Dell Streak Tablet Android Phone (AT&T)

I'll never look at a smart phone in the same way after this MONSTER!! August 18, 2010

Reviewer:  Frank N70 

It's big, huge, it's a monster!! This by far, the most fascinating experience I've ever got from phones.

I had htc tytn, fuze, nokia n900, iphone 3gs and they all look and feel like ordinary phones, nothing really special about them.

But this monster has changed and revolutionized the way I think and feel about phone.

The design is mouth watering, hard solid, it feels so secure in my hands.

The display is eye popping. It may not have IPS screen or Super Amoled display, but it's still a bright and crispy display.

The screen size is big enough for me to leave the 'pinch zoom in and out' away upon browsing the web.

The OS is sick (still running android 1.6 but soon to be froyo 2.2).

>>Update: Software is a bit buggy and may go blank screen for seconds but I can live with it. Not to mention the up coming update (android 2.2)

Battery life is pretty descent, standard smart phone, 1 fully charged per day.

And hey, you wont see 'everybody', I mean ANY body around the corner using this phone!!

For me, that's essential.

Solid Device But Sadly Lacking Somewhat December 14, 2010

Reviewer:  Eddy Thio 

I received my Dell Streak last Thursday but waited for a few days before posting comments.First off, I tend to agree with most of the comments posted so far although i might add that like every electronic device out there, no one device is created equal and the Dell at over $400 w/o plan is no exception. There's so much to say about this device and I'll try my best to lay it out straight. If Amazon allows half a stars, i would rate this device 3.5 stars.

Looks and Appearance: Very slick and sharp build and amazingly thin. As far as size is concern, it is what it is and either you like the size or you don't. If you are a light phone user and will use the Streak more for the web, I would recommend this device.

Handling and Buttons: I took points off here since Dell could have done a better job. Power button could have been better positioned at the top of the phone instead of lining up side by side to the camera and up/down volume controls. One could easily turn the device off accidentally if device is held to the ears.

Pin Connector: Using a standard USB cable with mini-usb would have made everyone's life a lot easier. Instead Dell has to develop its own unique USB-Pin connector. Connecting the pins to the device can be tricky business since it does not attached easily and one could easily damage the pinheads in a matter of time.

Sound Quality: Have to say that the speaker phone is far superior than the Iphone. Only problem is speaker sound tends to be thinny without bass as some reviews have already indicated here.

Battery Life: Not very impressive but then again this device carries a 5" screen which sucks power. I followed Streak's recommendation to economize on battery life by setting screen timeouts to 1 sec, disable bluetooth and wifi when not required and shut down apps with killapps software. Still battery tends to drain. Compared to the Iphone (or any other Apple products for that matter), I'd give the Iphone battery 4 stars anytime.

Functionality: If you are a heavy phone user, i recommend you pass on this device. Navigating phone features needs some getting used to plus don't forget battery life is an issue. This device is best used if you are sitting down on a couch or have the device on a table. In short you need two hands to work this device efficiently. Definitely not for navigating buttons when you are walking or driving (which you shouldn't be doing anyway). And if you are to use the phone frequently, use a bluetooth headset instead. Somehow it makes more sense and you look more sensible too.

Speed: I find navigating screen pages and launching apps incredibly fast on this device and yet it is only loaded with the Android 1.6. Pages load almost in a flash. I find the speed on the Streak very impressive as it is.

Android vs Itunes: I am a first time Android user and may be a little bias in my comments here, so bear with me. I personally find Iphone apps alot more user-friendly and developed. It seems to be that some Android app developers just dump apps on Android market without really testing it out. Then there is the issue that each Android device has its own operating characteristics and hence not all Android apps are meant for all Android device. That said, there are significant trial and errors when it comes to downloading your favorite apps.

Upgrades: All ATT-issued Dell Streak are still loaded with 1.6 and the 2.2 version will only be made available in January 2011 after all the guinea pigs have been exhausted.As informed by Dell, Android is rolling out the 2.2 for unlocked Streaks followed by ATT version. For advance users however, the Streak can be loaded with 2.1 which is not for the faint hearted. Sadly, the 1.6 version does not allow pinching to zoom.

Video and Picture Quality: Picture quality is excellent but video dismal. With a 5" screen, one would expect better resolution. The 5mp camera with front and back lens is impressive though but a real good steady hand is needed to snap good pictures.

Conclusion: This is a device you will need to fall in love with. Give it some time, get to know it BUT if you find yourself making excuses everyday for keeping it, then it maybe better to let it go. Its acquired love. Your main motivation for parting out with $400+ for the unlocked version (or sign your life to ATT for 2 years) is because you want a mini portable tablet that fits in your pocket. Truth of the matter is you don't need a phone that has a 5" screen do you?! At this moment i am deciding whether to go for a Samsung Galaxy tablet or the Ipad. I've decided to go for the Ipad for its simplicity, stability, great battery life and picture resolution.

Smartphone? More like Geniusphone August 31, 2010

Reviewer:  Webpheret "picomaro"  (NOLA) -

I have to admit, the Dell Streak is only my second foray into the touchscreen, smartphone arena, but I will say it's better than just about every other phone I've seen.

Let's start with the size, which I'm sure a lot of you are wondering about. It is, suffice to say: huge. It's got a giant screen. Luckly, most of the phone is screen, so there's not much else around the edge as far as bezel goes. This is a good thing. The 3 touch-sensitive buttons on the bottom of the phone are all you really need. Honestly, I really only ever use 2 of them all the time, but there are occasions where I do find myself reaching for the Home button to get back to my main screen after doing so much between beginning and end.

The build quality of the phone is phenomenal. It feels like a solid piece of technology, and that's because it is. It's made of high quality materials all around, front to back, top to bottom. It's got Gorilla Glass! I mean, come on! You will probably never see a scratch on this beautiful screen.

So you may have heard that the Streak comes with an "out-of-date" version of Android. This is the biggest complaint I've heard from users. Let me tell you this: It's fast. If the Streak is fast with Android v1.6, imagine what it'll be like when it's running Froyo (v2.2). Oh and it will. Look, Dell may not be giving any info about when they're releasing it, but they're going to be updating UK Streaks to 2.1, so they're obviously doing it. Calm down, take a breath. This thing is a monster with 1.6, its going to be a god with 2.2.

I've made a fair amount of calls with my Streak, and I will admit that it is kind of awkward holding it next to your head, but there's something to be said for garnering a few odd looks holding such a mammoth piece of tech to your ear while you talk to your mother. If you're interested in this, you want people to ask you what it is, that's that. You're going to be showing it off, right? Sure, you may not want people to hold it for fear of them dropping it, but you can still show them what a beauty this sucker is from a good 12 inches of personal space away. As far as call quality? Pretty freaking good. Never had a dropped call, no problems with static or anything like that.

All in all, if I could give the Dell Streak 6 out of 5 stars, I would.

Thanks for reading, and enjoy your Streak!

Great device. A smart phone big enough to be useful. August 22, 2010

Reviewer:  kolmogorov "kolmogorov"  (USA, Texas) -

I give it 4.5 stars. 5 stars for the hardware. 4 stars for the current state of Android, which is solid, but lacking some polish.

The Streak won't be for everyone, but if you're someone who spends most of their time staring at the screen of your "phone" rather than holding it up to your ear, the Streak might be for you. I love mine.

I have an iPhone 3GS and recently got a Dell Streak. The iPhone will fit in smaller pockets, is more stylish, has a better selection of games (both quantity and quality), and the user interface just has more polish all around. However, what I always find myself trying to do on the iPhone is read. I want to read eBooks, PDF files, web pages. I've tried and tried, but it's just too small. An iPad would solve that problem, but I also need a phone, and camera, and I know I won't carry an iPad with me everywhere, which defeats much of the utility I find in my iPhone. I realized that what I want was really something like a giant iPhone, an iPhone with the biggest screen I could cram in my pocket.

The Dell Streak is like my check-list for an ideal device come to life. It has phone, WiFi, bluetooth, GPS, forward AND back facing cameras, a flexible operating system and, most importantly, a huge (for a phone) 5" screen that is bright enough to be readable even in sunlight (a little better than my iPhone, for comparison). While the Android 1.6 it comes with currently is not as polished as iOS, it makes up for that lack of polish in lots of little ways in terms of useful functionality. Unlike iOS, I can easily copy my files of different kinds over to the device simply by plugging it in and treating it like a mounted hard drive or SD card. There aren't a whole host of restrictions put on the device to prevent you from actually accomplishing useful tasks on-the-go. Use a bluetooth keyboard? No problem. Download files from internet to copy to computer later? No problem. And so on.

Size is always a question for people with the Streak. It's big enough that you will probably notice it in your pocket a lot more than you would an iPhone, but it's really a lot more comfortable in my pocket than I might have thought. It's thin and light (it supposedly weighs more than my iPhone, but it's hard to tell) and that helps compensate for the large area. It definitely IS pocketable. No doubt about that. A lot of people seem to worry about looking ridiculous making calls on it. It seems fine to me and I never feel self conscious using it like a phone. In any case, you have to ask yourself what you are going to do with a smartphone. Are you going to be holding it up to your ear all day talking on it like a phone, or are you going to spend most of your time holding it in your hands staring into it's tiny screen? More and more people are using their phones mostly for the latter, to text friends, browse the web, play games, and so on. The actual phone part of the smart phone is increasingly a secondary function. So why not get a smart phone that is optimized for what you actually do with it, which is browse the web, text, and so on?

I really think the Streak is the optimum size for this kind of use. 5" feels OK in my pocket, not invisible, like my iPhone sometimes feels, but OK. Any bigger than 5", like the 7" tablets in the pipe, will be too big to carry in a pocket at all. And 5" is big enough that I can start to really use it as an eReader on the go. Load up Kindle, Nook, and some PDF reading software, and you've always got a library in your pocket.

[Edit:] I forgot to mention that it's great for navigation. Not only is the screen big enough and bright enough to see while you're driving (with the car mount), but the built-in Google Maps navigation works really well. So for me, it'll earn it's worth just as an eReader and a turn-by-turn navigation device. The fact that it can do so much more is almost gravy.

There really is nothing like it September 2, 2010

Reviewer:  Dr. Michael L. Brown  (Charlotte, NC) -

Since I already had a 2.5 lb. ultra-portable computer, I was in no hurry to get an iPad, but there was always something about the tablet factor that I enjoyed. So, when I had the opportunity to use a friend's iPad for one day, I took advantage of it, but compared to using my Kindle (currently the DX), I found the iPad a little bulky to use for long periods of time. I actually found myself reaching for my cell phone, the HTC Tilt2, but that was just a little too small. (I gave up my Blackberry Bold for the Tilt for the full screen size and the keyboard.) That's when I realized that perhaps the Streak was just the size I wanted, taking care of the tablet format and phone at the same time, but I delayed purchasing it because of the generally negative professional reviews.

The negativity ended the moment the Streak arrived and I started working with it. It was the very "tweener" device that actually met my needs: It is a phone and, with the built in Nuance voice function, can be used handsfree with bluetooth; it is big, to be sure, but it fits easily in a shirt pocket, and because of its thinness, it's not that bulky -- and it is does everything else wonderfully well. You can easily read Kindle and other e-books on it (I have Bible software in Hebrew and Greek with the fonts very sharp and clear); the calendar and email functions are excellent, given the screen size, along with the web browsing; the Android Apps work very well in the format, and it is quite fast; and you have it wherever you go (rather than having to carry around a second, larger device along with your phone). In fact, for those iPad users who point out that the Streak is too big -- may I ask if you can put the iPad in your shirt pocket (or purse)?

I do agree that the current keyboard is a little hard to use, but with the Android upgrade to Froyo, that will be automatically resolved (according to reports). So, get your hands on the Streak and use it for a while and see if it doesn't oust your current cell phone and satisfy the tablet itch.