 question – should you buy the
Streak or go in for a mobile handset like the HTC
Desire or Samsung Galaxy S? The handsets offer the
same functionality as the Streak does and more,
especially with Android 2.2 on board. Stick to a
handset, we ’d say. Don’t forget that the Galaxy S also
comes in a 16 GB capacity and it’s more convenient to
carry around. The Dell Streak just doesn’t fit in. Had it
come with Éclair and better preloaded apps, it could be
worth considering. On the plus side, it ’s still smaller
than a standard tablet, so you could just hold it up to
your ear to talk, but it ’s really not worth the price
when a smaller device that does more is easily
available.